Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail media tour: Exploring Dawntrail’s Tuliyollal, Urqopacha, and Kozama’uka zones

June 6, 2024 6:45 AM

I’m not going to lie to you, dear readers: Getting to walk around in Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail was always like catnip to me because I love this stuff. I adore Mesoamerican fantasy, and part of me is still sad that while we got some exploration of new lands in Final Fantasy XI with Seekers of Adoulin, it was focused much more heavily on the city of conquistadors who tamed this wild new land. Here in Dawntrail, we are actually leaning hard into this area as an unconquered land, and I am living for this.

So what did we actually see? Well, the media tour gave us a preview of three areas: the capital of Tuliyollal and two of the zones nearby, Urqopacha and Kozama’uka. That’s only a thin slice of what will be in the game as a whole, but I do think the trio is at least an indicative preview. So what did we see in these lands? Something beautiful, that’s what.

Kozama’uka

I have a bit of a debate with one of my friends; she sees Kozama’uka as being more based on the Amazon, whereas I see Yak T’el as being based on the Amazon from what we’ve seen and Kozama’uka – which is further south – as being based on the Iguazu falls on the boundary between Brazil and Argentina. That’s just the vibe I get. But having gotten to explore the zone a bit more (which also features in the benchmark trailer), I actually found Kozama’uka as being perhaps the less visual interesting zone of the two – a high bar for a series of breathtaking forests and cascading waterfalls.

Some of it was probably just the shape of the map, which seemed far more blocky on a whole, but it didn’t stick in my memory as strongly as other regions. Having said that, I still think Kozama’uka is a beautiful area. We got a chance to explore around and see the Hanuhanu settlements as well as what appears to be a Moblin settlement. Curiously, the latter seems to be settled within the ruins of domed buildings that look nothing like the ruins found elsewhere; it reminds me a little bit of the cermet ruins that dotted the map in FFXI, which definitely seems to be getting referenced.

We also did get a chance to dip beneath the water here, in an area that’s small but still striking. I feel bad that there doesn’t feel like there’s as much to say about this particular zone. It looks nice and different from what we’ve gotten before, even in contrast to the jungle we were just exploring in the last expansion at Radz-at-Han. It’s very clear to me that we’re dealing with a lot of old stuff and a very different approach to handling integration with nature; it’s just that the zone as a whole seems to be exploring so many different ideas in close quarters that it’s harder to really distinguish them without the context of quests.

Urqopacha

Compared to the previous debate about real-world locations, it seems painfully obvious that Urqopacha is modeled on the steppes and plateaus of Peru and points related – and it looks really dang good. One of the things I’ve observed before is that there are certain zones that come up a lot in FFXIV just by the nature of the world. We have lots of snowfields, and we’re not lacking in jungles and the like, but we don’t really have plateaus like what Urqopacha offers; the closest comparison would be the Steppe, and that feels very different.

The zone is a very two-layered space, which is not uncommon; there’s a clear separation between the lower and higher region, one of which you explore before the other. In some ways it’s a sister zone to the Churning Mists and the Peaks, but instead of magically floating rocks or a warm low cliffside, this offers much more like an active mountain climb. And it has a stark, rocky beauty to it that also shows off the diversity of areas available.

While there are ruins within the region (which isn’t surprising, as this is where the Yok Huy once held power), it also appears they’re all contiguous with one another, a far cry from the visual melting pot of Kozama’uka. But that doesn’t change how the area feels, cool but welcoming, with ruins to explore and both allies and enemies alike. Areas include at least one region that looks like a still partially active lava drift, a hostile village of Yok Huy, larger plateaus full of alpacas, narrower stone paths… the whole thing just gives the impression the designers wanted to capture a diverse cross-section of areas.

I’m really eager to come back here and learn about the story behind all of the various parts of this map. It’s a keen example of the idea that this society is old and unfamiliar to us without acting like it’s necessarily all a mystery to the native population.

Tuliyollal

So this city feels basically perfect to me. It manages the task of feeling very large while still fitting on one map screen (as has every capital since Kugane), but it’s also laid out in a more interesting fashion. This is a very vertical city, both in the sense that the map largely runs from north to south but also in the fact that it’s clearly built on a series of terraced areas that slowly ascend in importance.

The architectural blend seen throughout is very interesting, with a lot of older stone buildings mixed with newer wood-and-thatching closer to the docks. It really leans into the idea that the city is a multicultural oasis, blending different parts of the continent together while still feeling lived-in across the board. And it all feels remarkably warm and lived-in. This is exactly the sort of feel I hoped for in the city, a region that’s developed a complete and developed culture that is simply alien to Eorzea but clearly has just as much history as that region.

It’s also colorful and vibrant in a way that we haven’t seen up until now. Kugane was colorful, but it’s colorful as artifice; the city itself is very rigidly structured and has only carefully cultivated bits of nature. The Crystarium is a last bastion. Tuliyollal is a celebration of the nature and environment that it is drawn from, with colorful plants and decoration along with feathers, intricate patterns, careful architecture, and the like.

Obviously it’s hard to get a full feel for the city at this early stage, but it kept reminding me a lot of Sharlayan insofar as you definitely get the sense of this being an old and important place. But where Sharlayan is a city that is based on a strict hierarchy and order, this is based on a blending of cultures and a vibrant life. It feels in many ways like an organic outgrowth of what we know about this expansion. It’s very, very different in vision from the often cold and distant locations we explored during Endwalker – and it makes me all the more excited to dive into the vacation vibes.

Square-Enix provided both travel coverage and lodging for the trip to attend this event. You know what’s kind of sad? There was a 7-11 right around the corner from the hotel, but they didn’t have any of the Mountain Dew flavors that give extra points for the Mountain Zu mount. What? We all got goals.