Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail The Art of Succession - Relics of Heritage - review — Great art, but more of the same

Another expansion, another set of artbooks! We’ve done this song and dance many times before and, despite my criticisms of wanting to hear more from the developers and issues with layout, the Final Fantasy XIV artbooks haven’t changed at all. The Art of Succession - Relics of Heritage - is no different, so let’s get right into the nitty gritty. 

As the title states, this is artwork created for the Dawntrail expansion. Whatever you might think of the expansion itself, I think we can all agree that it had some stellar art direction, and that makes this artbook shine. The first section shows off key art and character art, including the covers for the expansion and this book. There are even some character design sheets for Krile and Wuk Lamat, which is interesting to see. I especially like the expression tests for Sphene, as she’s become a very expressive character in recent patches. Finally, we’ve got female Hrothgar designs and their key art. While I would have liked to see some early designs for them, it’s still cool to see how different all the face types are on the page. 

In the locations section, there’s artwork for the various buildings, areas, and architecture for major locations. For example, you can get a better look at the depictions of Galool Ja Ja and co.’s journey to unite Tural. I also like seeing all the different building styles you encounter throughout the game. The subsections on Solution 9 and Living Memory are a treat too, as it shows you all of the ads and products you can see throughout the cities. 

I find the Dungeons & Trials section a bit lacking, as it never really shows off much of a single location. You get artwork for the area as a whole, the major bosses and some enemies, and maybe some of the more intricate designs if you’re lucky. I will say that one of my major complaints has been addressed… kinda. There are a few two page spreads in this section (where a single piece of artwork goes across both pages) and it’s a lot easier to see them in their entirety because the binding is a bit looser. I don’t think that’s the best solution they could have come up with, it makes the book feel more fragile and cheap, but it’s certainly something.

The equipment and additional art sections are about what you’d expect. Quick looks at various equipment and some artwork that wouldn’t fit in other sections. Again, I’d love to see some designs leading up to the final versions, but it’s still a decent compilation of artwork. There are also some mounts and minions here, and I will never forgive Square Enix for putting Moenbryda on the Crescent Moon mount; I still miss her

Finally, we have a short two pages with messages from the art team before the insert with the included minion code, this time one of Erenville. I always love hearing straight from developers themselves commenting on what they made, but as usual I would have preferred commentary be spread throughout the book rather than a few general messages at the end.