Get into the Final Fantasy, Shinji, or Rei will have to collab again!
Well, we live in a very strange world when it comes to collabs. But smashing two great franchises together like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Final Fantasy XIV is something I never dreamt of.
While both are very cool, it does raise a few questions, chiefly how and why? Do we get to see a giant moogle as an EVA that your own character can pilot? Do we ride on chocobos while getting shot by Asuka? Or is it just dressing up your character like your favourite NGE character? What else can one think of to make everyone clap and congratulate Shinji in a circle?
Evangelion is a massive cultural phenomenon that has been going on for years, no matter how divisive it is. There is fighting between the fans and creator Hideaki Anno, the significance of Kaworu in the series, the overall symbolism, depression, and just a great plot that will suck your soul out.
Now, how will this match up to an established MMORPG like Final Fantasy XIV? Time will tell, but Final Fantasy XIV has been kicking ass ever since the successful relaunch and hasn’t stopped since. FF14 has had its bumpy parts, but has been praised as one of the greatest games ever made, even outside the scope of MMOs.
Final Fantasy’s Collab Habits
Final Fantasy XIV is no stranger to collabs like the NieR collab, which made somewhat more sense, or Fall Guys, which was a bit of an odd choice. Even then, Evangelion is among the more bizarre choices, other than just putting a highly successful anime franchise with a history of weird games around it.
Of course, Final Fantasy XIV did plenty of other in-game franchise collabs with other Final Fantasy titles like XV and XVI, and while there are overlapping elements like the never-ending naming of characters called Cid, not many things are common to the same namesake games.
Do we ride on chocobos while getting shot by Asuka? Or is it just dressing up your character like your favourite NGE character?
Maybe the matching point is that both are long-standing, culturally relevant entries, even if both are in different spheres. Evangelion is also known to have weird collabs, from recent McDonald’s ones to high-speed trains to merchandise you can find almost anywhere, becoming a mecha Hello Kitty brand.
The biggest rumours are that most likely it will be an alliance raid mode event with creative input; if that is enough to go by, maybe even a two-part raid event. Not much is said at the moment, and there is plenty to hope for.
There isn’t much news to go on since the only sneak peeks we’ve got are a YouTube teaser, which is just a mash-up of EVA 01 and the Final Fantasy logo, and great music. Nonetheless, this is an exciting prospect to think of and see what the devs will have in store for us.
