119-820: Final Fantasy Tactics is a 1997 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation . It was released in Japan in June 1997 and in North America in January 1998 by Sony Computer Entertainment , it is the first game of the Tactics sub-series within the Final Fantasy franchise, and the first entry set in the fictional world later known as Ivalice . The story follows Ramza Beoulve,
238-405: A Squire or a Chemist , the base classes for warrior and magician jobs, respectively. The game features twenty jobs accessible by normal characters. The JP rewarded in battle are used to learn new abilities within each job class. Accumulating enough JP results in a job level up; new jobs are unlocked by attaining a certain level in the current job class (for instance, to become a Priest or Wizard,
357-417: A first-person perspective . The class changing systems and multiple types of magic available were also influential on the genre, as were the use of a variety of vehicles. By contrast, IGN has commented that the menu system used by the games is a major detractor for many and is a "significant reason why they haven't touched the series". Destructoid ' s Chris Hovermale cited the battle systems of
476-699: A koala with a bat . Other recurring races include common monsters such as the cactus-like Cactuar , the Tonberry, the Malboro, the Behemoth, and the Iron Giant. A human character that has frequently appeared is Cid ( シド , Shido ) . Making his debut in Final Fantasy II , he has appeared in multiple forms as everything from a player character to an antagonist. His most frequent occupation
595-572: A central figure in the religion, and attempts to use it along with the Zodiac Stone to reveal the organization's plot. The two sides in the Lion War face off in a major battle that results in the deaths of Larg and Goltana. Ramza stops the battle and rescues the general, Count Cidolfus Orlandeau, though the Church eliminates the two leaders to secure its control over Ivalice. Ramza discovers that
714-417: A central role in several games, though later games such as Final Fantasy XV focus on simple narratives and understandable knowledge for its lore. The central conflict in many Final Fantasy games focuses on a group of characters battling an evil, and sometimes ancient, antagonist that dominates the game's world. Stories frequently involve a sovereign state in rebellion, with the protagonists taking part in
833-643: A chosen games' core narrative. The concept of crystals was introduced into the original game by game designer Koichi Ishii . Based on positive fan feedback, Terada suggested carrying them into future entries. Since then, crystals have taken prominent roles in Final Fantasy III , IV , V , VI , VII , and IX . They took minimal roles in II , VIII , X , and XII . Crystals also took a central role in Final Fantasy XIII and XV , which both used
952-506: 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
1071-444: A darker theme. Nojima also created the original scenario of Final Fantasy XV (2016), 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 (2005) as a scenario writer after original writer Yasumi Matsuno left due to illness. The initial script
1190-554: A highborn cadet placed in the middle of a military conflict known as The Lion War, where two opposing noble factions are coveting the throne of the kingdom. Production began in 1995 by Yasumi Matsuno , a newcomer who had created the Ogre Battle series at Quest Corporation . Matsuno's wish was for an accessible tactical game with a storyline focusing on class-based conflict and the rewriting of history. Matsuno acted as director and writer, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi
1309-495: A main artist for the Crystal Chronicles spin-off series, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII , and the mobile game Mobius Final Fantasy . A key designer for much of the series' life was Kazuko Shibuya, who did sprite designs from Final Fantasy to VI . She also did work on Final Fantasy Dimensions . A notable outside collaborator was Hiromu Takahara, lead designer for Japanese fashion house Roen, who created
SECTION 10
#17327837004021428-479: A more action-based, single-character version that incorporated design elements cut from XIII . Final Fantasy XV used an action-based system that was described as a "realistic" version of those used in the Kingdom Hearts series and spin-off game Final Fantasy Type-0 . Unlike mainline Final Fantasy games up to this point, the players could only control one character out of the four-strong party. While
1547-546: A party of characters, commanding anywhere between three and eight during battles. Players must face a variety of enemies who continually try to damage the player; in battle, the characters can select a variety of commands from a menu, such as "Fight", "Magic", "Item", as well as other special skills such as "Steal", "Throw", or "Summon". The battle is won when all enemies are defeated. Up until Final Fantasy XI , battles were triggered through random encounters: starting with XI and continuing in following games, enemies were visible in
1666-485: A piece of full artwork rather than a simple logo. Since Final Fantasy IV , the current font style was adopted, along with a specially-designed logo by Amano. The emblem relates to a game's respective plot and typically portrays a character or object in the story. Subsequent remakes of the first three games have replaced the previous logos with ones similar to the rest of the series. His work on Final Fantasy brought him international fame. From Final Fantasy VII onward,
1785-573: A series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games (RPGs). 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
1904-418: A similar fashion to other contemporary MMORPGs. Final Fantasy XII used a similar real-time command-based system to XI : dubbed the "Active Dimension Battle" system, characters fought enemies in environments without random encounters, with players acting on commands set by the player. The battle system for Final Fantasy XIII was designed to retain the strategic elements of earlier games while emulating
2023-445: A standard for RPGs. The series also produced spin-off entries including SaGa and Mana , and in turn influenced later game developers and studios. 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
2142-531: A substantial input into the character stories. While Final Fantasy VII would become Nomura's favorite project, its graphical limitations meant that his art style was limited in turn. For Final Fantasy VIII , he worked with other artists to make the characters more realistic. Nomura returned for Final Fantasy X , designing the main cast and creating a setting influenced by the South Pacific , Thailand , and Japan . For Final Fantasy XV , Nomura created
2261-506: A tactical RPG that would be accessible, something he originally aimed for with the Ogre Battle titles and later felt he had failed to accomplish with Tactics . When deciding how to differentiate Tactics from his earlier title, he placed a focus on individual character growth similar to the main series, contrasting against the army-based simulation of Tactics Ogre while keeping its chess-inspired gameplay. While Matsuno designed most of
2380-412: A unit may act when its Charge Time (CT) reaches 100 and increased once every CT unit (a measure of time in battles) by an amount equal to the unit's speed statistic. During battle, whenever a unit performs an action successfully, it gains experience points (EXP) and job points (JP). Actions can include magical attacks, physical attacks, or using an item. Hit points (HP) of enemy units are also visible to
2499-594: Is "Summoning", a mechanic where characters can evoke summoned monsters (summoned beasts ( 召喚獣 , Shoukanjuu ) in Japanese) to aid the party through cinematic actions. The concept of summoning was proposed for the first Final Fantasy but was not implemented until Final Fantasy III . Summons can be either optional acquisitions or tied to story events and particular characters. The names of summons derive from multiple cultures, including Egyptian , Middle-Eastern, Asian, and Classical mythology. As groups within
SECTION 20
#17327837004022618-432: 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
2737-497: Is Gilgamesh; first appearing in Final Fantasy V , he has made cameo appearances in multiple Final Fantasy games since then. Gilgamesh, named after the mythological figure , was created by Sakaguchi, and designed by Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshitaka Amano . Since the series' inception, gameplay in the majority of mainline Final Fantasy games has followed certain conventions of the role-playing genre. Players take control of
2856-687: Is an engineer, and he is commonly associated with the party's airship. Cid was originally created as a character that would appear in multiple forms: his one common attribute was that he was an intelligent and wise figure "like Yoda from the Star Wars series". Two other recurring human characters are Biggs and Wedge, a duo named after characters from the Star Wars franchise who are often used for comic relief. Making their debut in Final Fantasy VI as footsoldiers, they have since appeared in multiple Final Fantasy games. A different character
2975-419: Is generally divided into classes organized by color: "White magic", which focuses on spells that assist teammates; "Black magic", which focuses on harming enemies; "Red magic", which is a combination of white and black magic, "Blue magic", which mimics enemy attacks; and "Green magic" which focuses on applying status effects to either allies or enemies. Different means of transportation have appeared through
3094-412: Is known in the game as the Lion War. Behind this backdrop is a revelation by the game's historian Alazlam J. Durai, who seeks to reveal the story of an unknown character whose role in the Lion War was major but was covered up by the kingdom's church. Most of the game's plot is portrayed from Ramza's perspective, who is the player character of the story. He is introduced to various factions of the Lion War;
3213-605: Is recovering from the Fifty Year War against Ordalia. After the death of its ruler, Princess Ovelia and Prince Orinas are both candidates for the throne. The former is supported by Prince Goltana of the Black Lion, and the latter by Queen Ruvelia and her brother, Prince Larg of the White Lion. The two groups engage in battles in the Lion War. Nobles and commoners regard each other negatively and many commoners joined
3332-411: Is stabbed by Delita in return, with her fate left ambiguous in the game. Delita then cries out to Ramza, asking what Ramza gained in return for his actions, compared to Delita. Orran attempts to reveal the Church's evil plot with the "Durai Report" but his papers are confiscated and he is burned at the stake for heresy. Many centuries later a historian tries to describe the story of the Lion War. Tactics
3451-706: Is the Chocobo , a galliform bird that regularly acts as a means of transport for characters. The Chocobo was created by Ishii for Final Fantasy II , and have appeared in every mainline Final Fantasy game since then. A second recurring race are the Moogles , whose Japanese name is Mōguri , a portmanteau of the words mogura (mole) and kōmori (bat); while frequently seen running shops or assuming some other background role, they have also appeared as party allies or playable characters. The Moogles were also created by Ishii, originally designed in his school days by combining
3570-439: Is the " Active Time Battle " (ATB) system: while utilizing a turn-based combat system, action meters are assigned to all characters that empty when they act in battle. Each player character being issued a command when their action meter is filled: enemies could attack at any time despite player actions being in progress, adding an element of urgency to battles. The ATB system was designed by Hiroyuki Ito . According to Kawazu, Ito
3689-515: 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
Final Fantasy Tactics - Misplaced Pages Continue
3808-420: The Final Fantasy series as an example of video games have evolved their combat systems over time. Edge cited the visuals of the series as a reason for its long-standing critical praise. In 1996, Next Generation included the series on a ranking of the best games and series of all time, with one of its points of praise being the narratives. That magazine later cited the "melodramatic storylines" used in
3927-422: 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 (1988) and III (1990). He later had mixed feelings about
4046-628: The Final Fantasy XIII games: he had a major role in the design of Lightning's new appearance in XIII-2 . He was also involved in the world design of Final Fantasy XV . Naora had a presence within the series since Final Fantasy VII , for which he designed the kanji logo for the antagonistic Shinra Corporation. His involvement in the series has primarily been as an art director for games such as Final Fantasy X and XV , in addition to creating character designs for Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Final Fantasy Type-0 . Other artists have also contributed to
4165-401: The Ogre Battle series. Sakimoto, who was brought on board the project by Matsuno, was advised by both Matsuno and established Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu not to worry about keeping to the style of the main Final Fantasy series. Iwata described the game as a "giant project" to work on, and he received a lot of help from other staff members at Square. Several tracks were inspired by
4284-531: The greatest video games ever made . The world of Ivalice saw the setting for multiple other titles, including other Tactics games and the 2006 mainline entry Final Fantasy XII . An enhanced port of the game, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions , was released in 2007 as part of the Ivalice Alliance project. Final Fantasy Tactics is a tactical role-playing game in which players follow
4403-767: The Bangaa race that would later appear in Final Fantasy XII . For XII , he designed the main characters. As inspiration for their physical appearances, Yoshida used a variety of influences from multiple cultures. He returned to work on Final Fantasy XIV , where he needed to adjust from working on a static project to designing for the more fluid environment of an MMORPG. He would also contribute designs to A Realm Reborn , and its first expansion Heavensward . Kamikokuryo first did work on Final Fantasy VIII and X , then became art director for XII . He would return to this role for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings , and
4522-475: The Corpse Brigade to fight against the nobles' soldiers. Ramza, part of the noble Beoulve family of knights, and Delita, his childhood friend who was an ordinary commoner, witness the murder of Delita's sister during an uprising. This causes Delita and Ramza to abandon their ties to the nobility. Ramza joins a mercenary group, led by Gafgarion, who protects Princess Ovelia from being hunted by both sides of
4641-748: The Job System in favour of a character class-driven system where equipment determined skills and growth. For the later stages of XIV and later A Realm Reborn , the Job System was reintroduced as a second level to the class system. Many Jobs, such as the Dragoon, the Summoner, the White Mage, the Black Mage, and the Red Mage have become closely identified with the series. A different system
4760-558: The Job system of the Final Fantasy series. Several battles also feature characters controlled via the game's A.I., which may be recruited later in the game according to the story proper. The characters were designed by Akihiko Yoshida , who was also in charge of the illustration and character designs for Tactics Ogre , and then went on to do the same for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance , Final Fantasy XII , and Vagrant Story . Ivalice
4879-682: The Knights Templar are possessed by the Lucavi, who are seeking to resurrect their leader Ultima, and they needed bloodshed and a suitable body to complete the resurrection. Alma, Ramza's sister, is to serve as the host for Ultima's incarnation. Ultima is resurrected and Ramza and his allies succeed in destroying her and escape Ivalice. In the epilogue, Delita marries Ovelia and becomes the King of Ivalice. He fails to find true satisfaction as even Ovelia distrusts him, leading her to stab Delita. Ovelia
Final Fantasy Tactics - Misplaced Pages Continue
4998-531: The Lion War. Delita joins Goltana's forces. They are reunited when Gafgarion attempts to take Ovelia to Prince Larg. Agrias suggests visiting Cardinal Delacroix of the Glabados Church to protect Ovelia. Along the way, Ramza meets Mustadio, a machinist in possession of a holy relic called the Zodiac Stone. Hunted by a trading company for the power it contains, Mustadio also seeks Delacroix's intervention. Ramza discovers that High Confessor Marcel Funebris and
5117-481: The Lions was released on May 10, 2007, in Japan, and later across all regions. It is the second game announced as part of the Ivalice Alliance . The game features an updated version of Final Fantasy Tactics , along with new features including in-game cutscenes, new characters, and multiplayer capability. The updated mechanics contain a 16:9 widescreen support, new items, new jobs, and cel-shaded full motion videos . The English version contains full voice acting during
5236-495: The Thief, and variations on magical classes such as White and Black Mages. More original classes have appeared throughout the series, such as Bards, Scholars, and Summoners. Due to the series' popularity, they have become staples of RPGs since their debut. The complexity and scope of the job system, as well as whether or not characters are capable of changing jobs, varies from game to game. The original Final Fantasy XIV did away with
5355-543: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 231802852 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:48:20 GMT Final Fantasy character classes#Thief Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi , and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square ). The franchise centers on
5474-490: The battle sequences as challenging, requiring more strategic planning than ordinary RPGs and utilising many gameplay mechanics in later battle sequences. The visuals were also lauded, particularly the spell effects, 3D battlegrounds, and camera that can be rotated and zoomed. Other reviewers disagreed and considered these elements a problem because it necessitated that the battles consist of fewer characters. John Ricciardi, in his review for Electronic Gaming Monthly , argued that
5593-439: The battle system was a traditional turn-based system with characters appearing on the left-hand side of the screen, a feature later adopted by multiple other role-playing games (RPGs). For Final Fantasy II , Kawazu designed the battle system based around a more focused approach to story, along with accommodating for character classes being locked to specific characters. In Final Fantasy II , character abilities improved based on
5712-401: The character artwork for the mobile games Final Fantasy IV: The After Years and Final Fantasy Dimensions . Toshitaka Matsuda's first major work was on Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings , and he would later serve as a costume and character designer for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII . Toshiyuki Itahana first worked on character designs for Final Fantasy IX , then later served as
5831-492: The church used the legend of the holy Zodiac Braves to gather the Zodiac Stones and instigated the Lion War. To prevent Ramza's interference, Delacroix uses the stone to transform into a Lucavi demon and Ramza defeats him. Ramza is regarded as a heretic by the church and he is chased by the Knights Templar, the soldiers of the church who are hunting the Zodiac Stones. He acquires proof of the Church's lies about Saint Ajora,
5950-605: The cinematic action of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children . While retaining the ATB system, elements such as magic points were removed, and a strategic role-change system dubbed the Paradigm System was implemented, with the roles being based on Final Fantasy jobs. Final Fantasy XIII-2 continued using the Paradigm system with added gameplay functions based on criticism of the first game, while Lightning Returns changed to
6069-496: The cinematic cut scenes, whereas the Japanese version does not. Final Fantasy Tactics sold nearly 825,000 copies in Japan in the first half of 1997, and ended the year at almost 1.24 million copies sold. By 2007 the game had sold approximately 1.35 million copies in Japan. As of August 2011, the game had sold over 2.4 million copies worldwide. Final Fantasy Tactics received critical acclaim upon its release. Some reviews lauded
SECTION 50
#17327837004026188-460: The clothing for the main cast of Final Fantasy XV . The Final Fantasy series and several specific games within it have been credited for introducing and popularizing many concepts that are today widely used in console RPGs. The side view perspective with groups of monsters against a group of characters used by the early Final Fantasy games has been frequently imitated, supplanting the prior RPG standard of one-on-one battles against monsters from
6307-402: The crystal-based Fabula Nova Crystallis lore. In contrast, overt references such as terminology and branding were removed from XV to help with marketing. Crystals were included in A Realm Reborn as a central plot due to being given "short shrift in recent games". For Final Fantasy XVI , crystals were included as the equivalent to limited fuel sources, with their fading power triggering
6426-480: The designs he recalled was for the summon Bahamut: while the original Bahamut was an aquatic monster, he did not know this at the time, so he designed Bahamut as a "mecha dragon". As of Final Fantasy XV , Amano's artwork has been created fairly early in a game's development based on the basic themes. Amano's most enduring contribution to the series is his logo designs: receiving design documents as primarily text-based requests and descriptions, he treats each logo as
6545-485: The development of XIII-2 (2011) and Lightning Returns (2013). 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
6664-612: The end of Tactics . Matsuno said that the inspiration to depict this plot came from the number of players that misunderstood the ending of Tactics . Final Fantasy Tactics is featured in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game , with Ramza, Delita, Agrias, and other characters appearing in Opus I (Roman Numeral). Tactics has made additional appearances in Opus III, IV, V, VII, X, and XIII. A remixed version of
6783-423: The ending were left ambiguous, Matsuno considered the narrative complete on its own. During its preplanning phase, the music was going to be in an upbeat style in line with the mainline Final Fantasy series. Due to its portrayal of people fighting each other rather than fighting monsters, Matsuno felt upbeat music was wrong. The original score was written by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata , both veterans of
6902-523: 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 (1997), Final Fantasy XII , and Vagrant Story (2000). Vagrant Story did not originally take place in Ivalice, being incorporated into
7021-399: The field and could be avoided. Like other role-playing games, Final Fantasy most commonly uses an experience point-based leveling system, where each battle awards experience points and gaining levels increases character statistics such as health and magic. Magic is another common role-playing element in the series. The method by which characters gain magic varies between installments, but
7140-408: The first Final Fantasy to IV , Amano created his artwork based on specific descriptions from game staff, while for Final Fantasy V and VI it was the game staff that took and adjusted his artwork to suit the games. He returned as a character designer for Final Fantasy IX , working from specifications provided by the game's staff. For Final Fantasy XI , Amano created the game's world map. One of
7259-547: The game should have been done in 2D style so that the PlayStation's processors could handle larger battlefields. Nob Ogasawara, when writing for GamePro , was also concerned with the small scale of the battles, saying that as a result the game "isn't so much Tactics Ogre with a Final Fantasy flavor as it is FF with a TO flavor". A reviewer at RPGFan criticized the game's difficulty as inconsistent, in part due to abilities unique to certain characters which unfairly sway
SECTION 60
#17327837004027378-938: The game the Editor's Choice Award in 1998, praising the in-game graphics as "amazing" and the battle environments with its extra details as being "extremely well designed". GameSpot named Final Fantasy Tactics as one of "the greatest games of all time" in 2007. The game placed 84th in the "Top 100 Favorite Games of All Time" poll by Japanese magazine Famitsu in March 2006, 45th in Game Informer 's list of top 100 games, 43rd in Electronic Gaming Monthly 's list, and 38th in IGN ' s rankings of greatest games. The world of Final Fantasy Tactics has been featured in several other Square video games. After
7497-497: The game's designer. For Final Fantasy V (1992), the scenario was a collaboration between Sakaguchi and Yoshinori Kitase . Final Fantasy VI (1994) 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 (2000), with further contributions Kazuhiko Aoki and Nobuaki Komoto. One of
7616-420: The game's release, the development staff developed Vagrant Story , which featured several subtle references to Final Fantasy Tactics . In an interview, Matsuno said both titles are set in the same fictional world of Ivalice. During the development of Vagrant Story , Matsuno and Sakaguchi initiated a sequel to Tactics , which would have used 2D graphics due to issues with 3D development at the time. The project
7735-450: The game's storyline and concept art, with some track names being chosen by Sakimoto based on first impressions of relevant characters. Sakimoto described his music for the game as "bright and cheerful tunes", carrying themes of hope and love. Sakimoto and Iwata worked separately on their own tracks. The album was first released on two compact discs by DigiCube on June 21, 1997, and was re-released by Square Enix on March 24, 2006. Tactics
7854-601: The game, some towns contain "Fur Shops" for obtaining items by way of poaching monsters. Random battles happen in pre-set locations on the map, marked in green. Passing over one of these spots may result in a random encounter. Tactics features a character class system , which allows players to customize characters into various roles. The game makes extensive use of most of the original character classes seen in earlier Final Fantasy games, including Summoners , Wizards (Black Mages), Priests (White Mages), Monks , Lancers (Dragoons), and Thieves . New recruits start out as either
7973-584: The game. The battle system of the original Final Fantasy was designed by Akitoshi Kawazu . When creating it, he closely followed the mechanics created in the Western tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons , particularly the incorporation of enemy-specific weaknesses that were otherwise missing from Japanese games at the time. He also added elements such as weapon and item abilities based on their successful implementation in Wizardry . This first version of
8092-518: The games, they have been referred to by several names (Espers, Guardian Forces, Aeons, Eidolons, Astrals, Primals, Eikons), and have taken either core roles in the story or less prominent roles as tools for the player characters. The artwork and character designs of the first Final Fantasy were created by Yoshitaka Amano, a noted artist who had worked with Tatsunoko Production on multiple anime series including Science Ninja Team Gatchaman , and also did illustrations for Vampire Hunter D . Amano
8211-424: 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. 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
8330-443: The impact of Final Fantasy on his career, as many only knew him from his video game writing. When Final Fantasy IV (1991) 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 (1991), along with being
8449-450: The internal struggles, passions, and tragedies of the characters, and the main plot often recedes into the background as the focus shifts to their personal lives. Other aspects explored are the relationships between characters, which range from love to rivalry. Other recurring situations that drive the plot include amnesia , a hero corrupted by an evil force, mistaken identity, and self-sacrifice. Esoteric and mystical elements also take
8568-487: The main character designer for the series was Tetsuya Nomura, whose first major contribution had been character and monster designs for Final Fantasy VI . He was chosen by Sakaguchi as the character designer for VII after being amused by his storyboards for VI . His greater involvement was also due to scheduling conflicts with Amano's overseas trips to open exhibitions in Europe and North America. Nomura would end up having
8687-779: The main characters alongside being one of the main creative forces behind its development. A trend with Nomura's characters is their names being related to the weather or the sky ( Cloud , Squall , Tidus , Lightning ). He wanted to break this tradition when designing Noctis Lucis Caelum , but after Final Fantasy XIII ' s Lightning was given a weather-based name, Nomura gave Noctis his current name: Noctis' name translates from Latin to "Night of Light Sky". Other notable artists include Akihiko Yoshida , Isamu Kamikokuryo , and Yusuke Naora . Yoshida's first major games were Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story , which he worked on together with Hiroshi Minagawa . He also did design work for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance , creating
8806-418: The most prominent are those of Prince Goltana and Prince Larg, who both want to become the guardian of Ivalice's monarch and are engaged in a war with each other. The story progresses to include characters from the Glabados Church, which has been controlling Ivalice silently and engineering the war in question. As the game progresses, players are able to recruit generic player characters and customize them using
8925-474: 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 (1999). He was also a major contributor to Final Fantasy X (2001) alongside other writers. He returned to write the scenario for Final Fantasy X-2 (2003), despite initial reluctance due to its upbeat feel when compared to its predecessor. His later supplementary material would return to
9044-470: The number of times they were used and the number of hit points accumulated during battles: if a character used magic, they would become strong in magic while other attributes would suffer. For Final Fantasy III , the system changed back to a traditional class-based model: Kawazu said that the reason for this was because no-one could fully understand the system he had created for Final Fantasy II . The battle system most closely associated with Final Fantasy
9163-497: The particular soldier has learned. The story takes place in the kingdom of Ivalice, inspired by the Middle Ages . The kingdom is located in a peninsula surrounded by sea on the north, west and south, with a headland south of the landmass. It is heavily populated by human beings, although intelligent monsters can be found living in less populated areas. Magic is predominant in the land, although ruins and artifacts indicated that
9282-479: The past populace had relied on machinery, such as airships and robots. Ivalice's neighbors are the kingdom of Ordalia in the east and Romanda, a military nation to the north. While the three nations share common royal bloodlines, major wars have taken place between them. An influential religious institution known as the Glabados Church heads the dominant faith, centering around a religious figure known as Saint Ajora. The story takes place after Ivalice ended its war with
9401-465: The player (except in the case of certain bosses), allowing the player to know how much damage they still have to inflict on a particular unit. In the world map, the player moves on predefined paths connecting the towns and battle points. When the character icon is over a town, a menu can be opened with several options: "Bar" for taking sidequest job offers, "Shop" for buying supplies and equipment, and "Soldier Office" for recruiting new characters. Later in
9520-471: The player. The Job Change system was initially proposed by Sakaguchi as he wanted to give players freedom to customize the party members. The Job System has continued to have a strong role in the series, being most prominent in Final Fantasy V with 22 available jobs. Jobs have recurring functions throughout the series. Some of the more traditional classes include the Warrior/Fighter, the Dragoon,
9639-535: The plot's events. In games with universes containing more advanced technology, it is often depicted as predominantly powered by magic. This is specifically called magitek in Final Fantasy VI , XIV , and XV , while other games have similar elements under a different name, such as mako technology in VII and magicite technology in XII . Such magical technology is often used as a metaphor for overreaching, evil ambition, breaking
9758-500: The polished CGI aesthetic of Final Fantasy VII , the team wanted a hand-drawn artstyle. The opening and closing cinematics were created by Western company Animatek International. Matsuno's prototype was originally closer to his previous real-time strategy game Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen and would have featured 2D graphics; some sample images were produced, but this concept was then scrapped. Matsuno then aimed for
9877-661: The rebellion. The heroes are often destined to defeat the evil, and occasionally gather as a direct result of the antagonist's malicious actions. Twin antagonists, with the second main antagonist being hidden for the majority of the game, is also a recurring element. Other common plot and setting themes include the Gaia hypothesis , an apocalypse, and conflicts between advanced technology and nature . Most games feature names inspired from various cultures' history, languages, and mythology, including Asian , European , and Middle-Eastern . In-game items such as weapons follow this tradition:
9996-418: The rest of the game systems, due to staff shortages and needing to focus on the scenario the battle system was designed by Hiroyuki Ito . Ito disliked tactical RPGs of the time, growing bored with their mechanics, so designed the battle system to be engaging and feel fast and exciting. Matsuno had to push against Ito's wish to simplify the class system. The level design, which used compact diorama -style levels,
10115-509: The rules of the world, and stealing its energy no matter the cost. Extremely powerful magitek armor is recurring in various games in the series, such as in VI , XIV , and XV in the form of mecha , and in XV as powered armor . Characters and monsters have made appearances in multiple Final Fantasy games, although they remain unconnected in a narrative sense. A recurring animal in Final Fantasy
10234-480: The series as a factor in its longevity. In a review of Final Fantasy VI from 2005, GameSpot cited that game as a genre-defining game with its storyline and emphasis on character development, while Final Fantasy VII has frequently been classed as a game that helped solidify the structure and style of RPGs for many years to follow. Digital Spy said in 2012 that Final Fantasy had "shaped and defined role-playing games across generations of consoles", though felt
10353-457: The series had lost some of its appeal as its more recent installments differed too much from their predecessors, with some fans referring to Final Fantasy X as "the last traditional game in the series". Kawazu would develop the concepts he created for Final Fantasy II into its own series, titled SaGa , and other franchises including The Elder Scrolls would adopt its usage-based skill systems. Ishii's experience working on Final Fantasy
10472-452: 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
10591-403: The series since the first game, where players chose each character's job from the outset. Kawazu created this system to give players freedom to customize the party. For Final Fantasy IV , jobs were attached to specific characters. Each job in a Final Fantasy game has unique abilities which develop as the player's level increases. In some games, the player can assign a character a specific job at
10710-519: The series. Hideo Minaba contributed character designs to Final Fantasy IX , worked as an art director for XII , and would later design characters for XIII-2 . Italian-born artist Roberto Ferrari worked as a secondary character designer for Final Fantasy Type-0 , Final Fantasy XV , and Final Fantasy VII Remake . Yusaku Nakaaki worked with Naora and Nomura to create characters for Final Fantasy Type-0 , and along with Ferrari created secondary characters for Final Fantasy XV . Akira Oguro created
10829-481: The series. The most common is the airship for long range travel, accompanied by chocobos for traveling short distances, but others include sea and land vessels. Following Final Fantasy VII , more modern and futuristic vehicle designs have been included. For Final Fantasy XV , a car dubbed "Regalia" was introduced as both a ground-based transport and later as a vehicle that could be converted to function as an airship. Airships are often unlocked for players fairly late in
10948-406: The song "Ovelia & Delita" was nominated for "Best Game Music Cover/Remix" at the 16th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards. An upcoming game, Unsung Story , is meant to be a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy Tactics . It has design input from Yasumi Matsuno and a soundtrack composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Tactical role-playing game Too Many Requests If you report this error to
11067-491: The start of the game, while other games allow characters to combine and learn abilities from a number of jobs. In addition to other abilities, a character's job usually determines the types of weapons and armor that they can use. Final Fantasy III saw the introduction of the Job Change System: through special crystals, the four player characters were granted a variety of jobs that could be switched at any point by
11186-471: The story of protagonist Ramza Beoulve. The game features two modes of play: battles and the world map. Battles take place on three-dimensional, isometric fields. Characters move on a battlefield composed of square tiles; movement and action ranges are determined by the character's statistics and job class. The battlefield also factors in elements such as terrain and weather to determine strategic advantages and disadvantages during clashes. Battles are turn-based ;
11305-420: 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 . Stories in the series frequently emphasize
11424-706: The system further as he felt the version in IV was incomplete. A mechanic introduced in Final Fantasy VII was Limit Breaks, special cinematic moves that have become a staple of the series. The ATB system was in use until Final Fantasy X , which switched to a system called the "Conditional Turn-based Battle" system: while reverting to a purely turn-based model, it included additional elements such as in-battle party member switching. Final Fantasy XI , XIV , and its sequel A Realm Reborn used real-time command-based combat systems and removed random encounters, playing in
11543-562: The team experimented with multiple character control, it was decided that it presented too many development difficulties. The battle system of Final Fantasy XVI , designed by Capcom veteran Ryota Suzuki, again focused on action with a single protagonist with a focus on switching elemental abilities gained from the world's summons. Battles were also split between standard combat with smaller enemies, and large cinematic battles with their own mechanics. Character classes in Final Fantasy are often referred to as "jobs"; they have been present in
11662-458: The tide of battle either in favor of or against the player. Critics praised the story's depth and plot twists but some remarked that the large number of similar-looking characters made it hard to distinguish between characters to develop an emotional attachment. RPGFan criticized the English localization as rife with grammatical mistakes. The game's soundtrack was also praised. IGN awarded
11781-430: The time described his wish for the narrative to emulate "a sense of swashbuckling heroism". His aim was to create a Final Fantasy -themed morality tale. Matsuno stated that the game's thematic use of class-based society was derived from his experiences within game production companies, observing their hierarchy and how senior designers were treated as royalty. The story premise of a long-suppressed account of ancient history
11900-518: The two most notable are Excalibur and Masamune, derived respectively from the Arthurian sword and legendary Japanese swordsmith . A recurring concept within Final Fantasy settings is the use of important magical crystals; in early games, they represented the Japanese classical elements and were instrumental in keeping the world in balance. Due to this, control over the crystals forms part of
12019-465: The two nations in what is known as the Fifty Years War, and is facing economic problems and political strife. The king of Ivalice has recently died and his heir is an infant, so a regent is needed to rule in place of the prince. The kingdom is split between two candidates named Prince Goltana, represented by the Black Lion, and Prince Larg, symbolized by the White Lion. The conflict leads to what
12138-533: The unit must first attain Job Level 2 as a Chemist), which also allows the character to gain more JP in that class in battles. Once all the abilities of a job class have been learned, the class is "Mastered". A soldier in a specific Job always has its innate skill equipped (Wizards always have "Black Magic", Knights always have "Battle Skill") but a second job-skill slot and several other ability slots (Reaction, Support, and Movement) can be filled with any skill
12257-406: 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 (1997) for the PlayStation , which became
12376-529: Was Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings . Square released Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in 2003. The game setting and engine are similar to the ones of its predecessor, but the cast of characters is considerably smaller and the plot is simpler. An indirect sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance , titled Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift ,
12495-489: 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
12614-425: Was brought on board the first Final Fantasy as general artwork designer, filling that role for II and III . For Final Fantasy IV , Amano was given more freedom to create elaborate character designs. Amano returned as character designer and general artwork for Final Fantasy V . Final Fantasy VI , in addition to featuring work by Amano, also had contributions from other designers including Kaori Tanaka . From
12733-455: Was chosen to allow the intended 60 frames per second, carrying over the smooth gameplay experience gamers expected from the genre. The small scale of battles also reinforced the personal nature of the game's narrative conflicts. Level design and mastering continued until a week before the game shipped. Under Matsuno's direction, the game's design strayed significantly from Sakaguchi's original concept, particularly in its narrative tone. Matsuno at
12852-726: Was conceived in 1993 by Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi , who is a fan of the tactical role-playing genre. Due to his heavy involvement with the mainline series, he was unable to realize it at the time. Production finally began at the end of 1995 under Yasumi Matsuno , who until that year had worked at Quest Corporation on the Ogre Battle series, resigning once work was completed on Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and bringing several of its staff over to Square . During this period, Square had broken its long-standing development partnership with Nintendo and moved their game projects over to Sony's PlayStation . Matsuno acted as director and lead scenario writer. Sakaguchi
12971-418: Was first released in Japan on June 20, 1997. It came bundled with a demo disc for SaGa Frontier . The English localization was partly outsourced, with the other part of translation and localization being handled by Square Soft's Michael Baskett. Baskett started writing the script in a style close to Old English, but this was beginning to impact the game's understandability and make characters sound alike, so it
13090-519: Was inspired by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls , and the story of The Name of the Rose . For Tactics , Matsuno created an entire new world dubbed Ivalice , which he would use in multiple later projects. Ivalice was designed as a complex setting with a deep historical background. He described it as a blank canvas on which he and later others could create narratives. While some aspects of
13209-509: Was inspired while watching a Formula One race and seeing racers pass each other at different speeds. This gave him the idea of different speed values for the individual characters. Ito himself described the inspiration as his wish to balance pure turn-based mechanics with real-time battle mechanics, which played into a movement in Formula One where cars were shifting towards using semi-automatic gearboxes. For Final Fantasy V , Ito evolved
13328-509: Was later expanded into a multimedia series gamed Compilation of Final Fantasy VII , which included video games ( Before Crisis , Dirge of Cerberus , Crisis Core ) and film projects ( Advent Children , Last Order ). 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
13447-407: Was outsourced to an unspecified developer because of the team's commitment to Vagrant Story and was later cancelled for unspecified reasons. In 2006, Final Fantasy XII was released, also set in the world of Ivalice. Square Enix announced at the end of the same year the Ivalice Alliance , a new series of games set in the world of Ivalice, during a Tokyo press conference. The first title released
13566-467: Was producer, and the battles were designed by Hiroyuki Ito . Multiple other staff members were veterans of the Ogre Battle series, including artists Hiroshi Minagawa and Akihiko Yoshida , and composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata . The game received critical acclaim and has become a cult classic since its release. It sold about 1.24 million units in Japan during 1997, and over 2.4 million worldwide by August 2011. It has been cited as one of
13685-610: Was released in Japan in 2007 and in the rest of the world in 2008. It is also one of the titles released under the Ivalice Alliance game series, and takes place in the Ivalice universe. Ramza and Agrias appeared in online trading card game Lord of Vermilion III in 2014. Ramza also appears as a playable character in the fighting game Dissidia Final Fantasy NT . In 2017, the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn portrayed an alternate version of Final Fantasy Tactics in which Ramza and his companions died at
13804-599: Was sold on June 29, 2000, along with titles such as Saga Frontier , Saga Frontier 2 , Brave Fencer Musashi , Front Mission 3 , Ehrgeiz and Legend of Mana . In 2001, four years after its release, Final Fantasy Tactics was selected as part of the Sony Greatest Hits line of re-releases. Final Fantasy Tactics also became part of Ultimate Hits , Square Enix's main budget range available in Japan. A PlayStation Portable version of Final Fantasy Tactics , entitled Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of
13923-536: Was the game's producer. The lead programmer was Taku Murata, who had previously worked on the Mana series. Matsuno described the working environment at Square as more democratic than at Quest, with a greater ability for the whole staff to contribute design ideas. The art design was a collaborative effort led by Tactics Ogre veterans Hiroshi Minagawa and Akihiko Yoshida , with additional character designs and artwork by Hideo Minaba and Eiichiro Nakatsu. Contrasting against
14042-452: Was toned down in the final script. It was released in North America on January 28, 1998, by Sony Computer Entertainment America, who, at the time, acted as Square's Western publisher for the platform. It was re-released as part of the Square's Millennium Collection. This series of games was released only in Japan, and each title is bought with a set of related merchandise. Final Fantasy Tactics
14161-669: Was written by Miwa Shoda, whose work was fleshed out by Watanabe. Watanabe would later work on the scenarios of Final Fantasy XIII (2009) and its sequels, which would become one of his major projects. The scenario for Final Fantasy XI (2002) was created by Masato Kato , who returned for the expansion Rise of the Zilart . For Final Fantasy XIV (2010), 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 (2013), alongside new writer Kazutoyo Maehiro. The lead writer for expansions beginning with Heavensward
#401598