FFXIV Dawntrail Graphics Update Before and After Detailed Comparison

My middie Hyur looked like I hadn't slept in three days and had been crying. Puffy bags under the eyes. As long as the Fantasia has caffeine in it, I should be fine.

This update gave me a huge glow up. I play as a dark skinned midlander, and I can attest to square giving dark complexions some love, and it really toned my muscles. I almost look hot for a middy.

The graphical update made my male Xaela go from scary Yakuza boss to how my wife describes it, "Bad Boy with a soft side Daddy vibes" and she wont stop simping. It made her Raen a trillion times more adorable and protectable though so its only fair. Its insane how much better the update made our characters look.

Like many others, I believe that the facial adjustments still need some work. But I have faith that the team will deliver. The environmental updates were a breath of fresh air, especially the work on the shadows (no more 10 fps shadow movement)!

What surprised me is how subtle changes can make a huge difference with this update. My old Highlander was perfect, but he didn't feel right in Dawntrail and I couldn't figure out why. I realized the old eyes I chose were just slightly smaller in the update. The result: his face looked chunkier. I used my Fantasia, colored his eyes more of blue steel, sorted through the options and switched from #1 eyes to #6 eyes--suddenly, my boy looked like my boy again.:eyes-purple-crying:

I ran Copperbell Mines yesterday and it was gorgeous. After doing that dungeon I've seriously considered doing another run through the story in New Game +. The shine on the rocks, especially in the wet areas, was phenomenal.

That setting switch from 100-->99 makes a surprisingly large difference! tysm

The mounts leaning/rolling when turning applies on the ground as well as in the air. Regarding my character, I've noticed something odd with the update: limbal rings sometimes appear dark, and sometimes appear to be practically glowing. I don't know yet if the difference is determined by the angle the light hits them at or what, but I've seen both effects in and out of cutscenes. Edit: It's definitely lighting.

The first thing i noticed was now my avatar has eye bags. Eye bags perhaps were already there at least since Shb/ew, but in DT more visible

My elezen man’s face changed and some small details are off. The previously flat eyebrows have an arch now. It seems insignificant but it really alters his look and makes him look expressive. The old brows gave him a very fae and unaffected look. Overall I’m satisfied with the update but I wish we could have the old brow option.

The update completely changed my hyur... Like the character I've been playing for years is no longer the same person, and I am trying to get used to it... Cuz I wanna get through MSQ with the girl whose been doing all the work. They changed her eyes completely, and nerfed her chin hard. I'd argue the change made her prettier, but it's still weird. (Midlander face 3 if anyone is curious)

I am very attached to my female midlander and honestly I was a bit sad after I logged in the first day of early access. While before the update she looked youthful but not childish, now she looks like she is 40 or smth. She has these weird shadows close to the bridge of her nose (between the corners of the eyes and the nose) and the bags under the eyes in 60% of lighting types is depressing. In tavern lighting she looks sweet though. I used the fantasia to alter her jaw and make her eyes brighter, but I don't want to change her race and face (because the other midlander faces are absolutely not my cup of tea) The texture update is very pleasing, on the other hand

I love how my lala looks now! The small shine added to their eyes is so nice looking.

Update messed up my character's face, probably gonna fanta. The environment textures /lighting/ shadow updates are really nice. However, i feel like there is something wrong with the anti aliasing. Seems to be more jagged edges than before. Also, i can't understand how some armor pieces that got texture updates have low and high res textures on the same piece of armor. it makes the low res texture part stick out like a sore thumb. looks so bad.

I have mixed feelings. Everything else is amazing, but I miss my Au Ra eye glow. I will say that cutscenes now give me more emotions and facial expressions than before and I did go in first person and stare at people to see their differences and noticed if you looked at the eyes, they actually have little animations now in idle stances.

Sadly I absolutely hate how my character looks after the update. Not just my character but the entire Au Ra race, so I'll have to do drastic changes

I didn't spend much time as male Elezen I found I had a fantasia in my chocobo bags and used it to become female Hrothgar. Stumbled on the quest for the free fantasia in Ul'dah later in the day while doing stuff in the markets so I can change race again when I feel like it without spending real world money on one.

Not a big fan of what they did to midlander ladies to be honest. My character looks different in a way that completely shifted her vibe. I tried to make her look more like herself but it's impossible with the features we currently have. Also, very disappointed that we got 2 new hairstyles and both are short. :<

I loved the upgrades. I know they did say that it's gonna take them some time to upgrade literally everything and they mention some things take priority over others, but I am kinda disappointed when I found out that apparently the Exarch isn't one of that priority list considering that 1) he's an important MSQ character which they mentioned would be high in priority, 2) he has crystalline textures all over his body that would look just stunning if it matches the update the aetheryte crystals get. Heck when I checked the cutscenes with him in it, his staff actually got an update and not a single pixel on him did

My au'ra's face looks very off, I've seen a lot of my friends' characters just look absolutely phenomenal without any fantasia since the update, and my au'ra now has a knife blade for a nose bridge.. I've compared before and after, it was not this bad previously.