The Latest ‘Final Fantasy XIV’ Crossover Event Shows ‘Nier: Automata’ Fits Right in With the MMORPG Giant
What’s the best way to make a successful expansion even better? You create more successful content., of course. This is the classic not-as-simple-as-it-sounds technique, but Yoshi-P and Co. keep finding new ways to liven up Final Fantasy XIV. With the newest push of content comes a brand new raid, The Copied Factory, with inspirations from the Nier franchise that work like a dream in the MMO formula; and, as Jean-Paul from Nier: Automata says, “Dreams are the mind’s version of reality perfected.”
From start to finish, six different boss fights fill The Copied Factory, each offering new variations of mechanics seen throughout FFXIV’s history. With the only weak outlier being the third fight, the range of fights feels unique enough from each other to keep you on your toes. I have to say that my favorite fight, mechanically speaking, is against the first boss, Serial-Joined Command Model. Lasers blast you from the periphery, all while orbs drop from rotating dispensers, keeping you on your toes at all times.
Lore-wise, the best fights are the third and the final ones. Engels comes straight from the opening fight in Nier: Automata, coupling an oversized enemy with heavy-hitting attacks if you so much as misstep. The final fight has a fair few phases, which are pretty straightforward, but the appeal comes in the scene the raid sets. You are caught in the middle of the epic showdown between 9S and 2B (well, 2P in FFXIV).
The over-the-top, screen-filling waves of orbs and action from the Nier franchise fits so well into FFXIV. The way that raid success depends on navigating boss mechanics has that similar strategic feel the Nier titles are known for. Orbs fly all over, lasers blast every which way, and survival is only as reliable as your efforts to stay out of their way. Oddly enough, this Nier-FFXIV mashup works almost better than other Final Fantasy mashups XIV has done previously.
On the FFXIV side of things, The Copied Factory benefits from an adjustment to gear distribution. The previous content push required players to farm events to collect multiple dropped items to exchange for gear pieces, with weekly limits in place to elongate playtime. This time around, actual pieces of gear drop, but the trade-off comes in the form of weekly limitations: one, in fact. You can only win one piece of gear each week, which follows a similar pattern to last expansion, but the farming time is reduced this time around.
The other tradeoff is a full glamour set. Upon defeating the last boss, the raid group can roll the dice to obtain a full set of glamour gear inspired by the queen herself, 2B. So, even though the gear looks exactly like the raid gear, you’ll have to apply them to your existing gear in order to fight anything. If you try to raid in the level 1 glamour gear… well, good luck to you.
It will be a few months before more of this crossover content will hit FFXIV, but the first round of said content has an intrigue all its own. You may have noticed that I didn’t mention much of the story here. I intentionally neglected to mention the narrative revolving around The Copied Factory because, well, I didn’t have the heart to spoil any of the interactions and shenanigans revolving around the two dwarves you work with. They’re just too great.
