The latest raid in Final Fantasy XIV has thrilled players with its mechanics, soundtrack and a very specific character. Director and producer Naoki Yoshida, however, can’t do anything with it.
Which character is it about? In total, the raid has four different fights, meaning four different enemy NPCs. The community is particularly fond of Honey B. Lovely, the opponent in the second fight.
Why do players love them? Honey B. Lovely stands out from the enemy roster with her incredibly sweet, flirtatious nature: her color scheme is completely yellow and blonde, she forms a heart with her hands when she is introduced and winks at the player. After she transforms into her fighting form, she captivates as a larger-than-life queen bee in a yellow and black Lolita look.
The Arkadion Raid series is inspired by wrestling promotions such as AEW, WWE and New Japan. Honey B. Lovely is reminiscent of real-life role models such as AEW’s Mariah May in her phase as Tony Storm’s fangirl or WWE’s Liv Morgan. Among the Japanese female wrestlers, Maki Ito or Riho could have been used as role models.
But the players were particularly impressed by their theme song: A pop song from Final Fantasy XIV is about a honey bee and is currently playing on a loop among MMORPG players
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Loved by fans, spurned by the boss – Honey B. Lovely
What does Naoki Yoshida say about this? Our colleagues from PC Gamesn N asked Naoki Yoshida at gamescom 2024 about his opinion on Honey B. Lovely. Surprisingly, he doesn’t like her at all:
Not in terms of mechanics, but in terms of her character, Honey B. Lovely isn’t really my cup of tea, sorry. Because… I don’t like characters that act like that.
[Anm. d. Red: Naoki Yoshida macht bei den letzten Worten das Herz mit der Hand nach]
He goes on to say that he was incredibly excited about the fans’ reaction to the pro wrestling-inspired raid. In his opinion, people hadn’t expected it. He is pleased that this first raid tier made such a strong impression:
I think this time around with the lineup of characters we had, they all have their own personalities and it showed – we’re off to a really good start. As the raid series continues, there are going to be some moments that are going to be absolutely out of this world, so look forward to that.
Which other fighter does Yoshi-P like? Musically, he, Naoki Yoshida, is totally into the fourth battle of the raid tier. He is enthusiastic about the song Wicked Thunder’s ‘Give It All’ with the voice of Chrissy Costanza from the band Against the Current.
In terms of fighting, he is a big fan of the third fight against NPC Gabbro. Gabbro is a heel, a villain in wrestling. His stage name is Brutalo Bomber.
During the interview, Naoki Yoshida was also asked what he thought of certain NPCs. In fact, he was surprised by the absolute outpouring of enthusiasm for Bakool Ja Ja, an NPC who was rather antagonistic at the beginning of Dawntrail: Players in Final Fantasy XIV are thirsting for a new character in Dawntrail, harboring lewd thoughts