Immediately, Blizzard dropped the trailer for the Overwatch 2 x Road Fighter 6 collaboration. This was one thing we knew about earlier within the week, because of an oopsie on the PlayStation Retailer, however at present’s trailer confirmed it.
As I used to be scrolling by means of Reddit, I got here throughout the trailer. And, as any good Reddit lurker would, I took a peek on the feedback and noticed somebody ask if anybody else felt “numb” about crossovers. The remark identified a couple of video games, together with Fortnite, which is infamous for crossovers of every kind, as examples of simply what number of we now have.
It’s (type of) a query I’ve contemplated myself, though not in the identical method. My thought course of is “What do these crossovers add?” Many crossovers, it appears, are extra of a “this anime, recreation, no matter is widespread proper now, so let’s throw it in”. Relying on the sport style, that’s not precisely unhealthy. For instance, Fortnite’s world appears constructed for that sort of factor.
However for these of us who aren’t taking part in these kinds of video games, however are as a substitute taking part in video games which might be closely story-focused, it may be a bit bizarre. There have been quite a lot of crossovers within the video games I play. Remaining Fantasy XIV has completed quite a lot of. Some – like these tied to different Remaining Fantasy video games – make sense. In spite of everything, among the Reflections are based mostly on the worlds of the opposite Remaining Fantasy video games. Even the Nier raids are designed in a option to match into the lore of the XIV world. After which there’s the Fall Guys occasion that pops round each time the devs must maintain us busy for some time.
In fact, with the final crossover, gamers get every kind of foolish goodies, and that’s actually the purpose. However from a universe-building standpoint, it’s somewhat bizarre.
One other instance can be the Genshin Affect x Horizon Zero Daybreak crossover that occurred a couple of years again. The collab gave everybody Aloy as a playable character without spending a dime. She’s simply sat in my character checklist ever since, with me scrolling previous her each time I’m messing with my roster. I’m certain there are individuals who have her on their groups, however my narrative, world-building targeted mind simply rolls proper previous her.
HoYo introduced a crossover occasion for considered one of its different video games, Honkai: Star Rail, over the weekend. The crossover will convey Destiny/keep night time characters Archer and Saber to the sport. Because the reveal was a teaser on the HSR live performance, there wasn’t a number of info supplied. So, I’m left questioning if and the way this can tie into the larger world of Star Rail. It appears there will probably be some type of full occasion, as whereas one of many characters will probably be a login present, the opposite is not going to. On condition that HSR takes place on a number of completely different worlds, it shouldn’t be too arduous to have a stable narrative tie-in. One can hope anyway.
All that stated, more often than not, after I see a crossover occasion, I’m personally not all that enthusiastic about it. I’m not upset both. In spite of everything, if nothing else, I sometimes get one thing free out of it, and it’s tough to argue with that. However as increasingly more video games roll out with increasingly more crossovers, I do marvel concerning the worth that truly brings to the sport for gamers. Sure, some folks will probably be excited to see their favourite characters from one other IP for a bit. However is that on the expense of the standard of the storytelling within the recreation these favorites are being introduced into?
Additionally, with video games that do these items quite a bit, do they really feel as particular as they used to? It’s not precisely novel for those who’re doing it on a regular basis.
I do see the purpose from a dev perspective. On the floor, doing a crossover with a well-liked IP looks like a option to appeal to followers of that IP who’ve by no means performed your recreation earlier than. That stated, I don’t care what number of instances there’s a Physician Who crossover, I’m not taking part in Fortnite.
