No one is safe from the Final Fantasy XIV brainwyrms, and The Sims 4 Werewolves game pack is proof enough as it contains an FFXIV reference or two of its own. In the latest update from developer Maxis, new items in The Sims 4 should trigger an aha! moment for FFXIV players caught up to Shadowbringers and Endwalker.
With that established, go ahead and stop here if you aren’t interested in a few FFXIV MSQ-related spoilers for versions 5.0 and 6.0.
According to The Sims 4 producer Molly “SimGuruNova,” there are at least two items in the Werewolves game pack with a wink and a nudge ode to the MMO. Perhaps the more obvious of the two, and the meme to go mainstream, is The Sims 4‘s Racked Teak-a Greatshelves item. That’s a little FFXIV reference to The Rak’tika Greatwood, home to certified banger Civilizations from composer Masayoshi Soken. You know the song, the one that made “La-HEE” famous.
That wasn't the only one, by the way pic.twitter.com/zkmYVlbq36
— SimGuruNova ☀️ (@SimGuruNova) June 15, 2022
“Perfect for the Warriors of Write among us, with a penchant for collecting one too many written works and curious from their adventures,” reads The Racked Teak-a Greatshelves Sims 4 description. “These shelves come in a variety of colors for any preferred glamour – one brings shadow, one brings light, some are even two-toned! Having one of these in your house will have you RIDING HOOOOOME as soon as possible just to see it again.”
Molly goes on to mention a second item in the Werewolves game pack, the Seventh Confectioner’s Calamity Firewood Rack. It’s a little tribute to rekindle your post-Endwalker blues, just the type of thing we need to break into a fit of tears mid-Sims 4 building. It’s hard to worry about my failing career as a rockstar, the upcoming Alps vacation, wedding, and alien baby with a snippet of Venat’s Endwalker speech right there. The firewood decoration is one big FFXIV reference to the events that ushered in the end, a tongue-in-cheek retelling of the Convocation of Fourteen’s story, Hydaelyn, the Final Days, and the sundering.
These bits in the Sims 4 capture the same charm I adore in FFXIV‘s localization, full of little tidbits about other games in the series, pop culture, and other goodies that keep things light-hearted between its big emotional beats. I haven’t spotted anything else myself, but if Maxis is taking requests, y’all should add a few tributes to my favorite FFXIV boyfriend, Estinien Varlineau. I’ll take anything — perhaps a dried squid snack with his face on it, or even like… a line of soaps.
Now the ball is in FFXIV‘s court to make a Sims 4 reference, though I reckon there may be one already tucked away somewhere. For now, I figure the FFXIV housing situation is about as Sims-esque as we get, though it’s far easier to claim a plot of land for my home in the Maxis game. Maybe we’ll get a little something when Patch 6.2 drops later this year, the Island Sanctuary already sounds like the perfect opportunity for a tribute to a simulation game.
