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Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Final Fantasy

For those fans of Final Fantasy series, this is a deep background of the franchise. A review by wikipedia.

Final Fantasy (Japanese: Fainaru Fantajii) is a popular series of role-playing video games produced by Square Co., Ltd., now Square Enix. The franchise originated in Japan in 1987 and has seen subsequent releases in North America, Europe and Australia.

Games in the Final Fantasy series have been featured on the Nintendo Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System, the MSX2, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom, the Sony PlayStation, the Bandai WonderSwan Color, the PlayStation 2, IBM PC compatible, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, and several different mobile phone models. Future installments will also appear on the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, and likely the upcoming PlayStation 3, as well. It is (along with Dragon Quest) one of Square Enix's two highest selling franchises, having sold over 40 million units worldwide before the Square Enix merger, which went into effect on April 1, 2003. To date it has sold over 60 million.

There have been over 15 Final Fantasy games in all, including spinoffs and related titles. Few of the games directly continue the story of previous installments: the franchise is associated more with quality, graphics, music, and gameplay than characters or settings.Final Fantasy I

Overview
The series' name comes from Square's brush with bankruptcy, and is an excellent example of gallows humor. Head designer Hironobu Sakaguchi decided to make the company's last project a fantasy role-playing game, as the name of Final Fantasy implies. The game's success brought the company to profitability, and the Final Fantasy video game franchise was born. Since then the Final Fantasy franchise has been considered Square Enix's most important asset. Figuratively, the name of Final Fantasy can also refer to any successful last chance to escape bankruptcy or any successful last chance to escape death or halt personal loss, based on this business situation. Far from being Square's swansong, Final Fantasy is one of the most successful video game franchises, both financially and in terms of the size of the fan base.

Common Themes
The Final Fantasy series has many references to history, literature, religion and mythology from around the world, particularly in later games.

All the games in the series occur in different universes and were traditionally unrelated, although individual characters would sometimes appear in later games, often as a "hidden" character. In recent years this policy of non-continuous games has been relaxed somewhat, as evidenced by the direct sequel Final Fantasy X-2. Final Fantasy VII has also spawned several direct sequels featuring concepts and characters from the original game, linked together under the title Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Several elements are traditional in the series; the following appear in multiple Final Fantasy games:

  • Airships: Powerful vessels that allow immediate travel from one place to another; they also can serve as a base of operations for a mission or serve as weapons themselves.
  • Biggs and Wedge: minor characters in the game. Their names are a reference to minor characters in the original Star Wars movie who assist Luke Skywalker in the final assault on the Death Star. They appear in Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy X. They also make a guest appearance in Square's Chrono Trigger, looking as they did in Final Fantasy VI.
  • Cid/Sid: a character who is usually an engineer, and who often builds airships. Every game since Final Fantasy II, as well as the film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, features a Cid (although it was spelled Sid).
  • Character development: characters grow and interact with each other over the course of the game. For example, one member might initially dislike and/or ridicule another member of the party, or a character might be struggling to overcome some weakness. There are often romantic relationships that appear throughout the game. This character development is a frequent source of humor.
  • Creatures: including Moogles (an intelligent race who have appeared in every game since Final Fantasy III with the notable exception of Final Fantasy IV), Tonberrys, Cactuars (who have both appeared in every game since Final Fantasy V), and Chocobos (every game since Final Fantasy II).
  • "Weapons": challenging bosses whose defeat is usually an optional quest, not essential to the game's main storyline.
    • Summon Shiva
  • Summoned creatures: these are known by various names or titles including Espers, Guardian Forces, Eidolons, and Aeons. These powerful entities aid the party, usually with powerful elemental attacks, and usually include Ifrit (Fire), Shiva (Ice) and Leviathan (Water), among others. Another recurring character is Bahamut, the king of dragons, who may appear as a powerful ally or boss (or in some games, both). Summoned creatures have appeared in every Final Fantasy game since Final Fantasy III in some capacity.
  • Magical styles: Magic is usually divided into "styles" or "schools" including black magic (elemental spells), white magic (healing spells) and blue magic (the ability to learn the magical abilities of monsters). Sometimes red magic is also included; it is usually a mix of black and white magic.
  • Side Quests: Entirely optional activities that often reveal more of the story and/or allows the recruitment of hidden characters. While the game can be completed without these quests, they are quite popular with fans.
  • Spells: A number of spells are usually available to magic-using characters, the most common including fire, blizzard, thunder, and cure. A series of standard suffixes denotes increasing power; for example, fire is the basic elemental fire spell; fira and firaga are increasingly powerful versions. These suffixes have been present in every Japanese game except Final Fantasy II, but were only adopted in the English localisations after Final Fantasy VIII.
  • Status ailments and cures: Characters in Final Fantasy games are usually subject to a number of standard "status ailments" which cause deleterious effects, including silence, poison, petrification and confusion. While these are present in most similar RPGs, Final Fantasy also has a standard list of items which may be used to cure specific ailments; for example the "Echo Screen" cures silence and "Soft" cures petrification. Additionally, all games (with the exception of Final Fantasy I) include the "Phoenix Down", which revives a character who has been KO'd. The only other exception is "Final Fantasy XI," this online Final Fantasy has a spell called "Raise" but no phoenix downs.

Design
Most Final Fantasy games have a considerable level of detail given to the plot and character development. For Final Fantasy XII, Yasumi Matsuno assumed the role of chief producer and designer. The character designers are Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy I-VI; he was also credited with "image illustration" in Final Fantasy IX), Tetsuya Nomura (Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X), and Akihiko Yoshida (FF Tactics, Vagrant Story), and Shukou Murase, Toshiyuki Itahana and Shin Nagasawa (Final Fantasy IX). Yoshinori Kitase is an integral part in the production of the Final Fantasy series. In October 2003, Kazushige Nojima, once an integral part of Final Fantasy production, resigned from Square Enix to form his own game scenario company, Stellavista. He partially or completely wrote the stories for Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X, and X-2. Square continues to outsource story and scenario work to Nojima.

Music
Final Fantasy has been well recognized in the United States and Europe for its soundtracks. Nobuo Uematsu was the chief music composer of the Final Fantasy series until his resignation from Square in November 2004 (although he has stated that he may continue to work on the series as an outside contractor, similar to how Yasunori Mitsuda continued to work with Square on a number of projects after his departure in 1998). His music has played a large part in the popularity of the Final Fantasy video game franchise in the United Kingdom and the United States. In the 2004 Summer Olympics, the American synchronized swimming duo consisting of Alison Bartosik and Anna Kozlova were awarded the bronze medal using music from Final Fantasy VIII. Other music composers include Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano. Final Fantasy soundtracks and sheet music are getting more popular among non-Japanese Final Fantasy fans and have even been performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. On November 17, 2003, Square Enix U.S.A. launched an America Online radio station dedicated to the Final Fantasy series. It initially carried complete tracks from Final Fantasy XI and samplings from Final Fantasy VII through Final Fantasy X. Many video game and MIDI Web sites offer MIDI renditions of Final Fantasy music pieces. Several Final Fantasy fans play songs from the series on the piano. Final Fantasy is known not only by the video game community, but also in music circles. The game series is possibly a musical topic as well as a video game topic, due to its recognition for its music. An orchestral Final Fantasy music concert (called "Dear Friends". -OmegaX) in the United States was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall on May 10, 2004. That concert was a three-day sell out. The next performance is planned for February 19, 2005 in Rosemont, Illinois by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra. Most Final Fantasy fan sites offer Final Fantasy music files.

Critics
Although the franchise is extremely popular, it is not without critics. Some cite a lack of interactivity (overuse of Full Motion Video), rigid and often linear story structure and unoriginality. With the exception of Final Fantasy VII, the games that appeared in CD form on the Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2 platforms that are scenario-written by Kazushige Nojima, are especially attacked by critics within the video game community. Nintendo's Legend of Zelda, Konami's Suikoden, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto and Square Enix's Dragon Quest franchises are strong competitors of Final Fantasy. Much of the Final Fantasy fanbase is believed to have conservative attitudes, especially since the time of Final Fantasy VII, and many critics have such attitudes. Some new school gamers and die-hard Final Fantasy fans believe that the nostalgia factor takes a role in many critics' opinions (http://www.rpgamer.com/editor/2004/q2/061004mm.html) on Final Fantasy VIII, IX, X, and X-2.

Graphics and Technology
The 8-bit and 16-bit generations
Final Fantasy began on the Nintendo Family Computer ("Famicom," known internationally as the Nintendo Entertainment System) as Final Fantasy I in 1987, and was joined by two sequels, Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III, over the next three years. On the main world screen, small sprite representations of the leading party member were displayed because of graphical limitations, while in battle screens, more detailed, full versions of all characters would appear in a side view perspective.

The same basic system was used in the next three games, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI, for the Super Famicom (known internationally as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System). These games utilized updated graphics and effects, as well as higher quality music and sound than in previous games, but were otherwise similar to their predeccessors in basic design.

The text of the Japanese language versions of early Final Fantasy games was comprised purely of kana. Much of the dialogue was simply clumps of text, making it especially hard for older gamers and foreigners learning Japanese. Finally, in Final Fantasy V, the games began to use kanji. This would continue to get more advanced in Final Fantasy VI, and the trend would continue to make the games much more erudite.

The 32-bit, 64-bit, and 128-bit generations
Final Fantasy VII1997 saw the release of Final Fantasy VII. The characters and entire game world were now 3-dimensional, with fully pre-rendered backgrounds. Final Fantasy VII was also the first Final Fantasy game to use full motion video sequences, part of the reason why the game spanned a full three CD-ROMs. However, Final Fantasy VII's video often lacked consistency, with characters appearing tiny and indistinct in one scene, and ultra-detailed in the next.

Final Fantasy VIII

Starting with Final Fantasy VIII, the series adopted a more realistic look in an attempt to convey a more serious atmosphere. The full motion video sequences were done in a very cinematic fashion, and it utilized a display technique wherein video would play in the background while the polygon characters would be composited on top.

Final Fantasy IX returned briefly to the more stylized design of earlier games in the series, but maintained most of the graphical techniques utilized in the previous two games in the series.

An interesting choice midway along the series would be Final Fantasy Tactics, a spinoff of the series, which used sprites again for the characters, creating a very neat and efficient way to deploy objects onto an environment for the developers. Moreover, the only real user-interaction besides preparations and shops took place in battle. The developers saw no need for fully 3D-rendered overhead battles.

Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X was released on the PlayStation 2, utilizing video sequences in Final Fantasy X which were astonishingly realistic. Final Fantasy X also frequently used the pseudo-cutscene - while these would still show important events, they would be rendered in real-time, rather than displayed in pre-rendered video. Final Fantasy X was the first game in the series to use voice overs to any degree. Final Fantasy X-2 utilized the same game engine as Final Fantasy X, and was aesthetically not much different.

Game Screens
Here is a general look at the 5 traditional Final Fantasy scenes, which will be changed in the new Final Fantasy XII. The games usually have several types of screens, or modes of interaction, broadly categorized as:

  • Field screens: These are where the main interaction between the characters occurs, and indeed most of the exploration of the world occurs on these screens. Dialog mostly occurs on these screens. Final Fantasy VII marked the point that Final Fantasy would have realistic computer graphics, while Dragon Warrior stayed with anime style cel-shaded graphics. Prior to Final Fantasy VII, they were pseudo-orthographic, using a simple 2D engine. Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX used pre-rendered and pre-painted backgrounds over which 3D models were overlaid. Final Fantasy X used a completely 3D field screen system, which allowed the camera angle to change as the characters moved about.
  • Battle screens: Battles occur on a separate type of screen (or arena), usually with a change of scale and a backdrop "arena" that usually generically represents where the battle is occurring in the game. (For example, a random battle in a desert gets a desert backdrop.) Plot-relevant battles (as opposed to battling random monsters) may have a specially built battle screen/arena however. In Final Fantasy VII and later, these screens are fully 3D, but very restricted in size. Final Fantasy XII will do away with "scene-battles."
  • World screen: A low-scale screen used to symbolize travelling great distances in times that would otherwise slow the game down unacceptably plot-wise. These are usually not to scale, as a character may appear the size of a small mountain. Relatively little plot occurs here, but there are exceptions. The world screen was cut off by Final Fantasy X.
  • Cutscenes: These scenes are non-interactive playback that usually advances the plot. They can either be pre-rendered video (FMV), or they can be executed in with the same engine as the field screens. In some cases, pre-rendered video was overlaid with real-time rendered field screen graphics (FMV-3D).
  • Menu Screen: This screen is used for navigating your party's status, equipment, magic, etc. This screen is usually a very simple blue-table layout, with a gloved hand to select one's options. In some games, the option to change the color of the tables is given. Final Fantasy VIII saw much more advanced menus with more options, and by Final Fantasy X the menus were part of the style of the game.

The games often feature various mini-games with their own graphical engines.

How to Play
Final Fantasy borrowed many gameplay elements from its primary rival, the Dragon Quest franchise. As such, Final Fantasy uses a menu-driven, turn-based battle system. Most games in the series utilize a experience level system for character advancement (although Final Fantasy II did not), and a point-based system for casting magical spells (though Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy VIII all featured different approaches). Most games in the series (post-Final Fantasy III) feature a variety of "special commands," over and beyond the traditional "Attack," "Defend," "Cast Magic," and "Run" battle commands, such as the ability to steal items from enemies, or perfoming a leap attack. Often these special attacks are integrated into the "job system," which has appeared in several games in the series (Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy X-2).

Final Fantasy I through Final Fantasy III all featured a traditional turn based battle system. The player would input all battle commands at the beginning of each combat round, which would then be carried out based on the speed rating of each character. Starting with Final Fantasy IV, and continuing until Final Fantasy IX (and revived briefly in Final Fantasy X-2), the "Active Time Battle" (ATB) system was introduced. The ATB system was semi-real time, and afforded every creature in combat a time gauge. When a specific character's time gauge was filled, the character could act, which would then reset the timer. Generally each of these games included both "active" and "wait" modes: when "wait" mode was chosen, the all activity relating to the time gauge would pause whenever the player was using a submenu to choose a magic spell, item, or special attack.

Final Fantasy X abandoned the ATB system in favor of the "Conditional Turn-Based Battle System" (CTB). In the CTB system, every creature in battle would be ranked according to speed. As this ranking was displayed on screen during battle, it was possible to know when a character and/or enemy would move several combat turns in advance, and to plan battles accordingly.

Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy XI featured a fully real time combat system similar to that employed by the game Everquest: when confronted with an enemy, a character would automatically perform basic physical attacks unless otherwise instructed by the player. Early details suggest Final Fantasy XII will adopt a similar system. Unlike previous games, battles in both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XII take place on the world map, with no separate battle screen.

The Games
Note on numbering system
Originally, Final Fantasy II and III for the Famicom and V for the Super Famicom were not released in America, so Square of America decided to change the numbers of the US releases to hide this fact. Final Fantasy IV became "II" and VI became "III". Starting with Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation, it was decided to drop the pretense and refer to all subsequent games by their true numbering, leading to an apparent "jump" over 3 games. This has been a source of endless confusion, with many American fans continuing to refer to this day to IV and VI by the original American numbers. To solve this, many fans use the disambiguating suffixes "us" and "j" for American numbering and Japanese numbering respectively, e.g. FF3us or FF6j.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Later ports include translations of the Japanese games with their original numbering. Final Fantasy IV was released in Final Fantasy Chronicles for the PlayStation, while Final Fantasy V and VI were released in Final Fantasy Anthology for PlayStation. The original Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II are released in Final Fantasy Origins, and for the Game Boy Advance as Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls. Final Fantasy III has not yet officially been released in the US, and never rereleased on any platform in any market, but Square-Enix currently plans to release it for the Nintendo DS.

Main Series

Direct Sequels, Spin-Offs, and Related Games
Final Fantasy VII: Advent ChildrenUntil the release of Final Fantasy X-2 the idea of a "direct sequel," that is, a game which picked up directly from the story of a previous game in the series, was unprecedented in the series. Starting with that game, however, several such sequels emerged, especially the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series of games/movies, all of which continue the story of the game Final Fantasy VII.

  • Ehrgeiz - 1998 - Sony PlayStation
    • Fighting game developed by Dream Factory and released by Square.
    • Features Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, Yuffie Kisaragi, Vincent, Sephiroth and Zack from Final Fantasy VII

Compilations and Collections

  • Final Fantasy Collection - 1999 - Sony PlayStation
    • Compilation of the PlayStation remakes of Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI in special edition packaging with omake extras
    • Never released in North America or Europe
  • Final Fantasy Anthology - 1999/2002 - Sony PlayStation
    • North American version - released in 1999, a compilation of the PlayStation remakes of Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI with a special edition soundtrack CD.
    • European version - released in 2002, a compilation of the PlayStation remakes of Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V
  • Final Fantasy Origins - 2002 - Sony PlayStation
    • Compilation of the PlayStation remakes of Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II in special edition packaging with omake extras, under the title Final Fantasy I+II Premium Package
    • Released in North America and Europe in 2003 without any packaging extras
  • Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls - 2004 - Nintendo Game Boy Advance
    • Remake of Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II with bonus quests and dungeons
    • Released in Japan as Final Fantasy I & II Advance

Final Fantasy in Other Media

  • Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals - 1994

Notable People

See Also

Final Fantasy Related

Fantasy & Role Playing Related

Music

Misc

Similar Games

Final Fantasy

Source:
- Final Fantasy: Information from Answers.com

    :: posted by Fari Nasution @ 10:45 AM :: :: ::

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