TechRaptor - Final Fantasy Retrospective

[HiddenX]

Robert Grosso (TechRaptor) looks back at one of the biggest RPG franchises -
Final Fantasy:

Playing Roles – A Final Fantasy Retrospective

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the North American release of Final Fantasy. Arguably the most important role-playing game ever made, Final Fantasy as a franchise has spawned fourteen main games, countless spinoffs, and over 110 million units sold since its initial release in Japan in 1987. Final Fantasy is one of the best-selling game franchises of all time, and rightfully so regarding the popularity of the series after all these years.

As with any game franchise, the journey to achieving success is a long one. Often cited as the eventual swan song of the video game company Square, Final Fantasy was, in fact, not the savior of the company. While it’s true Square was in financial difficulties at the time, their portfolio of games was fairly diversified, developing titles originally for the PC-8801 before switching to development for the Nintendo Famicon.

Square become both a developer and publisher at this time. As a publisher, Square had a hand in several major titles for the Famicon and the PC-8801, including Thexder, Kings Knight, and Dragon Slayer. Square also had several development projects that would later become top sellers for their day. Rad Racer is perhaps the most famous, but the company also created the 3-D World Runner series and the first ever dating sim game, Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School.

At the time, Square had employed a young developer as a full time employee in 1986, Hironobu Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi worked as the director of Planning and Development for the company but grew frustrated with the lack of a mainstream success during his tenure. Sakaguchi resolved to direct one game for himself, and if it failed to sell, he would quit the video game industry.

There are several stories to where the name Final Fantasy actually came from. The most common belief is the name stemmed from the game being the last hope for Square, which was facing major financial difficulties. Sakaguchi, however, has given two alternate accounts. The first regarded his feelings of disillusionment at the time, believing the title would be his last game before quitting the industry. […]

More information.

 

[HiddenX]

25 years already - I'm getting old ... thanks for the article Robert Grosso!

 

[JDR13]

Arguably the most important role-playing game ever made,

I pretty much stopped reading at that point.

 

[HiddenX]

I pretty much stopped reading at that point.

Later in the article:

It is cynical to say that Final Fantasy, despite the franchise awards and critical acclaim over the years, has lost its luster since 2000. While the series has become a “love it or hate it” franchise in the modern era, the importance of Final Fantasy in the gaming world cannot be understated. It is one of the first role-playing games to break into the mainstream, paving the way for RPGs to succeed outside of a niche market. [...]

 

[JDR13]

I think it's important to distinguish that it's a JRPG given how different those games are from other RPGs. I wouldn't have a problem with that comment if he had said "Japanese" role-playing game.

Further into the article, he takes the hyperbole to a new level…

Spawning some of the best games in not only the role-playing genre, but of all time. Titles such as Final Fantasy VI, VII and XI are considered some of the best games ever made

Um…right. Perhaps by people who are huge fans of JRPGs, but I'm pretty sure that's not a general sentiment from most of us.

For the record, I was a big fan of the FF series when I was younger, and I also enjoyed quite a few other JRPGs as well. FF VI is definitely one of the best JRPGs I've played, but I'd never try to claim it's one of the best games ever made.

 

[HiddenX]

I know only FF VII. IMO Final Fantasy and other JRPGs brought the Story Element into the RPG genre. Even the early Ultimas are just Dungeon Crawlers if you think about it.

 

[GothicGothicness]

FF XI !?!?!?!?! ok I could agree with the rest but....

 

[BoboTheMighty]

Well, I've played only one FF game and it pretty much confirmed that everyone from Japan is completely insane, as I've always believed.