At first, I was one of many who were skeptical of clearing new dungeons in Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers with an AI-controlled party. Dungeons (or instances) are often nuanced with specific mechanics, putting pressure on you to burn down bosses before things get out of hand. And there`s a certain comfort in taking on the challenge with a group of actual players who know what they`re doing, likely to carry or guide you if you`re having trouble.But for my first-time dungeon runs in Shadowbringers, I`ve gladly given that up in favor of fighting alongside FFXIV`s cast--it`s hard to overstate the impact of experiencing the most pivotal battles with the characters who`ve shared your harrowing journey.Dungeons have always been a strong suit of FFXIV as they offer substantial gameplay scenarios that tie directly into the overall story. While you always needed a party of real players, it was never prohibitively difficult thanks to a functional matchmaking system to fill the proper Tank, Healer, and DPS roles. But now we have the Trust system for main quest`s dungeons in Shadowbringers.No longer do DPS players, such as myself, have to wait in potentially long queues to progress the main story. Despite a largely positive experience with random players, I`m not burdened with the fear of not carrying my weight (shout out to multiplayer anxiety). And I`m free to go at my own pace since I dictate when the party moves. That`s all well and good, especially for getting familiar with dungeon mechanics, but those reasons aren`t necessarily what make the Trust system so important.Throughout FFXIV, it always felt a little odd that your long-time allies, Scions of the Seventh Dawn, would often conveniently show up in cutscenes once the dust settled, or they`d be fighting their own side-battle that you`d rarely get to see play out. But now, we see them participate in the consequential battles, and they are active in your success.We wanted to make sure that we`re depicting them on th ...
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