Final Fantasy (video game)

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Computer & Video games

Final Fantasy
Developer(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s)	JPN Square Co., Ltd. NA Nintendo of America
Designer(s)	Hironobu Sakaguchi (concept) Yoshitaka Amano (char. design) Nobuo Uematsu ( music) Nasir Gebelli (program)
Release date(s)	JPN December 18, 1987 NA July 12, 1990
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Nintendo Entertainment System See development history section for remake information.
Media	2 megabit cartridge

Final Fantasy (ファイナルファンタジー, Fainaru Fantajī ^?) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square Co., Ltd. for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1987, and is the inaugural game in Square's flagship Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy has been remade for several different video game consoles and handheld systems. The game has frequently been packaged with its sequel, Final Fantasy II, in collections such as Final Fantasy I-II, Final Fantasy Origins and Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls.

The story begins with the appearance of the four youths called the "Warriors of Light" who each carry one of their world's elemental Crystals which have been darkened by Garland and his four Elemental Fiends. Together, they quest to defeat Garland's forces, restore the light of the crystals and restore their world.

Final Fantasy was one of the most influential and successful role-playing games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and played a major role in popularizing the genre. Famitsu voted Final Fantasy the 63rd greatest game of all time on March 3, 2006.

Gameplay

The following refers to the original Famicom/NES version. For changes in subsequent remakes, see the section on Development history.

Gameplay in Final Fantasy is similar to that of many other console role-playing games. The player controls a party of four player characters, called Light Warriors (or "Warriors of Light" in later editions), who explore towns and dungeons as they travel across the world map. The goal of the game is to defeat four major enemies called Elemental Fiends or Fiends of Chaos. Along the way, the player travels to towns where he or she may shop, acquire information, and rest. While traveling, the player encounters monsters which must either be combated or fled from. Winning battles earns the player experience points, which strengthen player characters, and gil, the game's currency.

The player begins Final Fantasy by creating the Light Warriors. As is typical of computer role-playing games of the era, player characters are passive participants in the story, with their names and abilities relevant only during battle. Characters are determined by four-character names, certain numerical attributes, and their class. A character's most basic attribute is its level, which is numbered between one and fifty. (The maximum is ninety-nine in later editions.) A character's level is determined by how much experience it has, and higher level characters are more powerful than lower level characters. Gaining a level increases the other attributes, such as Hit Points (HP). HP represents a character's remaining health, and when a character reaches zero HP, they die. Every character has a maximum number of HP. Additional attributes govern other aspects of the character.

Each character has a character class, which affects the character's attributes and abilities. There are six classes, three of which are physically oriented and three of which are magically oriented. During the game, the player has the option of completing a quest which changes and upgrades each character to a different and more powerful class, though with the exception of this upgrade, character classes cannot be changed once the game has begun.

The " Fighter" ("Warrior" in later editions) uses heavy weapons and armor, and can be upgraded into a "Knight", who is also able to use low-level White Magic spells. Next is the "Black Belt", who fights best when empty-handed and armorless, becoming a "Master" later in the game. Third is the fast and agile " Thief", who, when upgraded into a "Ninja", may use low-level Black Magic spells. In terms of magical classes, the " Red Mage" is a decent fighter and can use a mixture of White and Black Magic. The Red Mage becomes a "Red Wizard", who can use more powerful equipment and spells. The " White Mage" can cast defensive and curative spells and becomes a "White Wizard", who can use more powerful White Magic. Finally, the " Black Mage" can cast offensive spells and becomes a "Black Wizard", who can use more powerful Black Magic.

Combat

Battles in the game are turn-based. At the beginning of each turn, the player selects an action for each player character, with the options being direct attacks, casting spells, drinking potions, using magical items, or running. Once the player has chosen actions for each player character, the player characters and monsters begin battling. Participants move one at a time in the order determined by their "agility" attribute.

In the original NES version, it was not possible to select a new enemy to attack once actions had begun; if the character had chosen to attack an enemy who had been defeated earlier in the round, then the attack was ineffective, and the character did nothing. This was changed in later versions.

Battles continue until one side either flees or is defeated. If the party wins, the characters gain experience and gil. If the party flees, they return to the map. If the party dies, the game is over.

Customization

Equipping the Light Warriors with better weapons and armor makes them more powerful. Each Light Warrior has eight inventory slots, with four to hold weapons and four to hold armor. Each character class has restrictions on what weapons and armor it may use. Additionally, some weapons and armor are magical; if used during battle, some of these items will cast spells. Other magical artifacts provide protection, such as from certain dangerous spells.

There are six types of weapons: Swords, Daggers, Axes, Hammers, Staves, and Nunchaku. The type of a weapon mainly determines its associated graphics, but also indicates which classes are more likely able to use that weapon. For example, a Black Belt is able to equip nunchaku but cannot equip axes. Each weapon has two statistics, an amount of damage and a chance to hit bonus, which influence how effective the weapon is. Only one weapon can be equipped at a time.

In addition to weapons, there are six types of armor: Armor ( Cuirasses), Robes, Helmets, Gauntlets, Shields, and Bracelets. Unlike weapons, a piece of armor's type is very important. A character may wear up to four different types of armor at once, but only one of each type. There are items of armor which have no type, such as rings, which a character may wear any amount of. Each armor has two statistics, a damage absorption bonus and an evade penalty.

At shops, the Light Warriors can buy items to help themselves recover while they are traveling. Up to 99 of each item may be carried at one time. One of the types of items available are "Potions", which heal player characters or remove an ailment such as poison or stoning. "Tents", "Cabins", and "Houses", which heal the player and offer the chance to save the game, are also available, though they can only be used on the world map. In addition to restoring hit points, Houses also restore the party's magic. Finally, there are special items gained during or at the completion of quests.

Many character classes are able to use magic, which is divided into "white" defensive magic and "black" offensive magic. Spells are classified by a level between one and eight, with, in most cases, higher level spells being more powerful than lower level spells. There are four white magic and four black magic spells of each level. Characters may learn up to three spells of each level by purchasing them at shops in towns. White mages are capable of learning all white magic spells, and black mages are capable of learning all black magic spells. Other classes have restrictions on the spells they can learn.

The original NES version of the game allowed each magic-user "charges" for each level of spells; spells of a given level could only be cast as many times as the user had charges. As a character's level increased, more charges were gained. This system closely resembles the spell-casting system in Dungeons & Dragons. In later revisions of the game, this system was replaced by MP (Magic Points).

Plot and setting

Setting

Final Fantasy takes place on an unnamed fantasy world with three large continents. The elemental powers on this world are determined by the state of four glowing crystals ("orbs" in the original North American localization), each governing one of the four classical elements: earth, fire, water, and wind.

Plot

Four hundred years prior to the start of the game, a people known as the "Lufenians", who used the power of the wind crystal to craft giant space stations ("Sky Castles") and airships watched their country decline as the wind crystal went dark. Two hundred years later, violent storms sunk a massive shrine that served as the centre of an ocean-based civilization, and the water crystal went dark. Another two hundred years later, the earth and fire crystals also went dark, plaguing the earth with raging wildfires, and devastating the agricultural town of Melmond as the plains and vegetation decayed. Some time later, a sage called "Lukahn" tells of a prophecy that four Warriors of Light will come to save the world in a time of darkness.

The game begins with the appearance of the four youthful Warriors of Light, the heroes of the story, who each carry one of the darkened Crystals. They arrive at Coneria, a powerful kingdom which has just witnessed the kidnapping of its princess, Sara, by a knight named Garland. The Warriors of Light travel to the ruined "Temple of Fiends" in the northwest corner of Coneria, defeat Garland, and return Princess Sara home. The grateful King of Coneria builds a bridge that enables the Warriors of Light passage east to the town of "Pravoka". At Pravoka, the Warriors of Light liberate the town from a band of pirates, and acquire the pirates' ship for their own use. Though having the ability to travel across the water, the Warriors of Light remain trapped within the "Aldi Sea", in the centre of the southern continent. On the south side of the sea is the kingdom of the elves, where the prince has been put into a cursed sleep by "Astos". To the west is a ruined castle, where a king tells you that Astos stole his crown and hid it in the Marsh Cave to the south, though when the Warriors of Light retrieve his crown, he reveals himself to be Astos. He has also stolen the witch Matoya's Crystal. With her Crystal back, Matoya provides an herb to awaken the Elf Prince. The Elf Prince gives the Warriors of Light a key capable of unlocking any door. The key unlocks a storage room in Coneria Castle which holds TNT. Nerrick, one of the Dwarves of Mount Deurgar, destroys a small isthmus using the TNT, connecting the sea to the outside world.

After visiting near-ruined town Melmond, the Warriors of Light go to the "Cavern of Earth" and destroy the Earth fiend, Lich, who is responsible for the earth's decay. The Warriors of Light then obtain a canoe and enter Mt. Gulg ("Gurgu Volcano") and defeat the Fire fiend, Kary ("Marilith"). They recover the "Floater" (Levistone) from the Ice Cave which allows them to obtain an airship. Using the airship and an air-producing fairy artifact known as Oxyale, the Warriors go to the Sunken Shrine to defeat the Water fiend, Kraken. They also recover a slab with fragments of the Lefeinish language. A linguist named Dr. Unne uses the slab to decode the Lefeinish language, which he teaches to the Warriors of Light. Following this, the Warriors of Light travel to a small and distant town — the last remaining outpost of the Lefeinish civilization. The Lefeinish give the Warriors of Light access to the Sky Castle that Tiamat, the Wind fiend, has taken over. With the four fiends defeated and the crystals restored, the Warriors find that their quest is not yet over: the fiends created an archdemon, Chaos, using the body of Garland, and sent him two thousand years into the past. Following Chaos into the past, the Warriors discover that it was Chaos who had sent the four fiends into the future, creating a time paradox. The Warriors of Light defeat Chaos, but the time paradox causes everyone except the Warriors of Light to forget everything that transpired.

Musical score

Final Fantasy was Nobuo Uematsu's 16th video game score. The score was released on CD together with the score of Final Fantasy II.

A few of the game's tracks became mainstays to the Final Fantasy series: the Prelude, the arpeggio played on the title screen; the Opening Theme, which is played when the party crosses the bridge early in the game and later referred to as the Final Fantasy theme; and the Victory Fanfare, which is played after every victorious battle. The opening motif of the Battle theme has also been reused a number of times in the series.

Development

Final Fantasy was developed during Square's brush with bankruptcy in 1987. In a display of gallows humor, producer / director Hironobu Sakaguchi declared that his "final" game would be a "fantasy" role-playing game, hence the title. Far from being Square's final game, however, Final Fantasy proved to be a major success in Japan, not only saving Square from bankruptcy, but presenting them with the second most popular role-playing game franchise in the country (after Enix's Dragon Quest). Following the successful North American localization of Dragon Quest (as Dragon Warrior), Nintendo of America translated Final Fantasy into English and published it in North America in 1990. The North American version of Final Fantasy met with modest success, due partly to Nintendo's aggressive marketing tactics. No version of the game was marketed in the PAL region until Final Fantasy Origins in 2003.

Final Fantasy has been remade several times for several different platforms. While all of these remakes retain the same basic story and battle mechanics, various tweaks have been made in a variety of different areas, including graphics, sound, and specific gameplay elements.

North American localization

The 1990 North American localization of Final Fantasy was essentially identical to the original Japanese game. But technical limitations, and the censorship policies of Nintendo of America, resulted in a few minor changes to certain elements. For example, the original game program provided only four character spaces for magic spell names, meaning that a lot of original Japanese spell names had to be abbreviated to fit into the space requirements for the English version. These changes include "Flare" being reduced to "NUKE", "Thunder" being reduced to "LIT" and "Degeon" being reduced to "ZAP!" Also, there were censorship issues, since Nintendo of America policy prohibited games from featuring any overt Judeo-Christian imagery or reference to death. As such, some content was modified so that, for instance, "HOLY" became "FADE", and churches became clinics which no longer featured crosses, but had heart symbols instead.

MSX 2

MSX 2 remake
Publisher(s)	Microcabin
Release date(s)	JPN December 1989
Media	3.5" Floppy Disk

The MSX2 computer standard was roughly analogous, in terms of technical capabilities, to the NES, and as a result, the MSX2 version of Final Fantasy is probably the closest to the original Famicom version. However, while the Famicom was designed to operate exclusively as a gaming console, the MSX2 was intended to be used more generally as a personal computer. In practice, this meant that the game was subtly altered to take advantage of certain features offered by the MSX2 and not by the Famicom, and vice versa.

Due to its release on floppy diskette, the MSX2 version of the game had access to almost three times as much storage space as the Famicom version (720 KB vs. 256 KB), but suffered from a variety of problems not present in Nintendo's cartridge media, including noticeable loading times. There were also relatively minor graphical upgrades. In general, the MSX2 version sports an ostensibly improved colour palette which adds a degree of vibrancy to character and background graphics. In addition, the world map seems to have been moved slightly, meaning that the placement of monster "areas" on the world map is slightly different, and that monsters appear in different places than in the Famicom version.

Further, game data could not be saved onto the original program diskette, so it was necessary to provide a blank floppy diskette to save one's progress. For some reason, it was possible to store only one saved game on any given disk at one time, although it was possible to have multiple diskettes for multiple saved games. As an upgrade, the MSX2 featured more sound channels than the Famicom, and as such many music tracks and sound effects were altered or improved for the port. Also, some dungeon music was swapped. Finally, in the Famicom version, the strength of a Black Belt would increase with his experience levels, meaning that very soon the player would reach a point where a Black Belt could do more damage without any weapons than he could with weapons. In the MSX2 version, this is not the case: Black Belt strength does not increase nearly as quickly, and as such he cannot operate effectively as a barehanded fighter. Also, a few (though not all) items available at stores have had their costs changed.

WonderSwan Colour

WonderSwan Colour remake
Release date(s)	JPN December 9, 2000
Media	32 megabit cartridge

Many more changes were introduced for the WonderSwan Colour (WSC) remake of the game. The 8-bit graphics of the original Famicom game were completely redrawn for the WSC version, bringing the game roughly on-par with 16-bit era graphics (between Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI). The colour palette was much larger and battle scenes now featured full background images.

Character sprites, or two-dimensional pre-rendered figures, were also redesigned to look more like characters from the Super Famicom Final Fantasy games, especially as they upgraded in class. In the Famicom version, shops and inns had no interior map: once a character entered the building, they were greeted with a menu-based purchase screen. In the WSC version this was changed to more closely resemble other games in the series, where each building had an interior, along with a shop counter where the transaction screen could be accessed. Similarly, the battle screen was redesigned, with all textual information moved down to a blue window stretched across the bottom of the screen in an arrangement similar to that utilized in Final Fantasy II through Final Fantasy VII. As a further update, short cutscenes using the internal game engine were added to expand the story of the game somewhat. One such cutscene involved the construction of the bridge by the army of Corneria.

Also of significance is that the original Famicom version of the game did not have the ability to display more than one window of text during a conversation, which meant that all conversations with non-player characters were strictly limited in length. The WSC version removes this restriction. In the original version of the game, any attempt to attack a monster that had been killed by a previous character's attack would result in an "ineffective" attack. The WSC version introduced an option wherein the attack would be redirected to another monster rather than fail. Similarly, a "dash" option had been introduced: holding down a specific button while walking around in a town or dungeon map would cause the character to move around at twice their normal pace. Both of these options can be turned on and off via the game's configuration screen.

As in the original version, every magic using character has successive "spell levels". Each character has only three available slots per spell level, but is given the option of choosing from four spells. Once that choice had been made in the original version, there was no way to "unlearn" spells to free up a space for the unchosen fourth spell. In the WSC version, this has been changed so that it is possible to delete spells once purchased. In the original Famicom version, the cartridge could only store one set of game data at a time, and every time a new save was made, the previous one was overwritten. The WSC version provides up to eight distinct slots for saved game data. There is also a "quick save" feature introduced which allows the player to save his or her progress at any time (except during battles). This will exit the game, however, and as soon as the game is resumed, any quick save data is lost.

Another change from the original version involves items; only items specifically assigned to a character could be used during battle. In the WSC, this has been changed so that there is a party-wide "pool" of items which can be accessed at any time by all characters. Certain status healing items (such as "Potion" and "Soft") can now be used during battle. Further, in the original game not only did each character have their own armor and weapon inventory, each was fixed to storing only 4 of each category per character. This meant that as opposed to the first game, one could now actually equip all 5 different armor types, as well as collect every single armor and weapon in the game without needing to drop or sell anything. A number of magic spells that didn't work properly in the original were also now "fixed" to work as originally intended. The status ailment "silence" no longer prevents items from being used. In addition to remixing the soundtrack, composer Nobuo Uematsu has composed several new tracks, including a new "boss battle" theme. Because many of the above changes make the game simpler than before, the hit points of certain monsters, and almost all boss monsters, have been substantially increased (doubled, in some cases) in order to better balance the gameplay.

PlayStation

PlayStation remake
Release date(s)	JPN October 31, 2002
Media	CD-ROM

Released both individually (in Japan only) and alongside its sequel, Final Fantasy II in a collection entitled Final Fantasy Origins (or Final Fantasy I+II Premium Collection in Japan), the PlayStation port of Final Fantasy was based on WonderSwan Colour version. Most of the changes instituted in that version of the game remain in this version. However, there are a few differences. Although the graphics are basically the same as in the WSC version, the higher screen resolution of the PlayStation means that most have been improved to some degree, with more detail. Tsuyoshi Sekito also remixed the soundtrack to Final Fantasy IX quality to utilize the audio capabilities of the Sony PlayStation and also composed a few new tracks like the ones used in the opening movies.

In the Japanese language version, the script has been changed to include kanji. The English language translation, too, has been completely rewritten, and is, in most cases, much closer to the Japanese than the original English NES version was. Character and magic name lengths have been increased from four to six characters, as well. Saved game data takes up one block on the PlayStation memory card, which means that up to fifteen games can be saved onto each memory card, a major improvement. The "quick save" feature of the WSC version has been excised, but in its place a "memo save" feature has been introduced where game data can be temporarily saved to the PlayStation's RAM. This data remains until the system is turned off, or its power supply is otherwise interrupted. There are also full motion video cutscenes and omake. The game is now bookended by two full-motion, prerendered video cutscenes. An " omake" (or bonus) section has also been made available. It includes a bestiary, an art gallery, and an item collection that are unlocked as the player progresses through the game. Also, new "easy mode" has been introduced wherein shop prices are lower, experience levels are gained more quickly, and stats increase more rapidly. This mode is optional and is chosen at the start of the game.

Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls

Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls
Publisher(s)	JPN Square Enix NA / EU Nintendo
Release date(s)	JPN July 29, 2004 NA November 29, 2004 EU December 3, 2004
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone) USK: Free for all OFLC: G8+ PEGI: 3+
Media	128 megabit cartridge

Another fairly extensive list of changes accompanies the Game Boy Advance release of Final Fantasy as part of Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls.

The difficulty level of the Game Boy Advance version most closely resembles the "easy mode" of the Final Fantasy Origins. Unlike that version, however, there is no option to switch back to the original difficulty level. Similarly, the redirection of "ineffective" hits, which had been optional since it was introduced in the WSC version, is now mandatory. Graphics are more or less identical to the WSC version, although the GBA has a slightly higher screen resolution than the WSC, and certain sequences (such as flying around on the airship) look better on the GBA than on the WSC.

The "spell level"-based magic system is dropped from this version in favour of magic point-based system used in more recent Final Fantasy games. Although spells are still classified at certain levels for some purposes (characters can still only be equipped with three of the four available spells of any given level, for instance), every spell is now assigned a point value. When cast, that value is subtracted from a total number of magic points that apply to all spells known by a character. Many new items have been introduced. Healing items are now much easier to procure, and less expensive, as well. The party starts the game with 500 gil instead of 400 gil as in previous versions.

The omake artwork gallery and item collection present in the PlayStation version have been omitted, but the bestiary gallery remains and operates more or less exactly as it did previously. Certain classes have been modified: the Thief and Monk have become more powerful, whereas the Red Mage has become less so. Stat growth has been altered, and Intelligence now affects the strength of weapon-based magic spells. The game can now be saved at any time, anywhere (again, except during battles). There are three available save game slots, however there is no way of clearing or deleting their contents. Because the changes introduced in this version make the game less challenging, many monsters and boss monsters have had their hit points increased once again. Four new optional dungeons have been introduced, one corresponding to each Fiend, and becoming available after that Fiend is defeated. These dungeons are especially challenging and feature items and monsters not found anywhere else in the game. At the end of each dungeon there are a variety of boss monsters from Final Fantasy III through Final Fantasy VI. Finally, during character creation, the player can choose to have the game randomly assign a name to each character. These names are all taken from other Final Fantasy games and include KluYa (referenced in Final Fantasy IV) Desh ( Final Fantasy III), Giott ( Final Fantasy IV), Kelga ( Final Fantasy V) and Daryl ( Final Fantasy VI), among others. Each character has ten random names to choose from.

Mobile phones

In 2004, Square Enix released a version of Final Fantasy for two Japanese mobile phone networks. A version for NTT DoCoMo FOMA 900i series phones was launched on 29 February 2004 under the title Final Fantasy i. A subsequent version for the CDMA 1X WIN-compatible W21x series was released on 19 August 2004 as Final Fantasy EZ. Graphically, the games are superior to the original 8-bit game, but not as advanced as many of the more recent console and handheld ports. Square Enix plans to release this version of the game for North American mobile phones sometime in 2006.

Reception and legacy

Final Fantasy, along with the original Dragon Quest, proved to be one of the most influential early console role-playing games, and played a major role in legitimizing and popularizing the genre. Final Fantasy's storyline, which dealt with elaborate myths and time travel had a deeper and more engaging story than Dragon Quest.

Bahamut, the Dragon King, who would become a recurring character in the Final Fantasy series, first appeared in Final Fantasy.

Many modern critics point out that the game is poorly paced by contemporary standards, and involves much more time wandering in search of random battle encounters to raise their experience levels and money than it does exploring and solving puzzles. In fact, some reviewers refer to the level-building and exploration portions of the game as the most enduringly fun ones. In March 2006, Final Fantasy appeared in the Famitsu magazine's Top 100 games list, where readers voted it the 63rd best game of all time. Two of its modern sequels, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VII, were voted the top two positions on the list respectively.

The version of Final Fantasy in the Final Fantasy Origins compilation was generally well received, though it lacks many of the innovations found in later Final Fantasy games such as Final Fantasy IV, and some commented that the additional content like improved graphics did not significantly improve the overall game experience.

The theme song that plays when the player characters first cross the bridge from Cornelia is a recurring song throughout the entire series. It has been found in Final Fantasy III when the party leaves their home town and in Final Fantasy IV when Cecil and Kain begin their journey. It is featured in the ending theme songs of Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI as the last three minutes of the 18+ minute piece, part of the ending theme in Final Fantasy VII, and in the very end of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children as the movement immediately preceding the song Calling. It is included in the three-movement ending credits theme in Final Fantasy VIII and is found in the song "Skies of Alexandria" from Final Fantasy IX. It has recently been in the intro music for Final Fantasy XII.

Final Fantasy was also the basis for an episode of a video game-themed cartoon series Captain N: The Game Master entitled The Fractured Fantasy of Captain N. 8-Bit Theatre, a sprite-based webcomic parodying the game, has become very popular in the gaming community.