Final Fantasy (universe)
Final Fantasy began as a JRPG video game created by Square for the Famicom in 1987 which ended up ballooning into a massive media empire with dozens of games, movies, comics, and more.
Contents
Personal
I played Final Fantasy in the early 1990s and watched my friends play a lot of it too, and thought it was quite enjoyable. As an American, I had no access to II, III, or V, and I also missed out on IV at the time. My friend Kevin rented Final Fantasy VI in 1994 and we loved it. Several of my other friends also got the game, and I loved watching them play it. When I finally got around to playing it myself, I absolutely adored it.
I was hyped up to see ads for Final Fantasy VII, but, when I finally saw the game being played, I was disappointed. Final Fantasy VIII didn't look interesting either.
I didn't play Final Fantasy IV or Final Fantasy V until my 30s, but I like both of them as well.
I tried playing Final Fantasy VII when it was remastered for Windows, but didn't enjoy it. To this day, I only like the 2D games, but I don't think the display engine is the problem. Final Fantasy VII shifted the setting from fantasy with elements of steam punk to high technology science fiction. Final Fantasy VII and above also started designing characters to look "cool," but really only resulted in them looking completely ridiculous.
As I've learned more about the first six Final Fantasy games, I've lost a little bit of my admiration for them. They're still a lot of fun, but the designers so frequently reused templates from monsters, spells, and characters that the games feel more like remixes rather than individual accomplishments.
Works
Core Video Games
Although the games in the Final Fantasy series are numbered as though they are sequels, the games do not follow a continuous story line or have reoccurring main characters, so the games are more accurately thought of as remixes rather than sequels. Each game has a mostly unique story, but it uses a lot of themes from previous games. Also, each game engine is built on the previous engine with new mechanics and technology being added in each release. Games I-VI all use 2D sprite technology, but VII and above all use a 3D engine. Games XI and XIV are MMOs.
| Title | Released | Original Platform | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy | 1987-12-18 | Famicom | 4 |
| Final Fantasy II | 1988-12-17 | Famicom | |
| Final Fantasy III | 1990-04-27 | Famicom | |
| Final Fantasy IV | 1991-07-19 | Super Famicom | 3 |
| Final Fantasy V | 1992-12-06 | Super Famicom | 2 |
| Final Fantasy VI | 1994-04-02 | Super Famicom | 1 |
| Final Fantasy VII | 1997-01-31 | PlayStation | 5 |
| Final Fantasy VIII | 1999-02-11 | PlayStation | |
| Final Fantasy IX | 2000-07-07 | PlayStation | |
| Final Fantasy X | 2001-07-19 | PlayStation 2 | |
| Final Fantasy XI | 2002-05-16 | PlayStation 2 | |
| Final Fantasy X-2 | 2003-03-13 | PlayStation 2 | |
| Final Fantasy XII | 2006-03-16 | PlayStation 2 | |
| Final Fantasy XIII | 2009-12-17 | PlayStation 3 | |
| Final Fantasy XIV | 2010-09-30 | PlayStation 3 | |
| Final Fantasy XV | 2016-11-29 | PlayStation 4 |
Films
- Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
- Final Fantasy: Unlimited
- Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
- Last Order: Final Fantasy VII
Manga / Comics
Media
Videos
Links
