Disclaimer: There will be spoilers abound in this post. You have been warned!
As we move along in my countdown, we arrive at the original, the game that started it all, Final Fantasy. Originally released in Japan in 1987, the U.S. got their first take of Final Fantasy magic on the NES three years later (thank God localization now only takes months!). Since it’s original release, the game was remade as a part of the PlayStation’s Final Fantasy Origins package along with Final Fantasy II in 2003 and has been re-released on the Game Boy Advanced, PSP, and now the PSN store (and soon, it will be available on the iPhone).
At the time the game was released, Square Co. (yes, they didn’t go by Squaresoft then, and the merge with Enix wasn’t even a thought at this time) was failing. After several lackluster releases, president Hironobu Sakaguchi, decided to make one more game. He declared that it would be his final attempt and that the theme would be a fantasy RPG, and that plan became the title of the game, Final Fantasy. However, what was meant to be a farewell to the gaming industry met with huge success and it only trailed behind the most popular RPG in Japan at the time, Enix’s Dragon Quest. The game also had moderate success in the States, saving Square Co. and giving birth to one of the most successful RPG series of all time.
Story
At the start of the game, the player is presented with a bit of a history lesson and legend of the unnamed world they find themselves in. The elements of the world (earth, wind, fire, water) were governed by four elemental crystals and their power was used by four powerful civilizations that existed hundreds of years before the start of the game. However, the crystals began to grow dark and the civilizations could no longer use the crystals to control each element as they once could. After each crystal grew dark and each civilization fell, a prophecy was declared, saying that in the future, four Warriors of Light would restore the world in a time of darkness.
The player is then placed in control of these four generic characters, whom each carry a darkened crystal with them. After the player gives a name and a job to each party member, they make their first stop to the Kingdom of Cornelia and discover the kingdom’s princess has been kidnapped by Garland, a former knight of Cornelia whom apparently has plans to overthrow the Kingdom. The heroes go to Garland’s liar, the Chaos Shrine, defeat him and save the princess.
After the ordeal with Garland, the heroes then set out on a series of linear quests that allow them to travel across the rest of the world. Eventually, the party arrives at the town of Melmond, a town that whose earth and crops are literally rotting. It is believed the Vampire living in the Cavern of Earth is to blame and the heroes take it out; however, no improvement is shown. Upon further investigation in another cave, the party comes across Sadda (also known as Sarda) whom tells them an Elemental Fiend known as Lich is the culprit. Upon Lich’s defeat, the power of the Earth Crystal is restored and the land of Melmond returns to normal.
The party continues its travels, defeating the remaining elemental fiends and restoring the power of the remaining three crystals in their possession. Along the way, the party also encounters the Dragon King, Bahamut, whom sends them on a quest that allows the four Light Warriors to obtain upgraded versions of all their jobs.
However, despite everything seeming to be back to normal, our heroes find out their quest is not yet done. The Four Fiends were actually in league with Garland. Now brace yourself because things are about to get a little crazy if you are trying to follow the story.
Somehow, Garland is able to make a deal with these Four Fiends; however, they did not exist in the present, but rather the past as they were the ones to blame for initial darkening of the crystals and destruction of the world’s ancient civilizations. As a part of this pact, the Fiends send Garland 2,000 years in the past and Garland sends the Four Fiends to the present time. Somehow, this created a time paradox that would allow Garland to live forever and the Fiends could do as they pleased in the present.
With this knowledge, the Light Warriors return to the Chaos Temple and use the power of the crystals to travel 2,000 years in the past to destroy Garland once and for all. The Warriors reunite with Garland whom remembers them and is quite pissed as his initial plan was to have a present and past self to keep the time paradox and his eternal life in place. Garland then absorbs the power of all the deceased Four Fiends and becomes a demon known as Chaos.
Of course, the good guys win, Chaos is defeated and the time paradox is broken with both Garland and the four Elemental Fiends gone for good. Upon their victory the Light Warriors return to their own time and everything is back to normal except for one twist: no one, including the Light Warriors remembers anything. The world returned to a point in which Garland, the Fiends, and their scheme never existed and no one had a single memory of the event, making for quite a rather interesting end for such a journey.
Characters
As stated in the previous section, there isn’t exactly any real character development to speak of. The four Light Warriors are whatever you want them to be more or less. However, if you want someone else to give some character development to these sprites, may I suggest some 8-bit Theater or the musical stylings of Duane & Brando:
The Villain
Again, not much to see here. Garland/Chaos really doesn’t have much development to speak of; however, it is definitely one of the more unique evil (and most confusing) plans in the entire series.
Battle/Leveling System
The battles and leveling are as simple as they can get. Pick your jobs, get in random battles, input commands, get experience points, level up, wash, rinse, repeat.
Every job has its own unique abilities and you are able to pick six from the start: Warrior (aka Fighter), Monk (aka Black Belt), Thief, White Mage, Black Mage, and Red Mage (random note: many years later, Final Fantasy XI, would later also allow these six jobs to be the first available selections for a player’s character). The Warrior job is your basic damage dealer that could equip heavy armor and weapons. A Monk is a bare-fisted damage dealer (giving a Monk weapons actually would hurt), but can’t equip heavy armor. A Thief can’t equip heavy weapons or armor, but with a high agility rating they can pull off more hits per round. A White Mage allows for healing magic to be used and a Black Mage could cast attack magic. The Red Mage is the jack of all trades and could equip many of the weapons and armor in the game as well as being able to cast many, but not all, white and black magic.
After conquering Bahamut’s trail, these jobs are then upgraded to Knight, Master, Ninja, White Wizard, Black Wizard, and Red Wizard respectively. Each of these were a powered up version of the previous job, and in the case of Knight and Ninja, those jobs could now use white and black magic respectively.
The real beauty of this system though is that it allowed for a multitude of different job combinations to be used as well as encouraging multiple playthroughs of the game in order to try different combos out. Sure it’s basic and overly simplistic, but it works and still stands the test of time and makes for a much more enjoyable playing experience than yesterday’s entry, Final Fantasy II.
Why This Game Ended Up Here
Even though I very much enjoy the simplistic nature of the game, compared to other entries in the Final Fantasy series, it simply doesn’t as much substance as other entries. Final Fantasy served as an excellent starting point for the series, but, as we progress through the countdown, we will begin to encounter games with must more robust stories, characters, and battle systems.
The real meat of this countdown is about to begin (and my decisions in rankings start to get much harder).
Disclaimer: This post will be littered with spoilers of the story throughout. You’ve been warned!
Originally released in Japan in 1988, Final Fantasy II never saw the light of day in the States until 2002 with the release of Final Fantasy Origins for the Playstation. Since that time, it has been re-released on the Gameboy Advanced and PSP systems. Even though I consider this the “worst” out of all Final Fantasy games, it is by no means an awful game; in fact, Final Fantasy II introduced unique mechanics never seen before in a Final Fantasy game (or any RPG at the time) and also saw the debut of a story that featured unique characters controlled by the player. Despite such innovations though, there are several reasons why this game lands at the bottom of my countdown.
Story
The game starts as the evil Palamecian Empire attacks the town of Fynn, in which the game’s main characters, Firion, Maria, Guy, and Leon live. In the attack, their parents are killed and as they attempt to flee the town to save their own lives, they are attacked as well and left for dead. Following the attack, only three of the main characters, Firion, Maria, and Guy are find themselves in the rebel stronghold of Altair, with Leon missing.
What follows next is a series of linear quests in which the three heroes attempt to prove their worth to the rebel resistance. Along the way the main party of three is joined by a fourth character throughout the game (and that character might as well have been a red-shirted Star Trek ensign, as that role was practically a death wish in this game). Eventually, the our heroes become a part of a three-pronged attack plan against the Emperor. One of the rebel mages, Minwu, was to retrieve the ultimate magic tome of Ultima, another rebel, Gordon, would lead a direct attack on the Empire at Fynn, and the player-controlled heroes would enlist the help of the Dragoons to join the rebel cause. However, the player’s quest turns up rather empty as they only find a single poisoned Wyvren remained and no Dragoons were to be found. The lone Wyvren gives the players the last Wyvren egg in which the heroes place into a healing spring for incubation.
As the heroes return, the story starts to get a bit crazy. The supposed princess helping leading the rebellion, Hilda, is then revealed to be a monster in disguise. The heroes then learn that the Emperor is keeping the real Hilda as a prize in a tournament in his Coliseum. Of course, for some reason our heroes think going directly into the lion’s den is a bright idea and they win the tournament only to be thrown into jail by the Emperor upon their victory.
As only a Final Fantasy game can, our heroes happen to be in the right place at the right time as a traveling thief frees them and allows the party and Hilda to escape. The party then sets out to find Minwu and the Ultima tome in order to defeat the Emperor. After a bit side-tracking that involves, among other things being swallowed whole by a sea monster, Leviathan, the heroes eventually obtain Ultima, however, at the cost of Minwu’s life.
Upon obtaining Ultima, the heroes learn of a destructive force known as the Cyclone. By hatching the last Wyvren egg, the party is able to enter the Cyclone and stop it by defeating the Emperor himself. After the Emperor’s death, the party encounters a villain known only as the “Dark Knight”, the Emperor’s right-hand man, that had appeared throughout the game. That same “Dark Knight” is none other than the heroes long-lost friend, Leon, whom for some reason or another decides that he will crown himself the new emperor.
That plan is cut ever so short as the Emperor manages to resurrect himself from Hell (dead serious here), and pulls an Obi-Wan-Kenobi move of “you struck me down now I’m more powerful than ever”. The party, now with Leon back in tow (seems pissed off, Hell-resurrected emperors are great for mending friendships), escapes and the Emperor raises Castle Pandemonium, the fortress of Hell and the game’s final dungeon.
Of course, our brave heroes and quickly reformed Dark Knight brave Castle Pandemonium and defeat the Emperor once again, sending him back to Hell for good. The party returns to Fynn where they reunite with Hilda (and the handful of other characters that managed to not die by joining the party throughout the game) and well…live happily ever after. Except for Leon, whom isn’t quite happy with himself and decides to leave the town, but of course, like any good Final Fantasy hero, Firion lets him know that he is always welcome back as Leon “belongs” in Fynn.
The story itself isn’t overly spectacular, but it did contain a handful of twist that one would be hard pressed to see coming. The twist of Leon being the Dark Knight in particular was probably the single biggest shock as the game had no problem killing of other characters that joined the heroes on their quest. In retrospect, the story might seem quite highly predictable and, well…lame by today’s standards, but it truly was something that hadn’t been seen in RPGs at the time.
Characters
The characters themselves aren’t all too memorable. Firion, Maria, and Guy don’t receive too much of a backstory or anything that resembles any real character development (especially by Final Fantasy standards today). Even Leon’s character fails reveal any real motivation behind joining the Emperor, joining back up with the party, or his feelings behind leaving Fynn at the end of the game.
To be fair, this was the first real attempt at even attempting to have the player play as characters whose stories where already written, as the previous game, Final Fantasy, was basically just a blank slate of four generic heroes. It was the first attempt to try something different in the series, and later having unique characters and solid development has become a staple of the series.
The Villain
One thing that did not deviate from the previous formula, was that of the bad guy. The Emperor was just that, a generic bastard that wanted world domination. Well, he was also one that somehow managed to control the powers of Hell while he was alive and then somehow was able to gain even more powers after he died the first time. And that pretty much about sums him up. All things considered, this Hell-raising Emperor is rather forgettable in the series.
Battle/Leveling System
This area is probably Final Fantasy II‘s greatest strength and weakness. The battle system was very much ahead of it’s time and was borderline genius. However, I believe attempting this system in what was still the Final Fantasy series’ infancy, ultimately doomed it.
On paper is sounds like an amazing idea: no experience points or levels in a RPG! Instead, your skills simply increase as you use them. So if you swing a sword a bunch, you become quite deadly with it. Cast a lot of magic, and you are able to nuke your enemies into kingdom-come. Take a bunch of damage, and that character becomes increasingly resistant to it.
While this system now currently sounds like a dream system for a MMORPG (and I do believe, Square Enix’s next attempt, Final Fantasy XIV will implement a similar system of sorts) it did not translate very well at all into a first-generation console RPG. Skills, especially those of a magical nature, increased at a horribly slow rate. Of course, when things go slow, players always look for a way to make them go faster, and many different workarounds were found to circumvent the system.
In the original versions of the game, the player could cancel actions right before they happened; however, the game would calculate the skill increases as if they actually did, leading to battles in which the player does nothing but grind out skills via constant canceled actions. Another popular shortcut was to equip characters with two shields and have them constantly attack. Of course, nothing would happen; however, if you did several rounds of “shield attacks” and then switched back to a weapon you wanted to skill, the game would treat every attack as if you attacked with said weapon upon the battles end. Finally, you could drastically increase your party’s hit points by doing what really should be quite unthinkable in a RPG: attacking yourself. Since the only way to increase the hit points was directly taking damage, players would pick fights against weak monsters and do nothing but attack themselves in order to obtain massive hit point gains.
Like I said, a great idea on paper and very much ahead of its time, but executing them at this time in the series monumentally backfired in my opinion. There were just simply too many ways to cheat the system and cheating the system seemed to be the only way to make any real progress as the grinding element of “doing it the right way” was borderline absurd.
Why This Game Ended Up Here
So why did Final Fantasy II end up at the bottom of my countdown?
Well, the short answer is the battle system. While I do believe it was definitely ahead of its time, it severely hurt the game. Not only in the aforementioned “cheats”, but perhaps the biggest sin of the game is how it treated the spell Ultima and the final boss battle against the Emperor.
The Ultima spell was touted as the ultimate of all magic and the only spell that could destroy the Emperor. And the game was actually designed very much in that manner; however, when you first get the spell, it will likely be the weakest piece of crap your characters can cast as opposed to the much stronger spells that you have leveled up all game long. Of course though, this just means you have to level up the spell through the system right? After all, during the last boss battle, the Ultima spell is really the only thing that can do any real damage to the Hell-risen form of the Emperor…well except for one other thing…
The Blood Sword.
This rather easily obtainable sword basically breaks the game (and you can get two of them in all but the 20th anniversary editions of the game). It’s damage increases drastically against opponents with high HP, and the Emperor has the highest HP of them all. Even better, this sword has an added effect of “Drain”, meaning the damage you cause, gets given right back to the character that uses it, giving them a constant source of damage as well as healing at the cost of no MP (something else you likely wasted time leveling).
As soon as you open the Blood Sword chest(s), all of the work you did leveling Ultima, or well, anything else for that matter can become completely worthless. Not only will your wasted time drive you mad, but also consider that in the story, one of the characters, Minwu, sacrifices his own life because, supposedly, Ultima is the only thing that can stop the Emperor.
Apparently, someone should’ve let him know they were hiding a Blood Sword in a chest.
This rather sizable kick in the nuts to your own hard work and the story (seriously Minwu got screwed!), combined with lackluster character development and a simplistic story lands Final Fantasy II at the bottom of my list. I’m not even joking about the sizable kick to the nuts either. As soon as I found the Blood Sword, I was seriously pissed at how much time I wasted leveling Ultima for absolutely no reason as I felt like I was playing the rest of the game on easy mode.
Final Fantasy II is definitely the most unique of the series and is by no means awful; however, if you do decide to give it a try, do yourself a favor: learn the ways around the leveling system, don’t worry about leveling Ultima, and just decimate the game after you find the Blood Sword.
Those are seriously hours of my life I want back right now…
In just two weeks, Square Enix will launch their next installment of the Final Fantasy series: Final Fantasy XIII.
This game has been one of the most hyped and eagerly awaited games in the entire Final Fantasy series. Not just because it is the next numbered installment of one of the biggest names in the role playing genre, nor because it is the first Final Fantasy on this current generation of consoles, but because it is the flagship title for a the Fabula Nova Crystallis (that would be Latin for “The New Tale of the Crystal”) collection, which Square Enix plans to expand upon for the remainder of this decade.
Square Enix has gone to the well with this tactic before with the Final Fantasy VII Compilation and Ivalice Alliance. Both of these collections, however, were afterthoughts. The Final Fantasy VII Compilation only started to come together well after the initial release of Final Fantasy VII and was comprised of several spin off games and movies related to the original game’s cast and story. The Ivalice Alliance likewise came about a couple months after the release of Final Fantasy XII and tied together older games such as the Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance series, as well as adding on new games such as Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Final Fantasy XII: International Zodiac Job System (never released in the US), and the re-release of Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSP (entitled Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions). Unlike the Final Fantasy VII Compilation, the Ivalice Alliance only had the common link of the world of Ivalice and didn’t necessarily involve the same cast of characters.
This time around, the Fabula Nova Crystallis series has been planned out well in advance. Each game will center around a common theme this time around with the centerpiece being a famous part of the Final Fantasy story: the crystal. While each game will occur in a different world and a different cast of characters, the crystal will tie it all together, creating the mythology for each world as well as aiding in plot development for each game. Each game will also take place in a futuristic setting (this is the “new story” after all) as well.
Final Fantasy XIII will lead this charge and introduce gamers to this new collection, with Final Fantasy XIII Versus and Final Fantasy XIII Agito to follow later on.
As I mentioned earlier, with this next-gen release of their flagship series, the Square Enix has put the hype machine into overdrive. Japan was absolutely bombarded with any and everything Final Fantasy XIII…actually…bombarded might be a conservative estimate, as Japan was introduced with not only several ads and banners, but also a new carbonated beverage and a perfume. The hype has also extended to the States. LA residents were greeted by gigantic banners and even here in my hometown of Dallas, Square Enix sponsored part of the NBA All-Star weekend. Yes, that’s right, NBA fans were able to witness the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game sponsored by Final Fantasy XIII.
Crazy hype aside, I have been looking forward to this release for a very long time. The Final Fantasy series has easily been my all-time favorite. The series introduced me to the RPG, and ever since a friend let me borrow Final Fantasy IV (well, in those days, it was actually called Final Fantasy II), I have been hooked. And with the release so close, I have also wanted to toss in my own small brand of hype in preparation for this release.
So I decided that, for the next thirteen days, I will be counting down and ranking the previous thirteen numbered installments of the Final Fantasy series (see what I did there?). The countdown will start tomorrow and end with what I consider the best Final Fantasy game to date on the eve of the release date for Final Fantasy XIII (as I’m sure come release day, anyone that was reading the countdown will be playing).
For those thinking I am having severe issues counting and wondering why I am saying there are thirteen numbered installments, it is because I am counting Final Fantasy X-2, the direct sequel to Final Fantasy X, in this countdown. Why am I including that game and not any other Final Fantasy game? Simply put, it’s gameplay is similar to the rest of the numbered installments. The Final Fantasy Tactics series as well as spinoffs from other numbered Final Fantasy games are completely different animals as those games ranged anywhere from action-based, strategy-based, fighting, and a third-person shooter. Basically, I’m trying to compare apples to apples and not apples to oranges here (plus it keeps the game count at thirteen!).
How will I be making these evaluations? I will take a look at what I consider the major staples of the series: the story, the villian(s), the characters, the battle system, the music, and the side-quests that are involved in each game.
Translation: it will be completely subjective and based solely on my opinion.
Every morning I will publish a new post and the next game in my ranking will be revealed. So make sure to swing by here every day as I take a nostalgic look at a series that has sucked my life away like none other. I will keep a running tally of each game in the list below. Each game will be linked to it’s respective post, so if you happen to miss a day (or jump into the countdown late) it will be very easy to play catchup.
Update: Trying to do this in thirteen days started out as a wonderful idea, but being ahead soon turned into finishing posts the day before and then resulted in me falling behind. The countdown will continue, but uh…think of it as thirteen random days! I will stay on the posts as best I can, but rest assured the countdown will (eventually) complete as planned.
XIII Final Fantasy Games in XIII Days:
13. Final Fantasy II
12. Final Fantasy
11. Final Fantasy III
10. Final Fantasy X-2
9. Final Fantasy XI
8. Final Fantasy VIII
7. Final Fantasy IV
6. Coming Soon
Congrats to TheSpeedGamers who have just now broken their second goal in their Final Fantasy Marathon raising over $50,000 for ACT-Today (Autism Care and Treatment).
Since last Friday, they have been attempting to play through every numbered game in the Final Fantasy series while asking viewers to donate to ACT-Today. Originally, they set their sights on $20,000 which was quickly reached on their third day. Seeing the huge response, they decided to shoot even higher and raised their bar to $50,000.
At around 5:30pm CST, just 30 minutes before the close of their marathon, they hit their mark for the second time.
They have done all kinds of crazy things to try and raise money (beyond depriving themselves sleep playing through these long games). They have eaten Vegemite in several different forms for donations. One commentator performed “barrel rolls” for a donation. They also auctioned off character naming rights in the games, even to the point where one donor threw down $1800 to have every character named Sephorith in FFVII.
They have definitely put a lot of work, sleepless nights, and crazy antics all in the name of charity and have performed a simply amazing feat. Their previous charitable marathons had all raised $32,000 in 11 marathons combined. This turnout has been unreal.
Kudos to everyone at TheSpeedGamers for putting this together and reaching such an amazing goal.
If you wish to donate to ACT-Today, the Chip-In widget below should still work for now.
Folks, today is the final day of TheSpeedGamers Final Fantasy Marathon benefiting ACT-Today (Autism Care and Treatment). Thus far, they have raised just over $45,000 and are still pressing to hit their $50,000 mark. So if you haven’t, please stop by their site and check out their last day.
They are currently playing through Final Fantasy X and they also have a special side stream of Final Fantasy XI as well. They have announced that if they are in the middle of a game they will complete it. They still have FFIV and FFXII waiting in the wings, but I am not sure if they will be able to get to them.
You can also donate and check out their stream below as well if you are too lazy to click the links!
TheSpeedGamers are still going at it in their Final Fantasy Marathon. As of the writing of this post, they are currently playing through FFIX and have FFVIII, FFIV, FFX, FFXII and the final boss of FFV remaining (and I believe in that order). They may not be able to finish their lofty goal of gameplaying by Friday, but it should still be entertaining to watch.
However, their goal of raising money is firing on all cylinders. I previously reported that their goal was to raise $20,000 for ACT-Today (Autism Care and Treatment), but now that goal has shot up to $50,000 as they crushed the $20,000 mark on their third day. As of the writing of this post, they currently sit at over $34,000 raised.
If you want to check out this marathon for yourself, head over to their site where they are streaming live. You can donate to ACT-Today on their website (widget is in the upper-right-hand corner) or you can donate below:
Edit: You can also check out the stream below: