Final Fantasy 14 Reveals Improved Player Models for Dawntrail Graphics Update (2024)

Final Fantasy 14 recently shared some screenshots comparing the current player models to the new ones coming in Dawntrail’s graphical update. These images revealed just how different some of these Final Fantasy 14 models will look after Dawntrail, and showed how these improvements are making the critically acclaimed MMORPG more inclusive.

Dawntrail is the next Final Fantasy 14 expansion pack planned for release later this summer. While Final Fantasy 14's new Pictomancer and Viper jobs, playable female Hrothgar, and the new zones, dungeons, and raids in Tural are exciting, one of the biggest changes coming in Dawntrail is the massive graphics overhaul.

During the last Fan Festival in Japan, players got a good look at the character models for each playable race in Final Fantasy 14, and what they are going to look like after this graphics update. It revealed side-by-side examples of every different player character model, from Midlander Hyur to Hrothgar, showing how much they will all be changing. While some, like the male Lalafell, have only minor changes, examples like the female Elezen and Au Ra show some impressive improvements.

Final Fantasy 14 Graphics Update Highlights

• Better shadows and textures to make hair and fur look dynamic and real.
• Shading, shaping, and light reflection on eyes that look more natural, removing the “soulless” gaze some races had.
• Lighting updates that make darker skin tones look more realistic in all lighting, and not just flat color.
• Fidelity updates to some clothing and equipment, including each race’s starting gear.

While Final Fantasy 14 had shown a few new model examples in the past, this was the first time it shared images of player models with dark skin. During the showcase, director and producer Naoki Yoshida admitted Final Fantasy 14 had not done a great job making darker-skinned characters look as good in all lighting. He was glad to share that the graphics improvements should help fix that, which many players were happy to see. Hopefully, the graphics overhaul will allow the diverse Final Fantasy 14 community to be happy with how their characters look.

Luckily, if they aren’t, Final Fantasy 14 is planning to give a free Fantasia to all players to help them acclimate to the graphics update. Yoshida recognized the new character models may not be what all players want, so this free Fantasia should allow players to fix details they are dissatisfied with, or choose other options they now like more than before. Either way, Dawntrail is only the beginning of the visual update, so players can expect more fidelity touchups, character customizations, and other fan-favorite features in Final Fantasy 14’s future.

Final Fantasy 14

Final Fantasy XIV's original release was less-than-stellar, with many fans blasting the game for its array of issues. This prompted developers to cancel the MMO and rebuild it as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Since then, the title has seen a massive resurgence and has quickly become one of the best MMOs ever made, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers online at any given time.

Franchise

Final Fantasy

Platform(s)

PC , PS3 , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

August 27, 2013

Developer(s)

Square Enix

Publisher(s)

Square Enix

Metascore

90

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