Topic: Genereal thoughts on Crossovers these days

Maybe it's just me, but nowadays I don't feel crossovers are all that special anymore.

Back when we had something like the first release of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games or the addition of Snake and Sonic in Smash Bros. Brawl were probably the last time I saw a crossover as a special event. At most I felt that same excitement when Pac-Man was added to Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U.

Nowadays, I feel there are far too many crossovers and collaborations it's hard for me to be excited about them.

How do you feel about crossovers these days?

I think it's a matter of circumstance. Smash still manages to make crossovers feel incredibly exciting, and I think that's because getting into Smash has an aura of prestige that a lot of crossovers lack now because they're throwing in anyone and everyone. Ultimate moved the needle somewhat in that direction through its post-launch support, since a lot of Mii costumes and Spirits ended up in the game (some of which were just forced tie-ins - does Daemon X Machina of all games really need to be in Smash), but every new character tied to a third-party felt like a massive deal.

I think truly unexpected crossovers still manage to be truly exciting no matter what, though. Stuff like Cadence of Hyrule, where I don't think anyone could've possibly anticipated Nintendo giving the Crypt of the NecroDancer team free rein on making a Zelda-themed sequel to the original game.

Tbh, most of the crossovers I don't like are from Warner Bros, who consistently feel incredibly cynical about it.

The other ones are fine. I mean crossovers are the only reason Castlevania is involved with modern games. Same with Banjo Kazooie. And the ones that aren't fine, I'm not sure I'd be into regardless. There are no shortage of problems I could find in games, and crossovers almost never come to mind.

@HammerGalladeBro
Ugh...
I hate the crossover ideas recently as the crossover can be collaborated with the franchise I hate them.
Just take a look Astro game, crossover with rated 18+ Sony 1st party in a kids games.
From my point of view, putting such stuffs like that was really against with my gaming rules and concerning about the gateway for kids to rated 18+ stuffs references.
I loathe them all.

For me I think crossovers can be fun if that is the purpose of the game and/or they actually effect gameplay in a way besides art and don't detract from the game. In Smash, they aren't just skins, they have different abilities.

Games which just spam crossovers for skins and make incoherent art styles I don't like. I suppose you could argue that the skins are the main point of e.g. Fortnite nowadays, but in general crossover spam makes for a less cohesive feeling gaming experience.

I don't mind subtle crossovers that are basically easter eggs such as the chain chomp in Link's Awakening. But if full-on Mario was randomly in Link's Awakening as an NPC I would dislike it because that feels too much like you have broken the world building. I mean, if there was e.g. an RPG made where the whole purpose was that Link and Mario got sucked into different worlds that would be fun, but if the point of the game is to be a Zelda game, leave Mario out of it. And even more leave random real life celebrities and manga characters out of it.

I admit I don't totally like the whole Astro Bot zillions of cameos thing because it sounds a bit beyond the Easter Egg level. That said, I haven't actually played the game so maybe it is less of a detraction than I think.

The zillions of collabs with Balatro mostly just feel
tacky to me — it's just doing collabs for advertising basically, not for any good game reasons.

As another example, although I haven't played it, the Castlevania collab with Dead Cells I think is kind of neat. Fundamentally the world building and art of dead cells is close enough to having a Castlevania vibe that the collab can happen without making it feel too unnatural. Plus they have a mode where the combat is more like Castlevania so it's not purely cosmetic.

So in summary... it depends 😆

It depends on the cross over, really. If a franchise I love makes it into smash as a full-blown fighter, great, amazing, super exciting. I know that it will treat said franchise with respect and care, and not just as extended marketing.
If a franchise I like makes it into something like fortnite or as a mii costume in smash, okay, cool I guess. It just doesn't feel like it's a crossover, but more a marketing stunt between two franchises.
Smth like spirits in SSBU are the middle ground. Cool reference, it's a part of the core game, and it's not obtrusive and in your face.
Full-on crossover games and major crossover expansions are cool, they just need to take a backseat to original content. I'm fine with one or two, just not the current state of every single game crossing over with everything.
Basically they're cool if done right and in moderation.

I don't mind crossovers especially if the character has that organic feeling that they belong in the game or the game is made for that like Marvel VS Capcom for example. But when you have Final Fantasy characters in Tekken that's where I draw the line.