Final Fantasy XIV producers address Dawntrail character creator’s ‘lifeless eyes’

Earlier this week, Final Fantasy XIV fans got the chance to download the Dawntrail benchmark, allowing them to see how well their rigs could handle the upcoming graphic update when the expansion launches. A character creator was also available, but fans were less enthusiastic about the results.

Many players cited the lighting and ambiance of the character creator making their characters look lackluster. Multiple fans were talking about how disappointed they were, so much so a thread on the Final Fantasy XIV subreddit attempted to address how players could play with the lighting for better results. The comments have become so overwhelming that Final Fantasy XIV producer Naoki Yoshida addressed these issues and shared why they might look this way ahead of Dawntrail‘s release on June 28.

Yoshida shared his thoughts on the official Final Fantasy XIV blog, going over why the character creator might look less-than-appealing to many players, especially with the new graphics on the way. It all boils down to the fact that the character creator was made over 10 years ago when Final Fantasy XIV was originally called A Realm Reborn. Yoshida pointed out the character creator uses unique lightning not found elsewhere in the game, and the backlighting that it uses to show off a character was a detriment with the graphical update.

Although the characters underwent the graphical upgrade, the environment surrounding them did not and thus did not receive the same treatment. “We are currently expediting a rework of the environments and light sources of character creation for the actual game and the benchmark,” Yoshida wrote. “Once that is complete, the current benchmark will be replaced.”

After this point, players should better understand their character’s appearance when they reappear in Dawntrail following the graphical update. The three big points Yoshida wants to correct with these changes are lifeless eyes, facial contours, and a lack of glass or excessive appearance gloss due to weather conditions. Although the character creation may not have been precisely what the community wanted, they did get a sneak peek of the upcoming Dawntrail Artifact Armor.

Hopefully, these changes are to the liking of the Final Fantasy XIV community. The days are counting down until we can make our way onto Dawntrail. There are multiple events on the way to keep us occupied, such as the return of the Yo-Kai Watch collaboration on April 24, the Moogle Treasure Trove on May 14, Make It Rain Campaign 2024 on May 15, and the Breaking Brick Mountains on June 5.