One of the great things about MMOs is that the content is constantly changing and updating to keep the games fresh and enjoyable for all players. Final Fantasy 14 is one of the prime examples of doing this well, not only regularly adding new features and story content, but also hosting various events to delight its fans.

Since its release, Final Fantasy 14 has had plenty of events, ranging from annual occurrences that players can expect every year to entirely unique events, including cross-overs with other franchises. There have been some fantastic cross-over events and we’ve got them all listed below. Hopefully, we’ll see more cross-over events soon.

10 Lightning Strikes — Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13

The Lightning Strikes event was a cross-over event that coincided with the Japanese release of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13. The event first began in November 2013, releasing chapters throughout the month and with each chapter requiring a higher player level to participate each time. The event returned in February 2014 to coincide with the western release of Lightning Returns.

There were a variety of items available through the event, including female armor that resembled Lightning’s outfit, male armor that resembled Snow’s outfit, and a variety of weapons inspired by Lightning Returns. There was also a hairstyle added so players could really resemble Lightning. While the events are now long gone, anyone who missed out on the rewards should be relieved to hear that they were added to the online store in 2016.

9 Breaking Brick Mountains — Dragon Quest X

Breaking Brick Mountains was a cross-over event with Dragon Quest X that was first available in January of 2014 and was later repeated in September 2014, and again in July 2020. Completing the event quests and taking part in the FATEs earned a couple of rewards, such as the Wind-up Brickman minion and the Thug’s Mug helmet.

Additionally, in the later repeats of the event, there was an additional reward that could be purchased from the toughie in Ul’dah, Steps of Nald, and that was the rather awesome King Slime Crown helmet.

8 Burgeoning Dread — Final Fantasy 11

Burgeoning Dread was a cross-over event with Square Enix’s previous MMO, Final Fantasy 11. It was first available in January of 2014 but repeated in August 2014 to celebrate the anniversary of A Realm Reborn’s release.

This event saw players take part in a special FATE that featured a giant Shantotto, a fan-favorite character from Final Fantasy 11. The reward for completing the event was a Wind-up Shantotto minion. Fear not, for those who missed the event, the minion has since been added to the online store.

7 The Maiden’s Rhapsody — Final Fantasy 11

The Maiden’s Rhapsody: Memories of an Unseen Realm was yet another cross-over event with Final Fantasy 11. The event first took place in November 2015, but was later repeated in November 2017 and then again in May 2020.

This event featured the character Iroha from Final Fantasy 11’s Rhapsodies of Vana’diel content. After clearing the event quests and completing the required FATEs, players were rewarded with Iroha’s gear, comprising of Amatsu Hachigane, Amatsu Togi, Amatsu Tekko, Amatsu Haidate, and Amatsu Sune-ate. It’s all level one gear and is useless by itself, but it makes for some nice glamor items.

6 Yo-kai Watch: Gather One, Gather All! — Yo-kai Watch

The Yo-kai Watch: Gather One, Gather All! event was originally available in July 2016, and then later repeated in September in 2017. Players undertaking this limited-time quest had to participate in FATEs to earn Yo-kai medals in order to purchase Yo-kai-themed weapons and a whole range of minions based on Yo-kai characters. There were also two different Whisper mounts available, one for collecting all minions, and one for collecting all weapons.

The event was then reprised in August 2020 with additional content added, such as new Yo-kai-themed weapons, brand-new Yo-kai minions, and a new Jibanyan Couch mount.

5 A Nocturne for Heroes — Final Fantasy 15

A Nocturne for Heroes was a cross-over event with Final Fantasy 15 that was available in May 2019. The event quest chain required that players were at least level 50 and had progressed past “The Ultimate Weapon” main scenario quest, making it more exclusive than some of the previous events.

This event had a multitude of popular rewards, including the highly-coveted Regalia Type-G mount, armor that resembles Noctis’s outfit, a Noctis Lucis Caelum Triple Triad card, the Modern Aesthetics - Lucian Locks, which gives the Noctis hairstyle, as well as various orchestrion rolls that play music from Final Fantasy 15.

A lot of players missed out on the rewards, not just because they missed the event, but because most of the rewards were simply unlocked by the event and then had to be purchased with MGP (a rarer currency) while the event was still active. Fans have been desperate for the items to return, either with a repeat of the event or added to the online store, but so far neither has happened.

4 GARO

The GARO content was available for a limited time only, though it did last a lot longer than previous events. It was first made available in January of 2017 and was removed with the release of Patch 5.1 in October 2019. This cross-over with hit Japanese TV show GARO targeted PVP content in the game.

Players were able to earn themselves a variety of GARO-themed rewards, such as glamorous armor and rare mounts. The mounts were rewards from event-related achievements based on players winning a set number of PVP matches. This is another GARO reference, as in the tv show, Makai Knights have to kill 100 Horrors and then complete a trial in order to receive a steed.

3 Return to Ivalice — Final Fantasy 12/Final Fantasy Tactics

The initial Return to Ivalice content was added to Final Fantasy 14 in October 2017. It is a permanent addition to the game that adds a series of 24-player raids. The second part was added in May 2018, and the final installment was added in January 2019. Yasumi Matsuno, the director/writer of both Final Fantasy 12 and Final Fantasy Tactics, was a featured guest creator for this raid series.

Unsurprisingly, this content references both of these past Final Fantasy titles. It’s not just the locations and storyline featured in this content that pay tribute to the past titles, but there are plenty of rewards, such as gear and minions that are inspired by both Final Fantasy 12 and Final Fantasy Tactics.

2 The Hunt for Rathalos — Monster Hunter World

The Hunt for Rathalos content was added in August 2018 and is a cross-over with Monster Hunter World. Similar to the Ivalice content, this Monster Hunter World questline is permanent content that has remained in Final Fantasy 14. The quests include a new trial (and an extreme version too) that sees players having to take down a Rathalos. The trials follow Monster Hunter rules, such as the use of Monster Hunter potions and the occurrence of three party deaths resulting in failure for the extreme trial version.

There are quite a few awesome rewards from this content, including Palico and Poogie minions, a Rathalos mount, BBQ furnishings, orchestrion rolls featuring music from Monster Hunter World, and Rathalos-themed armor.

1 YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse — Nier: Automata

The YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse content was first added in October 2019 and has since had additional content added too. Like the previous cross-over content, this Nier: Automata-inspired questline is a permanent addition. The creators of Nier: Automata, Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito, collaborated with the Final Fantasy 14 team to create this content.

The Dark Apocalypse storyline added more than one 24-man raids to the game and offered plenty of worthwhile rewards. As well as armor based on the outfits of 2B and 9S, there is lots of Nier-inspired gear for all of the classes within the game. Additionally, there are a couple of Nier-themed minions, orchestrion rolls featuring music from Nier: Automata, and Triple Triad cards too.