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[Column] Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: On Lightning's Role in FFXIV
BillMurphy
Former Managing EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 4,565
Lightning is one of the most iconic of all Final Fantasy characters, warranting her own game. There is and will be a connection between Lightning and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Find out what it is in our latest column and then leave your thoughts in the comments.
A long time ago in a land far far away... well about a month ago in California during E3 Naoki Yoshida, aka Yoshi P, director and producer for FFXIV:ARR announced in this live letter from the producer that Lightning of Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2, and the upcoming Lightning Returns fame will make an appearance in Eorzea. At this point some of you might be scratching your head with quizzical looks on your face. She’s going to do what? Know that you are not alone.
Read more of Rob Lashley's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - A Lightning Returns.
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Comments
Im guessing the next FF character to show up in FF14, but with a very good cause to, will be Noctis from FF15.
Im also guessing this cross over event will happen shortly before FF15 is released.
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WoW has enough pop culture references to fill the database of most MMORPG servers...
I don't think FFXIV:ARR is going to be hurt by a couple of game/universe cross-overs.
I wonder if she'll also have a boobjob on FFXIV.
"Lightning is one of the most iconic of all Final Fantasy characters"? Thats news to me......
Last I heard she was a failed attempt to recapture the popularity of Cloud Strife. Not exactly iconic
Honestly, I just cheapens the credibility of the whole game a little bit.
Might as well have Kal-El show up...it would feel every bit as absurd save that he is not another Square Enix invention and Lighting is...so thats the only reason she's there?
It just feels like a stunt.
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone
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no lighting can jump time and space and worlds
She is? Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, yes. Fighter, Black Mage, yes. Tera, Kefka, yes. Kain, Cecil, yes.
Lightning? No. Sorry. Not yet.
Edit: Also, even less arguably, Cid is the iconic character in Final Fantasy, appearing in all numbered games, usually as a scholar or scientist of some variety.
No troll, when I saw this on the forums I seriously thought it was another grass thread. For those that don't know, just before shut down the 1.00 boards lit up over the quality of grass and it became a bit of an inside joke. I saw 'Lightning in ARR' I really thought and Thunder too?
So Iconic? No, not so much. If they had said they were doing a Tifa Cut scene first reaction, I might have had an orgasm. Lightning? I had no clue.
Bingo - this is what makes it a step too far for me - the fact that it is acting as an ad, which I'll encounter in a game I am already paying for, to remind me to go out in rl and buy another. If they had characters from the older games show up, I'd have no problems with it.
Also, before too many people try to say "Lightning showing up makes sense cuz she can jump through time/space/dimensions" - that is only because that sort of travel, as a plot device, can be made to justify anything at all - and in a very convoluted fashion at that. Just because the plot of XIII-2 was basically that of Dr. Who, doesn't make Lightning's appearance in XIV less cringe-worthy.
not going lie, kefka would be a cool raid boss
It's kinda silly regardless, but whatever. Consider that other non-mainline games (Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts) have featured FF character crossovers, but those aren't numbered-series games. This definitely marks a first for numbered series.
OTOH, does it really matter? It's Final Fantasy and an MMO ... it hasn't always exactly been the most serious series (go back and play 5 or even 7). Or perhaps it ties into the FF14 story: this would not be a major leap.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Would make more sense to have Sora or Riku from Kingdom Hearts enter this realm than anything else. Maybe a FATE where you help them seal the keyhole or something. Would make a whole lot more sense than Lightning making an appearance.
There is clearly some ulterior motive to advertise the new game along within FFXIV. I think it's a bit silly but overall the game is great so it won't stop me from playing it.
It is silly regardless, yes - it's because some are trying to take it seriously that I said that. And yeah, if this were being treated as a spin-off or part of a crossover series, then things might be different.
And yes, its exactly because some - even the devs to some extent - have been treating this like it is to be taken seriously that turns it from a good joke to a bad one. Fourth-wall breaks and silliness are not new to FF, but advertising specific future titles in the series through featured game content is...
I really hope it is a self-contained episode that does not interact with the main story of FFXIV, or I'll be facepalming as much in XIV as when I played XIII-2...we don't need that plot's convoluted nature infecting this one...
"Advertising" was someone's theory. That's not necessarily what this is. By now if you're playing Final Fantasy you probably know about Lightning even if you haven't played any 13 games.
XIV's storyline may actually leave itself open to incursions from other FF's in the series. YoshiP said he wanted to see the Crystal Tower from 3 and Magitek armor from 6. If there is actually story crossover, as long as it makes more sense than Dissidia's script (which looked like Square's take on the timecube guy), it'll be fine.
I was okay with XIII-2, but time/dimensional travel makes for a plot device that is hard not to make corny, and imo that game really flirted with the line there...
By advertising, I meant how it is a sort of fourth-wall breaking that refers to something of current public attention like the upcoming XIII-3, poised in such a way as to remind us while it is still relevant that some action on our part is also relevant...it is too 'fresh' to be treated the same as an appearance from say, Cecil or Terra might.
But it is also that a lot of what has made up the allure of XIV so far is its attempts to channel the classic FF feel - this definitely throws a wrench in that - it is like SE is telling us we should enjoy the new games just as much, even alongside, the classic ones - but their attempts are clumsy and their intentions transparent. That adds to the cheese-factor.
Those things you mentioned are already in the game btw - though they have been reworked to fit the XIV universe to some extent, so they are more like an appearance of Cid at this point. They aren't completely transplanted from their own universes with continuous lore like Lightning will be. They are references, not crossovers. But that is partly beside the point I guess, as I've already admitted that I wouldn't mind characters from the older games showing up - maybe after XV is out and they have stopped making XIII games I will be able to stomach this crossover (though probably not, since the XIII games were among my least favorite in the franchise and XIII-3 looks nauseating imo).
Im guessing many of you didnt play the Dissidia Final Fantasy series.
When you take them into consideration you realize that this idea is not a new concept for the Final Fantasy Series and its all around still a great idea for FFXIV, this means that aside from its own Lore and backstory which is pretty detailed, FFXIV now has access to past and maybe we can wish future events and characters of the other Final Fantasy Universes.
Whilst I loved XIII (it grew on me eventually) and Lightning became one of my favourites, she simply seems too out of place here.
I agree with the point others make about how other characters would seem more at home in Eorzea like Tera, Cecil or even Zidane. Heck you could even throw in Tidus and watch his frustration when he ends up in some foreign world...again.
It's obvious that Lightning has been chosen not because it boosts the Final Fantasy feel and nostalgia, but because she has a game coming out that needs a big sales boost.
Bottom line? Characters from other games with the same feel as FFXIV like I, II, III, IV, V, VI and IX and (maybe) X would have been better, much better for this.
Smile
This is obviously a different kind of case. Dissidia is a spin-off and a game conceived of entirely as one big crossover from the beginning. XIV is a numbered installment, and the precedent set for those is that each has more-or-less self-contained lore. That's why this is unprecedented.
Why? Because Square-Enix said so?
Just because SE is trying to thrust Lightning & her boobs into every new game, doesn't necessarily mean it's warranted, or that she's an iconic character.
Heck, most people I'd think would completely cringe at the new FF characters when they think 'Final Fantasy'.
The iconic characters are ones people associate the IP with. Characters like Cloud, Vivi, Sephiroth, etc. I don't know anyone that think 'Lightning' when they think final fantasy, unless you're trying to forget all the blunders this IP has had in recent years.
Actually, Japanese players absolutely adore Lightning. Far more than the fanboys that hover around FF7 love Sephiroth and Cloud. That's why there's three FF13 games and everytime they announce another one English speakers go "Huh? What the $%@#?" They don't understand that in Japan, Lightning is absolutely adored and loved as a Final Fantasy character.
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This is but a brief parting.