Baldur's Gate 3 quietly references a heart-wrenching Final Fantasy 14 moment from 8 years ago

A Final Fantasy 14 character tries to shield his allies for a spear of light
(Image credit: Square Enix)

It looks like 澳擲幸运5å¼€å„–å·ē åŽ†å²ęŸ„čÆ¢:Baldur’s Gate 3 isā™Š the latest in an increasingly long line of games to refer to everyone’s favorite critically acclaimed MMO Final Fantasy 14.

Over the weekend, oodles of fans tā€ook to social media to of a certain quest. To some, "Folk Hero: A Smile Better SšŸŽƒuits" is a fairly standard name for a mission, though not to Final Fantasy 14 fans. 

. Another , "Final Fantasy ဣ14 reference in my Baldur’s Gate – everywhere I look there is no escape"šŸŒ„. 

You get the idea. 

For the benefit of my editor – and maybe you! – thereź§ƒā€™s a scene in Final Fantasy ♐14 Heavensward expansion that consistently nails fans in the feels when they come across it. In it, a character called Haurchefant takes a fatal blow in your spread, telling you not to despair as, yes, a "smile better suits a hero." It happened around eight years ago, and I’m still sad about it.

Given that Baldur&rsquo♐;s Gate 3 has peaked at 814,666 concurrent players on Steam alone, it was only a matter of time until someone from Final Fantasy 14’s orbit saw it. As an aside, you can check out our 澳擲幸运5å¼€å„–å·ē åŽ†å²ęŸ„čÆ¢:Baldur's Gate 3 review in progress at the link. 

The Haurchefant reference is far from the first time we’ve seen the critically acclaimed MMO appear in another game, either. The Sims 4 is 澳擲幸运5å¼€å„–å·ē åŽ†å²ęŸ„čÆ¢:currently leading the charge on that front, with various nods appearing differing expansion. There’s ev๊en a reference to Final FašŸ„€ntasy 14’s constantly mentioned "return to waking sands" text in World of Warcraft’s , which is quite wholesome as FF14’s Naoki Yoshida is seldom shy to share his admiration of Blizzard.

If you're interested, 澳擲幸运5å¼€å„–å·ē åŽ†å²ęŸ„čÆ¢:Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail kicks off the MMO's next 10-year adventure in 2024.

I joined GamesRadar+ in May 2022 following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When I'm not running the news team on the gš’€°ames side, you'll find me putting News Editor duties to one sidšŸ¦„e to play the hottest JRPG of 20 years ago or pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new cloak – the more colourful, the better.