Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail is a Latin America-inspired ‘vacation’ setting

polygon.com:

Announced in July 2023, Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail was a step in a new direction for Square Enix’s behemoth of an MMORPG. With a near decade-long story coming to a close through the Endwalker expansion, Creative Studio III teased a new start to the never-ending journey of the Warrior of Light, this time promising players a “summer vacation” of sorts set on a continent in the midst of political turmoil as it chooses its new leader. And with the new expansion would come further adjustments to the game, alongside the inclusion of two new job classes and a complete graphics overhaul. Square Enix provided Polygon with the opportunity to dive into a slice of Dawntrail, which included a look at both the Viper and Pictomancer job classes and the chance to run through one of the new dungeons.

When I was present at Fan Fest 2023, I was enticed by the idea of a new job class, mostly because I had grown tired of the continuously gutted Summoner, the lack of engagement while playing Gunbreaker (or any tank), and the homogenization of most of the healing job classes. So I jumped at the chance to give Viper a whirl at this recent preview event. Having now played them, the Viper and Pictomancer remind me of the more experimental age of Final Fantasy 14 that arrived with the release of the Heavensward expansion — when the job classes were more interesting, and when Creative Studio III was still ironing out the wrinkles of A Realm Reborn.

These two new job classes are both refreshingly complex. On the surface, Viper seems akin to the Ninja with its dual blades and dexterous animations, but in practice, it’s a more involved version of the Reaper, which was introduced through Endwalker. The Viper is fast and fluid, with your attacks built on devastating sweeps of your dual blades or combining the blades into a polearm through special attacks and stances to rip and tear through enemies. You are constantly swapping between stances, applying debilitating debuffs to enemies, and ramping