Encyclopaedia Eorzea and Books - Final Fantasy

The Final Fantasy franchise has always been praised for its unique and beautifully designed characters and the creation of lush and detailed backgrounds. The franchise has also been a popular series to have adapted fan art by amateur illustrators. In addition, Final Fantasy is also famous for each game in the franchise having such a deep, detailed and illustrative plot to the story. Not only the storyline of the game but for each individual character that is created in the franchise. There is a limited amount of information that can be included into one game, so for Final Fantasy fans that want to learn more about their favorite game or characters, Square Enix has released a series of Encyclopaedia and books that give a more detailed look on the franchise. These books provide information on each game of the series which the production team weren’t able to fit into the game. Here are some examples of popular and famous Final Fantasy books.

Encyclopaedia Eorzea

Approximately six years after the release of Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix released the Encyclopaedia Eorzea, a book that covers the backstory and lore of Final Fantasy XIV. The title was produced by the game’s development team and is over 300 pages long and details the history and cultures of Eorzea (A region in the world of Hydaelyn, comprising the Aldenard continent and where the game takes place) as well as information on its various inhabitants. The Encyclopaedia was written by Banri Oda, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, Natsuko Ishikawa and supervised by Final Fantasy XIV Producer and Director, Naoki Yoshida.

Encyclopaedia Eorzea Chapters

• The First Book: Hydaelyn - The world of Eorzea is introduced and the core elements of the world are displayed including crystals and aether. The folklore of its citizens are explored
• The Second Book: Her History - The history of Eorzea is introduced. The Calamity is introduced as well as the Dragonsong War.
• The Third Book: Her Children - The various and diverse races of Eorzea are depicted and described. Historical as well as sociological and anthropological narratives on each respective group is offered.
• The Fourth Book: Her Lands - The city states are studied, along with their organizations and cultures. Notable landmarks and players are also described
• The Fifth Book: Her Servants - The organizations and characters of Eorzea are further described. The goal of organizations, how they were formed, and that drives their devoted members is described.
• The Sixth Book: Her Disciplines - The various professions of the world and their master practitioners are unveiled. The origin, fighting styles, and gear of each discipline is introduced.
• The Seventh Book: Her Burdens - The main antagonists of the game-- beastmen are presented. Their cultures, customs, and deities are also described (the primals).
• The Eighth Book: Her Creatures - More detailed information about the realm is presented, from timid detail to terrifying lore.

The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy

The Sky: Art of Final Fantasy volumes showcase illustrations and artwork from the first ten Final Fantasy role playing games and include the work of the renowned Yoshikata Amano. The books are printed on glossy stock and are a total of 640 Pages, split into three volumes and full of artwork from classic to new and includes never before seen and unpublished works and concept art. The book was originally published by DigiCube in Japan in 2001, then Dark Horse Comic in English in 2012. The English adaptation of the book was so popular, that it was sold out at the pre-order stage.

Dawn: The Worlds of Final Fantasy

Dawn: The Worlds of Final Fantasy is an art book that compiles a number of sketches by Yoshikata Amano that span much of his work on the first four Final Fantasy games. It included concept sketches, paintings, and detailed line art. The book was published by NTT Publishing in Japan in the year 1991 and an English version was released by Dark Horse Comics 2009 and is 116 pages long. This was the first art book that Square Enix and Amano allowed to be adapted and sold globally outside of Japan.

Final Fantasy Ultimania

The Final Fantasy Ultimania books represent a number of guidebooks and artbooks. In Japan, the editions were released 25 after the release of Final Fantasy 1 as Final Fantasy 25th Memorial Ultimania on December 18, 2012. The guide books were released to mark the 25th anniversary of the series and have since been published digitally. Studio BentStuff was responsible for the writing and Editing and the work was supervised by Square Enix. The English versions of the books were released by Dark Horse Comics, a publishing company responsible for Dawn: The Worlds of Final Fantasy and The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy, all released on separate dates. French and German editions have since been released. Each separate component of the volumes is over 300 pages. Square Enix and Studio BentStuff have released a number of companion books over the years (a total of 72 so far), most of which cover single Final Fantasy games or their offshoots.