From as neutral as a standpoint as it gets, this expansion is a light-hearted, thin story with a few new additions to the cast. That, however, is the problem.
Dawntrail promised a fresh start and a new adventure, a vacation for the Warrior of Light, what it really is, however, is a giant, 80-quest long babysitting session. Wuk Lamat as a character is what you would expect from your average throne-claimant; young, inexperienced and assured she knows everything and everyone. Over the first half of the MSQ we follow her around and watch her grow, and her coronation as Dawnservant would have served for a wonderful finale for her arc. But it didn't. Instead, the writers decided to incorporate her in the rest of the game and made her incredibly overbearing and downright frustrating to have around.
And speaking of frustrating, the quest design is horrendous. If it's not 'Speak with Wuk Lamat' it's something completely pointless. FF14 is known to be quite tedious with its subquests, but not even ARR felt this pointless with it. The worst part however, was that a good majority of the 'Speak to Wuk Lamat' subquests lead into cutscenes, and the sheer amount this time around, both voiced and unvoiced, was unbearable. I have never skipped any since I started playing, but there was so much empty air present, so many things which didn't need to be cutscenes, so many quests which SHOULD have been cutscenes instead. It is as though the writers struggled to meet the quota of quests and subquests needed while trying to cram in as much screentime for Wuk Lamat as possible. The result is an empty slog of an MSQ with a disney-esque ending and song which threw me back to my Kindgom Hearts days in the worst ways possible.
What stands out however, as per usual, is the music. Soken is a master at his craft and never ceases to impress with his work. The combat this time around, as well, is incredible. Dungeons are less of a drag, with the mechanics for both bosses and mobs demanding attention, and the trials feel upgraded in their difficulty as well.

Overall, Dawntrail is not what I thought it would be, which might be on me for harbouring expectations at all. I completely understand that beginning a new story after finishing a 10-year plan is difficult, and I would have cut the producers and writers all the slack in the world, but they can do better, should have done better instead of returning to their ARR days.
I pray that the raid series are both enjoyable and that the post patches bring it back around as they did for Stormblood. Until then, Dawntrail is my least favourite expansion, by far.