Final Fantasy XIV’s game director Naoki Yoshida, also known as Yoshi-P, has made a statement about the game’s community, and he couldn’t be more right about it. The critically acclaimed MMORPG is currently going through the post-MSQ content related to theDawntrailexpansion, which was released over a year ago.The DLC was not as well received as its predecessor,Endwalker, which concluded a 10-year story arc, andYoshi-P has admitted thatFFXIVis in declineat the moment when it comes to the quality of its content.
Overall, the game has never seen such low player counts near an expansion’s release, but Square Enix is still trying to revise its errors and provide meaningful content moving forward, for both casual and hardcore players.This content often comes in patches that are spread months apart, so it may take a while for the game to pick up its pace again– which may be the perfect moment to followYoshi-P’s advice of quittingFFXIV, at least temporarily. Even so, the game’s community seems to be on the developer’s mind all the time.
Yoshi-P Breaks Down The Barrier Between FFXIV’s Community & Anime Fans
There Is An Overlap Between Games & Anime
During this year’s Anime Expo, Yoshi-P attended the event as a guest and speaker at a panel, during which he talked about his involvement with anime and manga, outside of his connections to Square Enix andFinal Fantasy. In a subsequent interview withRPG Site, he talked about his panel at the event and eventuallybroke down some imaginary barriers dividing anime fans and gaming fans. “Of course, Anime Expo is all about manga and anime - but that’s not to say there’s nothing connecting those fanbases with ours.”
Furthermore, he states that several members of theFFXIVcommunity attended Anime Expo. Yoshi-P is right.While the fanbases are distinct, there is some overlap between them, as there are anime fans who play the MMORPG and players who watch anime. Overall, I believe there are more similarities between these communities than differences, and that seems to be something that Yoshi-P has acknowledged from his presence at Anime Expo, an event that wouldn’t normally make too much sense for Square Enix to be present at.
FFXIV Could Benefit From Anime-Related Crossover Events
Collab Events Can Be Positive For Both Franchises
While Yoshi-P has not necessarily hinted at any potential changes to the game after his attendance at the event, other than ways of improving the quality of the game duringDawntrail’s roadmap,his positive acknowledgment that the barriers that separate theFFXIVand anime communities are thin sparks hope for potential crossover events within the MMORPG. The MMO has had other types of crossovers before, but not with anime series. I believe that the popular onlineFinal Fantasygame could benefit from crossovers with different anime franchises.
Looking away from the game and Square Enix, proof of that is the newHonkai: Star Railcollab withFate.The live-service turn-based RPG by HoYoverse is receiving a crossover event with theFate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Worksanime series in Version 3.4, and, in doing so, bringing characters from the anime as playable units within the game. In addition to that, players will be treated with an exclusive event they will also be able to participate in, as well as a free copy of Archer, one of the aforementioned crossover characters.
The true results of this collab event have yet to be seen, butit’s proof that there is overlap between the communities and that it could be beneficialto the game and the anime series alike.
The appeal of Saber and Archer as playable characters could attract new and returning players toHonkai: Star Rail, while the collab could prompt players to watch the anime.
The franchises aren’t directly linked, buttheir similarities surpass their differences, and the crossover is a conduit to establishing a stronger connection. I believe that something similar could also happen within theFFXIVcommunity with any number of anime franchises.
FFXIV’s Previous Crossover Events Were Well-Received
The MMORPG has a long history of crossover events, but never with an anime series. Some of thebestFFXIVcrossover eventsinclude collabs withMonster Hunter,NieR: Automata, and otherFinal Fantasygames. Recently, the game has had a crossover event withFall Guys, which adds a special party game mode in the Gold Saucer, for example.Before that, the game had also seen a crossover withGaro, a Japanese tokusatsu TV show, with several of its iconic armors becoming available in the MMORPG.
The majority of the crossover events so far have been positively received by the community, and including iconic anime series would be a means of reaching that status once more. The good thing is that Yoshi-P’s perception of a barrier between the communities has fallen, so the likelihood of a potential crossover event has improved. Such an event could attract new players and tease veterans to return from their pauses, so the hope is that Yoshi-P’s attendance at Anime Expo could bring good news for theFinal Fantasy XIVcommunity, a portion of which is also composed of anime fans.
