Final Fantasy 14 has crossover events rather frequently, such as the recent 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's world allows crossovers to be implemented rather easily and without needing extensive lore reasons to explain why characters from another world have appeared. Having multiple worlds exist in the universe of FFXIV opens the door to endless crossover potential.

In Final Fantasy 14, the world was split into 14 shards thousands of years ago, with the primary shard being called the Source, or Hydaelyn. Additionally, while floating possibilities for directions to go after FF14: Dawntrail, the game's director mentioned traveling to different universes, such as taking a multiverse approach to potential future content. However, the question becomes whether these crossovers are good for the games involved, or if it would be better to take a different approach when it comes to bringing elements from other titles in the franchise into FFXIV.

FFXIV Already Connects To Every Final Fantasy Game

The Power Of References

As a franchise, Final Fantasy has a habit of referencing other games from the series in each game. The most common form this takes is recurring characters and summons, or primals, in the case of FFXIV. However, the references can be incredibly subtle or not subtle at all, depending on how they've been implemented in the world of FFXIV. Endwalker had several references to Final Fantasy 4, with the Loporrits being a rather blatant reference to the Hummingways, which is also why every Loporrit's name ends with "-way."

Even the final trial of 6.0 references FF4's Zeromus fight with the style of the arena and its placement in space before Zeromus appears as an actual boss in post-Endwalker patch content. In fact, the patch content after Endwalker is filled with references to FF4, including entire locations like Troia, the elemental lords, Golbez, and using a re-orchestrated version of Sorrow and Loss, one of the main forms of the sad theme used in FF4 that plays during cutscenes. The character designs also pay homage to Amano's original artwork for FF4.

Likewise, while references to FF9 can be found throughout the expansions, Dawntrail puts a heavier focus on them, including allusions to the game similar to the extent of allusions to FF4 found in Endwalker. For example, the latter part of the expansion revolves around Alexandria, which is the name of the primary kingdom in FF9, and the Alexandria dungeon in Dawntrail even shows a form of architecture that resembles the kingdom from FF9 rather than the futuristic version that currently exists in FFXIV.

Of course, those are just a tiny example of the countless allusions to other Final Fantasy games found within FFXIV. The Hrothgar references FF10's Ronso race, Triple Triad is originally from FF8, the Gold Saucer is from FF7, Doma is originally from FF6, Krile is based on Krile from FF5, the Warriors of Darkness originate from FF3, and of course, the Warrior of Light originates from the first Final Fantasy. As this list shows, FFXIV embodies the series' past and future.

References Can Be Better Than Crossover Events

Crossover Events Are More Limited

Events like the Fall Guys crossover are a fun way to incorporate new activities, especially during the periods of time between significant patches and expansions, where players start to feel bored, having completed the content available to them. However, there's 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 FFXIV, having been implemented in a way that blends into that universe. Crossover events are limited, and players can miss out on them completely if they don't participate within a certain time frame.

Crossovers can provide entertainment during a content drought while players wait for the next big patch or expansion.

Therefore, in of accessibility, references are better than crossover events. There's no anxiety about the possibility of being unable to participate in a reference before it's removed from the game, and players can revisit those references as many times as they want. Of course, crossover events also come with their own pros. References tend to be baked into the game's content, but crossovers can provide entertainment during a content drought while players wait for the next big patch or expansion, helping them keep interest in the game during slow periods.

FFXIV’s World Should Stand On Its Own

It Has Its Own Merits

References help create a rich world in Final Fantasy 14 that's fun for veterans of the series to explore. This method of including other Final Fantasy titles also benefits players who have only played FFXIV by giving references to those games a natural place in the universe, so not knowing the reference doesn't make it stand out as odd or break a player's immersion. It also helps to build the larger world of FFXIV by using the elements of other games in the series and reinventing them to have a new life in a different game.

That's not to say that there should never be another crossover in FFXIV again, as they have their own merits, and there are benefits to choosing a crossover instead of a reference, and vice versa. However, in the grand scheme of the game, references that are reinvented and given a natural place in FFXIV offer more overall benefits by adding to the permanent content that's available for players, meaning that somebody who starts playing in the future doesn't need to feel like they missed out on content that might've interested them.

A series as old as Final Fantasy with as many entries comes with a lot of potential for both references and crossover events. Then, the possibilities become endless when unrelated games, such as Fall Guys, come up as potential crossover material. While that 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 reference. Whether it's better to have a reference or crossover event, one thing is certain: Final Fantasy 14 won't run out of content anytime soon.