Crossovers are a simple but straightforward way to create fun. Ever since we were kids, many of us have fantasized about what Favorite Character X might do if they met Favorite Character Y, or entered Favorite World Z, or fought Favorite Enemy AA. They’re not without complications, but they’re primarily introduced in the first place to make something more fun rather than enhance drama or so forth. If simplistic fun is a game’s primary goal, crossovers involving our favorite characters is a reliable way to drum up excitement, so long as they don’t impair the original material or do anything else to distract from bigger design intentions.
Go figure that freemium mobile games use so many crossovers, especially within gacha games. It’s only natural that introducing iconic heroes from other IPs is a reliable way to spark interest in games that revolve around collecting heroes. It’s a promotional tactic, that’s why they’re also called cross-promotions. And yet I always have a ridiculous, goofy grin on my face whenever I read news such as Deus Ex characters joining Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.
To be fair, I get Anthony’s anxiety, Deus Ex deserves more than just this in its future, and I felt a similar worry years back when Breath of Fire VI was announced as a mobile game. But a cross-promotion would have little value to a publisher if the publisher believed the crossing-over IP didn’t have enough value itself. This would probably have happened even if we already had another Deus Ex game in development right now. Heck, Exvius ran a Tomb Raider event a while ago, and nobody took that as a sign that Tomb Raider is getting the cold shoulder. That’s why I always view this sort of event with starry-eyed fascination instead of disappointment.
Just to be clear, 99% of the time, crossover events in gacha games are just that — events. Time-sensitive events that have ended long before the time of this writing, and which are unlikely to repeat. So it’s almost a guarantee that if you were to start playing any of these games right now, you wouldn’t be able to access this content no matter how much you play. I also strongly advise against spending money only to get a chance at such crossover characters, because as always, I insist that this is the wrong reason to spend money on gacha games despite that this is how they are designed. I want to share these anyway because some of these are so delightfully absurd that their existence deserves to be acknowledged, much like the fact that King K. Rool can punch Lucina in Smash Bros. Just on a cheaper scale.
Source: Destructoid Enjoying the most ridiculous crossovers in gacha games