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Final Fantasy[a] is a fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy role-playing video games. The first game in the series was released in 1987, with 16 numbered main entries having been released to date.
The franchise has since branched into other video game genres such as tactical role-playing, action role-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing, racing, third-person shooter, fighting, and rhythm, as well as branching into other media, including films, anime, manga, and novels.
Final Fantasy is mostly an anthology series with primary installments being stand-alone role-playing games, each with different settings, plots and main characters, but the franchise is linked by several recurring elements, including game mechanics and recurring character names. Each plot centers on a particular group of heroes who are battling a great evil, but also explores the characters' internal struggles and relationships. Character names are frequently derived from the history, languages, pop culture, and mythologies of cultures worldwide. The mechanics of each game involve similar battle systems and maps.
Final Fantasy has been both critically and commercially successful. Several entries are regarded as some of the greatest video games, with the series selling more than 185 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. The series is well known for its innovation, visuals, such as the inclusion of full-motion videos, photorealistic character models, and music by Nobuo Uematsu. It has popularized many features now common in role-playing games, also popularizing the genre as a whole in markets outside Japan.
Media[edit]
Games[edit]
The first installment of the series was released in Japan on December 18, 1987. Subsequent games are numbered and given a story unrelated to previous games, so the numbers refer to volumes rather 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. As of June 2023, the series includes the main installments from Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy XVI, as well as direct sequels and spin-offs, both released and confirmed as being in development. Most of the older games have been remade or re-released on multiple platforms.[1]
Main series[edit]
| 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 |
| 2010 | Final Fantasy XIV (original) |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2013 | Final Fantasy XIV |
| 2014 | |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | Final Fantasy XV |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | |
| 2019 | |
| 2020 | |
| 2021 | |
| 2022 | |
| 2023 | Final Fantasy XVI |
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.[2][3] It introduced many concepts to the console RPG genre, and has since been remade on several platforms.[3] Final Fantasy II, released in 1988 in Japan, has been bundled with Final Fantasy in several re-releases.[3][4][5] The last of the NES installments, Final Fantasy III, was released in Japan in 1990,[6] but was not released elsewhere until a Nintendo DS remake came out in 2006.[5]
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.[7][8] It introduced the "Active Time Battle" system.[9] Final Fantasy V, released in 1992 in Japan, was the first game in the series to spawn a sequel: a short anime series, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals.[3][10][11] Final Fantasy VI was released in Japan in 1994, titled Final Fantasy III in North America.[12]
The PlayStation console saw the release of three main Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy VII (1997) 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.[3] It was also the second in the series to be released in Europe, with the first being Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Final Fantasy VIII was published in 1999, and was the first to consistently use realistically proportioned characters and feature a vocal piece as its theme music.[3][13] 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.[3][14]
Three main installments, as well as one online game, were published for the PlayStation 2.[15][16][17] Final Fantasy X (2001) introduced full 3D areas and voice acting to the series, and was the first to spawn a sub-sequel (Final Fantasy X-2, published in 2003).[18][19] The first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in the series, Final Fantasy XI, was released on the PS2 and PC in 2002, and later on the Xbox 360.[20][21] It introduced real-time battles instead of random encounters.[21] Final Fantasy XII, published in 2006, also includes real-time battles in large, interconnected playfields.[22][23] The game is also the first in the main series to utilize a world used in a previous game, namely the land of Ivalice, which was previously featured in Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story.[24]
In 2009, Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan, and in North America and Europe the following year, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[25][26] It is the flagship installment of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy series[27] and became the first mainline game to spawn two sub-sequels (XIII-2 and Lightning Returns).[28] It was also the first game released in Chinese and high definition along with being released on two consoles at once. Final Fantasy XIV, a MMORPG, was released worldwide on Microsoft Windows in 2010, but it received heavy criticism when it was launched, prompting Square Enix to rerelease the game as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, this time to the PlayStation 3 as well, in 2013.[29] Final Fantasy XV is an action role-playing game that was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016.[30][31] Originally a XIII spin-off titled Versus XIII, XV uses the mythos of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, although in many other respects the game stands on its own and has since been distanced from the series by its developers.[38] The sixteenth mainline entry, Final Fantasy XVI,[39] was released in 2023 for PlayStation 5.[40]
Remakes, sequels and spin-offs[edit]
Final Fantasy has spawned numerous spin-offs and metaseries. Several are, in fact, not Final Fantasy games, but were rebranded for North American release. Examples include the SaGa series, rebranded The Final Fantasy Legend, and its two sequels, Final Fantasy Legend II and III.[41] Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was specifically developed for a United States audience, and Final Fantasy Tactics is a tactical RPG that features many references and themes found in the series.[42][43] The spin-off Chocobo series, Crystal Chronicles series, and Kingdom Hearts series also include multiple Final Fantasy elements.[41][44] In 2003, the Final Fantasy series' first sub-sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, was released.[45] Final Fantasy XIII was originally intended to stand on its own, but the team wanted to explore the world, characters and mythos more, resulting in the development and release of two sequels in 2011 and 2013 respectively, creating the series' first official trilogy.[28] Dissidia Final Fantasy was released in 2009, a fighting game that features heroes and villains from the first ten games of the main series.[46] It was followed by a prequel in 2011,[47] a sequel in 2015[48] and a mobile spin-off in 2017.[49][50] Other spin-offs have taken the form of subseries—Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Ivalice Alliance, and Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy. In 2022, Square Enix released an action-role playing title Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin developed in collaboration with Team Ninja, which takes place in an alternate, reimagined reality based on the setting of the original Final Fantasy game, depicting a prequel story that explores the origins of the antagonist Chaos and the emergence of the four Warriors of Light.[51][52] Enhanced 3D remakes of Final Fantasy III and IV were released in 2006 and 2007 respectively.[53][54] The first installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project was released on the PlayStation 4 in 2020.[55] The second and latest installment of the remake trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, was released on the PlayStation 5 in 2024.[56]
Other media[edit]
Film and television[edit]
| 1994 | Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals |
|---|---|
| 1995–2000 | |
| 2001 | Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within |
| Final Fantasy: Unlimited | |
| 2002–2004 | |
| 2005 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children |
| Last Order: Final Fantasy VII | |
| 2006–2015 | |
| 2016 | Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV |
| Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV | |
| 2017 | Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light |
| 2018 | |
| 2019 | Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue |
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), Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, a sequel to Final Fantasy V. The story was set in the same world as the game, although 200 years in the future. It was released as four 30-minute episodes, first in Japan in 1994 and later 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.[57] The Spirits Within was the first animated feature to seriously attempt to portray photorealistic CGI humans, but was considered a box office bomb and garnered mixed reviews.[57][58][59]
A 25-episode anime television series, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, was released in 2001 based on the common elements of the Final Fantasy series. It was broadcast in Japan by TV Tokyo and released in North America by ADV Films.
In 2005, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a feature length direct-to-DVD CGI film, and Last Order: Final Fantasy VII, a non-canon OVA,[60] were released as part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Advent Children was animated by Visual Works, which helped the company create CG sequences for the games.[61] The film, unlike The Spirits Within, became a commercial success.[62][63][64][65] Last Order, on the other hand, was released in Japan in a special DVD bundle package with Advent Children. Last Order sold out quickly[66] and was positively received by Western critics,[67][68] though fan reaction was mixed over changes to established story scenes.[69]
Two animated tie-ins for Final Fantasy XV were released as part of a larger multimedia project dubbed the Final Fantasy XV Universe. Brotherhood is a series of five 10-to-20-minute-long episodes developed by A-1 Pictures and Square Enix detailing the backstories of the main cast. Kingsglaive, a CGI film released prior to the game in Summer 2016, is set during the game's opening and follows new and secondary characters.[70][71][72][73] In 2019, Square Enix released a short anime, produced by Satelight Inc, called Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue on their YouTube channel which acts as the background story for the final piece of DLC for Final Fantasy XV giving insight into Ardyn's past.
Square Enix also released Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light in 2017, an 8-episode Japanese soap opera based, featuring a mix of live-action scenes and Final Fantasy XIV gameplay footage.
As of June 2019, Sony Pictures Television is working on a live-action adaptation of the series with Hivemind and Square Enix. Jason F. Brown, Sean Daniel and Dinesh Shamdasani for Hivemind are the producers while Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton were attached as writers and executive producers for the series.[74]
Other media[edit]
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.[75][76] 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 had a novel and manga set in its continuity.[77][78][79][80] Seven 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.[81] The Final Fantasy X and XIII series have also had novellas and audio dramas released. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has been adapted into a radio drama, and Final Fantasy: Unlimited has received a radio drama sequel.
A trading card game named Final Fantasy Trading Card Game is produced by Square Enix and Hobby Japan, first released Japan in 2012 with an English version in 2016.[82] The game has been compared to Magic: the Gathering, and a tournament circuit for the game also takes place.[83][84]
Common elements[edit]
Although most Final Fantasy installments are independent, many gameplay elements recur throughout the series.[85][86] Most games conta
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