The FFXIV Valentione’s Day 2025 emote is so adorable, it might make up for the event itself

FFXIV’s Valentione’s Day 2025 event is just around the corner, and in keeping with the tradition of recent years, Square Enix has a new emote for the MMO in store, one so cute that it might make me overlook the event itself – maybe. It’s a bouquet emote, where your character gets on one knee, wearing a sweet little expression full of emotion, and offers a large bundle of red roses to whoever happens to be nearby, or nobody.

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There’s also a bit of wall art featuring 2024’s Valentione illustration for those who have apartments or houses in the game, but that’s not the focus here. Aside from the action itself, the emote itself has a high level of detail, and, seemingly, plenty of possibilities for new poses in FFXIV’s gpose mode. The final emote is one, of course, but then there’s all the frames between the emote’s beginning and end – the facial expression alone; kneeling, perhaps without flowers; standing with the bouquet. I’m eager to see what all we can do with it.

Valentione’s Day 2025 goes live on Feb. 3, 2025, and runs through Feb. 17, 2025, with the usual special area in Gridania and a seasonal quest.

“Usual” is part of the issue here. Final Fantasy XIV’s events are in a bit of a rut and have been for a while. One or all of the three major cities decorates a special area, there’s a unique character who has a quest for you, and it’s tied to some vague piece of FFXIV lore that almost never gets brought up again until the next season. It’s fine! Sometimes, it’s even touching. Square Enix has a knack of making the most of every narrative moment in FFXIV, however inconsequential that moment may seem to events around it. It would be nice, however, if they tried something unexpected as well.

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Seasonal events present the chance to do something unusual for a limited time, like a special dungeon with unique rewards or even something in FFXIV’s PvP mode. Unless Square Enix expands Creative Business Unit III, that seems unlikely to happen in the near future, though, with the team busy cooking up post-Dawntrail patches and the big job overhaul producer Naoki Yoshida teased for FFXIV 8.0.

Maybe some day, but for now, I’ll take the flowers.