For the first time in 11 years, the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV is embarking on an entirely new era for its story arc. Dawntrail sets its sails for completely separate regions filled with cultures and histories never seen in the game’s long history–you can gather as much from the intro cinematic or the several Live Letters from director and producer Naoki Yoshida where he’s talked extensively about this new journey. I had the chance to play an early preview build of Dawntrail, and while there wasn’t any major story content, experiencing the land of Tural itself already told so many stories.
The development team at Creative Business Unit III is digging deep into Mesoamerican inspirations, drawing from cultures of pre-colonial Central and South America. It’s easily seen in the architecture of the buildings, the topography of Tural’s various zones, and the names for all the locations. In the same way Endwalker drew from Indian and South Asian culture to create the Thavnair region, Dawntrail’s rich, real-world influences are being reflected in nearly every aspect, and on a much larger scale.
I spent a lot of time walking the streets of Tuliyollal, the new main hub for Dawntrail. Going through the marketplace full of vendors, seeing the textiles and structures that make up the town, and watching the NPCs go through their animation sets, establishes a sense of place that has deep roots. It’s not so much pulling directly from those real-world inspirations, rather a blending of them with the development team’s own imagination to make something wholly unique for FFXIV, yet so familiar to those who know a bit about the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and Latin America. But this wouldn’t have happened without the help of several groups who had the insight to help craft Tural in all its detail.
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