Past Present Future: Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy has remained one of the most successful role playing games for two decades. It began as an idea rather than a complete series and transformed into a series that is unrecognisable to what it first started as. It is fair to say that a young Hironobu Sakaguchi would not be able to recognize it now. Hironobu Sakaguchi joined the software company straight from college.

Final Fantasy followed the trend of other RPGs that were released at the time. Although the RPG market wasn’t over crowded yet, but the competition was growing. Final Fantasy was released on the same week as SEGA’s Phantasy Star and also two months before Dragon Quest III. All of these games played their part in revolutionising RPG as a category on its own.

The very first Final Fantasy was not enough to build an entire empire, but it surprised everyone with how successful it was. It brought Nintendo into a long standing relationship with the Final Fantasy group and gave them worldwide notability.

Perhaps one of the reasons for Final Fantasy’s success is that it builds on the past, but also keeps its gamers in the future. Final Fantasy on the NES was one of SquareSoft’s only remaining chances.

Before Final Fantasy was released RPG’s were still quite rare and the trend for RPG’s had not caught on. There were only a number of people who played RPG’s before Final Fantasy, but when Final Fantasy was introduced, the trend was set. When Final Fantasy VII was introduced in 1997 it amazed everyone. It had a host of stunning graphics, fantastic story telling and game play. It is thanks to Final Fantasy that the world of RPG was transformed.

In 2000 Sakaguchi president of Square received an award from The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy’s third yearly Interactive Achievement Awards in Los Angeles. He received the award due to his contribution in helping to create the Final Fantasy series.

Each series of Final Fantasy has surpassed its predecessor with improvements in technology. Each new game has a compelling story that drives the game player right into the heart of the game. Some of the Final Fantasy later series are probably not great for newbies to RPG’s due to their complexity and the requirement for advanced skills. For those who have experience, the games become easier to play as you get used to the creators thought processes and improve your skills.

Final Fantasy 8 combines a storyline rich in war, peace, rivalry, love and has a modern day fantasy element. Rather than being the person who you feel sorry for like most RPG’s you are more of a hip, trendy guy who is out to save the world and means business.

Not only does Final Fantasy offer wonderful elements of game play it also has fantastic music. The music matches the mood of the games very well and features memorable soundtracks. A lot of the scenes in the games make you feel extremely emotional and even bring a tear to your eyes.

An annoying aspect of Final Fantasy 8 is the draw system and the way you cannot
go back to towns once you have reached a certain point in the game. Although Final Fantasy 8 starts slowly it transforms into something fantastic half way through. Seifer and Squall are two really cool hero/antihero characters that have been created.

Final Fantasy 7 does not seem to feature the same quality as the other Final Fantasy games. It is quite repetitive in the fact that you have to go back and do things over and over again. The storyline is strong, but a lot of the magic in this game is missing. The battles are very good and have taken a step forward when compared with previous games. The use of real time battles is a great element.

Final Fantasy 5 is very user friendly, perhaps a bit too much. The producers included a map with this game which seems a bit basic. However the fight aspect is probably better than most of the games especially the earlier ones.

The future of Final Fantasy could be catered to a certain genre of player for example, those who like driving games. It would be good to see a Final Fantasy game that allows you to write your own version depending on the type of style that you like. Down loadable content is a consideration for future series this would give the gamer the opportunity to design their own elements of the game. If down loadable content becomes a possibility then gamers could design their own characters and develop their own content. Once a gamer has uploaded their own content to the site then other gamers could also use others content if they liked it.

There could be competitions for the best designer and the possibility of a reality television show. Four player multi-player is also being considered for the future which would be good if internet options were a feature of the game because players could play online with other players. Players could design their own universes whilst interacting with others. If down loadable content became an option then the possibilities would be endless.