Players enter each Final Fantasy titles world and fights to clear dungeons. As they accomplish this, they unlock new characters from those games. Players can combine parties of characters from different Final Fantasy titles. However, though using a game mechanic called "Synergy System", playing the characters that are originally from the world you are in gives characters a "stat bonus". This also applies to weapons and gear. The game has players reenact many moments from the Final Fantasy series, such as the Battle on the Big Bridge against Gilgamesh. Characters can be given weapons or abilities that are collected along the way. The game is free-to-play, but does have microtransactions.
Plot
Players control Deci, a researcher who works in the history department for Dr. Mog. Being his best student, Dr. Mog shares his magic so that Deci can enter paintings and see memories of different worlds, which are previous Final Fantasy titles.
Development
Developer DeNA proposed doing a social role-playing game to Square Enix that would center around the Final Fantasy series, similar to a title the developer had worked on previously called Defender of Texel. That game used pixel graphics and characters battling in formation. Square Enix producer Ichiro Hazama decided that DeNA had the experience to build a successful mobile game for western markets and gave the game approval to be developed. Square Enix oversaw the game, as well as the story, setting, and characters, but the backend publishing was left to DeNA. DeNa producer Yu Sasaki stated that international release was expected to happen upon initial launch of the game, but was delayed and released after modifications were made to please western audiences. For the international release of the game, artwork from any remakes that had been done of earlier Final Fantasy games were used, as developers felt that American audiences connected more to later Final Fantasy games than earlier ones. Cutscenes were looked at again and polished for the same reason. The game was designed to not be difficult, and character profiles were also added for international release so new players could easily start enjoying the game. Tetsuya Nomura designed player character Tyro, as well as supporting cast members Dr. Mog, Cid, and Elarra. To draw in American audiences, the first world entered in the game is from Final Fantasy VII, and the next two are fan favorites in Japan: Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI. When events are run, the characters involved are chosen by player popularity. Characters are not added from games if there are not yet enough worlds or events from those same games. The games producers felt that characters should be winnable through battle, and the games currency of mithril given generously to encourage players to keep playing. Enemy bosses are animated, in a departure from the style of the older titles that are being referenced. Activities such as logging in to the game earn players in-game currency, and more free ways of obtaining currency were added for the international release. Western and Japanese versions of the game are run on different servers, so no player communication is possible between the two versions. Producer Ichiro Hazama stated that the core of the experience of the game is “reliving the past”. Hazama also felt there was room for original story expansion in the games plot and in the new main character Tyro. On July 15, 2014, a teaser site appeared with a timer counting time for the game's actual reveal.
Reception
IGN praised the game's use of nostalgia for previous Final Fantasy games and fun combat and customization. However, they criticized its lack of character interaction and shallow story, which made it hard for the game to hold players' interest. Kotaku voiced a similar sentiment, calling the game a "fun time waster", but noting the presence of the "much loathed stamina scheme" used to entice players to pay for more play time. VentureBeat said that the crafting and combining of items and weapons was "actually fun", and felt like a real Final Fantasy game, but condemned the gameplay as being boring because it is mostly a "hands-off" experience. Within ten days of release, the game was downloaded over one million times. After a month, the game recorded three million downloads and one billion yen. The game reached five million downloads in six months in Japan, and was in the top five highest grossing games in the Apple App Store.
