Right this moment, Blizzard dropped the trailer for the Overwatch 2 x Avenue Fighter 6 collaboration. This was one thing we knew about earlier within the week, due to an oopsie on the PlayStation Retailer, however as we speak’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 number of video games, together with Fortnite, which is infamous for crossovers of every kind, as examples of simply what number of we’ve got.
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, sport, no matter is well-liked 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 enjoying these sorts of video games, however are as an alternative enjoying 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 carried out quite a lot of. Some – like these tied to different Remaining Fantasy video games – make sense. In spite of everything, among the Reflections are primarily based on the worlds of the opposite Remaining Fantasy video games. Even the Nier raids are designed in a technique to match into the lore of the XIV world. After which there’s the Fall Guys occasion that pops round every time the devs must preserve 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 a bit bizarre.
One other instance can be the Genshin Affect x Horizon Zero Daybreak crossover that occurred a number of years again. The collab gave everybody Aloy as a playable character without spending a dime. She’s simply sat in my character listing ever since, with me scrolling previous her every time I’m messing with my roster. I’m positive 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 one among its different video games, Honkai: Star Rail, over the weekend. The crossover will carry Destiny/keep evening characters Archer and Saber to the sport. Because the reveal was a teaser on the HSR live performance, there wasn’t loads of info offered. So, I’m left questioning if and the way this can tie into the higher world of Star Rail. It appears there might be some type of full occasion, as whereas one of many characters might be a login present, the opposite is not going to. On condition that HSR takes place on loads of completely different worlds, it shouldn’t be too arduous to have a strong narrative tie-in. One can hope anyway.
All that mentioned, more often than not, once 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 usually get one thing free out of it, and it’s troublesome to argue with that. However as increasingly more video games roll out with increasingly more crossovers, I do surprise concerning the worth that really brings to the sport for gamers. Sure, some folks might 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 sport these favorites are being introduced into?
Additionally, with video games that do these items loads, 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 preferred IP looks like a technique to entice followers of that IP who’ve by no means performed your sport earlier than. That mentioned, I don’t care what number of occasions there’s a Physician Who crossover, I’m not enjoying Fortnite.
