Thanks to Blitzball, Final Fantasy and Star Wars are now officially sharing a canon. Read all about it below.
Final Fantasy X was the business. Seriously, everybody is all hung up about Final Fantasy 7, but to me Final Fantasy 9 and 10 are the pinnacle of the series. FF 9 was the most gripping to a younger me, while FF 10 felt like the more grown-up verson, and featured a game that, to this day, needs a standalone: Blitzball. I loved Blitzball, and I'm certainly not alone in that sentiment, because Blitzball is now officially a part of the Star Wars universe.
Star Wars Adds Blitzball to Its Lore
If you never played FF 10, you probably have no idea what the hell Blitzball even is. Well, allow me to enlighten you: In the world of Final Fantasy X - Spira - Blitzball is the inhabitants' favorite pastime, and it is essentially underwater hockey.
#6: There's a reference to a sport called Blitzball played in a local lake. Blitzball is basically underwater hockey played as a minigame in Final Fantasy X. As a former NHL writer, I freaking loved Blitzball and spent hours winning leagues. pic.twitter.com/uad4uIMcrA
— Mike Chen - LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME is out now! (@mikechenwriter) May 17, 2022
Now, thanks to writer Mike Chen, Blitzball found its way into Star Wars: Brotherhood. In fact, the book is full of video game references: Cal from Fallen Order appears in the story, along with other easter eggs that the write discuess in this Twitter thread:
#1: In Chapter 2, Mace Windu talks about "fire across the galaxy." This is a direct callback to the 2003 Clone Wars series, which opens with Yoda saying "Like fire across the galaxy, the Clone Wars spread." I like to think that Mace and Yoda had that talk shortly after Geonosis.
— Mike Chen - LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME is out now! (@mikechenwriter) May 17, 2022
If you haven't yet, you should definitely give Star Wars: Brotherhood a go - the book is a New York Times Bestseller for a reason, and it revolves around Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker dealing with the events shortly after Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
Now if we could just get someone to work on that standalone Blitzball game...