Final Fantasy 7- A Company's Magnum Opus

The year was 1997, the FMV was on its last legs, and the Sega-Nintendo Console War ended with Nintendo the undisputed winner. The Sony Playstation was slowly gaining momentum, and CD based gaming was becoming the clear path that the gaming industry would take, leaving behind cartridges forever. And on that year, Sony unveiled what many consider their best game, and what some even go so far as to call the greatest game ever made... Final Fantasy 7.

Ten million copies sold, for a reason.

Final Fantasy 6- An Era Peaks

The year was 1994, and the RPG was just getting through its early Golden Age. Final Fantasy 4 had raised the bar on gaming narrative. Seiken Densetsu provided a rich plot with a unique weapons and magic system. Lunar: Silver Star was showing the world that the future in RPG's laid in animated cut scenes and voice work. And finally, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest showed the industry that the old standards just weren't gonna cut it anymore, that the RPG gamer was now much too sophisticated for what was acceptable less than 7 years ago. People wanted more: they wanted a deep story, they wanted unique characters, they wanted a rounded cast, they wanted a unique fantasy world that could engross them, they wanted to lose themselves in the narrative, they wanted a good guy they could root for, they wanted a bad guy they would want dead and hopefully in the best boss fight possible. However, the North American market, one of the biggest video game markets in the world, second only possibly to Japan at the time if it was ever second to anyone at all, still had the RPG as a niche genre. That was about to change with Square's darkest, grimmest game yet, Final Fantasy 6.

More popular in America than in Japan

Final Fantasy 5- Time for Fun

Final Fantasy 4 really changed the way the RPG was made, but the genre itself was just a niche market, inaccessible for the common, every day gamer that was used more to jumping on turtles as an Italian plumber than to reading an epic story starring a Dark Knight with a troubled past. People wanted to play for fun, and when you get down to it, that's what video games are for. So, what's a game company to do? Make a game about death, loss, despair, with a genocidal monster clown and starring a cast of varied characters that have suffered soul crushing losses? Actually, Squaresoft simply made a game that was considerably lighter, softer, easier and simpler than their previous game. They made Final Fantasy 5.

Cute artwork, isn't it?

Final Fantasy 4- Growing the Beard

The year was 1991, the 8 Bit Era was officially over, and the 16 Bit Era had begun. It was the dawn of the greatest Console War in the history of the industry, and both Nintendo and Sega were bringing out video games that would become instant classics. During this year, Squaresoft released what could very well be called one of their best games ever, beloved by many gamers the world over: Final Fantasy 4. The 90's were what I would very much like to call the Golden Age of the RPG, because this was when the genre was really releasing its best and most famous games. Final Fantasy 4 was no exception. This was only the second Final Fantasy to be released in the US (Final Fantasies 2 and 3 didn't make it at the time), so when this game was released, it was called Final Fantasy 2. However, since I've already covered the real FF2, I will refer to this game as FF4, regardless of how nostalgic anyone feels for the old (false) name.

There is no direction to go, but forward

Final Fantasy 3- Getting There

Two years after Final Fantasy 2 came out, the 8 Bit era of gaming was at its twilight years. The Sega Genesis was out, and the Super Famicom was on its way towards store shelves. However, the Famicom (or the NES, for us westerners) was still a popular console, and one that still had games being made for it, and one of those games was Final Fantasy 3, a game designed to push the Famicom's capabilities as far as possible. Because of its extremely complex coding, it was nigh impossible to translate, and in fact this would be the one Final Fantasy to take the longest to ship out outside Japan: a full 16 years had passed between its original 1990 release date, and its international 2006 release on the Nintendo DS. Furthermore, it must be said: there are so many substantial differences between the Nintendo DS and the Famicom version of the game, they may as well be two different games. However, the version I'll be talking about and analyzing today will be the Famicom version, for the simple reason that it came out first.

Allow me to introduce Sir Not-Appearing-In-The-Game

Final Fantasy 2- Growing Pains

Hironobu Sakaguchi did not, in any way, shape, or form, expect his 'final fantasy' to become such a huge hit. So, what's a game company to do when they have their first real hit? Why, cash in, of course! But how do you follow up a game changer like Final Fantasy? Well, if you ask Squaresoft, the route they took was to make a game that had NOTHING to do with the original, recycled some graphics, and called it the second game in the series. And then, they gave that name what was most likely the least sensible name that the gaming industry must have seen in the entire decade: Final Fantasy 2.

Wait, so this is the second Final Fantasy? So the first one wasn't final at all?

Final Fantasy 1- Humble Origins

Back in 1987, there was a failing game company named Squaresoft, that just couldn't seem to catch a break in the industry, what with how many of their games were failing. So Hironobu Sakaguchi, then president of Squaresoft, decided to release one last game before calling it quits, his Swan Song. After seeing how well Enix' game Dragon Quest had sold, Sakaguchi decided to make an RPG unlike any other. This was supposed to be his last project, hence he gave it the most ironic name ever given to a video game: Final Fantasy.

Can you hear that iconic theme in your head, just by looking at this box art?