The game begins with an elaborate plan by the roguish Zidane and the Tantalus Theater Troupe to kidnap Princess Garnet, the heir of Alexandria. But to their surprise, the princess wants to be kidnapped, and make her escape from the castle. Before long Garnet, her personal guard Steiner, have joined Zidane and a colorful cast of misfits, including Vivi, Freya and Quina, on an unforgettable journey across a dangerous land. This game marks a return to the series traditional fantasy roots, after the sci-fi inspired worlds of the prior two games.
The game contains lots of references that serve to reward series veterans, while introducing many elements of the franchise to newcomers. The game features exciting turn-based battles, and introduced the sphere grid system of character progression.
Still pretty epic though. The world of Ivalice is at war. The small kingdom of Dalmasca has been conquered by the Archadian Empire, leaving Princess Ashe the one and only heir to the throne. Meanwhile, Vaan, a street urchin and orphan, dreams of flying freely in the skies.
The two will join forces with friends, pirates and warriors to form a resistance, find a way to restore Dalmasca to its former glory, and maybe even save the world. The ZODIAC AGE edition of the game - available on most platforms - expanded the options further, with even more gambits and the ability to give characters a second job in combat.
It also features improved HD visuals, a remastered soundtrack and the ability to speed up time. A deepening crisis threatens to plunge the floating world of Cocoon into chaos. A powerful and dangerous being called a Fal'Cie has been discovered, and in the aftermath a group of unsuspecting strangers are branded enemies of the state.
With the terrified population baying for their blood, and the military eager to fulfil that request, the group has no choice but to run - but will they be able to escape the destiny that has been thrust upon them?
It also introduced popular characters like Lightning and spawned two direct sequels. The Job system received a staggering overhaul, which gave fans sheer endless possibilities for approaching the active time battles. Square obviously spent a ton of time crafting an enthralling gameplay experience, and it showed. After reading a synopsis, we remembered why we forgot it all.
And we will surely play Final Fantasy V again only to forget the story all over again. The uninteresting and unmemorable story undercuts some of the best gameplay the series has ever seen. While not particularly surprising, no one could have expected what it would grow to become over the course of the next decade and beyond. Five expansions, numerous add-ons, and seasonal events would follow, with the final piece of content arriving in Console servers were turned off in , but you can still play on PC today.
Final Fantasy XI became a great, if fairly traditional, MMO over time, handsomely rewarding those who stuck with it for years. Namely the Jobs and summon systems. The story plays out similarly to the first game in the series. The animations were beautiful, the character models were realistic, and the environmental details were fine-tuned. Final Fantasy XIII also brought back the active time battle system, but it felt far more simplified than before.
The result was a series of random battles that could almost quite literally be completed by pressing the same button over and over. You could even set it to auto-battle, which honestly mirrored the mindlessness of what you did most of the time anyway.
The main problem with XIII was how linear it was compared to previous games. That, added onto the rote science fiction story, made for a sort of genre movie-esque Final Fantasy experience. While some iconic franchises produce memorable classics out of the gate — Mario, Zelda, Mega Man, etc. While Final Fantasy was somewhat revolutionary at the time in , featuring a relatively large overworld, strategic turn-based combat, and an epic story following four Light Warriors, it has languished in relative obscurity ever since.
This game goes to show that not all creative risks pay off. Final Fantasy XV is an open-world action RPG that entirely drops random encounters in favor of a real-time battle system.
The main characters, a group of stylish and arguably insufferable adolescents, speak and act like they belong in a brooding emo band. Final Fantasy II was launched on Famicom almost a full 25 years before they localized it. Now you can play it on Android, iOS, and countless other platforms. Although it has its place in history, the game itself is mostly forgettable. Final Fantasy XV This game goes to show that not all creative risks pay off.
The best movies on HBO Max right now. The 98 best movies on Hulu right now. Battle commands typically feature a basic physical attack with the equipped weapon s , a magic skillset with magic spellsets featuring a tiers naming system , other special command abilities such as Steal or Throw , or a skillset such as summoning monsters , and a set of items , though the player may also try to flee from many normal encounters.
The characters normally have an HP and MP stat though some games ignore MP , where HP determines the damage characters can take before they are KO'd while MP determines how many spells or other abilities a character can use. The best known and widely used battle system is the Active Time Battle pseudo-turn-based system introduced in Final Fantasy IV where characters can perform an action when their ATB gauge is full.
The fill rate is affected by stats , status effects, abilities used and other factors requiring the player to be economical with time. Many games feature a variant of this system. As an early example, Final Fantasy XII uses the Active Dimension Battle system to determine the rate at which characters will perform actions input through menus or the gambit system; there are no random encounters, and the player can move the character around the field and must be within the range of the enemy they are using their skill on.
The Final Fantasy series has also featured a more basic, traditional turn-based system, such as the original Final Fantasy through to Final Fantasy III that do not rely on time, but the player and the enemy party take turns executing commands.
Final Fantasy X features a Conditional Turn-Based Battle system where turns are taken based on an Act List, the turn order depending on the units' stats and statuses, and commands being ranked usually with stronger commands having longer "recovery time" until the unit can act again. Outside of turn-based systems, the series has occasionally featured purely action-based combat systems, in which the skills the characters use are still similar to traditional skillsets of attacks, magic spells, special abilities and items, but the rate the characters use these abilities depends on player skill with less reliance on menus.
Character growth determines how player characters learn new abilities and boost their stats. Unlike battle systems, character growth systems are less consistent throughout the series, and players must internalize the systems to make the correct decisions. The only consistent character growth mechanic used in the series has been the level based system where characters raise their level through experience points earned in battle to improve stats and sometimes learn new abilities.
Even this system has been excluded from some games, such as in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII , where only ability points are accumulated from battles that can be expended for both better stats and new skills. One of the most common and familiar systems that determines character growth is the job system , a class-based system where players assign characters a job, choosing from series staples such as Black Mage , White Mage , Monk , Thief and Warrior , among many. The character's job determines their base abilities and the stats gained.
Throughout earlier games, this was often through experience, though Final Fantasy V introduced ability points as a separate system where the experience would increase a level independent of the job, and the ability points likewise accumulated from battles are used to grow the job's abilities. Many games featuring the job system allow the player to switch the jobs around to learn new abilities or face new enemies, though some, such as the original Final Fantasy , stick the job as fundamental to the character.
Similarly, games such as Final Fantasy IX , do not have named job systems, but the characters have defined roles similar to the job system with pre-determined abilities they can learn. Job select screen in Final Fantasy V. Many games offer different systems to allow more freedom when growing characters' abilities and stats beginning as early as Final Fantasy II. Often this features a mix of the ability points system, in which points are used to grow abilities without being determined by a job.
One of the popular systems is the Materia system featured in Final Fantasy VII and other games in its sub-series , where the player equips characters with Materia that contain various command or support abilities , and accumulating ability points allows the Materia to grow and gain stat boosts and new abilities. Similarly, the magicite featured in Final Fantasy VI allows the player to equip magicite remains of espers with the accumulated ability points allowing the characters to learn the magic spells they contain, and once reaching a certain threshold the character learns the ability permanently to use it even without the equipped magicite.
This way the player can directly control which party members use which skills and customize their party to their preferred play style. Other games in the series deviate further from the typical formula. Final Fantasy XII has player characters learn License Points a variation of the ability points system to spend on a License Board to purchase "licenses" to wield different equipment, use different spells and boost stats, with total freedom.
In Final Fantasy X characters learn abilities based on a Sphere Grid that begins linearly but the player can eventually branch the grid out further, and potentially max all stats with various items usable to alter and improve Sphere Grid growth. Another example featuring items for growing skills is Final Fantasy VIII where magic spells are collected into an inventory similar to items, and acquired through refine or draw abilities, with other abilities learned via ability points from the character's equipped Guardian Forces.
Equipment menu in Final Fantasy IV. Typically, characters can equip armor , weapons and accessories , where armor provides defensive boosts, weapons determine the strength and type of the attacks used, and accessories provide various supporting abilities or bonuses. There are rarely optimal sets of armor or accessories, though many games feature ultimate weapons for each character, often involving sidequests to obtain them. Games can deviate from the standard format. Final Fantasy VI features relics as accessories, while Final Fantasy VIII has neither accessories nor armor, all effects typically associated with gear being abilities instead.
Many games feature specific types of armor, such as head armor, body armor, arm armor or leg armor, while other games only have a single set of armor based on the character, such as Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy X. Armor can provide bonus abilities, such as resistances to status effects or elements, and in some games, such as Final Fantasy IX , are integral to the character growth system where characters learn new skills by equipping gear. World map exploration in Final Fantasy IX.
Outside of battles the player can explore the field for items, dialog with non-player characters , and for trading in gil for items and gear. In games featuring instanced random encounters, the party will encounter an enemy randomly while exploring dangerous areas though abilities to reduce the encounter rate can be learned , while games with free-roaming enemies have enemies appear in the dangerous areas for the player to engage or avoid.
The player can explore dungeons where enemies are fought and treasures and items can be found. Enemies tend to be more numerous in dungeons, and there is often a boss at the end. Other areas are safe havens, notably towns , which contain shops for the party to buy new items and equipment, and often an inn to rest at and fully restore HP and MP.
Many games feature a world map used to traverse on foot or via airships , chocobos or other vehicles. World maps have random encounters and are crossed to reach other points of interest in the world, often with mountains and oceans and other impassable objects placed to ward off areas the player is not meant to visit yet; by end game players usually acquire a vehicle that allows exploration of every nook of the world.
The field areas often feature non-player characters and events that allow the player to play minigames , for mandatory or non-mandatory rewards. The first major minigames were introduced in the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII where the player can play various games including chocobo racing and battle arena.
Another notable minigame was the Dragon's Neck Colosseum in Final Fantasy VI where the player can bet items for rewards and fight various enemies. Though the MMO releases, Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV , are members of the main series, with the exception of some abilities, some equipment, and the job system, they deviate from the traditional gameplay format due to their nature as games of a different genre.
The MMOs are free-roaming with enemies appearing on the field, rarely use traditional menu systems instead abilities are selected from a player-customized list and use various features typical of MMO games. Being multiplayer games they include player interaction as well as trading between players. The player does not control a party, but multiple players can form one to fight in dungeons and against bosses.
Battle in Dissidia Final Fantasy. The spin-offs' gameplay can deviate a lot from the main series. While spin-offs tend to include gameplay fundamentals, if only in abilities and ability names, many stick to role-playing game elements. As an example, although Dissidia Final Fantasy and games following its format are fighting games, they still feature character growth, characters using their specific abilities, and similar equipment systems. Another notable spin-off, Final Fantasy Tactics , is a tactical role-playing game with a job system that uses tactical unit command as opposed to one of the battle systems featured throughout the main series.
Many games also feature action elements, such as Final Fantasy Type-0 , while others include shooting elements, such as Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- , but still keep the series fundamentals.
Many spin-offs have been released on mobile platforms that use simplified forms of typical battle systems, such as Final Fantasy Record Keeper. Other games use collectible card gameplay , barely reminiscent of the main series. Alexandria, a city in Final Fantasy IX.
The Final Fantasy series' settings range from traditional fantasy to science fantasy. Each game focuses on one world that vary dramatically in backstory, technological advancement, and culture. Humans are the dominant sapient species, with chocobos, moogles, and several enemy species being the most commonly recurring non-humans. The worlds often feature Crystals that throughout early settings were magical phenomena fundamental to the elements of the worlds, but in others have different roles.
Settings often contain elements based on real-world mythology, and the series features many allusions to religion. A notable example are ancient mythological creatures that function as summons , and have various different roles within the game lores. Espers from Final Fantasy VI are a magical race that once lived alongside humans until a war wiped most of them out.
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