Final Fantasy 14's summer event ditches bikinis in favor of superheroes this year, and fans are at war

Final Fantasy 14 Moonfire Faire 2023
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 14's annual summer event, Moonfire Faire, is ditching its usual fun-in-the-sun theme for a crossover event the beloved Japanese action show Kamen Rider, and fans are divided over whether it's better to get a superhero suit than a bikini.

Seasonal events in Final Fantasy 14 are typically pretty small in scale, usually consisting of a handful of minor quests that pay off with a set of unique cosmetic items to dress up your character with. While Moonfire Faire hasn't exclusively provided swimwear in past years, but it has been a principal source of revealing outfits for the MMO's notoriously thirsty fanbase.

This year, however, the event is more about the heat of the sun and more about the heat of the heroic spirit that burns within us all. Moonfire Faire 2023 will pay off with a new costume based on Kamen Rider, a long-running kid-friendly action show in the vein of the Super Sentai series that served as the basis for Power Rangers.

Now, the Final Fantasy 14 community is stacked not just with horndogs, but connoisseurs of all manner of Japanese media. So the pro-Kamen Rider and pro-bikini sides of the community are going to war - admittedly a very non-violent, mostly jovial war, but a war nonetheless. Here are some of the volleys going out:

"where. is. our. bikinis." - @vulpixsi

"Nah bikinis are lame, Kamen Rider's cool" - @Maphteah93

"Was looking forward to cute swimwear [single tear emoji] - @theliteratewolf

"YES I CAN FINALLY BE A KAMEN RIDER! TIME TO HENSHIN" - @Producer___San

"Completely disappointed [sad emoji] Where are the sexy bikinis?????" - Kynn2803

"Fuck bikinis the boys are back" - @itanozard

"I love how split the community is on this, first half is like 'Wheres our new beach outfits' and the other half is like 'YO KAMEN RIDER' I’m on the latter on this situation." - @Hey1tsNate

Broadly it seems that the tide of battle is falling on the pro-Kamen Rider side, since it is at least a change of pace from the last decade's worth of Moonfire Faires. The pro-Kamen Rider tide is coming in and folks, I am here for it.

The critically acclaimed Final Fantasy 14 is about to have an even bigger free trial.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.