Summary
- FF16 and FF14 fans can now enjoy a crossover event featuring Clive's adventure in Eorzea.
- The Wandering Minstrel plays a crucial role in offering challenging quests and representing Naoki Yoshida.
- Naoki Yoshida's connection to both FF16 and FF14 adds humor to the collaboration event in a playful way.
Spoilers for the Final Fantasy 16 collaboration in Final Fantasy 14 ahead.
It doesn't take much for players to notice the striking similarities between Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 14, be it through the character designs, shared worldbuilding concepts, the importance of eikons (or primal), and others. Because of these similarities, fans have been quick on the draw to ask about when Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 14 would crossover, and after many months of waiting and wondering, that crossover has finally arrived.
The questline that unites FF14 and FF16 is rather standard fair for the game, but that doesn't make it any less special as players are enjoying an adventure with Clive about finding himself and self-forgiveness. Tying directly into the story and themes of Final Fantasy 16, Clive's adventures in Eorzea come to a head with a fight against the Eikon Ifrit, which is very different from the primal the MMO's players are familiar with. In the end, the event makes it a point to highlight one important detail that's been around since the demand for the crossover began.
Final Fantasy 14 Uses the Wandering Minstrel To Incredible Comedic Effect in The Path Infernal
The Importance of the Wandering Minstrel in Final Fantasy 14
Playing the critically acclaimed MMO sees players befriending a wide cast of characters from temporary acquaintances for smaller stories to the reoccurring characters of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, and somewhere in between sits the Wandering Minstrel. The Wandering Minstrel is an NPC known for handing out the most difficult optional quests, such as FF14's savage and ultimate raids while using his musical prowess to recreate story quests while using artistic liberties to make them even tougher for the Warrior of Light.
There's more to him than just serving as a quest-giver, as he plays an important part in a number of limited-time quests. Through the recent The Rising quest from 2023, it's made clear that the Wandering Minstrel is a stand-in for Final Fantasy 14' s director and producer, Naoki Yoshida, who thanks players for allowing him to tell their stories through the game itself. Since 2023's The Rising event was made to celebrate A Realm Reborn's 10th anniversary, seeing it off with a character who's been in the game since the original version came to its climactic end.
The Importance of Naoki Yoshida With Final Fantasy 16
Naoki Yoshida's importance doesn't end at the Wandering Minstrel, as Yoshida is famously known as the director and producer of Final Fantasy 16 as well as the critically acclaimed MMO. The obvious connection between both Final Fantasy titles was one of the big contributors to the demand for the collaboration event, which Yoshida had been asked about in interviews for both games.
Instead of answering these desires directly, Yoshi-P decided to consistently say he had to ask "the other Yoshida working on the other game" for his consent.
It became a bit of a running joke after a while, and apparently he (or someone on the dev team) sought out a way to immortalize his sense of humor. After The Path Infernal comes to a close and Clive finds his way back to his star, the Wandering Minstrel comments that he'd love to chronicle Clive's story, but that job "belongs to someone else." It's rather obvious that this statement is meant to be one more moment of poking fun at who the Wandering Minstrel stands in for, which is the Yoshi-P who created Final Fantasy 14 as there's "another Yoshida" working on FF16.
This is both brought home by how the Wandering Minstrel proceeds to lean on the fourth wall and insist that if anyone can see Clive's story to completion, it would be the player. It rings true that the fans will be the ones to help Clive grow stronger in Final Fantasy 16 in reality, provided they buy the game after seeing the fun advertisement Final Fantasy 14 provided to the end.
Final Fantasy 14 (2010)
- Released
- August 27, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
Begin your adventure in FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn
Create your very own Warrior of Light and embark upon a quest to deliver the land from an eternity of Darkness.
Take to the skies in FINAL FANTASY XIV: Heavensward
Take your first steps in the reclusive nation of Ishgard, locked in a seemingly never-ending struggle with dragons.
Rekindle the fires of hope in FINAL FANTASY XIV: Stormblood
Journey to the East and rise up against the might of the Garlean Empire.
Become the darkness in FINAL FANTASY XIV: Shadowbringers
Travel to a world where light ushers all unto oblivion. But hope is not yet lost, for where there is light there is shadow.
Journey to the very stars above in FINAL FANTASY XIV: Endwalker
A great calamity has been building - a second advent of the Final Days. The Warrior of Light must journey ever higher and stand firm as hope's last bastion.
Set forth for new horizons in FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail
Blue seas, clear skies, and boundless possibilities await! Explore uncharted territories with familiar faces as hope's light dawns once more.
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Engine
- Crystal Tools
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Final Fantasy
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- MMORPG
- Metascore
- 90
- Platforms That Support Crossplay
- PC, PS4 & PS5
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
