Final Fantasy: A Brief History
In 1987, Square was on the verge of complete and utter collapse, bankruptcy from a series of failed games. It was with this that they decided to throw everything they had into one last ditch effort, aptly titled Final Fantasy. The game was a monstrous success, using cutting-edge technology to tell the first of many epic stories in the new Japanese RPG format.
The next two games were not immediately released in the United States, but increased the series’ brand and popularity in Japan, leading to the release of Final Fantasy IV in 1991, released later in 1992 in the US. like Final Fantasy. II. It was the first of three releases for the SNES and, on its own, took the entire genre by storm. It was an epic tale of deceit and betrayal and a disgraced knight’s quest to uncover and destroy the conspiracy that promises to ruin his nation.
The following game was similarly skipped in the US, a more numbers and level oriented affair, much like the previous entry III. It was a growth on the series but nothing revolutionary, just an extension of the brand to bridge the gap until the next blockbuster in Final Fantasy VI.
Final Fantasy VI was released in the US as Final Fantasy III and proved to be the kick in the pants many American gamers needed to truly fall in love with the series. Even now, it is considered by many to be the best in the series. Terra, Kefka, intensely fun boss battles, and a story to rival any since, Final Fantasy VI had it all and remains one of the most played games in my collection of classic games.
And it was with this game that Square ended the 16-bit era of Final Fantasy. The inclusion of offshoots, Mystic Quest for the SNES and Legends for the Game Boy should be noted as an attempt by Square to spread the popularity of the franchise to a mainstream audience. Most will note the failure of the effort, as none of these titles were true Final Fantasies and relied more on the brand name than the game to sell copies.
It would take a technological revolution and the abandonment of a classic partnership for Square’s key franchise to make the leap to mainstream popularity. That came in 1997 with the PlayStation release of Final Fantasy VII. The decision to leave Nintendo was made for multiple reasons, one of which was Nintendo’s inability to develop a platform with the technical capability that Square wanted to introduce. Staying true to the classic cartridge format, Nintendo alienated the desire for video and orchestrated the inclusion of music, something that Sony’s new CD-format game console handled beautifully.
And it was this new technology and openness to innovation that brought Final Fantasy VII to the market. It was the first in the series to jump into 3d. Also, the first to use FMV, videos play during emotionally climactic moments in the game. Whether the story or the gameplay was revolutionary has always been hotly debated by fans and dissenters alike, but VII’s impact on the genre has been felt ever since. It reinvented, as the series did 10 years earlier, what the RPG genre looked like, and today it remains one of the most popular games of all time.
A year and a half later saw the release of Final Fantasy VIII, the second installment in Square’s trilogy of games for PlayStation. It took the trailers from Final Fantasy VII and built on them admirably, introducing a new format for magic and leveling that some found too easy, but it also added whole new levels of strategy to the experience.
Final Fantasy IX sought to return the series to the medieval roots from which it grew. Returning from the almost realistic approach of the eighth inning, we saw the reintroduction of the super-deformed cartoonish style of the previous games. The plot also reverts to the medieval formats of the previous games, away from the sci-fi elements of the previous three games. It was well received but overlooked due to the simultaneous release of Sony’s new PlayStation 2 and the introduction of new graphics highs.
Step into the next generation. Final Fantasy X was a step up from the way VII was five years earlier. It introduced true 3D, voice acting, stunning graphics, and one of the series’ most compelling storylines, unabashedly tough and unforgiving with its characters, so powerful it spawned a sequel, the first in Final Fantasy history. Granted, the sequel didn’t live up to its predecessor and Final Fantasy X-2 has never gotten the respect of its siblings, but the game itself is fun and packed with innovation that no game in the main series could pull off.
Except Square decided to do it, and in Final Fantasy XI they didn’t even make a standard RPG. Instead, the RPG giant brought us its entry into the MMORPG realm, a sprawling and technically marvelous Internet RPG, now boasting one of the second largest Internet populations (World of Warcraft destroy all your competition). Some found it too difficult, and many didn’t appreciate using the brand just to sell a brand new product, especially since it pushed the release of a new console game almost 5 years later. XI has been around for a while and needs a sequel, and it remains to be seen if Square-Enix will bother.
Yes, that’s right, Square Enix. The two giants merged shortly after the release of XI and things have changed for good. Final Fantasy XII was indefinitely delayed for years due to the merger. But it was finally released earlier this past year to critical acclaim. The game took the more efficient elements of XI’s battle system and introduced a more mature and involving story, revolving around all of its characters. As a game, XII succeeds on multiple levels because of its willingness to change the “formula” that the other games created. And this is the story of Final Fantasy as a franchise. Through innovation, Square Enix has always managed to create something amazing that is worth playing and lasts. I still have all my original Final Fantasies intact on a shelf tucked away for safety, something only Zelda as a game franchise also enjoys. Everything else tends to disappear.
As PlayStation 3 arrives, the newest entry is probably only a year or two away and we’ll see what Square Enix does with it, but you can count on one thing. It will be innovative and first-rate.