Recurring elements in the Final Fantasy series
Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and developed and owned by Square Enix. The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games. The eponymous first game in the series, published in 1987, was conceived by Sakaguchi as his last-ditch effort in the game industry; the game was a success and spawned sequels. While most entries in the series are separate from each other, they have recurring elements carrying over between entries, including plot themes and motifs, gameplay mechanics, and visual elements.
The Final Fantasy series features recurring thematic elements, including magical crystals and creatures such as the Chocobo and Moogle which have appeared in multiple roles. Numerous writers have worked on the series, including Sakaguchi himself, early writer Kenji Terada, Kazushige Nojima, and Yasumi Matsuno. Some settings and specific themes have been used in multiple installments and subseries, including the fictional world of Ivalice, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, and the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythos. The art design for the series has been associated with multiple artists, the three most prominent being Yoshitaka Amano, Tetsuya Nomura, and Akihiko Yoshida. Amano designed characters up to Final Fantasy VI and continues to design each game's logo, Nomura has designed characters for multiple games since Final Fantasy VII, and Yoshida has been involved in XII, XIV, and games associated with Ivalice.
The original gameplay created by Akitoshi Kawazu was based around Dungeons & Dragons and Wizardry. Starting with Final Fantasy IV, the Hiroyuki Ito-designed ATB system took prevalence; variations of the ATB system have been used in multiple entries since then. These various elements have been positively received by critics over the series' lifetime, contributing to its overall worldwide success, with the gameplay and narratives frequently cited as setting a standard for RPGs. The series also produced spin-off entries including SaGa and Mana, and in turn influenced later game developers and studios.
Overview
The Final Fantasy media franchise began with the development of the titular first game in the series. It was developed at Square, later dubbed Square Enix after its 2003 merger with Enix. Final Fantasy was creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's last-ditch attempt at success within the video game market; Sakaguchi had long wished to create a role-playing game, but the company had denied him the opportunity until then. The first Final Fantasy was released in 1987, and was a commercial and critical success that fueled the development of further games. The series garnered international popularity with the release of Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation, which became the highest-selling Final Fantasy game to date. Final Fantasy has become one of Square Enix's major gaming franchises; as of 2016, the series has sold 110 million copies worldwide across 48 video game releases.Scenarios
Final Fantasy series consists of multiple games that, while generally having separate settings and narratives, share common themes and motifs in their worlds and plots. Multiple writers have worked on the Final Fantasy series over its existence, the most prominent having worked on the mainline games. The first Final Fantasy writer was Kenji Terada, who was asked on board the project by staff who were fans of his work in anime. He was asked to create a scenario that would make players cry. Terada would provide the scenarios for Final Fantasy II and III. He later had mixed feelings about the impact of Final Fantasy on his career, as many only knew him from his video game writing. When Final Fantasy IV was pushed forward onto the next generation of game hardware, Terada's planned scenario was scrapped by the management and he parted with Square on poor terms.After Terada's departure, scenario work was delegated to Takashi Tokita. Tokita wrote the scenario for Final Fantasy IV, along with being the game's designer. For Final Fantasy V, the scenario was a collaboration between Sakaguchi and Yoshinori Kitase. Final Fantasy VI was worked on by a group of four or five different writers, including Kitase. Sakaguchi was responsible for providing the basic story from the original game until Final Fantasy VI. Sakaguchi would also write the scenario draft for Final Fantasy IX, with further contributions Kazuhiko Aoki and Nobuaki Komoto.
One of the notable recurring writers is Kazushige Nojima: he first joined the development team for Final Fantasy VII, and would later write the scenario for Final Fantasy VIII. He was also a major contributor to Final Fantasy X alongside other writers. He returned to write the scenario for Final Fantasy X-2, despite initial reluctance due to its upbeat feel when compared to its predecessor. His later supplementary material would return to a darker theme. Nojima also created the original scenario of Final Fantasy XV, then called Final Fantasy Versus XIII. His original scenario was reworked for XV by Saori Itamuro. Another recurring writer is Daisuke Watanabe. His first job on the series was with Final Fantasy X. He worked on Final Fantasy XII as a scenario writer after original writer Yasumi Matsuno left due to illness. The initial script was written by Miwa Shoda, whose work was fleshed out by Watanabe. Watanabe would later work on the scenarios of Final Fantasy XIII and its sequels, which would become one of his major projects.
The scenario for Final Fantasy XI was created by Masato Kato, who returned for the expansion Rise of the Zilart. For Final Fantasy XIV, the writer was Yaeko Sato, who also worked on XI and XII; Sato stayed on as lead writer for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, alongside new writer Kazutoyo Maehiro. The lead writer for expansions beginning with Heavensward is Banri Oda. The scenario of Final Fantasy XVI is written by Maehiro.
The first game to receive a direct sequel was Final Fantasy X; X-2 is set in the same fictional world of Spira while using a lighter tone than its predecessor. No sequel to Final Fantasy X was planned initially. Final Fantasy XIII was also intended to be a standalone game, and was later expanded into the series' first official trilogy with the development of XIII-2 and Lightning Returns. Final Fantasy XV was expanded into a multimedia series to avoid creating a video game series; named the Final Fantasy XV Universe, it is split between pre-release media including a feature film and original net animation, and post-release content including other spin-off games and downloadable content.
Final Fantasy VII was later expanded into a multimedia series gamed Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, which included video games and film projects. A different subseries linked by common elements, and indirectly inspired by the Compilation, is Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy; while the subseries' games have unique settings and stories, they all share a common mythos surrounding crystals and their associated deities. Fabula Nova Crystallis was originally planned as a platform for the development of multiple games planned out in advance, compared to Final Fantasy producer Shinji Hashimoto to the Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings film franchises. Eventually mixed reactions to the subseries prompted Square Enix to move away from the esoteric and complex storylines it incorporated.
A world later incorporated into the Final Fantasy series is Ivalice, the setting for games within the game collection known as the Ivalice Alliance. Taking place within a single world across a large time period, Ivalice is the setting for Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, and Vagrant Story. Vagrant Story did not originally take place in Ivalice, being incorporated into the subseries by Square Enix long after its release. The game's references to other Final Fantasy games were originally intended as fan service. Ivalice itself was the creation of Yasumi Matsuno, the main creative force behind Tactics and Vagrant Story. It first appeared in Tactics. Matsuno's work with Ivalice later inspired the scenarios for A Realm Reborn.