The Final Fantasy series has plenty of characters that will go down as gaming history as all-time greats. Sephiroth, Cloud, Kefka, and Squall are still discussed nearly two decades after they were first introduced, and it appears that Square Enix has found its next classic hero: Ariana Grande.
Yes, that Ariana Grande. The pop singer and former Nickelodeon star shared the news on her Instagram page, which included a photo of Grande surrounded by a group of Square Enix employees discussing her character’s inclusion in the mobile game Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius.
“I’m so excited to finally share that I’ll be featured in Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius,” Grande said. “Check out my character in the game. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life and I’m so excited and in love with it [that] I cannot contain myself.”
Grande refers to the character as “DW” on her Twitter account. Unfortunately, this likely isn’t Arthur’s sassy aardvark sister, but rather the “Dangerous Woman” persona that Grande has used since the release of her most recent album. The character sports an S&M-inspired bunny mask, and her in-game sprite appears to have multiple magical abilities. In addition to a charged-up energy attack, Grande can shoot musical notes at her enemies and break into an impromptu song-and-dance number.
Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius originally launched in 2016 for mobile devices. Using the pixel art that made the first six games in the series famous, Brave Exvius was designed specifically for touchscreens in mind, delivering an easy to use, swipe and tap-based gameplay system.
It isn’t the first title in the series designed for mobile, however. The similarly named Final Fantasy: All the Bravest was released in 2013 to scathing reviews, criticizing its gameplay and egregious implementation of microtransactions. Though reviews for Brave Exvius aren’t glowing, the game has been received considerably better than its predecessor.
