Final Fantasy Design

Final Fantasy VI artwork byYoshitaka Amano, who provided designs for much of the series.

For the original Final Fantasy, Sakaguchi required a larger production team than Square's previous titles. He began crafting the game's story while experimenting with gameplay ideas. Once the gameplay system and game world size was established, Sakaguchi integrated his story ideas into the available resources. A different approach has been taken for subsequent titles; the story is completed first and the game built around it. Designers have never been restricted by consistency, though most feel each title should have a minimum number of common elements. The development teams strive to create completely new worlds for each title, and avoid making new games too similar to previous ones. Game locations are conceptualized early in development and design details like building parts are fleshed out as a base for entire structures.
The first five games were directed by Sakaguchi, who also provided the original concepts. He served as a producer for subsequent games until he left Square in 2001. Yoshinori Kitase took over directing the games until Final Fantasy VIII, and has been followed by a new director for each new title. Hiroyuki Itō designed several gameplay systems, including Final Fantasy V's Job System, Final Fantasy VIII's Junction System and the Active Time Battle concept, which was used from Final Fantasy IV until Final Fantasy IX. Itō also co-directed Final Fantasy VI with Kitase. Kenji Terada was the scenario writer for the first four games; Kitase took over as scenario writer for Final Fantasy V through Final Fantasy VII. Kazushige Nojima became the series' primary scenario writer from Final Fantasy VII until his resignation in October 2003; he has since formed his own company, Stellavista. Nojima partially or completely wrote the stories for Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy X-2. He also worked as the scenario writer for the spin off series, Kingdom Hearts.
Artistic design, including character and monster creations, was handled by Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano from Final Fantasy through Final Fantasy VI. Amano also handled title logo designs for all of the main series and the image illustrations from Final Fantasy VII onward.Tetsuya Nomura was chosen to replace Amano because Nomura's designs were more adaptable to 3D graphics. He worked with the series from Final Fantasy VII through Final Fantasy X; for Final Fantasy IX, however, character designs were handled by Shukou Murase, Toshiyuki Itahana, and Shin Nagasawa.Nomura is also the character designer of the Kingdom Hearts series, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, and the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy XIII. Other designers include Nobuyoshi Mihara and Akihiko Yoshida. Mihara was the character designer for Final Fantasy XI, and Yoshida served as character designer for Final Fantasy Tactics, the Square-produced Vagrant Story, and Final Fantasy XII.

Final Fantasy Development And History-Origin

Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series

In the mid 1980s, Square entered the Japanese video game industry with simple RPGs, racing games, and platformers for Nintendo's Famicom Disk System. Though a couple of games were successful in North America, most were not popular and the company faced bankruptcy. In 1987, Square designer Hironobu Sakaguchi headed development of a game to prevent the company's financial ruin. Sakaguchi chose to create a new fantasy role-playing game for the cartridge-based NES, and drew inspiration from popular fantasy games: Enix's Dragon Quest, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda, and Origin Systems's Ultima series. As Sakaguchi planned to retire after completing the project, he named it Final Fantasy. Despite his explanation, publications have also attributed the name to the company's hopes that the project would solve its financial troubles.
The game indeed reversed Square's lagging fortunes, and it became the company's flagship franchise. Following the success, Square immediately developed a second installment. Because Sakaguchi assumed Final Fantasy would be a stand-alone title, its story was not designed to be expanded by a sequel. The developers instead chose to carry over only thematic similarities from its predecessor, and some of the gameplay elements, such as the character advancement system, were overhauled. This approach has continued throughout the series; each major Final Fantasy game features a new setting, a new cast of characters, and an upgraded battle system.

Final Fantasy Gameplay

In Final Fantasy games, players command a party of characters as they progress through the game's story by exploring the game world and defeating opponents. Enemies are typically encountered randomly through exploring, a trend which changed in Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XII. The player issues combat orders—like "Fight", "Magic", and "Item"—to individual characters via a menu-driven interface while engaging in battles. Throughout the series, the games have used different battle systems. Prior to Final Fantasy XI, battles were turn-based with the protagonists and antagonists on different sides of the battlefield. Final Fantasy IV introduced the "Active Time Battle System" that augmented the turn-based nature with a perpetual time-keeping system. Designed by Hiroyuki Itō, it injected urgency and excitement into combat by requiring the player to act before an enemy attacks, and was used until Final Fantasy X, which implemented the Conditional Turn-Based system. The new system returned to the previous turn-based system, but added nuances to offer players more challenge. Final Fantasy XI adopted a real-time battle system where characters continuously act depending on the issued command. Final Fantasy XII continued this gameplay with the "Active Dimension Battle" system.
Like most RPGs, the Final Fantasy installments use an experience level system for character advancement, in which experience points are accumulated by killing enemies. Character classes, specific jobs that enable unique abilities for characters, are another recurring theme. Introduced in the first game, character classes have been used differently in each title. Some restrict a character to a single job to integrate it into the story, while other games feature dynamic job systems that allow the player to choose from multiple classes and switch throughout the game. Though used heavily in many games, such systems have become less prevalent in favor of characters that are more versatile; characters still match an archetype, but are able to learn skills outside their class.
Magic is another common RPG element in the series. It is generally divided into classes, which are organized by color: "White magic", which focuses on spells that assist teammates; "Black magic", which focuses on harming enemies; "Red magic", which is a combination of white and black magic, "Blue magic", which mimics enemy attacks; and "green magic" which focuses on 'buffing' allies or 'debuffing' the enemy. Other magic includes summoning legendary creatures to aid in battle, and has persisted since Final Fantasy III. These creatures, often referred to as "Summons", have been inspired by mythologies from Arabic, Hindu, Norse, and Greek cultures.Different means of transportation have appeared through the series. The most common is the airship for long range travel, accompanied by chocobos for travelling short distances, but others include sea and land vessels. Following Final Fantasy VII, more modern and futuristic vehicle designs have been included.

Final Fantasy Characters

In recent years, the series has featured several males with androgynous or effeminate characteristics. Character names are another recurring theme. Since the release of Final Fantasy II, including subsequent remakes of the original Final Fantasy, a character named Cid has appeared in different capacities: a non-playable ally, party member, and villain. Though Cid's appearance and personality differ between titles, the character is normally related to the in-game airships. Biggs and Wedge, inspired by two Star Wars characters by the same name, appear in titles as minor characters, sometimes as comic relief. Recurring creatures include Chocobos and Moogles. Chocobos are large, often flightless birds that appear in several installments as a means of long-distance travel for characters. Moogles, on the other hand, are white, stout creatures resembling teddy bears with wings and a single antenna. They serve different capacities in games including mail delivery, weaponsmiths, party members, and saving the game. Chocobo and Moogle appearances are often accompanied by specific themes that have been arranged differently for separate titles.

Final Fantasy Common Elements-Plot And Themes

Although most Final Fantasy installments are independent, many themes and elements of gameplay recur throughout the series. Most titles feature recycled names often inspired from various cultures' history and languages including Japanese, Hebrew, and Latin. Examples include weapon names like Excalibur and Masamune—derived from Arthurian legend and the Japanese swordsmith Masamune respectively—as well as the spell names Holy, Meteor, and Ultima. Beginning with Final Fantasy IV, the main series adopted its current logo style that features the same typeface and an emblem designed by manga artist Yoshitaka Amano. The emblem relates to a title's respective plot and typically portrays a character or object in the story. Subsequent remakes of the first three games have replaced the previous logos with ones similar to the rest of the series.

Plot and themes
The central conflict in many Final Fantasy games focuses on a group of characters battling an evil, and sometimes ancient, antagonist that dominates the game's world. Stories frequently involve a sovereign state in rebellion, with the protagonists taking part in the rebellion. The heroes are often destined to defeat the evil, and occasionally gather as a direct result of the antagonist's malicious actions. Another staple of the series is the existence of two villains; the main villain is not always who it appears to be, as the primary antagonist may actually be subservient to another character or entity. The main antagonist introduced at the beginning of the game is not always the final enemy, and the characters must continue their quest beyond what appears to be the final fight.
Stories in the series frequently emphasize the internal struggles, passions, and tragedies of the characters, and the main plot often recedes into the background as the focus shifts to their personal lives.Games also explore relationships between characters, ranging from love to rivalry. Other recurring situations that drive the plot include amnesia, a hero corrupted by an evil force, mistaken identity, and altruistic suicide.Magical orbs and crystals are recurring in-game items that are frequently connected to the themes of the games' plots. Crystals often play a central role in the creation of the world, and a majority of the Final Fantasy games link crystals and orbs to the planet's life force. As such, control over these crystals drives the main conflict.The classical elements are a recurring theme in the series related to the heroes, villains, and items. Other common plot and setting themes include the Gaia hypothesis, an apocalypse, and conflicts between advanced technology and nature.

Final Fantasy Other Media

Square Enix has expanded the Final Fantasy series into various media. Multiple anime and computer-generated imagery (CGI) films have been produced that are based either on individual Final Fantasy games or on the series as a whole. The first was an original video animation (OVA) titled Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, a sequel to Final Fantasy V. The story was set on the same world as the game though 200 years in the future. It was released as four 30-minute episodes first in Japan in 1994 and later released in the United States by Urban Vision in 1998. In 2001, Square Pictures released its first feature film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The film is set on a future-Earth invaded by alien life forms.The Spirits Within was the first animated feature to seriously attempt to portray photorealistic CGI humans, but was considered a box office bomb.2001 also saw the release of Final Fantasy: Unlimited, a 25 episode anime series based on the common elements of the Final Fantasy series. It was broadcast in Japan byTV Tokyo and released in North America by ADV Films. In 2005, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and Last Order: Final Fantasy VII were released as part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.
Several video games have either been adapted into or have had spin-offs in the form of manga and novels. The first was the novelization of Final Fantasy II in 1989, and was followed by a manga adaptation of Final Fantasy III in 1992. The past decade has seen an increase in the number of non-video game adaptations and spin-offs. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within has been adapted into a novel, the spin-off game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles has been adapted into a manga, and Final Fantasy XI has had a novel and manga set in its continuity.Two novellas based on the Final Fantasy VII universe have also been released. The Final Fantasy: Unlimited story was partially continued in novels and a manga after the anime series ended.Two titles, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy: Unlimited, have been adapted into radio dramas.

Final Fantasy Sequels And Spin-offs

Final Fantasy has spawned numerous spin-offs and metaseries. Three Square games were released in North America with their titles changed to include "Final Fantasy": The Final Fantasy Legend and its two sequels. The games, however, are part of Square's Saga series and feature few similarities to Final Fantasy.Final Fantasy Adventure is a spin-off that spawned the Mana series.Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was developed for a United States audience, and Final Fantasy Tactics is a tactical RPG that features many references and themes found in the series.The spin-off Chocobo series, Crystal Chronicles series, and Kingdom Hearts series also include multiple Final Fantasy elements. In 2003, the video game series' first direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, was released. Dissidia: Final Fantasy was released in 2009, and is a fighting game that features heroes and villains from the first ten games from the main series.Other spin-offs have taken the form of compilations—Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Ivalice Alliance, and Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII.

Final Fantasy Main Series

Three Final Fantasy installments were released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Final Fantasy was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990.It introduced many concepts to the console RPG genre, and has since been remade on several platforms.Final Fantasy II, released in 1988 in Japan, has been bundled with Final Fantasy in several re-releases.The last of the NES installments, Final Fantasy III, was released in Japan in 1990;however, it was not released elsewhere until a Nintendo DS remake in 2006.

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) also featured three installments of the main series, all of which have been re-released on several platforms. Final Fantasy IV was released in 1991; in North America, it was released as Final Fantasy II.It introduced the "Active Time Battle" system. Final Fantasy V, released in 1992 in Japan, was first in the series to spawn a sequel: a short anime series titled Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals.Final Fantasy VI was released in Japan in 1994, but it was titled Final Fantasy III in North America.
The PlayStation console saw the release of three main Final Fantasy games. The 1997 title Final Fantasy VII moved away from the two-dimensional (2D) graphics used in the first six games to three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics; the game features polygonal characters on pre-rendered backgrounds. It also introduced a more modern setting, a style that was carried over to the next game. It was also the first in the series to be released in Europe. The eighth installment was published in 1999, and was the first to consistently use realistically proportioned characters and feature a vocal piece as its theme music. Final Fantasy IX, released in 2000, returned to the series' roots by revisiting a more traditional Final Fantasy setting rather than the more modern worlds of VII and VIII.
Three main installments, including one online game, were published for the PlayStation 2 (PS2). The 2001 title Final Fantasy X introduced full 3D areas and voice acting to the series, and was the first to spawn a direct video game sequel (Final Fantasy X-2). Final Fantasy XI was released on the PS2 and PC in 2002, and later on the Xbox 360. The first massive multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG) in the series, Final Fantasy XI also introduced real-time battles instead of random encounters. The twelfth installment, published in 2006, also includes real-time battles in large, interconnected playfields.
Final Fantasy XIII was released in December 2009 in Japan. It was released on March 9, 2010 in North America and Europe. It is the flagship installment of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII compilation. Also in development is Final Fantasy XIV, an MMORPG due for release in 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and PC.


imeline of release years

1987 – – Final Fantasy
1988 – – Final Fantasy II
1989 –
1990 – – Final Fantasy III
1991 – – Final Fantasy IV
1992 – – Final Fantasy V
1993 –
1994 – – Final Fantasy VI
1995 –
1996 –
1997 – – Final Fantasy VII
1998 –
1999 – – Final Fantasy VIII
2000 – – Final Fantasy IX
2001 – – Final Fantasy X
2002 – – Final Fantasy XI
2003 –
2004 –
2005 –
2006 – – Final Fantasy XII
2007 –
2008 –
2009 – – Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy Games

The first installment of the series premiered in Japan on December 18, 1987. Subsequent titles are numbered and given a story unrelated to previous games; consequently, the numbers refer more to volumes than to sequels. Many Final Fantasy games have been localized for markets in North America, Europe, and Australia on numerous video game consoles, personal computers (PC), and mobile phones. Future installments will appear on seventh generation video game consoles; upcoming titles include Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, and Final Fantasy XIV. As of March 2007, there are 28 games in the franchise; this number includes the main installments from Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy XIII, as well as direct sequels and spin-offs. Most of the older titles have been remade or re-released on multiple platforms.

Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy​ (ファイナルファンタジー Fainaru Fantajī) is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy console role-playing games (RPGs), but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise. The series began in 1987 as an eponymous video game developed to save Square from bankruptcy; the game was a success and spawned sequels. The video game series has since branched into other genres such as tactical role-playing, action role-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing, and racing.
Although most Final Fantasy installments are independent stories with various different settings and main characters, they feature common elements that define the franchise. Recurring elements include plot themes, character names, and game mechanics. Plots center on a group of heroes battling a great evil while exploring the characters' internal struggles and relationships. Character names are often derived from the history, languages, and mythologies of cultures worldwide.
The series has been commercially and critically successful; it is Square Enix's best selling video game franchise, with more than 97 million units sold, and one of the best-selling video game franchises. It was awarded a star on the Walk of Game in 2006, and holds seven Guinness World Records in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008. The series is well known for its innovation, visuals, and music, such as the inclusion of full motion videos, photo-realistic character models, and orchestrated music by Nobuo Uematsu. Final Fantasy has been a driving force in the video game industry. The video game series has affected Square's business practices and its relationships with other video game developers. It has also introduced many features now common in console RPGs and has been credited with helping to popularize RPGs in markets outside Japan.