Final Fantasy (universe)

Final Fantasy (universe)
	;
Developer(s)	Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft)
Publisher(s)	Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft)
Designer(s)	Hironobu Sakaguchi; Tetsuya Nomura
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
First installment	Final Fantasy (1987)
Latest installment	Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024)
Article on Wikipedia	Final Fantasy (universe)

The Final Fantasy universe (ファイナルファンタジー, Final Fantasy), stylized in-game as FINAL FANTASY and FINAL FANTASY VII, refers to the Super Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties hailing from the long-running role-playing game (RPG) franchise created and owned by Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft). Since the release of its first installment in 1987, the franchise is one of the best-selling Japanese RPG series in the world and is considered one of the most innovative, with numerous breakthroughs in its usage of in-game graphics, full-motion videos, and various visual and sound content throughout the series' lifespan. The single best-selling and most popular entry in the franchise is Final Fantasy VII, originally released in 1997. Likewise, its protagonist Cloud Strife and antagonist Sephiroth are among the most recognizable characters in the entire Final Fantasy franchise. This series, in addition to Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts, is considered to be a flagship franchise for the publisher and a pioneer of the RPG genre.

Franchise description

Logo of Final Fantasy VII.

Electrical engineering student Hironobu Sakaguchi became a part-time employee at Square shortly after it was founded as a computer game-centric division of a power line construction company named Den-Yu-Sha. He became a full-time employee as the Director of Planning and Development when Square later separated from its parent company, and had intended to create a role-playing video game modeled after the foundations of then-separate company Enix's Dragon Quest. Thematically inspired by role-playing forerunners such as Ultima, Wizardry, and Dungeons & Dragons, the game was originally intended to be titled "Fighting Fantasy", but due to trademark issues, Sakaguchi had to change it, later christening the name "Final Fantasy". The outcome of the release starkly contrasted with expectations, however, as the game's December 1987 release on Nintendo's Famicom sold more than half a million copies. When Dragon Quest later met success with its North American localization as Dragon Warrior, Nintendo of America released a similarly localized version of Final Fantasy in July 1990, to modest success.

Though Dragon Quest was among the first to effect a divergence of styles in the role-playing genre that resulted in the formation of what is commonly known as the Japanese role-playing genre, Final Fantasy played a critical role in granting it its initial surge of popularity. However, the Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) style would remain relatively obscure in the public spotlight throughout many years to come, even as many new JRPG properties were introduced both within Square's efforts and outside it. Final Fantasy, under producer Sakaguchi's watchful eye, began to release a continuous succession of numbered sequels - which, in stark contrast to most other video game series, were never traditional sequels or continuations and rarely carried over characters. Much like in Fire Emblem, each of the mainstream Final Fantasy games that were developed and released are self-contained works tied tangentially by shared thematic and design similarities, such as Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III for the Famicom, and for a while, only some of the games received worldwide localization; Final Fantasy IV for the Super Famicom - which introduced the "Active Time Battle" concept to the series - was released worldwide in 1991 as "Final Fantasy II", and after Final Fantasy V remained a Japan-only Super Famicom release, Final Fantasy VI was released worldwide for Super Nintendo in 1994 as "Final Fantasy III".

Besides the Final Fantasy series, Square developed and released a multitude of other RPGs for the Super NES that have cemented their success as a game developer, each with their own innovations to the genre. Three of the most prominent examples are Secret of Mana, which introduced an action-based battle system to the gameplay formula and local co-op for up to three players, Chrono Trigger which introduced time travel elements and new character designs courtesy of Akira Toriyama, and Super Mario RPG which introduced the titular Nintendo mascot to the role-playing scene and streamlined many conventions of the genre for much greater accessibility while also introducing "action commands" for extra benefits. All of these titles and more cemented a partnership that demonstrated a commitment to quality games while being able to expand beyond the core formula that had been tried and true with Final Fantasy.

Though Final Fantasy VI would become critically regarded in its own right as one of the greatest and most landmark JRPGs ever developed, the JRPG genre remained relatively niche in Western markets. As polygonal graphics began to take root in the industry's landscape with the release of systems like the Sony PlayStation, Sakaguchi felt that the franchise might be left behind if it did not catch up to the 3D graphics employed by their contemporaries. To test this, a 3D SGI demo using characters from Final Fantasy VI only cemented their beliefs on moving the franchise forward. But because Nintendo's then-upcoming 3D-based console, the Nintendo 64, was based on cartridges and therefore lacked the memory storage needed for the project's scope, Square felt they had no choice but to end its long-running relationship with Nintendo and develop Final Fantasy VII exclusively for the PlayStation. What resulted was the most expensive video game production of its time, with a development budget of around $45 million - equivalent to $67 million in 2015. The game's international release - which was consistently titled Final Fantasy VII despite several prior installments not having been released outside Japan at the time - was preceded by a heavy marketing campaign by Sony themselves.

Final Fantasy VII received widespread critical acclaim that was nonetheless eclipsed by the game’s commercial success and impact on the games industry. Famously referred to by one publication as "quite possibly the greatest game ever made", the game - spread out across three PlayStation discs packaged together - was seen for its time as an unprecedented blend of gameplay, interactive movie elements, and character-driven narrative, the last of which included what was argued to be one of the most infamous character deaths in the medium. On the back of character designer Tetsuya Nomura's now-iconic cast, the game is viewed to have single-handedly vastly expanded the conventional global audience for the JRPG genre, and Final Fantasy itself became one of the most popular video game franchises. The extent to which the game had become a killer app for the PlayStation led the game's protagonist to become an unofficial mascot for both his series and the console as a whole. Every main-numbered Final Fantasy to follow would receive enormous amounts of attention and sales success as a direct outcome of Final Fantasy VII's own.

In terms of the scenario of the game itself, Final Fantasy VII initially focuses on the efforts of an underground group named Avalanche - among whom Cloud Strife is a member - as they struggle to destroy power plants operated by an electric-power mega-corporation that has become much of the planet's de facto government, Shinra, headquartered at the industrialized metropolis of Midgar. With the company having since shifted its focus to a spiritual substance called Mako so as to harvest said substance as modern society's primary source of power and fuel, Cloud and his allies operate under the belief that Shinra is siphoning the life force of the planet itself. But between his encounters with the mysterious flower girl Aerith Gainsborough and the re-emergence of an incredibly dangerous and disturbed figure from Cloud's past - the former elite soldier Sephiroth - Cloud and his allies gradually find themselves taking on a more direct and urgent role as protectors of the planet than they could have anticipated, though he must also surmount formidable psychological obstacles ingrained within his own memories.

Final Fantasy VII's setting introduced a post-industrial science-fiction element to the formerly medieval fantasy-grounded intellectual property, and the involvement of science fiction in a Final Fantasy mythos was expanded with 1999's Final Fantasy VIII. After 2000's Final Fantasy IX deliberately returned to the more traditional fantasy trappings employed in the oldest games, the series' first main-numbered appearance on the PlayStation 2 as Final Fantasy X aesthetically entrenched the series in a distinctive blend of fantasy and technology. The series had also begun to deviate from its turn-based and Active Time Battle-based roots and gradually adapt action-RPG elements in games such as 2006's Final Fantasy XII, 2010's Final Fantasy XIII, and 2016's Final Fantasy XV, as well as release two of its main-numbered games - 2002's Final Fantasy XI and another title released in 2010, Final Fantasy XIV - as MMORPGs. But while every numbered game remains a separate story and setting from the rest, several of them receive their own sequels, spin-offs, and sub-series that utilize their respective settings and casts, namely XIII, XII, X, IV, and most prominently VII. None of this is to mention a veritable deluge of remakes, reissues, offshoots, spiritually-related works, and involvement in crossovers that began after the turn of the millennium, as if spurred in response to the 2003 merger of Square and Enix into a single entity named Square Enix (which Sakaguchi had resigned from shortly prior). Announced in 2020, the installment of the core series is titled Final Fantasy XVI, as it was announced during Sony's PlayStation 5 Showcase livestream for the then to be released PlayStation 5, on September 16, 2020. Final Fantasy XVI would release on June 22, 2023, leaning even further into the action RPG route than previous entries to mostly positive reception, though its financial reception and impact on the franchise still remain to be seen.

Several games appeared as third-party works on Nintendo hardware as a result of renewed relations between the two publishers, such as the action RPG The World Ends With You - which introduced an unorthodox touch-screen control system and a stylized art direction not previously noted in any other Square Enix release, the Bravely Default series for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch - which constitute a modernized execution of the original turn-based battle system of the earliest Final Fantasy titles, and Octopath Traveler - a Nintendo Switch game which continued the traditional turn-based combat and job system of the Bravely Default games and introduced a diorama-like "HD-2D" aesthetic. However, while these titles preserved the spirit of the Final Fantasy franchise, no new mainline entry was featured on a Nintendo system for over 20 years after Final Fantasy VI (not counting ports and remakes). This all changed in late 2018 and early 2019 when Square Enix and Nintendo announced that several core entries were being released for the Nintendo Switch, being Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X/X-2 HD Remaster, and XII: The Zodiac Age. Later throughout 2021 and early 2022, the six first Final Fantasy core games were released for Steam and smartphones in the Pixel Remaster collection, before receiving a port release on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in April 2023, at the 35th anniversary of the first game. As per the title say, they were remastered to feature 16-bit graphics for the three first games and notable changes for the other three, quality of life upgrade, high quality music, and updated dialogues. Of all the six remastered games, Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster features 2.5D graphics and voice actors in multiple languages, reserved exclusively for the iconic opera sequence.

Despite the many turns that the Final Fantasy franchise has taken and the many platforms the franchise has appeared on, Final Fantasy VII stands as the franchise's most well-known and popular extension. Years after its introduction, it became the subject of a metaseries of prequels, non-traditional sequels, and other various media collectively titled the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, including the PlayStation Portable prequel game Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and the computer-graphic (CG) film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. In the years following the original game's release, demand for a high-definition remake of the original game was fervent and growing, even more so after a tech demo at E3 2005 recreating the opening train segment in the Crystal Tools engine. The idea of turning the remake into a commercial project came when Square Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto broached the subject to Kitase, Nomura, and Nojima. They collectively agreed that they were hitting "that age"; that they if they waited much longer, they would be too old to release a remake and that passing the project onto a new generation did not feel right. Roughly 18 years after the original PS1 release, a high-definition remake was officially announced at E3 2015 to be in development for the PlayStation 4. To ensure that no content is removed, the remake is planned to be released in three parts, with the first part seeing a worldwide release on April 10, 2020, and the second part, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, slated for Winter 2023. As part of the Remake project's goals, many elements of the game were altered or completely changed to account for modern gaming sensibilities. A real-time action combat system was implemented in lieu of the original's turn-based system (as that was the direction where the developers believed RPGs were heading and so to rebuild the battle system's foundations) but with the addition of a command list for additional strategy and tactics. These commands are governed by how much ATB charge that party members have. The Materia system from the original returns, functioning much in the same fashion with any party member able to equip elemental, technique, and summoning Materia. Finally, side quests can be initiated with NPCs for rewards in addition to building one's reputation in the surrounding area. In the meantime, enhanced ports of the original version have been released on all current major platforms, including the Nintendo Switch in 2019 for the first time on a Nintendo system.

Several Final Fantasy spin-offs have appeared on Nintendo hardware as a result of these renewed relations such as the 3DS action-RPG spinoff title Final Fantasy Explorers and the ATB spinoff World of Final Fantasy, both of which feature various main-numbered Final Fantasy heroes as playable characters. Meanwhile, each of the formerly-Japan-exclusive main-numbered titles have been released to the rest of the world in some enhanced form or another. Among the more noteworthy Final Fantasy derivatives:

Final Fantasy Tactics, released in 1998 for the PlayStation, was Square's first foray into the strategy-RPG genre and is regarded as a cult classic; it saw an enhanced re-release for the PlayStation Portable with the subtitle The War of the Lions. Separately, a duo of more colorful, unconnected titles - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift - were released for the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS.

Final Fantasy Type-0 is an action-RPG that was released only in Japan for the PlayStation Portable in 2011, with an HD remaster later released worldwide early 2015 for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is an action-RPG that was released exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube with an emphasis on local cooperative play, and has since spawned its own metaseries with the Crystal Chronicles name, all of which have been exclusive to Nintendo hardware. An HD remaster of the first game with online multiplayer was released in the summer of 2020.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and its sequels, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy and Dissidia Final Fantasy NT. The first two are PlayStation Portable titles designed around a combat system resembling a hybridized blend of the three-dimensional fighting and action-RPG genres, while the third game is oriented more to the fighting aspects rather than the RPG aspects. These games are crossovers of the various disparate continuities of the franchise, and make at least one hero and one villain from each of the main-numbered Final Fantasy continuities playable characters.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, its update, Curtain Call, and its sequels All-Star Carnival and Final Bar Line are rhythm titles on the 3DS, Arcade, Nintendo Switch, and Playstation 4 that similarly cross over the many universes of Final Fantasy, compiling music - both faithfully preserved and remixed - from almost every Final Fantasy title and spinoff. The subseries, through DLC, also features various songs from singles derived from the games, remixes from arrangement and compilation albums, and songs from other Square Enix titles, including arrangements from the Super Smash Bros. series. A Dragon Quest variant was also released separately on the 3DS, exclusively in Japan.

Among the many recurrent monster designs trademarked to the series is the Chocobo, a large, ratite-like bird that is often used as a mount in various Final Fantasy continuities. Square Enix uses it as a mascot for Final Fantasy as a whole, and has released a variety of more child-oriented Chocobo media based on it. There have been Chocobo-themed entries of Spike Chunsoft's Mystery Dungeon series of rogue-like games, and similar games were later made for Pokémon.

Kingdom Hearts is an action RPG series that was conceived as an unorthodox crossover between the general mechanics of Final Fantasy and the many universes of Disney films, with several Final Fantasy characters appearing as guests and cameos. The crossover was originally pitched when producer Shinji Hashimoto found himself in a chance meeting with a Disney executive in an elevator, as the two companies operated in the same building in Japan at the time. Under the direction of Tetsuya Nomura with music composed by Yoko Shimomura, the ongoing series has become one of the most storied and complex video game intellectual properties in Square Enix's catalogue, featuring various Disney universes including, but not limited to, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Big Hero 6. The latest game in the franchise, Kingdom Hearts III, concludes what has been referred to as the "Dark Seeker Saga" which has been building up since the first game in 2002.

In addition to his recurrent appearances in many of these works, Cloud Strife has made guest appearances in titles outside of Final Fantasy, including a PlayStation arena fighter titled Ehrgeiz: God Bless The Ring and a small sub-series of digital board games titled Itadaki Street. To the surprise of many, Cloud was announced as a post-launch downloadable content fighter for the Nintendo crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. 4 (despite his minimal presence on Nintendo hardware up until that point), becoming a mainstay in the series ever since.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is mentioned among the titles listed in the Chronicle in Western versions of Brawl.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

The Final Fantasy franchise makes its proper debut in the Super Smash Bros. series as a DLC franchise, marking the first time a third-party company was introduced to the series via DLC. The franchise is primarily represented with Final Fantasy VII with one fighter, a stage, two music tracks, the fighter's trophies, and a Mii Fighter hat. Geno from Super Mario RPG was also simultaneously released as a Mii Fighter costume to further commemorate Nintendo's relationship with Square Enix.

Fighter

Cloud (DLC): Cloud Strife, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy VII, makes his debut in the Super Smash Bros. series as a downloadable newcomer in Super Smash Bros. 4. His default designs are taken from the lore of Final Fantasy VII and his attacks generate unique sound effects inspired from the original game. His attacks primarily revolve around his iconic weapon, the Buster Sword, and references to most of the Limit Breaks he acquired in his debut title. Cloud ranks 2nd on the Super Smash Bros. 4 tier list, owing to his high mobility, great range, moderately fast frame data, and Limit mechanic making him one of the most popular characters to have as a pocket choice. He is voiced in Japanese in all regions despite having an existing English voice actor.

Stage

Midgar (DLC): The iconic cyberpunk conurbation on the planet Gaia appears as a stage in Super Smash Bros. 4. One of the several Mako Reactors and the main Shinra Electric Power Company structure can be seen in the background. The layout of this stage is identical to those of Battlefield and Dream Land 64, however, there are the omnipresent Summons from the Final Fantasy series that appear as stage hazards, each with their own abilities which directly impact the stage and, likewise in the Final Fantasy series, can only be called upon by Summon Materia.

Mii Costume

Main article: Alternate costume (SSB4)/Mii Fighter

The Mii Costume was released in the fifth wave of DLC Mii Costumes, along with the Geno Mii Costume and Cloud, on December 16, 2015.

Headgear

Chocobo Hat (DLC): A headgear featuring the franchise's most popular mascot, the chocobo. The headgear's design is sourced from the eponymous character's cartoony appearance in the Chocobo sub-series, specifically in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, the third game in the Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon trilogy.

Music

Main article: List of SSB4 Music (Final Fantasy series)

Source Tracks

Tracks sourced directly from Final Fantasy VII.

Let the Battles Begin! (DLC): The normal battle theme from Final Fantasy VII.
Fight On! (DLC): The standard boss battle theme from Final Fantasy VII.

Victory Theme

Victory! Cloud (DLC): Cloud's victory theme, a remix of the battle victory theme from Final Fantasy VII. Unlike other victory themes, this theme continues to play over the match results.

Trophies

Main article: List of SSB4 trophies (Final Fantasy series)

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

After being DLC in the previous installment, Final Fantasy returns as part of the base game. While most of the content was unchanged at launch, far more was added in December 2020 as part of Challenger Pack 8. This includes a new stage, several new music tracks, over a dozen spirits, several Mii Fighter costumes, and a new fighter in the form of the antagonist Sephiroth. Once again, the vast majority of this content is pulled from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Fighters

61.
Cloud (Unlockable): A former member of SOLDIER turned mercenary, along with his default and Advent Children designs, returns as an unlockable fighter after being DLC in Smash 4. One notable change is that his Limit mechanic has been nerfed; he can only hold on to his maxed-out Limit Gauge for 15 seconds without using it, and whenever he is attacked while manually charging it he will lose a little bit. Apart from this and some range nerfs, he performs similarly to how he did in Smash 4. The Limit Gauge is also persistently displayed above his character portrait at all times. Finally, as of version 10.1.0, his Final Smash in his Advent Children designs was changed to Omnislash Ver. 5. He is once again voiced in Japanese in all regions.
78.
Sephiroth (DLC): The formerly renowned SOLDIER and arch-nemesis to Cloud Strife arrives as the third downloadable newcomer in the Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Armed with his signature weapon, Masamune, he strikes elegantly with exceptional reach. He also possesses a unique fighter ability; after sustaining enough damage, he will unfurl his black wing, making him faster and his attacks more powerful akin to Cloud's own Limit Gauge and Joker's Rebellion Gauge. His Final Smash, Supernova, transforms him into Safer∙Sephiroth and can cause a variety of status effects at random on any opponents caught in it. Like his rival, he remains voiced in Japanese in all regions. He was released alongside a new stage; Northern Cave, several new Final Fantasy music tracks, and multiple spirits in December 2020 as part of Challenger Pack 8. Notably, a mode known as the Sephiroth Challenge was launched on December 17, 2020, with the premise being to defeat a computer-controlled Sephiroth on the chosen difficulty (Easy, Normal, or Very Hard). Beating this opponent would unlock Sephiroth as a playable character a few days before his "official" release on December 22, at which point this mode was made permanently unplayable with future updates.

Stages

Midgar (Starter): The City of Mako returns as part of the base game, functionally unchanged from Smash 4.
Northern Cave (DLC): A new stage based on the planet's core, the location of the final battle against Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII. The stage itself is a simple flat arena with two platforms at each side. The background recreates and retells the endgame sequence of Final Fantasy VII, including the Highwind airship descending into the planet's core, narrowly escaping the activation of Holy, and Meteor being stopped by the power of the Lifestream after Holy proves ineffective. This stage was released in December 2020 as part of Challenger Pack 8.

Mii Costumes

Main article: Alternate costume (SSBU)/Mii Fighter

In addition to the Chocobo hat returning from Smash 4, the following Mii costumes are available as downloadable content, as part of version 10.1.0, within the eighth wave of Mii Fighter outfits after Challenger Pack 8 and Sephiroth. They were released on December 22nd, 2020.

Outfits

Barret Outfit (DLC): Barret Wallace's clothes in Final Fantasy VII. Its design was inspired from the character's artwork instead of the character's polygonal model in the original release.
Tifa Outfit (DLC): Tifa Lockhart's clothes in Final Fantasy VII. Its design was inspired from the character's artwork instead of the character's polygonal model in the original release.
Aerith Outfit (DLC): Aerith Gainsborough's clothes in Final Fantasy VII. Its design was inspired from the character's artwork instead of the character's polygonal model in the original release.