Ky Stewart
Published 6 mins ago: June 6, 2023 at 3:12 pm
If you live in Sydney (you’re going to wish you did after this), you need to start preparing yourself for potentially the cutest thing you’ll ever feast your eyes upon: dogs cosplaying as mighty beasts from Final Fantasy XVI.
Yes, that’s right. Real-life pooches dressing up in fabulous outfits inspired by Final Fantasy.
RSPCA NSW has teamed up with Final Fantasy to celebrate the launch of Final Fantasy XVI by showing off our furry friends in a cosplay event called Paws of Valisthea. I’m already obsessed with this.
The event pays homage to Final Fantasy XVI’s ever-so-loyal and fearless companion, Torgal, who is the goodest boy and travels through a dark journey with Clive.
When I think of Final Fantasy, the last thing I would think of is dogs cosplaying as the mighty beasts from the game, but apparently, that’s exactly what RSCPA NSW thinks of.
For those entering your pooches and dressing them up in custom Eikon costumes designed by MissTwisted, there are a bunch of doggy treats and prizes to be won. For humans, you could snag copies of the new Final Fantasy XVI game (upon release) and, for the best-dressed pup, you’ll win a PS5 console. That’s a pretty big prize just for having a cute, beastly dog.
RSPCA NSW will also be there to accept donations and with several adoptable rescue dogs that will probably convince you to buy seven of them when they give you puppy dog eyes.
That’s not all, though, because a bunch of local steamers like Bajo, IamFallFromGrace and MopGarden will be hosting charity livestreams of Final Fantasy XVI to continue the support of the work that RSPCA NSW does.
If you want to see all the dolled-up pooched in real-time, the Paws of Valisthea event will take place at the iconic Darlo Bar on Saturday, 17 June from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.
All attendees are encouraged to take part in the event and dress up their dogs inspired by Final Fantasy XVI’s Eikons.
To register interest, head over to the event page.
It’s certainly one of the most bizarre, yet most adorable, gaming collabs I’ve seen.
Final Fantasy XVI launches for PlayStation 5 on June 22, 2023.
More From Kotaku Australia