Just finished it yesterday. (THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS)

Starting from Heritage Found and Alexandria, it had a pretty good story to tell, and Wuk Lamat was no longer an annoying loser at that point. I respect their decision not to put too much focus on old scions, as there’s no character development to push forward there.

The patterns of tragedy they use to form ideas for their final zones/dungeons are perhaps a little bit predictable, but this was still a new twist, and it worked well. I also try to remind myself that Dawntrail would not be entirely unique for having a strong ending with a slightly more forgettable leadup. I want to recognize considering the longevity of MMOs, it was very daring of them to give us a “dead and empty” final zone with only a muted soundtrack; basically causing us to miss the golden lights every single time we see it now. It was obvious a lot of work went into Yesterland and all the other locations, so seeing them turned into a “WIP Hammer map” absolutely hammered the themes of loss they were aiming for perfectly.

It’s that leadup and the connecting of those strong themes I take the most issue with. The arc of the rite of succession, I think tried to connect to some of it later on, but didn’t manage it. The closest thing I can see is the prompt “A good leader wishes to achieve peace and happiness for their people. But, can you face the consequences of that price being the lives and happiness of others?” There are some ways I can see this working out:

• When Valigarmanda is freed, have it cause some death/chaos before being corralled and killed. The people, as a result, blame Wuk Lamat and Gulool Ja Ja for Urqopacha’s lack of a standing army to face the threat.
• The decision to “erase the Endless” is made before traveling through the gate, possibly through a recorded message left by Cahciua. Instead of going straight there, Wuk Lamat and Koana both reject the request and spend time angrily insisting to the more scholarly heroes to research a better way - since it’s such a betrayal of her values, and ending lives to benefit their own nation makes them no better than Zoraal Ja. Only through some mature self-reflection does Wuk agree to the task, and the burden of that erasure weighs heavily each time on her.
• Erase the western arc and the parade float arc. Neither of these gave any character development, and the parade arc even smacked of cultural ignorance. This can give more time to other individual trials that can each touch on themes of tradition, war, and conflict.
• Extend the question of why the younger Pelu Pelu embrace war as a chance for monetary gain. This should be a strong moment to challenge the simplistic viewpoint of “Peace and understanding above all else.” eg; “My grandfather made his fortunes selling weapons and medicine during times of strife. Before then, we barely had enough to survive. To us, the idea of ‘avoiding war’ is a folly. Everyone is at war - even if it’s one with starvation or poverty.”
• Somehow give more chances for the Mamool Ja to converse with Sphene. The direct connection between the genocidal crimes of the Skydeep Cenote and the City of Gold shouldn’t be lost, and given that Bakool Ja Ja’s arc of “forced into being a weapon of war” was one of the best parts of early Dawntrail, it could drive the future conflict a bit better.
• One idea for the Xibruq Pibil arc (the culinary competition): This arc could both acknowledge the message of finding common ground and getting to know each other for simple pleasures and smiles, but also address how, for all his legend and accomplishment, Gulool Ja Ja sort of “failed” to bring peace to the region. The Mamool Ja still felt trapped by their infertile land, and turned to horrific measures to work their way out of it. This could even pivot the rite of succession from “You’re good enough to be Dawnservant I guess” to “You’ve surpassed me where I’ve failed.”

There’s some other simple criticisms that I think are common - in most scenes I didn’t have direct issue with Wuk Lamat, and I recognize new stories need new characters with their own arcs. The most specific thing that comes to mind is the vicious yells in emotional scenes didn’t deliver much, mainly because of the forced accent. There was one scene towards the end of the rite of succession that gave a lot of “I’ve been thinking” buildup and really failed on writing by just cycling the stuff about friendship and happiness, when it could’ve put in a lot of work on those themes I mentioned above.