ffxiv Inside FFXIV's Rich History of Collab Events

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FFXIV has had a rich history of collaborating with other IPs, either Square Enix-owned or otherwise. These events have been known to repeat a time or two! Check out all we've seen so far, and potentials to look forward to.

"Such Collaboration! This was NOT my intention!"

There are a lot of wacky items in Final Fantasy XIV that may - or may not - look like they belong there, and FFXIV has collaborated with some pretty surprising IPs over the course of the game! Not all of the collaborations have been with properties owned by Square Enix, but all have been Japanese in origin from companies like CAPCOM, Level-5, and even TV Tokyo.

With the recent return of the GARO collaboration in FFXIV with patch 6.1 and the Final Fantasy XI event "The Maiden's Rhapsody," as well as the addition of FFXIV elements into the NieR mobile game Re[in]carnation, we started reminiscing about all the unique rewards we've received from events and considering what collaborations we could see in the future. 

GARO COLLABORATION

GARO is a popular Japanese TV show - and animation! - that many people have proclaimed as the "Japanese equivalent of Power Rangers." The Makai gear was a long time reward for Gold Saucer activities, and it will be making a return for quite some time during Patch 6.1. Makai rewards include lots of shiny armors and long coats, and even a few weapons!

DRAGON QUEST X COLLABORATION

The Dragon Quest series is another IP owned by Square Enix that is nearly just as popular. The 10th installment of the series was a MMORPG which released on the Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Android, iOS, and PC. And the craziest part is the game was cross-platform across all of them! The most recent collaboration with this game gave us some insight into the questionable Dragon Quest tradition of 'Puff Puff' and rewarded us with the iconic slime crown.

FINAL FANTASY XIII COLLABORATION

This cross-over event was released in FFXIV to celebrate the release of the "Lightning Returns" game, and let players meet Lightning herself in Eorzea. To commemorate, players of female characters were able to unlock Lightning's outfit and hairstyle, while male characters were able to unlock Snow's outfit and hairstyle. After the event passed, these items were added on the Mogstation and are still available for purchase!

NIER AUTOMATA COLLABORATION

Yet another title and IP owned by Square Enix, the NieR series has been met with a lot of popularity for its multiple endings and unique storytelling. The series director, Yoko Taro, had a hand in the collaboration event with FFXIV and helped design boss fights as well as the storyline for the Shadowbringers Alliance Raids. The androids of NieR's universe were found on a crashed space station on the First, in Kholusia... and Warriors of Light even got to fight alongside 2B herself from Automata, as well as receive her outfit (And many other NieR themed gear sets)! As an honorable mention, yesterday the mobile game NieR Re[in]carnation launched a FFXIV collaboration, adding the Dark Knight, Dragoon, and White Mage jobs to the roster. 

YO-KAI WATCH COLLABORATION

Yo-Kai Watch, developed by Level 5, is a Nintendo IP that was met with success in Japan and released later in the West. Based on the Japanese folklore of yokai, ghosts that cause mischief in daily life, Yo-Kai Watch has you play as either Nate or Katie to travel around and catch these ghosts - even battling them Pokémon style. In this event, you could receive Whisper as a mount, and each class had their own Yokai minion to collect! 

FINAL FANTASY XI COLLABORATION

Final Fantasy XI could be considered the spiritual predecessor to Final Fantasy XIV, and Square Enix's first dip into an MMORPG. But XI has been so successful that the servers are still up and running, and the game is even still receiving updates! When it comes to XI and XIV, we had two events to celebrate the crossover: "Burgeoning Dread" and "The Maiden's Rhapsody." Burgeoning Dread included a special FATE to defeat a giant Shantotto - the poster child of FFXI just as it could be argued Y'shtola is for FFXIV. The Maiden's Rhapsody, which is currently in game, follows a questline in which players are rewarded with Iroha's gear for glamour purposes.

FINAL FANTASY XV COLLABORATION

A Nocturne for Heroes was an event to celebrate the success of Final Fantasy XV, and bring a little piece or two of Eos to Eorzea. In this event, players met Prince Noctis who had somehow found his way into our world and needed to get back to his own. Sporting his modern clothes and the very Batmobile-esque Regalia, naturally Cid had to get involved... and managed to make a replica of the Regalia. The questline sees Noctis safely back home, and rewards players with his hairstyle, his outfit, and a four person car mount that flies. This event recently returned briefly before the release of Endwalker, and we may see it return again in case you missed the car... or there's always the possibility of it ending up on the Mogstation!

FINAL FANTASY XII/FINAL FANTASY TACTICS COLLABORATION

This collaboration is much less an event, and far more content permanently added to the game. Despite Final Fantasy XII receiving very favorable reviews from critics, even receiving a perfect 40/40 score from Famitsu, the twelfth entry in the series has pretty polarizing opinions from players. Some love it, some think it bland, and some think it's awful. (Personally I liked it!) This addition to FFXIV brings Fran, a major playable character in FFXII, into Eorzea as a pretty important character in the Return to Ivalice raid storyline, as well as the Bozjan Front storyline in Shadowbringers... and notes from Bozja hint we'll see more of her. It also confirms that Ivalice and all the events of FFXII take place on Eitherys, the world of FFXIV! Three Alliance Raids are added and themed around Ivalice and the tale of Final Fantasy Tactics, bringing back many old faces and some 3D renditions of gear from Tactics. The director and writer for both FFTactics and FFXII, Yasumi Matsuno, was brought in as a consultant and creator for this raid series.

MONSTER HUNTER WORLD COLLABORATION

CAPCOM has been a giant in gaming for a long, long time with worldwide entries like Mega Man and Street Fighter. Its more recent franchise, Monster Hunter, centers around gathering plants and materials, hunting exotic dinosaurs, and making weapons and armor from the remains. Rinse and repeat. It's become an incredibly popular franchise and shows no sign of slowing down. In this crossover, FFXIV players travel to a corner of the Azim Steppe to hunt the dangerous Rathalos - a wyvern-like creature with savage claws and fiery breath. Players in this fight don't have access to all normal tools and mechanics in FFXIV, instead taking a gameplay approach more similar to that of Monster Hunter games! Rewards include a Rathalos mount, a Palico cat buddy, a Poogie (which is just a pig in a striped sweater, who doesn't love that?), and much more. Interestingly, this collaboration went both ways, with CAPCOM adding the renowned Final Fantasy monster Behemoth into Monster Hunter: World for hunters to tackle.

 

So there you have it, that's all the collaborations we've had so far! But what are some others you hope to see, if any? Are there any series or franchises you'd love to see given a nod in FFXIV?

Personally, although I know it will never happen, I'm a Zelda fanatic. I'd love to see some kind of collab event between Eorzea and Hyrule. Given Square Enix and Nintendo's mostly friendly relationship over the years (we won't talk about that rough patch), it's not impossible to see some kind of Nintendo IP in FFXIV. Not impossible...but definitely unlikely.

Internally at Square Enix though? Maybe some sort of collaboration with the Octopath Traveler team, especially given the mobile game is finally coming to the west. Again, these are unlikely to happen but hey, a guy can dream right?

Let us know any that you'd love to see below!