No, Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light is not the latest expansion to Square-Enix's long-running MMORPG. It's not even a game at all, but rather the company's latest attempt at expanding the Final Fantasy franchise into other media. With that in mind, FF fans should know what they're getting into with this Netflix Original Series. Dad of Light is less epic adventure with the fate of the world at stake and more innocent dramedy about a father and son bonding over their shared love of Final Fantasy.

"Dad of Light Project! This is my project to invite my father into the Final Fantasy XIV world, a place I adore, and go one spectacular adventures with him while concealing my true identity. It’s my way of showing my father that I care for him!"

Yudai Chiba as Aiko and Ren Osugi as Hirotaro.

Loading

Loading

Basically, Dad of Light is part live-action, Japanese-language soap opera and part machinima using the Final Fantasy XIV engine to chronicle the digital adventures of father and son. The idea being that protagonist Aiko Inaba (Yudai Chiba) sees the opportunity to finally connect with his emotionally distant and newly retired father, Hirotaro (Ren Osugi), using FFXIV as a conduit. But rather than go the logical, straightforward route by sitting down with Hirotaro and explaining the ins and outs of online gaming, Aiko's plan involves clandestinely befriending his father in-game and hoping that their online friendship will one day expand into the real world. As Aiko helpfully reiterates at the beginning of every episode:It's a needlessly complicated plan, but this is a soap opera, after all. The real purpose of Dad of Light is to celebrate the legacy of the franchise and the ability of online games to create bonds of friendship that couldn't exist otherwise. The show's heart is in the right place, at least.My first thought after learning about this show's existence is that Dad of Light seems more like the premise of a five-minute-long, feel-good advertisement for the game than fodder for an eight-episode TV series. And honestly, that perception hasn't really changed after actually watching the show. Dad of Light's most glaring flaw is that it doesn't need to be as long as it is. Even with the extra story embellishments, such as the mystery behind Hirotaro's sudden retirement or the focus on Aiko's own work-related struggles, Dad of Light never justifies its running time. To make matters worse, the series effectively ends after the seventh episode. The eighth episode is nothing more than a pointless recap of the series (one marked by some truly obnoxious narration), followed by an epilogue sequence focused on two formerly minor characters. Do yourself a favor and fast-forward through the first ten minutes or so.Another problem with this format is that the Final Fantasy XIV engine isn't quite sophisticated enough to be chronicling the slow bonding process between Aiko's avatar, Maidy, and Hirotaro's amusingly named Indy Jones. The machinima scenes do break up the relative monotony of the clean, spartan live-action scenes. However, rarely does the gameplay footage back up the frequent discussions about the beauty and allure of the digital realm of Eorzea. Aiko and other characters often point out how they'd rather live in Eorzea than the real world, but too often the game footage feels tedious and unnecessary rather than sweeping and grand. As an advertisement for Final Fantasy XIV, Dad of Light isn't always as successful as it seems to think it is.Despite all that, there's something oddly charming about the story of Aiko and Hirotaro. Despite the very low-stakes nature of the conflict, it's hard not to be caught up in Aiko's plan to finally connect with his father. As needlessly complicated as that plan is, the desire is very identifiable. And the premise works better in the Japanese setting than it probably would in an English-language series. Japan's more rigidly formal, work-driven culture lends more credence to the idea that a young man would have no other outlet but video games to connect with his workaholic father.It helps that the two leads give the series a certain degree of emotional weight and authenticity. As goofy as the show is at times, the characters themselves tend to feel genuine. Occasional flashbacks to Aiko's childhood help lend extra wight to the father/son relationship. Osugi, in particular, delivers a strong, dignified performance despite the largely straightforward material. He shows a knack for veering between comedy and drama at the drop of a hat and paints a strong portrait of Hirotaro as a man cut off from the world and in search of a new purpose. Mako Ishino also shines as the devoted, soap opera-addicted matriarch of the Inaba household, though she's never given enough to do in these eight episodes.Dad of Light maintains a proper balance between comedy and melodrama throughout. The series seems self-aware enough not to get too serious with the family drama or the slowly unfolding mystery of Hirotaro's retirement. Occasionally, the series even veers into full-on raunchy comedy mode, including one memorable scene with Hirotaro walking in on his son at a very inopportune time. If anything, I wish those slapstick moments came along more frequently to spice up the series' otherwise family-friendly sense of humor.Aiko's troubled professional life is another area I wish the series had focused on a bit more. His ongoing professional struggles tend to mirror his father's retirement woes in dramatically convenient ways, mostly centering around the lesson that it's important to never give up in the face of adversity. That storyline feels strangely unfinished in the end. Neither Aiko's slow climb up the corporate ladder nor his budding relationship with a co-worker is resolved in the end. Instead, father and son's climactic showdown with FFXIV boss Twintania takes precedence over all else in episode 7.It's enough to wonder if the writers were leaving room for a second season. Ideally not. As charming as Dad of Light can be, it was already pushing its luck at eight episodes. There's not enough meat to this story to justify even more.