Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy (Japanese: ファイナルファンタジー , Hepburn: Fainaru Fantajī ^? ) is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games (RPGs), but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise. The series began in 1987 with the eponymous video game conceived by Sakaguchi as his last-ditch effort in the game industry; the title was a success and spawned sequels. The video game series has since branched into other genres such as tactical role-playing, action role-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing, racing, third-person shooter, and fighting.

Although most Final Fantasy installments are supposedly independent stories with different settings and main characters, they feature identical elements that define the franchise. Recurring elements include plot themes, character names, and game mechanics. Plots center on a group of heroes battling a great evil while exploring the characters' internal struggles and relationships. Character names are often derived from the history, languages, and mythologies of cultures worldwide.

The series has been commercially and critically successful; it is Square Enix's best selling video game franchise, with more than 100 million units sold, and one of the best-selling video game franchises. It was awarded a star on the Walk of Game in 2006, and holds seven Guinness World Records in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008 . The series is well known for its innovation, visuals, and music, such as the inclusion of full motion videos, photo-realistic character models, and orchestrated music by Nobuo Uematsu. Final Fantasy has been a driving force in the video game industry. The video game series has affected Square's business practices and its relationships with other video game developers. It has also introduced many features now common in console RPGs and has been credited with helping to popularize RPGs in markets outside Japan.

Titles

Further information: List of Final Fantasy media

Games

Main article: List of Final Fantasy video games

The first installment of the series premiered in Japan on December 18, 1987. Subsequent titles are numbered and given a story unrelated to previous games; consequently, the numbers refer more to volumes than to sequels. Many Final Fantasy games have been localized for markets in North America, Europe, and Australia on numerous video game consoles, personal computers (PC), and mobile phones. Future installments will appear on seventh generation video game consoles; upcoming titles include Final Fantasy XIII-2 , and Final Fantasy Versus XIII . As of March 2007, there are 28 games in the franchise; this number includes the main installments from Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy XIV , as well as direct sequels and spin-offs. Most of the older titles have been remade or re-released on multiple platforms.

Main series

Three Final Fantasy installments were released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Final Fantasy was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990. It introduced many concepts to the console RPG genre, and has since been remade on several platforms. Final Fantasy II , released in 1988 in Japan, has been bundled with Final Fantasy in several re-releases. The last of the NES installments, Final Fantasy III , was released in Japan in 1990; however, it was not released elsewhere until a Nintendo DS remake in 2006.

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) also featured three installments of the main series, all of which have been re-released on several platforms. Final Fantasy IV was released in 1991; in North America, it was released as Final Fantasy II . It introduced the "Active Time Battle" system. Final Fantasy V , released in 1992 in Japan, was first in the series to spawn a sequel: a short anime series titled Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals . Final Fantasy VI was released in Japan in 1994, but it was titled Final Fantasy III in North America.

The PlayStation console saw the release of three main Final Fantasy games. The 1997 title Final Fantasy VII moved away from the two-dimensional (2D) graphics used in the first six games to three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics; the game features polygonal characters on pre-rendered backgrounds. It also introduced a more modern setting, a style that was carried over to the next game. It was also the first in the series to be released in Europe. The eighth installment was published in 1999, and was the first to consistently use realistically proportioned characters and feature a vocal piece as its theme music. Final Fantasy IX , released in 2000, returned to the series' roots by revisiting a more traditional Final Fantasy setting rather than the more modern worlds of VII and VIII .

Three main installments, including one online game, were published for the PlayStation 2 (PS2). The 2001 title Final Fantasy X introduced full 3D areas and voice acting to the series, and was the first to spawn a direct video game sequel ( Final Fantasy X-2 ). Final Fantasy XI was released on the PS2 and PC in 2002, and later on the Xbox 360. The first massive multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG) in the series, Final Fantasy XI also introduced real-time battles instead of random encounters. The twelfth installment, published in 2006, also includes real-time battles in large, interconnected playfields.

In 2009, Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan, and was released in North America and Europe the following year. It is the flagship installment of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy XIV , an MMORPG, was released worldwide on Windows PC in 2010, with a PlayStation 3 version to follow in the coming years.

Sequels and spin-offs

See also: Category: Final Fantasy spin-offs

Final Fantasy has spawned numerous spin-offs and metaseries. Three Square games were released in North America with their titles changed to include " Final Fantasy ": The Final Fantasy Legend and its two sequels. The games, however, are part of Square's Saga series and feature few similarities to Final Fantasy . Final Fantasy Adventure is a spin-off that spawned the Mana series. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was developed for a United States audience, and Final Fantasy Tactics is a tactical RPG that features many references and themes found in the series. The spin-off Chocobo series, Crystal Chronicles series, and Kingdom Hearts series also include multiple Final Fantasy elements. In 2003, the video game series' first direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2 , was released. Dissidia Final Fantasy was released in 2009, and is a fighting game that features heroes and villains from the first ten games from the main series. It was followed by a sequel in 2011. Other spin-offs have taken the form of subseries— Compilation of Final Fantasy VII , Ivalice Alliance , and Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy .

Other media

Square Enix has expanded the Final Fantasy series into various media. Multiple anime and computer-generated imagery (CGI) films have been produced that are based either on individual Final Fantasy games or on the series as a whole. The first was an original video animation (OVA) titled Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals , a sequel to Final Fantasy V . The story was set on the same world as the game though 200 years in the future. It was released as four 30-minute episodes first in Japan in 1994 and later released in the United States by Urban Vision in 1998. In 2001, Square Pictures released its first feature film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within . The film is set on a future-Earth invaded by alien life forms. The Spirits Within was the first animated feature to seriously attempt to portray photorealistic CGI humans, but was considered a box office bomb. 2001 also saw the release of Final Fantasy: Unlimited , a 25 episode anime series based on the common elements of the Final Fantasy series. It was broadcast in Japan by TV Tokyo and released in North America by ADV Films. In 2005, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and Last Order: Final Fantasy VII were released as part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII .

Several video games have either been adapted into or have had spin-offs in the form of manga and novels. The first was the novelization of Final Fantasy II in 1989, and was followed by a manga adaptation of Final Fantasy III in 1992. The past decade has seen an increase in the number of non-video game adaptations and spin-offs. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within has been adapted into a novel, the spin-off game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles has been adapted into a manga, and Final Fantasy XI has had a novel and manga set in its continuity. Two novellas based on the Final Fantasy VII universe have also been released. The Final Fantasy: Unlimited story was partially continued in nov