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is a series of video games of role (RPG) produced by Square Enix (originally Square) initiated by Hironobu Sakaguchi in 1987 with the Japan on the console BORN with the play Final Fantasy I . Since, the license evolves/moves in parallel with each generation of console of living room, sometimes adapted on other platforms like the Ordinateur or the cellphones and diversifies in the fields of film in synthesized images and of the Anime.

The series is distributed in North America, Europe and Australia on many consoles, including the BORN, MSX2, the Super Nintendo, the PlayStation, the WonderSwan Color, the PlayStation 2, PC, the Game Boy Advance, the GameCube, the Nintendo DS and on various models of mobile phones. Plays to come will be available for PSP, the Playstation 3 and the Wii. In 2007, for Europe, twelve plays had left for the original series like several plays out of the ordinary and derived.

The frankness was sold with more than 60 million units throughout the world and is since Final Fantasy VII a series major and universally known by the practitioners of the video game, then by the general public with the exit with the Cinéma of Final Fantasy: creatures of the spirit and that in DVD of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children .

Overall picture

Genesis of the series

Square Co. , Ltd. enter the Japanese industry of the video game right in the middle of the Années 1980, developing plays for Famicom Disk System (FDS) of Nintendo, a peripheral containing Disquette S for Family Computer (Famicom, internationally known under the name of Nintendo Entertainment System, or BORN). In 1987, a decline of interest with respect to the FDS puts the company at the edge of the bankruptcy. At the same time, an originator of video games of Public garden, Hironobu Sakaguchi, starts to work on a new handset of fantastic role for Famicom containing cartridges, partly inspired by the success of the rival company Enix with their play Dragon Quest and by the AD&D and others Ultima in versions simplified on PC. Convinced that this project would be the last before putting the key under the door, Square named it Final Fantasy (translatable by Dernière Imagination ). Against any waiting, the play meets a broad success and saves the company of the bankruptcy by giving again a second breath to him. Those which were behind Final Fantasy I count today among the most known figures of the video game: Yoshitaka Amano, person in charge of the design, today artist recognized beyond the field of the video game, Nobuo Uematsu, a type-setter, and Hironobu Sakaguchi, project manager.

Final Fantasy I , and each Final Fantasy brings a new world and a new system of play. Several elements and topics are repeated through the series, but there will be no direct continuation before the exit of Final Fantasy X-2 in 2003. Since, other Final Fantasy were entitled to a direct continuation. Final Fantasy VII is that which had of it more, sometimes several years after its marketing and in kinds which move away from the RPG as with Before Crisis or Crisis Core or Dirge off Cerberus.

Several elements introduced in an original manner into the series made their way in other titles of Public garden, in particular in two other major franknesses which are SaGa Frontier or Seiken Densetsu ( Secret off Mana apart from Japan).

Common topics

Even if each history of Final Fantasy is independent, several topics and elements of the Gameplay are recurring in the series. That it is for the strong influence of the history, the literature, the religion and mythology on the scenario and with the frequent reappearance of some Monstre S and objects, these divided elements give a framework unifying to the series. Among the key objects and concepts which appeared in more Final Fantasy , are more récurrents :

the aircraft - It is about a means of transport flying present in each episode of the series (under various names like Airship, BlackJack, Falcon, Highwind ( Hautvent in French), Ragnarok ( Hydre in French) or Hilda Garde ( Hildegarde in French) and which makes it possible to travel at will in the universe of each play without any topographic constraint. In several plays, in particular Final Fantasy IV , Final Fantasy IX , Final Fantasy XII and especially Final Fantasy VIII the presence of airships is an central element of the history.
classes and the system of trades - the classes of playable characters include/understand (inter alia) the Warrior, the Magi White, Noirs, Rouges and Blue, the Monk, the Robber, and the MIME. In Final Fantasy I , the player must allot to his characters a class which they will keep until the end of the part. Additionnellement, several plays of the series ( Final Fantasy III , Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy Tactics ) use a system of trades making it possible to the player to change class between the engagements. In Final Fantasy X-2 , the system of “Vetisphère” also makes it possible to the player to change class during the combat. In the plays where the player does not have the option to choose the class of his characters ( Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI ), this one often plays a big role in the history. In the last opus non-online of the series (after the VI), the player does not have to choose of class for his characters, but it can tend towards a goal by making them evolve/move consequently, it is particularly obvious in X, XII and VII, where the system of evolution makes it possible to make tactical choices.
types of magic - the magic in the series is generally divided into various schools named according to a Couleur. The white Magic and the black Magie respectively represent the magics of defense/cure and attack. The red magic incorporates the two first but with a reduced effect. Among the more recent additions, it there with the blue magic (sometimes called Lore (To know) or Enemy Skill (Competences of the enemies), which incorporates special attacks learned from the various monsters met. To finish, there exists also the magic of the space and the Temps which includes incantations affecting relative mobility like Haste (Speed), Slow (Slowness) and Warp (Teleportation).

In Final Fantasy VII, the magics are managed starting from the Matéria , a concentration of the magic energy of Gaïa, the planet.

deteriorations of state and the remedies - the characters in Final Fantasy are normally prone to “deteriorations of state” which cause effects handicapping, including silence, poisoning, the petrification and confusion. Although they are present in other roleplays for console, Final Fantasy has also a traditional list of objects used to cure these deteriorations; for example, Echo Screen (Screen Echo) looks after silence and Soft (Soft) looks after the petrification.
Certain creatures or monsters - the second episode gave the day to a creature semi-chicken, semi-ostrich called Chocobo (which comes from a Japanese delicacy called Chocoball where a bird was reproduced on packing) which is very often used as means of transport during the play. Chocobos appear in almost each play of the series. Recurring also are the Mog S (English Moogles, Japanese Moguri (contraction of Mogura and Koumori, respectively mole and bald person mouse)). They are small intelligent creatures which will appear for the first time in Final Fantasy III . In Final Fantasy VI , Moogle is a character with whole share in your team. In Final Fantasy VII , their role is quasi non-existent (they appear only in one mini-play). They make only short appearances in Final Fantasy VIII (in the form of a hidden invocation resolved thanks to the chocobo world) and in Final Fantasy X (they are not any more that weapons for Lulu), and return in Final Fantasy IX where they have a role much more important since they will act as points of safeguard, and in Final Fantasy XI where they have a function of intendance in “Mog House” ( houses of Mogs ) being used of apartment to the players and also as post office. Lastly, in Final Fantasy XII , one finds key mogs as PNJ in several parts of the adventure (salesman of charts, engineers). Certain families of monsters like the goblin , the Tomberry (GF and monster in FFVIII) and the Pampa (GF and monster in FFVIII) called Cactuar in the American version frequently return in the various episodes, generally in the phases of combat. Lately, “invocations”: by invocation, include/understand magic surpuissante putting in scene a legendary creature often associated with an element of nature (Feu, Glace, electricity, etc). The same “divinities” find since Final Fantasy III : Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Leviathan, Titan, Odin, Carbuncle and Bahamut to quote recurring. These invocations play a more or less important part in the scenario according to the episodes and form part of the series completely. During the series, they were called Espers, Summons (Invocations), Guardian Forces (G-Forces or GF), Eidolons and Aeons (Dreams).
names of the characters - a character called Cid is present in all the plays of the series since Final Fantasy II . Although he is never the same individual, he is usually presented like owner, creator and/or pilot of planes or other aircraft. The film Final Fantasy: the Creatures of the spirit had also a character called Sid, probably an alternative to the name more common “Cid”. Similarly, of the characters called Biggs and Wedge (homages to the characters of '' Star Wars '', Biggs Daklighter and Wedge the Antilles) appeared in Final Fantasy V until Final Fantasy X-2 (inclusively).
the crystals - the majority of the Final Fantasy refer obscure to crystals corresponding to each natural elemental force (the Feu, the Eau, the ground, the Air). The history of Final Fantasy I , Final Fantasy II , Final Fantasy III , Final Fantasy IV , Final Fantasy V , Final Fantasy Mystic Quest , Final Fantasy IX , Final Fantasy XI , Final Fantasy Hook Chronicles , Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance turns around these crystals. The goal of " votre" adversary is in general to adapt these crystals and to use their capacity to dominate the world, but which will have to be thwarted. Final Fantasy VI has also crystals but they do not govern the same capacities.
the rebellion - While speaking about the history, several episodes of the series speak about rebellion against an economic power, policy or nun having the influence on the world. For example, the history of Final Fantasy II implies a revolt against the emperor of Palamecia, Final Fantasy VI starts with a resistance against the reign of the emperor Gestahl, the history of Final Fantasy VII starts with an attack against ShinRa Corp. In Final Fantasy VIII , it acts of a group of rebels: " owls of the foret" who fight against the control of the town of Timber by the army galbadienne. Seeds, the armed force of the kingdom of Balamb have the role in the play, to carry their support for this rebellion in order to go back to the source of the problem with Galbadia. In Final Fantasy X the purpose of is to reveal to it true nature of the religion of Yu-Yevon and in Final Fantasy XII , the main characters belong to a rebellious army aiming at the fall of the empire Archadien (the scenario has a relationship than acknowledged more with the saga Star Wars: the omnipotent empire, the judges who resemble Dark Vador, the celestial mining city…).
the theory of the cycle of the lives - Appeared with Final Fantasy VII , the theory of the cycle of the lives is a theory worked out by Hironobu Sakaguchi which consists in saying that each living being which dies “turns over” to the planet which again will recreate a life starting from this “heart”. This theory is found in many elements of the series and is also a bond between some episodes. It is in particular used also in episodes IX and X and the films Final Fantasy: creatures of the spirit and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.

Design

The artistic design, including the aspect of the characters and the monsters, was conceived by the Japanese artist of reputation, Yoshitaka Amano, of Final Fantasy I with Final Fantasy VI . After its departure, Tetsuya Nomura came to replace it until Final Fantasy X except for Final Fantasy IX where the characters were designed by Shukou Murase, Toshiyuki Itahana and Shin Nagasawa. Akihiko Yoshida, which was the originator of the characters of Final Fantasy Tactics and of Vagrant Story , another play produced by Square, was announced like resuming its work for Final Fantasy XII .

In October 2003, Kazushige Nojima, the principal writer of the scenarios of the series, left Square Enix to form its own company, Stellavista. It continues nevertheless to write scenarios for the firm, even if they are not in-house any more. He partially or entirely wrote the stories of Final Fantasy VII , Final Fantasy VIII , Final Fantasy IX , Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 , as well as the scenario of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children , the last feature-length film in date of the studios Enix Public garden.

But the true artists of the saga are Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura. Tetsuya Nomura is one of the most famous and imposing figures of Enix Public garden in its last productions. Its first desire being to make cartoon, it follows courses in a school of beautiful arts, but unfortunately for him cannot be solved to continue in this field. Its admiration for Yoshitaka Amano then leads it to postulate at Square. It joined the company on April 16th, 1991 and takes share directly with the development of Final Fantasy V, for which it carries out the designs of the monsters. It continues with Final Fantasy VI, for which it carries out in particular the original design of Setzer and Shadow (then redrawn by Yoshitaka Amano).

Music

Nobuo Uematsu is the type-setter of the pieces of music of Final Fantasy I until Final Fantasy XI (with regard to Final Fantasy XII , it wrote only the main theme of it). He is the type-setter as a band master of the Final Fantasy until his resignation in November 2004. Its music played a great part in the popularity of the play abroad. With the Olympic Games of summer of 2004, the American duet of synchronized Swimming made up of Alison Bartosik and Anna Kozlova was rewarded by the bronze medal following its performance on the music for Final Fantasy VIII : Liberi Fatali which seems to be the most known topic of introduction of the series. Uematsu is also implied in a rock'n'roll group named " The Black Magi " , which left two albums the musics of Final Fantasy in rearranged versions. The other type-setters having worked on the principal series are Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano for Final Fantasy X , Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka for Final Fantasy XI and finally Hitoshi Sakimoto for Final Fantasy XII .

The soundtracks of Final Fantasy and the partitions of music are in request climbing in the admirors not-Japanese and were interpreted by the Symphony orchestra of London. November 17th, 2003, Square Enix U.S.A launched a radio station America Online dedicated to the music of the series Final Fantasy , having the complete tracks of Final Fantasy XI in addition with taking away of Final Fantasy VII with Final Fantasy X . Several sites on Internet generally offer interpretations of pieces of music of Final Fantasy to the format MIDDAY.

An orchestral concert of the music of Final Fantasy was given on May 10th, 2004 to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in the United States by the philharmonic orchestra of Los Angeles. This concert was closed counter during three days. The following service was made on February 19th, 2005 with Rosemont, Illinois by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra then, in 2005, the concert " Dear Friends" was in round in the USA. Music of Final Fantasy was performée for the first time out of Japan at the time of the Symphonic Game Music Concert in Germany.

Even if the musics during the plays offer a large variety, there are some frequently re-used topics. The plays often begin with a piece called Prelude , which was a simple topic arpeggio in the first plays and nouveau riche for the recent exits. Some claim wrongly that the Prelude is based on the first prelude of the first book of the Quite Moderate Clavier of Jean-Sebastien Bach. The sequences of combat which finish in victory in the first ten episodes of the series are accompanied by a victorious brass band which each time begins consequently sequence of nine notes and became one of most recognized parts of the music series. Other memorable parts could be Chocobo topic, Moogle topic and a part called " Epilog" who plays normally during the credits of end.

dependant Article: List of the albums of music of Final Fantasy

History and presentation of the series

An expansionist will to leave the company the crisis

; A good start in Japan After the success of Final Fantasy I in 1987, Square leaves two new opus during the three following years called Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III , also for Famicom. On the principal screen of play, a small representation in sprite of the leader was the maximum which could be posted for the characters because of the graphic limitations of BORN whereas, during the sequences of combat, of the full versions of all the characters were posted in prospect on side. Because of the weak passion of the American players for the first opus, these two episodes were not translated and remained in Japan, where they also had a large success. However Square always remained in the shade of its competitor Enix and its series Dragon Quest of which three other episodes transfer the day on the same console.

; With the conquest of the worldwide market Square starts the development of the fourth episode of its series fetish on Famicom, but Nintendo having left a new console much more powerful, the Super Nintendo, the development continued on this new console. Episodes IV, V and VI thus post graphics and effects put at the last style, as well as a sound and a music of greater quality than its predecessors. With Final Fantasy IV , Square brings an innovation of size which will mark the new generation of roleplays on console: the ATB or Activates Time Battle, which makes it possible to instigate the principle of the roleplays. This system will be preserved for all the episodes of the series until the tenth. The fourth episode as profits him from an English translation and leaves to the United States under the name of Final Fantasy II for reasons continuity, episodes II and III being never appeared elsewhere as in Japan, from where a great confusion with titration (this is why one sometimes speaks about Final Fantasy II US and Final Fantasy II J , the “J” and the “US one” being to specify there that it is respectively about Japanese and American classification). This fourth episode, whose difficulty and complexity were re-examined with the fall for American, starts passions on their premises, but the sales are still not a real success vis-a-vis the tidal waves started by the exits of the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest in Japan. Final Fantasy IV is the last of the series to use the Kana for the Japanese versions as it was the practice since the first Final Fantasy . The majority of the dialogs were only blocks of text, making the task complicated for the oldest players and the foreigners learning Japanese. Finally, in Final Fantasy V , the plays start to use the Kanji. This tendency will continue in Final Fantasy VI and will continue thereafter to make the plays of the series érudibles.

; A timid beginning on the overseas market Following the modest success of Final Fantasy II in the United States, the fifth episode will not exceed the borders of Japan. In the place, American will be entitled to a Final Fantasy edulcorated baptized “Mystic Quest Legend” which takes again the engine of play of Final Fantasy IV but remains a simple play with a little developed scenario. This play will also be born in Europe, but its very mitigated success will not mark.

; The call of the foreign fans Contrary, petitions will be signed so that Final Fantasy V is imported in the United States, but in vain, the sixth episode being already finished. Final Fantasy VI , left in 1994 on Super Nintendo, is seen translated into English and appears on the US market under the name of Final Fantasy III with some minor changes compared to the Japanese version. It is now with the turn of Europeans to sign petitions for an importation of this episode, but the translations will be pushed back a long time, and finally Final Fantasy VI will never be imported into Europe before 2002, where it leaves on the Playstation Sony with a demonstration Final Fantasy X .

A choice of console

After this sixth episode, often considered as one of best RPG ever left, it is with the tower of the generation of consoles 32 bits to be born. Contrary to Sega and Sony which chose the support CD-ROM, Nintendo makes the choice of a console 64 bits which keeps a support cartridge. If this one with the advantage of proposing times of loading reduced compared to the support CD, it with the disadvantage of having less memory and of being more expensive to produce. After having tried a demonstration of a hypothetical Final Fantasy on Nintendo 64, Square decides to turn the back on Nintendo to the profit of Sony and its PlayStation.

Will to widen the public

; A discussed success It is thus into 1997 that Final Fantasy VII leaves, on 3 CD, for the first time on a console which does not belong to Nintendo. It is the episode which represents still today the best sales of the company. This episode will be translated in several languages and will be exported towards the United States as in Europe and under the same name… It is Tetsuya Nomura which will come to replace Yoshitaka Amano for the design, its style being adapted more to the universes in 3D. This episode wants to be darker than the precedents and radically changes others by proposing a more futuristic universe. Graphics for the characters and the world of the play are now completely in 3D on pre-returned funds. This new opus also comprises video scenes (kinematic S) completely in 3D for the first time (what explains the 3 CDs), which will make the success of the new episodes. However, the vidéos of Final Fantasy VII often miss consistency, with the characters appearing very small and little indicators in a scene and extremely detailed in the following one. It is also an episode which will start sharp protests within the community of fans, who judge it, very often, less good than Final Fantasy VI , or which regret simply the passage of the 2D with the 3D. In spite of that, very many passions were born from this episode; waitings of the fans for the next episodes are thus from now on different, and Public garden will not be able to satisfy everyone any more…

; An outgoing play of the range Another team works in parallel on another play with a system slightly different from the series, it acts of Final Fantasy Tactics , which leaves shortly after Final Fantasy VII . This one has of private individual the fact that displacements are possible during the phases of combat, which gives a more tactical dimension to the play. As the only interaction out of the engagements was ordered by menu, the originators did not see the utility to make the play all in 3D. The characters are thus Sprites evolving/moving in a universe in isometric 3D. This episode was a success but was not exported towards Europe, contrary to VIIe opus.

; Can radical changes, be too much innovators? In 1999, Square what will become more discussed of all the episodes, Final Fantasy VIII launches . The company wanted an episode more directed towards the main character and its history, as well as system of an innovative and complex play, that some adulate and others hate. The idea is that the statistics of each characters can change permanently during the phases of combat, which complicates forcing the strategy of play and offers a certain difficulty. The history of Final Fantasy VIII wants to be much more " adulte" that in the other shutters, mixing passed, present, future. Are capacities of reflection, analysis and conclusion thus necessary to play, but especially to draw a quelquonque interest with this play based on confrontation (contradiction?) love and evil. The eighth shutter is according to the specialists in the kind most led of the series, can be that it had a lead over its time or badly adapted to a public lambda? This episode does not leave in any case indifferent! Tetsuya Nomura will confirm its talents of designer on this episode. Graphics are photo-more realistic and the video sequences, once again completely in 3D, use a technique where the character is posted on the top while it video cheek in background.

; A flashback In 2000, Final Fantasy IX is born; it is the last episode on the PlayStation of Sony and also a more nostalgic episode. Environment will want to be Heroic Fantasy and nonfuturistic. The many fans of the old episodes are reassured by this episode which fills many their waitings, but this episode will also disappoint from its not very innovative side. But the nostalgic side was the acknowledged goal of the developers.

Failures or successes

; The film, a colossal project In 2001 the exit of the film Final Fantasy sees: creatures of the spirit to the cinema, fruit of a three years work. The film is a true technical prowess, using new technologies for the time, but does not meet the success discounted by the leaders of Public garden. The cost of the actors in synthesized images is too high and the fans of the series do not feel the presence of the universe of Final Fantasy, feeling to some extent betrayed. The company then crosses a period of great crisis which will lead it to amalgamate a little later with its most direct competitor, Enix, and will lead Sony to buy 19,2% of its shares.

; Technical improvements The same year, Final Fantasy X sees the day on the PlayStation 2 on support DVD. The episode meets a large success and mark a turning moreover in the series since he sees the appearance of doubling for the scenes of dialog, ensured by actors, thing which had not been seen yet until there in a Final Fantasy. This episode also sees an upheaval at the musical level, since Nobuo Uematsu division the poster with regard to the compositions with Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu which already contributed to the musical compositions of other plays. Radically different sound environment comes to be coupled with the environment entirely in 3D of this episode and the vidéos returned in real-time instead of kinematics, which does not prevent these last from being still present for the important scenes.

; A change of concept Final Fantasy XI is born in 2002. The concept of the play moves away from traditional RPG " with the japonaise" for a more Western style, turned towards the play Multijoueur and the Online game, the MO (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Range). This kind of play, at the time especially popular on PC compatibles, constitutes a radical change in the series.

; Continuation of the range The originators had an idea for Final Fantasy X : to offer a direct continuation to the one their episodes with Final Fantasy X-2 . Thus in this episode left in 2003, the player finds the universe suitable for Final Fantasy X and a history directly coming to follow this episode. Many fans were disturbed by this “continuation” because the series Final Fantasy until now had been always distinguished by common topics but from the completely independent stories. Some saw there a loss of creativity and imagination on behalf of Square.

Fusion with Enix: the beginning of a new era

In 2003, Square amalgamates with its main competitor Enix (extremely of its immense business success with Dragon Quest VII), within a new baptized entity Public garden-Enix. It is under this new banner that will be born the future episodes from the series. However, the plays of the series remain developed by the same teams as previously, with for only difference possible collaboration from now on between the various teams of Public garden and Enix.

; An agreement with the two giants of the video game On its side, Nintendo has him also left its console new generation with the GameCube which comes to bring the support Minis-DVD which missed so much with Square. The two giants of the video game thus managed an agreement, from this agreement was born Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on GameCube and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on Game Boy Advance. These two episodes want to be to have an environment “ heroic fantasy ” and a scenario little developed with the profit of a richer system of play.

; Second feature-length film A second film making continuation directly with Final Fantasy VII named Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children left to Japan on September 13rd, 2005. In April 2006 it arrives at State-Plain and finally to Europe and France on June 7th, 2006.
The action is two years after the defeat of Sephiroth and the destruction of the meteor threatening planet by the River of the life. An unknown evil called “Geostigma” touches from now on a certain part of the population and Midgar tries to be rebuilt. Cloud the former hero became as for him an alive recluse with the disorders of its past. After the semi failure of first film in synthesized images, Advent Children meets a good success near the fans.

; Recently After four years of development, Final Fantasy XII left in 2006 on PlayStation 2. Imagined by Yasumi Matsuno, the play met a critical and commercial success international. Based on the same universe, Final Fantasy XII Ghost Wings left the following year on DS.

; To come The next episodes of Final Fantasy are gathered under the name of project Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII. Three new episodes were announced, all based on the same universe. The PlayStation 3 must accommodate the roleplay Final Fantasy XIII and the play of action Final Fantasy Versus XIII . Final Fantasy Agito XIII is a project of play Multijoueur intended for the Cellphones.

Lastly, the series of the Crystal Chronicles must continue on the consoles DS and Wii. New a Final Fantasy Tactics Advance will also be born on DS.

The system of play

As specified previously, the series of Final Fantasy first of all draws its source in roleplays (or JDR) “American” such as Donjons and Dragons. The system begins again what makes the success of the traditional JDR, to incarnate the role of a character of a universe of science fiction represented by statistics such as its force, its intelligence, its agility, etc Where the technological supports such as the Ordinateur S or the consoles cannot replace a main play, the principle of role is to some extent usurped. The JDR comfort such as Final Fantasy thus do not have more this aspect of plays of actor and concentrate primarily on the statistical part and incarnation of a character in a universe of science fiction.

The first episodes founded from the start the principle which will be taken again throughout the series, that of the “jobs”, or trades which the player can do to practice with his characters. thus, in Final Fantasy, it was possible to incarnate with the choice a warrior, a black magus, a white magus, a red magus, a monk or a robber. The strong point of Final Fantasy was to propose the incarnation of 4 characters at the same time, the interest of the play was thus to know to manage your starting choices as for their trade and then to manage with the forces and the weaknesses of each protagonist.

For example, a warrior is strong and resistant but its equipment is expensive, a monk is fast and strong, but less resistant because it does not have the capacity to have as much equipment because it fights has naked hands, it thus costs less expensive. On their side, the robbers are fast and can thus easily take the advantage on a slower enemy. The magi on their side can use fates, they are not strong, not resistant, not fast, but they are intelligent. The black magi have fates of black magic (offensive), the white magi have fates of white magic (defensive and curative). Lastly, the red magi are a good compromise of all the types without strong point nor particular weak point…

In results then a play mainly centered on 3 phases, the phases of dialogs revealing of information on the universe, the place of the next search, etc the phases of exploration at the time which the player is brought to glaner information, objects essential to a search or quite simply to go of a point to another, and finally phases of combat. The principle of this play is that none of these phases asks for real competence of agility but only of reflection, in opposition to many other kinds of plays, and even if “combat” are quite present, those are more comparable with a play of failure rather than a real match of boxing.

This system of Job in the following episodes of the series will be declined in several versions. The first version, most traditional, is that which consists in having the choice of a type for each character with the list of associated specialities, system which one finds in episodes III, V, Tactics, XI, X-2 and Tactics Advance. From III, it is from now on possible to change Job in the course of play, but the possibilities of action of each character remain however limited. During following episodes, many news possibilities was born. Thus a warrior is able “to cover” his fellow-members, a monk counter-attacks and calls also upon some offensive and defensive fates which are clean for him. The trade of invoker made his appearance: they are magi who have the possibility of calling upon creatures surpuissantes. One still finds magi blue who have the possibility of learning certain specialities from the enemies, the ninjas being able to use 2 weapons at the same time but also being able to launch projectiles (weapons, projectiles such as Shuriken), Samurai S which can use your money to make damage and able to hold their weapon with two hands like a whole list of other as original types the ones as the others, some being specific to each episode of the series. An alternative of this use of the types is found in episodes IV, VI, IX and to some extent in X in the direction where each character of the play has a job which is clean for him and which it preserves throughout the history without it not being possible to modify it. In term of play that can seem more constraining but makes it possible to have characters having a personality sticking to their type.

Lastly, third and last alternative, the episodes II, VII, VIII, X (in another direction), and X-2 strictly speaking do not have any more a type. The layer of the trades was abandoned to leave the choice learn with your characters very standard from speciality. It is a system freer than certain players prefer. One can find to him a disadvantage on the level of the engagements: the characters becoming at the end of the play of the certified copies (having acquired all the totality of the possible characteristics), the interest to be able to interchange them becomes very limited. However, their interactions with the scenario make that their presence is useful for the play all the same.

Gameplay

System of play

For the period Super Nintendo/Playstation the series was known for its mechanism particular to each play.

Final Fantasy IV : Active Battle makes its appearance. The context scenaristic becomes its extensive.
Final Fantasy V : System of job (begun again system of FF3). The characters choose temporary professions which add capacities to them that they can then combine
Final Fantasy VI : System of Espers. Enough similar to the Jobs, Espers is invocations which, once associated with a character, enable him to learn various magic spells (each Espers having its associated magics)
Final Fantasy VII : System of Matéria. The weapons and armours have openings being able to accommodate small stones equipped with a mystical energy, Matérias. The stones are numerous and varied and their combinations bring a real depth to this system
Final Fantasy VIII : System of association. Each characteristic of the player can be associated with a magic in stock to be improved. The G-Forces (invocations) associated to the character will influence the capacities being able to be modified or not. Perhaps one of the most delicate systems to use series.
Final Fantasy IX : System of objects with competences. Certain objects make it possible to learn from the capacities to the player using them. This system approaches enough that of FF5 and FF6 except for some nuances.
Final Fantasy X : System of sphérier. The characteristics of the characters are released while inserting spheres into the accessible sites on Sphérier.
Final Fantasy X-2 : System of Vêtisphères. Very similar to the Jobs.
Final Fantasy XII : System of license. The use of a weapon, an accessory, equipment, technique or magic required the purchase of competence and the releasing of the license on the grid.

Screens of the play

The plays have usually several screens or modes of interaction categorized mainly like:

Grounds - the grounds are where the interactions between the characters proceed and most of exploration proceeds on these screens. The dialogs arrive for the majority on these screens. Final Fantasy VII marked the point where the series would have three-dimensional charts, while Dragon Quest remained with animates in Concealment-shading. Before Final Fantasy VII , they used a simple machine 2D. Final Fantasy VII , VIII and IX use pre-returned funds and pre-paintings over which models 3D were superimposed. Final Fantasy X uses a system of ground completely 3D, which allowed the angle Caméra to change according to the movements of the characters.
Combat - the engagements occur in a different type of screen (or arena), usually with and new a bottom scaling of screen " arène" who usually represents in a generic way the type of ground where the characters are. (For example, a combat in the desert gives a bottom of screen of desert.) The important combat with the history (opposite to be fought against occasional monsters) can have an especially built combat screen/arena. In Final Fantasy VII and more, these screens are completely 3D, but very limited on their size. Final Fantasy XII will not have any more a " arènes" : the sequences of combat will proceed directly on the ground.
World - a screen with low scale symbolically representing a long distance traversed in time which would be unacceptable from the point of view of the scenario. They are not necessarily well on the scale because the character has sometimes the size of a mountain. There is relatively little history which proceeds here, but there are exceptions. The screen of the world was eliminated from Final Fantasy X and given but this time Ci to real scale in Final fantasy XII!
Cutscenes - These scenes are not-interactive and are used to advance the history. They can be either of the kinematics pre-returned, or carried out in the same environment as the grounds. In certain cases, the pre-returned vidéos are superimposed with graphics in real-time.
the screen of the menu - This screen is used to sail through the states of your characters, the equipment, the magic, etc This screen is usually a simple screen on blue bottom, with a hand covered with a white glove to select the options. In certain plays, the option to change the fill color is available.

The plays often have their clean Mini-play X with their own graphic machine.

System of combat

Final Fantasy borrows several elements of gameplay from its rival, the frankness Dragon Quest . Thus, Final Fantasy uses a system of combat with turns of role actuated using a menu. The majority of the plays in the series use a system of level of experiment for the advance of the characters (although Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy X were not thus) a system containing points to launch the magics (although Final Fantasy I , Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy VIII contained all of the different approaches). The majority of the plays in the series ( Final Fantasy III and more) include/understand a variety of " orders spéciales" exceeding traditional the " Attack, " " Defends, " " Cast Magic, " and " Run" (To tackle, Defend, Launch a Magic and To escape), like the capacity to fly of the objects to the enemy or to carry out special attacks. Often, these special attacks are integrated in the " system of métier" who appeared in several plays of the series ( Final Fantasy III , Final Fantasy V , Final Fantasy Tactics , Final Fantasy X-2 ).

Final Fantasy I with Final Fantasy III comprised a whole a system of combat with turns of role. The player entered all the orders at the beginning of the turn, which were carried out all depend on the speed of the characters. By beginning with Final Fantasy IV , going until Final Fantasy IX (and reinstated in Final Fantasy X-2 ), the system " Activates Time Battle " (ATB, literally in French Combat in active time ). System ATB was in semi real-time and gave to each character in the play a measurement of time. When the measurement of time of a character was filled, the character could pass to the act, which to remettrair the measurement of time to zero. Generally, each one of these plays included a " mode; actif" and " attente": when the " mode; attente" was chosen, all the linked activity with the use of the sub-menus like choosing a magic, object, or attacks special was on standby what wants to say that the monsters could not attack during the period of choice.

Final Fantasy X gave up system ATB in favor of the " Conditional Turn-Based Battle System " (CTB, in French Combat out of Turns of Beat or literally Combat with the turn by turn ). In the CTB, each creature in the combat is put in row compared to its speed. As this row was posted with the screen, it was possible to plan the turns of actions of the monsters and friends and thus to plan the combat according to the actions.

Final Fantasy XI contained a system of combat in real-time similar to EverQuest : when confronted with an enemy, a character attacked automatically with basic physical attacks unless the player determines differently. It is indicated that Final Fantasy XII will adopt a similar system. Differently other plays, the combat in Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XII take seat on the ground and not in a different screen.

Criticisms

Although the frankness is extremely popular, it is not free from criticisms. Some quote a lack of interactivity (too many scenes kinematics ), a too rigid scenaristic structure (in particular for Final Fantasy X ) and often linear, as well as a lack of originality. The series The Legend off Zelda of Nintendo, Suikoden by Konami, and Dragon Quest of Enix are strong candidates of Final Fantasy . The admirors of these plays will say that nostalgia is a big factor for criticisms negative with the instalements post- Final Fantasy VII .

Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy X-2 were particularly targeted by certain fans not to comply with certain traditional rules: on the one hand Final Fantasy XI to have changed format, passing from the roleplay solo with the online game multijouor, and on the other hand Final Fantasy X-2 to be first true after-effect of the series (the play takes again the universe of Final Fantasy X and puts in scene female characters exclusively), which could be perceived like a commercial step, and sometimes comparable with Fan service.

The European players are also often lime pits of a baclée localization, mainly due to an not-optimization of the play to the format STAKE (the format in Japan and the United States being NTSC), with for consequence of animations 25% slower than the original version and a crushed image which deforms the elements of the play slightly.

List plays

principal Article: List of the plays and the derivative products of Final Fantasy

; Note on the system of classification In an original manner, Final Fantasy II and III for Famicom and V for Super Famicom did not leave out of Japan, then Square North America decided to change the numbers of the US exits, which was made thereafter throughout the world. Final Fantasy IV became Final Fantasy II and VI became III . Starting from Final Fantasy VII the system returned to the normal and all the following plays kept their Japanese, driving number with an apparent jump of 3 plays. That caused confusion, several admirors calling IV and VI by their American number. To solve that, several use the suffixes “customs” and “J” for the respective classification of the version American and Japanese, like FF III custom or FF VI J .

; Republications and compilations Recent ports incluents of the Japanese translations of the plays on PlayStation. In North America, Final Fantasy IV left in Final Fantasy Chronicles , whereas Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI were gathered in compilation Final Fantasy Anthology . In Europe, Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V was compiled in Final Fantasy Anthology Edition European , whereas Final Fantasy VI left separately in an individual way. Final Fantasy I and II are available in Final Fantasy Origins on Playstation and in Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn off Drunk on Game Boy Advance, in versions improved on the levels graph and sound. Final Fantasy III did not leave officially to the United States on Famicom or Super Nintendo but Square Enix left a new version republished Final Fantasy III on Nintendo DS.

; Derived series and confusions Square has creates several more or less related series of roleplays to the universe of Final Fantasy but that they is necessary nevertheless to know to distinguish, difficult thing because of the lack of uniformity of the titles of different the translation (for Europe or the United States), involving very often confusions.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is a traditional roleplay which does not make officially party of the principal series, because of its gameplay particularly simple, and which contains very few references to the episodes " officiels". It has a different name for the three zones where it left: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest in the United States, Final Fantasy the USA: Mystic Quest in Japan and Mystic Quest Legend in Europe.

Final Fantasy Adventure is a active roleplay left on Game Boy in Japan, the United States and to Europe, which has of “Final Fantasy” only the name. This play at each zone left under relatively different names, respectively Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden , Final Fantasy Adventure and Mystic Quest . This last name does not have absolutely anything to see with Mystic Quest Legend . This play is the first episode of another famous series of Public garden, Seiken Densetsu , known in Occident under the name of Mana .

the series Final Fantasy Legend is a trilogy of traditional roleplays published on Game Boy and rather near to sound " cousin" on consoles of living room, unlike this one that the system of class is not based any more on trades (warlike, magicians, monks, etc) but on anthropomorphic races (human, robots, man-animals, etc) the nomination FF Legend exists only for the American version of a Japanese series called SaGa , and will be left of with dimensions at the time of the most recent publications on Playstation, where name SaGa will be preserved. The only plays of this series left to Europe are SaGa Frontier II in 2000 on PlayStation and Unlimited SaGa in 2003 on PlayStation 2.

See too

Internal bonds

Weapons of Final Fantasy
Characters of Final Fantasy
List of the plays and the derivative products of Final Fantasy
List of the albums of music of Final Fantasy

External bonds

Official site of Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy Retrospective
FF-Wiki

Simple: Final Fantasy Zh-yue: 太空戰士

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