Ender’s Games

I am a big RPG fan, and as you probably already know, my favorite series of all time is the Final Fantasy series. The combat systems, magic and skill systems, the art direction, and the stories are almost always riveting and amazing. For the uninitiated, each FF game is completely unrelated to the others, with the exception of FFX and FFX-2. Of the 20 or so titles in the series, I’d say 15 or 16 were really great.

Every FF game always comes with a beautiful logo, specific to that game’s characters or theme. Mr. Yoshitaka Amano is responsible for the majority of the logos, as well as all the FF art. There are so many to show, I am going to break them down into 3 seperate posts so as not to bog down the main page. And so, without further adieu, I give you the logos and a brief history of Final Fantasy 1-7……

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- Final Fantasy -

Final Fantasy debuted in the U.S. in 1990 on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. It possessed a very basic art style and combat system, but the story was pretty decent and the game was incredibly popular. Most important of all, it spawned one of the best gaming series ever made.

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- Final Fantasy II -

Final Fantasy II was not originally released in the United States, but has since been included in bundles with Final Fantasy I. It’s really one of my least favorites, but it did introduce chocobos and FF recurring character Cid. You can check more FF 1 & 2 artwork here.

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- Final Fantasy III -

Final Fantasy III was also only released in Japan; that is, until the Nintendo DS remake that was released in 2006. I didn’t care too much for this entry either. However, it was responsible for the introduction of Moogles, the “Steal” and “Jump” skills, Job systems, and best of all, summons. Check out this great FF3 art.

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- Final Fantasy IV -

Final Fantasy IV was originally released in Japan as FF4, and in the United States on the SNES as Final Fantasy II. This was due to the fact that the previous two installments (FF2 and FF3) did not see a U.S. release; FF4 was numbered as 2 for the sake of continuity. This release introduced the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, which was used in the next 6 FF games. This game is known as one of the most difficult in the series, so I am looking forward to giving it a try when it re-released on the Nintendo DS next month (July 22nd). If you want to give it a try now, you can find it in the Playstation Final Fantasy Chronicles compilation or the Game Boy Advance release. FFIV art collection here.

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- Final Fantasy V -

This entry, unfortunately, did not see an original North American release either. If you haven’t yet noticed, these games are Japanese-made, and so Japan gets first crack at all of them. FFV did see U.S. releases in the Playstation’s Final Fantasy Anthology and the GBA’s Final Fantasy V. It expanded on the Job System used in earlier games. While not my favorite, this was a pretty solid game. FFV art here.

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- Final Fantasy VI -

Final Fantasy VI was released in the United States as Final Fantasy III (SNES), and is my absolute favorite of the pre-FFVII Final Fantasies. I loved the experience system in this game, as well as the Espers and Mechs. This game was also re-released on the Playstation in the Final Fantasy Anthology and as Final Fantasy VI Advance on the GBA. Excellent game, and I really need to pick it up on the GBA. It would make my life if they would give this title the DS-treatment. Check this FFVI art.

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- Final Fantasy VII -

Ah, Final Fantasy VII. I’ve already made it clear that I am a huge fan of this title; in fact, it is tied for my favorite in the whole series (the other is FFX). There’s simply not enough room or time for me to list here everything I love about this game, but to name a few: the characters, the settings, the story, the materia system, the summons, the secrets, the chocobos, and the atmosphere. Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Sephiroth are household names (to gamers), and some of my most-loved game characters of all time. FFVII was originally released on the Playstation, and the PC also got a release. Since the original Playstation edition, gamers have begged for a next-gen remake. Square Enix has not consented, instead focusing on mostly crappy sequels and prequels, with the exception being FFVII: Crisis Core, which I mini-reviewed a few days ago. If you are a gamer, you need to play Final Fantasy VII. Good luck finding a copy on Playstation, though; eBay is just about the only way to get one, and you’re gonna pay through the nose for it. The PC version is much cheaper and easier to find, so try that. Don’t forget to check the FFVII art here, here, and here.

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So that covers Final Fantasy 1-7, and concludes Part 1 of The Beauty of the Final Fantasy Logos. Part 2 will cover Final Fantasy 8-12 (including X-2), and Part 3 will cover various off-shoots and sequels/prequels. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little education about the beginnings of the Final Fantasy series.

FF logos credit goes to http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sean.d.fowler/ffl/.

FF artwork compilation credit goes to http://www.finalfantasytr.com/artwork.htm.