Final Fantasy

Eight games that were each, in their moment, the last gamble — and each became a milestone.

11 games in this room

Sakaguchi chose 'Final' because 'Fighting Fantasy' had a trademark conflict. This last-resort name outlasted everything. Fina

Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Final Fantasy

ファイナルファンタジー

Role-playing game (RPG) · 1987

Final Fantasy (1987) was Hironobu Sakaguchi's final gamble. Square was struggling, and Sakaguchi decided that if this ga…

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Uncommon

Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Final Fantasy II

ファイナルファンタジーII

Role-Playing Game · 1988

Final Fantasy II, released exclusively in Japan in December 1988, rewrote the rules of its own franchise after just one …

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Nasir Gebelli's airship code was so intricate, nobody could port it for 16 years. Final Fantasy III (1990, Famicom) — Japan-o Uncommon

Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Final Fantasy III

ファイナルファンタジーIII

Role-Playing Game · 1990

Final Fantasy III, released in Japan in April 1990, introduced the Job System — the ability for players to freely change…

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Active Time Battle began when a developer fell asleep mid-fight. Final Fantasy IV (1991, Super Famicom) — Cecil's dark knight

Super Famicom / SNES

Final Fantasy IV

ファイナルファンタジーIV

RPG · 1991

Released in 1991 as the first Final Fantasy on Super Famicom hardware, Final Fantasy IV introduced the Active Time Battl…

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Publishers held it from the West for 7 years — too complex. Final Fantasy V (1992, Super Famicom) — Japan-only; 22 jobs that Uncommon

Super Famicom / SNES

Final Fantasy V

ファイナルファンタジーV

Role-playing · 1992

Final Fantasy V is the 1992 Super Famicom RPG that never reached Western players in its era — Japan-exclusive until the …

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Kefka wins mid-game — destroys the world, story continues in the ruins. Final Fantasy VI (1994, Super Famicom). 14 characters Uncommon

Super Famicom / SNES

Final Fantasy VI

ファイナルファンタジーVI

Role-playing · 1994

Final Fantasy VI is widely considered the finest entry in the Final Fantasy series and one of the greatest RPGs ever mad…

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Square asked Nintendo to switch to CDs. Nintendo refused. Final Fantasy VII (1997, PlayStation) — the defection that decided

PlayStation

Final Fantasy VII

ファイナルファンタジーVII

Role-playing game · 1997

Final Fantasy VII (1997) is the game whose development decision defined a console generation. Originally planned for the…

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Same month as Final Fantasy VII — June 1997. Matsuno's political RPG where Ramza wins the war but history records him as a he

PlayStation

Final Fantasy Tactics

ファイナルファンタジータクティクス

Tactical RPG / Strategy · 1997

Final Fantasy Tactics is the 1997 PlayStation tactical RPG directed by Yasumi Matsuno, set in the politically complex ki…

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Faye Wong's 'Eyes on Me' was the first pop song commissioned for mainline Final Fantasy. Square's 1999 PlayStation RPG sold 8

PlayStation

Final Fantasy VIII

ファイナルファンタジーVIII

RPG · 1999

Final Fantasy VIII is the 1999 Square RPG, the direct successor to Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation. Players control Squ…

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Uematsu wrote 160 tracks and called it his favourite. Final Fantasy IX (2000, PlayStation) — a return to swords and crystals

PlayStation

Final Fantasy IX

ファイナルファンタジーIX

RPG · 2000

Released in 2000, Final Fantasy IX was the series' deliberate return to its roots — a response to the urban, technologic…

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Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2, 2001) — the first in the series with full voice acting and facial animation, spawning the fir

PlayStation 2

Final Fantasy X

ファイナルファンタジーX

role-playing video game · 2001

Final Fantasy X is a 2001 role-playing video game for the playstation 2, developed by Square, directed by Yoshinori Kita…

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