A couple of weeks ago TheGreatestBanana12 wrote about Final Fantasy crossovers in other games, but what about crossovers between Final Fantasy games? FFXIV took inspiration from other Final Fantasy games, including outfits, bosses and even crossover events. If I was to point out all of them we would be here until the next Final Fantasy Friday, but I’ll list my favourites from each game:

Final Fantasy I

In The Seat of Sacrifice trial in the Shadowbringers expansion the boss is called Warrior of Light and has been designed based on the artwork of the fabled hero of the very first Final Fantasy..

Final Fantasy II

The Pandaemonium raid series in the Endwalker expansion has various references to locations and characters from FFII. My favourite is how Pandaemonium emerges from the Aetherial Sea just like it emerged from the depth of hell in FFII.

Final Fantasy III

The Crystal Tower alliance raid series in A Realm Reborn takes inspiration from FFIII. Lot of the monsters will be familiar and some NPCs are also named after characters from FFIII.

Final Fantasy IV

The Magus Sisters from FFIV make an appearance in the first dungeon of the Endwalker expansion, but if you want some real nostalgia, then wait until you meet the Loporrits. These little creatures originate from the Hummingways of FFIV and you might find their singing familiar:

Final Fantasy V

Bosses from FFV are featured in the Deltascape raids of the Stormblood expansion: Alte Roite, Catastrophe, Halicarnassus, and Exdeath. During the battles you will hear familiar music and even certain enemy skill animations were based on their FFV counterparts.

Final Fantasy VI

The second raid tier of the Stormblood expansion, Sigmascape features bosses from FFVI, the most notable one being Kefka. 

The Magitek Walker mount has one of the most beloved music from the franchise, Terra’s theme:

Final Fantasy VII

The references to FFVII are almost never ending, the most notable ones are locations like Costa del Sol and the Gold Saucer. We also fight against the Magitek Scorpion in one of the dungeons in the Stormblood expansion.

The lvl1 and lvl2 melee limit break’s animation is Cloud’s Buster Sword:

Final Fantasy VIII

Probably the most obvious reference to the best Final Fantasy (if you ask why it is the best, you will summon Ben Starr) is the Gunbreaker job which was introduced in the Shadowbringers expansion. If you are looking for more references, I highly suggest checking out the Eden raid series from the same expansion, where some scenes were inspired by a certain field of flowers.

Final Fantasy IX

In the most recent expansion, Dawntrail there is an entire map inspired by the Kingdom of Alexandria. Stepping into one of the final dungeons is certainly a trip down memory lane. Some story elements will also be familiar, but I have to say our Solution Nine might be a lot cooler than Zidane’s attack with the same name.

Final Fantasy X

The final boss in one of the dungeons of the Endwalker expansion is called Anima, and has a similar origin to its FFX counterpart. The city of Amaurot in the Shadowbringers expansion has been created from memories just like Dream Zanarkand.

Final Fantasy X-2

The latest expansion, Dawntrail has introduced the Pelupelu who were designed based on the same tribe from FFX-2.

Final Fantasy XI

The alliance raid series of the Dawntrail expansion called Echoes of Vana’diel is based on the first MMO of the franchise. Based upon the reactions of those who have played FFXI it’s been designed really well and it’s full of small references which will be close to the heart for the veteran FFXI players while the rest of us won’t even notice them.

Final Fantasy XII

The alliance raid series of the Stormblood expansion is called Return to Ivalice, featuring well-known locations from FFXII. Going through the Waterways and the ruined City of Rabanastre had its own charm. Seeing Fran in her usual outfit will make a lot of people happy, I myself consider obtaining her signature bike one of my biggest achievements in FFXIV.

Final Fantasy XIII

Beside Squall Lightning is the other famous Gunbreaker of the franchise and in FFXIV the female Gunbreaker got her signature stance. Outfits and hairstyles of Lightning and Snow were available during a previous crossover event, but if you missed out on that (like me) you can still get them on the Mogstation, FFXIV’s glamour cash shop.

Final Fantasy XV

There was a crossover event with special quests in both FFXV and FFXIV. During the event battle you could fight alongside Noctis and use his warp attack. The reward for the event was his outfit and the Regalia, the first 4-player mount in FFXIV. The event was meant to be a one and only, but it was brought back once more on popular demand.

Final Fantasy XVI

Naoki Yoshida, director and producer of FFXIV spoke to the other Yoshida, producer of FFXVI and we got a crossover event, featuring a fight against Ifrit, alongside Clive, the protagonist of FFXVI.

His outfit is one of the rewards, but more importantly we got baby Torgal as a minion and the fine hound as a mount. Yes, you can pet the doggo…

Final Fantasy Tactics

I was only planning to mention the references to mainline Final Fantasy games, but the 3rd installment of the Return to Ivalice raids, Orbonne Monastery is one of my favourites. This one is a reference to FF Tactics, and one of its bosses, the Thunder God, Cidolfus Orlando has caused more deaths than I can count.The fun part is, that FFXIV also has a character called Cid, who wears a brown cape with hood when we first meet him, so similar to Cidolfus of FF Tactics, so during the raid the NPCs mistakenly think our Cid is their Cid.

These were just the major or my favourite references, but there are many more. Do you have any favourite ones? Share them in the comments below!