Final Fantasy 14 has crossover events quite frequently, like the recent one Final Fantasy 16 event that saw Clive and Torgal arrive in Eorzea or the Fall Guys event that brought the frustratingly fun competition of not falling off the map to Warriors of Light everywhere. The nature of FFXIV world allows crossovers to be implemented quite easily and without needing extensive lore reasons to explain why characters from another world appeared. Having multiple worlds exist in the universe of FFXIV opens the door to infinite crossover potential.
In Final Fantasy 14the world was divided into 14 fragments thousands of years ago, with the primary fragment being called the Source, or Hydaelyn. Furthermore, while there are fluctuating possibilities of directions to follow FF14: Trail of Dawnthe game director mentioned traveling to different universes, such as taking a multiverse approach to potential future content. However, the question is whether these crossovers are good for the games involved or whether it would be better to take a different approach when it comes to bringing elements from other titles in the franchise into the game. FFXIV.
FFXIV now connects to all Final Fantasy games
The power of references
As a franchise, Final Fantasy has a habit of referencing other games in the series in each game. The most common form this takes are recurring characters and invocations, or primals, in the case of FFXIV. However, references can be incredibly subtle or not at all subtle, depending on how they have been implemented in the world of FFXIV. Endwalker had several references Final Fantasy 4with the Loporrits being a rather blatant reference to the Hummingways, which is also why every Loporrit name ends with “-way”.
Even the final benchmarks 6.0 test FF4 Zeromus struggles with the arena’s style and its placement in space before Zeromus appears as a real boss in the post-Endwalker correct content. In fact, the patch content after Endwalker is full of references to FF4including entire locations like Troy, the elemental lords, Golbez, and using a reorchestrated version of Sorrow and Loss, one of the main forms of the sad theme used in FF4 which plays during cutscenes. The character designs also pay homage to Amano’s original art for FF4.
Likewise, although references to FF9 can be found throughout the expansions, Dawn trail puts a heavier focus on them, including allusions to the game similar in extent to the allusions to FF4 found in Endwalker. For example, the last part of the expansion revolves around Alexandria, which is the name of the main kingdom in FF9and the dungeon of Alexandria in Dawn trail until shows a form of architecture reminiscent of the kingdom of FF9 instead of the futuristic version that currently exists in FFXIV.
Of course, these are just a small example of the numerous allusions to other Final Fantasy games found inside FFXIV. Hrothgar’s references FF10 Ronso, Triple Triad breed originates from FF8the Golden Saucer is from FF7Doma is originally from FF6Krile is based on Krile from FF5the Dark Warriors originate from FF3and of course, the Warrior of Light originates from the first Final Fantasy. As this list shows, FFXIV embodies the past and future of the series.
References can be better than crossover events
Crossover events are more limited
Events like the Fall Guys Crossovers are a fun way to incorporate new activities, especially during the periods between significant patches and expansions where players begin to feel bored, having completed the content made available to them. However, there is a crucial difference between referencing other games in FFXIV and having crossover events. That’s why references have a permanent place in the world of FFXIVhaving been implemented in a way that integrates with this universe. Crossover events are limited and players may miss them completely if they do not participate within a certain period of time.
Crossovers can provide entertainment during a content drought while players wait for the next big patch or expansion.
Therefore, in terms of accessibility, references are better than cross-events. There is no concern about not being able to participate in a reference before it is removed from the game, and players can revisit these references as many times as they want. Of course, crossover events also come with their own perks. References tend to be embedded in game content, but crossovers can provide entertainment during a content drought while players wait for the next big patch or expansion, helping them maintain interest in the game during slow periods.
The world of FFXIV should be independent
It has its own merits
References help create a world rich in Final Fantasy 14 this is fun for series veterans to explore. This method of including other Final Fantasy titles too benefits players who just played FFXIV by giving references to these games a natural place in the universe, so that not knowing the reference doesn’t make it strange or break the player’s immersion. It also helps build the broader world of FFXIV using elements from other games in the series and reinventing them to have a new life in a different game.
That’s not to say there should never be another crossover in FFXIV again, like they have their own merits, and there are benefits to choosing a crossover over a reference and vice versa. However, in the grand scheme of the game, the references that are reinvented and gain a natural place in the FFXIV offer more overall benefits by adding permanent content available to players, meaning someone who starts playing in the future doesn’t need to feel like they’ve missed out on content that might interest them.
A series as old as Final Fantasy With so many entries comes with a lot of potential for references and crossover events. So the possibilities become endless when unrelated games like Fall Guysemerge as potential crossover material. While this can be exciting, it also poses the problem of how many crossover events are too many, how often they should occur, and what should be a crossover event rather than a benchmark. Whether it’s better to have a landmark or crossover event, one thing is certain: Final Fantasy 14 you won’t run out of content anytime soon.