Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy and science fiction-based media franchise originally created by Hironobu Sakaguchi. The franchise is owned, developed, and produced by Square Enix and is centered on a series of role-playing video games, but a number of derivative games and other related media have also been released. The first game for the series was released in 1987 on the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan) and, since then, fourteen other mainline titles have come out on an array of different platforms. The next mainline title the Final Fantasy VII Remake is currently scheduled for a release on April 10th, 2020. The franchise has been widely successful and occupies an important part of video game history that continues to thrive to this day. Several fans and critics regard the Final Fantasy series as some of the best video games ever made. Some of the most iconic characters and creatures from Final Fantasy include the Moogles and Chocobos, which are often considered to be mascots of the franchise. The name “Final Fantasy” was selected as the title for the first entry of the series because Hironobu Sakaguchi’s first games released by Square Enix were considered failures. As such, Sakaguchi decided that he would make one “final” effort in the video game industry.
Related Media
Although the series mainline titles are role-playing games, various spin-off titles have been released as well. These spin-off titles can vary wildly and include racing games, tactical and action RPGs, MMORPGs, rhythm games, shooters, and fighting games. Apart from video games, the franchise has incorporated manga, several movies and TV series, Books and an unbelievable amount of merchandise. Such merchandise includes trading card playing games, jewelry, figures, nendoroid, Funko Pop, and much more. The soundtracks of Final Fantasy games, many of which can be attributed to the famous composer and musician Nobuo Uematsu, can be purchased in various soundtrack album releases. These albums can contain the original music of a game or pieces that are rearranged using a specific genre or style of music. Final Fantasy music contains a wide range of musical styles and composers that have evolved over the thirty years of the series’ existence.
Final Fantasy Community
Final Fantasy has generated a strong community that engage in various events like the Final Fantasy XIV Festival, concerts like Final Fantasy Distant Worlds, and much more. More creatively inclined fans of the series have created a massive amount of fan art and cosplay as well.
Gameplay
The flagship Final Fantasy games are essentially role-playing games that are often character and story-driven. Many of the plots center around magical crystals in some way, but almost always have a group led by the protagonist that is pitted against an evil antagonist or force of doom. Like most role-playing games, characters can gain experience by fighting in battles that will eventually result in that character leveling up. As each character levels up, they gain more stats and access to better weapons that make them even stronger. A number of different mechanics and gameplay systems have been introduced and evolved over the years, beginning with the turn-based combat of Final Fantasy 1. More recent entries in the series use real-time battle systems like the Active Cross Battle system from Final Fantasy XV.
History and Development
Final Fantasy 1 was originally produced by Square, which first opened in the year 1983 as a computer game and software division of Den-Yu-Sha, a power line construction company owned by the father of Masafumi Miyamoto. Miyamoto would eventually create his own independent company, Square Co., Ltd., in 1986. Final Fantasy 1 was influenced by other popular games such as Enix's Dragon Quest, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda, and Origin Systems' Ultima Series. The company quickly grew and, after around a decade, talks of Enix and Square partnering together were considered. In the very beginning of the 2000s, a merger was proposed, but financial issues from both parties caused hesitation, especially on Enix’s side. However, in 2002, Square released Final Fantasy 10 and Kingdom Hearts, resulting in an incredible amount of profit. This success led to a merger between the companies that went into effect on April 1st, 2003.
Key Final Fantasy Staff
Hironobu Sakaguchi: the original creator of the Final Fantasy series. After writing the scenario for Final Fantasy IX, Sakaguchi became much less involved with the series and eventually left Square to create his own development studio in 2004.
Yoshinori Kitase: a major producer of the Final Fantasy series. Kitase began work at Square by timing cutscenes and other events, but eventually went on to direct several Final Fantasy games, the most popular entry being Final Fantasy VII. He was later promoted to a producer by Sakaguchi and remains in that position to this day.
Kazushige Nojima: a major scenario and story writer for some of the later entries of the series. Nojima made his debut as a Final Fantasy writer with Final Fantasy VII by collaborating with Yoshinori Kitase.
Tetsuya Nomura: one of the main character designers of the series. Nomura began as a debugger for Final Fantasy IV, but often contributed ideas that were accompanied by drawings. He quickly became involved with designing art for later games and earned the position of character designer.
Yoshitaka Amano: another major character designer and artist of Final Fantasy. Amano was in charge of character design for the earlier entries of the series, but went on to create promotional artwork, logos, and illustrations as time went on.
Nobuo Uematsu: the sole composer of Final Fantasy games up until Final Fantasy IX. In 2004, Uematsu would leave Square Enix and create his own company, though he would return to Square to work as a freelancer from time to time.
Table of Contents
Yuna is a female protagonist in the Japanese role-playing game Final Fantasy X, developed by Square and released on the PlayStation 2 in 2001. She acts as the main protagonist of Final Fantasy X’s sequel, Final Fantasy X-2. Yuna was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, a veteran character...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Lightning was originally born as Claire Farron and is the protagonist of the Japanese role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII. This game was developed by Square Enix and was released on the Sony PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and other platforms. The game is set in the fictional floating ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Noctis Lucis Caelum is the protagonist of the role-playing game Final Fantasy XV, which was developed by Square Enix and released on the Sony PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016, then later released on other platforms.
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Chocobos are a recurring animal character in the Final Fantasy role playing game series produced by Square Enix. They first appeared in Final Fantasy II and were conceived by Koichi Ishii. They could be compared to the Final Fantasy equivalent of a horse, helping players get arou...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Moogles are a recurring race of beings that appear in the Final Fantasy series, which is produced by Square Enix. They made their first debut in Final Fantasy III and have since appeared in a number of spin-off and derivative games like Kingdom Hearts. Along with the chocobos and...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Cactuars are a recurring group of creatures that appear in the Final Fantasy series produced by Square Enix. They made their first debut in Final Fantasy VI, where they were known as “Cactrots” and later renamed to Cacterus in Final Fantasy VII. They have since appeared in a numb...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Throughout the Final Fantasy series produced by Square Enix, a number of famous characters have been produced. These characters are a popular choice in cosplay and many enthusiasts dress up for events like KupoCon, a traveling Final Fantasy fan convention. These characters are al...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The unique role-playing gameplay (RPG) featured in Final Fantasy games, developed by Square Enix has been one of the major reasons fans have loved the series from the beginning of the franchise. Since the release of Final Fantasy 1 in 1987, the franchise has introduced a variety ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The class system in Final Fantasy, a series of RPG style video games produced by Square Enix, also known as the job system or job class system, is a central and recurring component of gameplay whereby a player chooses a specific class or job for characters that starts out as blan...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Summoned creatures have been a staple of the [Final Fantasy] franchise, a series of role playing video games that are developed and produced by Square Enix. Summons were first introduced with the release of Final Fantasy III in the year 1990. Summons are magical creatures that ca...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Hironobu Sakaguchi is a Japanese video game designer and the creator of the world renowned and widely successful Final Fantasy game series. Though best known for video game design, he is also an author, producer, director, and a film director. In addition to the Final Fantasy gam...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Yoshinori Kitase is a Japanese video game director and producer who has been employed by Square Enix since 1990. He was born in the year 1966 in Japan and is best known for his involvement as the director of games in the Final Fantasy game series, having directed Final Fantasy VI...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Kazushige Nojima is a Japanese video game scenario writer that was born on January 20, 1964 in Sapporo, Japan. He is best known for his involvement in the Final Fantasy series, a Japanese fantasy role-playing video game series that is developed and produced by Square Enix. He was...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Square Enix Co., Ltd, is a video game software company that is best known for its Japanese role-playing game series like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest. While it is most known for being a developer, it also acts as a publisher and distribution company that was ori...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese video game designer, artist, and director employed by Square Enix and most famous for his creative involvement in the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts game series. Following his work on Kingdom Hearts, he worked on film and was instrumental in the pro...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Yoshikata Amano is a Japanese illustrator, artist, character designer, costume designer, and film scenic designer. He became well known after working on the anime version of Speed Racer in the late 1960s. He is the creator of characters like Tekkaman, Hutch the Honeybee, Gatchama...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The music of Final Fantasy series spans a number of titles, popular compositions, and soundtracks released through the popular RPG games Final Fantasy developed by Square Enix. New music has been produced since the release of Final Fantasy I in 1987. The game series has also insp...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese video game composer renowned for scoring the majority of titles in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy RPG video game series franchise. Uematsu was born on March 21, 1959. He has established himself and built a reputation as one of the best composers in the vi...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy OSTs (original soundtracks) refer to a collection of original music that is composed for each game in the Final Fantasy franchise, a role-playing game series developed and produced by Square Enix. Until 2001, Nobuo Uematsu was almost entirely responsible for the com...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy is a popular series of RPG games produced by Square Enix. The music from the franchise series has been and continues to be performed in various concert tours and live events all around the world, such as the Orchestral Game Music Concerts, Symphonic Game Music Conce...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Launched in 2007, Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy is a concert tour that presents music from the Final Fantasy RPG game series produced by Square Enix. The tour began in Stockholm, Sweden on December 4, 2007 and, unlike previous Final Fantasy tours, is a worldwide tour. ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, is a four-part original video animation (often abbreviated to OVA) based on the popular series of Japanese role-playing video games known as Final Fantasy, which is developed and produced by Square Enix. It was released in 1994 in Japan and ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a computer animated science fiction film directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the popular series of RPG video games Final Fantasy produced by Square Enix. Released in 2001, it was the first photorealistic computer-animated feature film a...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy: Unlimited is an animated Japanese television series based on the popular series of role-playing video games known as Final Fantasy, which is developed and produced by Square Enix. It was directed by Mahiro Maeda and produced by Makiko Iwata, Takeshi Sasamura, Shinj...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a 3D computer-animated science fiction drama film inspired by the popular Final Fantasy role-playing video game series. The film, which released in 2005, features many characters from Final Fantasy VII, who will soon return in the much antici...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Last Order: Final Fantasy VII is a twenty-five minute long Japanese OVA (original video animation) that was released in 2005 in Japan and later in 2007 in North America. It was released by Square Enix and produced by animation studio Madhouse. The events of the animation are base...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV is a full-length, 3D computer-animated film that was released in Japan on July 9, 2016 and is based on the popular Japanese fantasy role-playing game Final Fantasy XV, which was developed by Square Enix. The film is based on a story written by Kazush...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV is an original net animation series based on the backstory of Final Fantasy XV, a role playing fantasy style video game produced by Square Enix. The series aired from March 30, 2016 to September 17, 2016 online and features some of Final Fantasy’s mo...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
When anime or game series become extremely popular in Japan, franchises often introduce a real-life ‘Live Action’ movie of the series. In the past, there have been successful reenactments featuring famous Japanese actors such as the Attack on Titan Live Action movies. There have ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue is an animated episode that acts as a prologue to the Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn game, one of the story DLCs released for Final Fantasy XV. The prologue gives details and more information about the background of Ardyn and details hi...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
In 2017, the first Live Action TV drama for the Final Fantasy series was released in Japan titled ‘Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light’ It was an eight-episode mini drama series with a story that focused on a father and son rekindling their relationship through the game of the online...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Manga means comics or graphic novels in Japanese and is universally understood in any country to people who are avid fans of Japanese animation. It refers to the various graphic novels and comics developed in the 19th century in Japan, with most comics incorporating one of 3 syst...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy Lost Stranger is a manga that was announced on January. 31, 2017 by Square Enix as a part of the Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary event. The story was written by Hazuki Minase and the illustrations by Itsuki Kameya. The story is based on a Square Enix employee that di...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy Figures refer to the various action figures, figurines, dolls, and other physical representations of characters and beings from the popular role playing game Final Fantasy, are one category of the various merchandise in the franchise. A figurine is a small statue th...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Cosplay is a portmanteau of the words costume and play, and refers to a kind of performance art in which participants dress up in costumes and use a variety of other accessories to represent or imitate the appearance of a specific character. Final Fantasy, a popular role playing ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Two different versions of a Final Fantasy trading card game have been developed by Square Enix and Hobby Japan that feature a number of popular characters from the Final Fantasy series. The first edition of the card game was released exclusively in Japan in the year 2012 and was ...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy is a popular Japanese role-playing game series that has spawned an incredible amount of merchandise and apparel, including jewelry. Rings, Necklaces, bracelets, pendants, earrings, and a number of other sorts of jewelry have been released that are often designed wit...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Plush toys refer to stuffed doll figures that come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Final Fantasy plush dolls refer to all of the plush dolls that have been released, inspired by, or based on the popular role-playing video game Final Fantasy. In addition to official pl...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
As the Final Fantasy series gained more and more popularity, various kinds of merchandise began to appear in stores around the world. While themed clothing and art books are common choices for many franchises, Final Fantasy has a wide assortment of plush toys for fans to purchase...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The Final Fantasy franchise has given birth to a variety of different merchandise and toys. Many Final Fantasy and game figure fans are waiting on the release of a Funko Pop series lineup.
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The Final Fantasy Ultimania is a series of books that represent a number of guidebooks and artbooks that cover the first twelve entries into the Final Fantasy series and Final Fantasy X-2. This series of role-playing video games is developed and produced by Square Enix. In Japan,...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
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 al...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy 7 is the seventh title in the flagship series Final Fantasy, an RPG style game produced by Square and released in 1997, the first title to be released on the Sony PlayStation. The game was produced by series veterans Hironobu Sakaguchi, composer Nobuo Uematsu and di...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
A number of Final Fantasy-themed merchandise and apparel has been released over the years that is all inspired by content from the world-renowned role-playing video game series developed and produced by Square Enix. A non-exhaustive list of some merchandise available on the Squar...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The Final Fantasy franchise has given birth to a variety of different merchandise and toys. There have been a variety of different action and toy figure series released by a number of official and third party manufacturers. However, many Final Fantasy and game figure fans are sti...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy news refers to all of the information about upcoming games, merchandise and apparel, events, and other topics related to the Final Fantasy franchise. Recently, the most anticipated news revolves around the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake, however a great...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
Final Fantasy Fan Art refers to the various pieces of art, of all forms that have been inspired by or based on the popular role playing game Final Fantasy developed by Square Enix. Websites such as pinterest, and deviant art host a number of pieces of fan artwork that feature pop...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
The “Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival” refers to a fan festival that is based on the popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game Final Fantasy XIV, which was developed and produced by Square Enix and originally released in the year 2010. The festival has been hosted in Nor...
Last updated at, 12 Jan 2021
