Final Fantasy 14's battle design lead says it would 'be a dream come true' to do a League of Legends crossover
Final Fantasy 14 is no stranger to crossovers. It's gone all multiverse with Dragon Quest, Yo-kai Watch, GARO, Monster Hunter, Fall Guys, and (naturally) other Final Fantasy games. I think my favourite of the lot are the Nier: Automata raids from Shadowbringers, if only because there's a scene where a swarm of androids dive-bomb some dwarves, and it gave me harsh enough mental whiplash to be enjoyable, like a spicy hot wing with some kick.
Well, it turns out there's more crossovers on the wishlist once Dawntrail's done with, according to an interview with lead battle designer Masaki Nakagawa. Speaking to our friends over at GamesRadar, Nakagawa confessed his enduring love for League of Legends, which he's played a whole bunch:
"I personally love League of Legends and have been playing the game for a long time, so a crossover with them would be a dream come true." Now, you might be asking whether or not such a storyline would capitalise on the runaway popularity of Arcane, perhaps having you go toe-to-toe with Jinx or exchange fisticuffs with Vi. Wrong.
"It would be great fun if Aatrox and Aurelion Sol were featured as raid bosses in FF14," Nakagawa says. For context, Aatrox is a giant behorned fallen celestial avatar that body-hops via the blade he's imprisoned inside, whereas Aurelion Sol is an ancient star dragon. Honestly? While I'd love to see Zaun and Piltover in FF14 (for the glamour, if anything), those two concepts do sound like perfect fodder for the games' raids: "If a Riot Games representative is reading this, it would be an honor if I could speak with you!"
As for crossovers on Square Enix's home turf, Nakagawa's got his eyes on the FF7 remake, just like Yoshi-P. But, like, only if they want to hang out, or something: "I imagine it would have to be after the FF7 Remake trilogy is complete, but it is very exciting to think about designing crossover content with various FF7 characters and bosses. That being said, I absolutely do not want to interfere with the FF7 team's development right now, so I’d like to perhaps bring it up with them when an appropriate opportunity arises."
Honestly, whether I'm doing battle with some big dragon I've never heard of (a thousand apologies, my misspent youth was in Dota 2 instead) or Cloud Strife, I'm all for more raids. Alas, given the pretty rigid structure of FF14, it's unlikely that this stuff would crop up for years: each expansion only gets one Alliance Raid per, and FF14 is currently embroiled in the very good Echoes of Vanadiel series.
Mind, smaller collaborations aren't out of the question. The Fall Guys event, aside from being hilariously at-odds with the game's ailing netcode, was a gold saucer romp. Meanwhile, the Monster Hunter fight with Rathalos was a one-and-done brawl. Just… don't let Arcane Singed into Etheiyrs. If his track record is any indication, he'll have us all weeping and trying to kill each other to sick musical montages in no time which, while stylish, are sure to kill my Dawntrail vacation vibes.