Final Fantasy (video game)

Square

Industry	Video game development and publishing
Founded	1986
Founder	Masafumi Miyamoto
Headquarters	Japan
Key people	Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator)
Products	Final Fantasy series

Final Fantasy, released in 1987, is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square. It marks the inaugural entry in Square’s Final Fantasy franchise, created by Hironobu Sakaguchi. Initially available on the Nintendo Entertainment System, this title has since been adapted for numerous platforms and frequently paired with Final Fantasy II in compilation releases. The storyline centers on four Warriors of Light who embark on a quest to cleanse their world’s elemental crystals, each corrupted by one of the four Elemental Fiends.

The project was originally named Fighting Fantasy, but due to trademark disputes and difficult company circumstances, it was renamed. Its commercial triumph and favorable reviews laid the groundwork for what became a highly successful series. The game received acclaim for its graphics and its significant contribution to popularizing role-playing games on the NES, although it faced criticism for requiring extensive grinding through random battles. By March 2003, cumulative sales across all versions exceeded two million copies globally.

Gameplay

Final Fantasy is structured around four principal gameplay modes: an overworld map, town and dungeon exploration screens, a battle interface, and a menu system. The overworld map represents a miniature version of the game’s world, enabling players to navigate their party between various locations. Movement is primarily on foot, but as the adventure unfolds, players gain access to transportation such as ships, canoes, and airships. Enemies typically appear randomly during travel on field maps or the overworld, prompting either combat or evasion.

Progression occurs through interaction within towns and dungeons where non-player characters (NPCs) provide information or sell equipment and items. Dungeons feature diverse settings including forests, caves, mountains, swamps, underwater areas, and buildings. These often house treasure chests containing rare items not found in shops. The menu screen allows players to monitor experience points and levels while managing equipment, inventory, and magic spells. Characters advance from level one up to fifty by earning experience points through battles; increased levels boost attributes such as maximum hit points (HP). Characters perish if their HP drops to zero.

Combat operates via a menu-driven, turn-based system where players choose commands like Attack, Magic, or Item. Battles persist until one side either escapes or is defeated. Winning grants experience points and Gil (the in-game currency); escaping returns the party to the map; total party defeat results in game over with loss of unsaved data. Notably, Final Fantasy introduced the convention of displaying player characters on the right side of the battle screen and enemies on the left rather than using a first-person perspective.

At the start, players select four characters who remain fixed throughout the game. Each character belongs to an occupation or character class that determines their unique strengths and abilities—some innate and others acquired. There are six classes available: Fighter, Thief, Black Belt, Red Mage, White Mage, and Black Mage. Characters undergo class upgrades that evolve their visual appearance and broaden their capacity for weaponry and magic use. The game includes a variety of weapons, armor pieces, and items designed to improve combat performance. Each character can carry eight equipment items—four weapons and four armor pieces—with restrictions based on class. Certain equipment possesses magical properties that cast spells or offer protection during fights. Shops stock recovery items such as potions for healing or curing status effects; Tents and Cabins restore health on the overworld map while also allowing saving; Houses replenish magic points after saving. Unique quest rewards provide special items.

Magic plays an essential role in gameplay; spells are categorized into White (supportive/healing) and Black (offensive/debilitating) magic types. Magic shops sell spells that characters can learn if appropriate for their class. Spells are organized into eight levels ranging from one to eight; each level contains four White spells and four Black spells with individual characters able to master three spells per level. White Mages and Black Mages can acquire most spells within their specialization; meanwhile Red Mages, Ninjas, and Knights have limited access to higher-level magic.

Setting

The world of Final Fantasy unfolds across three continents in a fantastical realm where four elemental crystals—representing earth, fire, water, and wind—maintain the balance of nature. This universe is inhabited by a variety of beings, including humans, elves, dwarves, mermaids, dragons, and mechanical entities. Historically, the dimming of these crystals precipitated the downfall of civilizations: the Wind crystal’s weakening caused the collapse of the Lefeinish airship builders; violent tempests destroyed an oceanic sanctuary following the Water crystal’s decline; meanwhile, the loss of Earth and Fire crystals triggered widespread wildfires and ruined farmlands. The wise sage Lukahn foretells that four champions known as the Light Warriors will arise to restore harmony.

Story

The tale centers on four young Warriors of Light, each connected to one of the darkened crystals. Their journey begins in Coneria Kingdom, where they save Princess Sarah from the clutches of the knight Garland. The king then permits them to travel eastward to Pravoka, where they overcome pirates and seize a ship for their voyage. Their adventures include reclaiming a stolen crown from Marsh Cave, defeating the sinister dark elf Astos to secure the Crystal Eye, and awakening an elf prince who grants them the Mystic Key—essential for accessing resources like TNT that enable linking the Aldi Sea with external regions.

Progressing further, the Warriors confront elemental monsters: they vanquish Lich in Earth Cave using Sage Sarda’s Rod; defeat Kary within Gurgu Volcano; and overcome Kraken in the Sunken Shrine with assistance from a unique oxygenating substance. They reach northern lands aboard an airship elevated by the Levistone found in Ice Cave. After proving their valor by retrieving the Rat’s Tail from Castle of Ordeal and earning Bahamut’s promotion, they learn to speak Lefeinish to infiltrate the Floating Castle and face Tiamat.

Having defeated all Four Fiends and restored the crystals’ brilliance, the Warriors open a gateway to two millennia past. There, they confront Chaos—Garland’s true form—who engineered a time loop by sending fiends into their era to sustain his immortality. Ultimately, they defeat Chaos, breaking the cycle and returning home as unrecognized heroes.

Creation

Hironobu Sakaguchi had long aspired to develop a role-playing game (RPG), but his employer Square initially dismissed his concept due to concerns over potential poor sales. Following Dragon Quest’’’s success in Japan, Square greenlit Sakaguchi’s RPG proposal inspired by Western titles like Ultima and Wizardry. Only a handful of colleagues joined his project because of his reputation as a demanding leader and prior setbacks. The principal development group, dubbed the "A-Team," consisted of seven members within Square. Sakaguchi enlisted designers Koichi Ishii and Akitoshi Kawazu; Kawazu directed battle system design by integrating features from Western RPGs such as elemental vulnerabilities and customizable party roles to deepen player involvement.

The storyline was crafted by freelance writer Kenji Terada based on Sakaguchi’s narrative outline. Ishii introduced the concept of crystals central to the game’s lore and recommended Yoshitaka Amano for character artwork; despite initial reservations from Sakaguchi, Amano’s distinctive style was ultimately embraced. Nobuo Uematsu composed the soundtrack, marking his sixteenth video game score. Programming was handled by Iranian-American Nasir Gebelli, who concentrated on translating design concepts into code rather than gameplay mechanics and implemented what is regarded as one of the earliest RPG minigames—a sliding puzzle. Additional key contributors included graphic designer Kazuko Shibuya, programmers Kiyoshi Yoshii and Ken Narita, along with debugger Hiroyuki Ito. As development advanced, designer Hiromichi Tanaka and his "B-Team" joined to assist with production. Internal challenges and skepticism within Square fueled their determination to deliver a polished final product.

Release

Sakaguchi presented a development ROM of the game to the Japanese publication Famitsu, which opted not to review it but offered detailed coverage. Originally, the plan was to produce only 200,000 units; however, Sakaguchi persuaded company executives to double this number to 400,000 to facilitate a potential sequel. Ultimately, the original Famicom (NES) edition sold 520,000 copies in Japan. After the successful localization of Dragon Quest (renamed Dragon Warrior) in North America, Nintendo of America handled the translation and distribution of Final Fantasy in that region in 1990. The title did not receive official release in PAL territories until the arrival of Final Fantasy Origins in 2003.

Title

Multiple explanations have been proposed regarding the choice of the name Final Fantasy. In 2015, Sakaguchi disclosed that the team sought a title easily abbreviated as , enabling straightforward pronunciation in Japanese. The initial working name was Fighting Fantasy, but it was changed to prevent confusion with an existing gamebook series. The term "final" symbolized Sakaguchi’s personal predicament—he intended to exit the gaming industry if the project failed—as well as Square's precarious financial state, which was nearing bankruptcy. Nonetheless, Sakaguchi later minimized this interpretation, suggesting that any "F" word would have been appropriate given the desperate circumstances at that time.

Versions and re-releases

Final Fantasy has undergone numerous remakes across various platforms and is frequently paired with Final Fantasy II in compilation releases. While maintaining its fundamental narrative and gameplay, these remakes differ in visual presentation, audio quality, and gameplay features.

Timeline of Final Fantasy editions and remakes

Title	Release	Region	Platform	Developer	Publisher	Remarks
1987 / 1990 |Japan / USA |Family Computer / NES |Square |Square / Nintendo (NES) |Original release; US version featured slight modifications due to technical constraints and censorship.
1989 |Japan |MSX2 |Square |Microcabin |Enhanced graphics, expanded soundtrack, reduced loading times.
1994 |Japan |Family Computer |Square |Square |Minor graphical tweaks and correction of a typo.
2000 |Japan |WonderSwan Color |Square |Square |Redesigned sprites, refined graphics, battle backgrounds matching later series aesthetics.
2002–2003 |Japan / USA / EUR |PlayStation |Tose |Square / Square Enix / Infogrames (EUR) |Based on WonderSwan version; features remixed music, FMVs, art galleries, and memo save functionality.
2004 |Japan / USA / EUR |Game Boy Advance |Tose |Nintendo |Introduced additional dungeons and updated bestiary with minor adjustments.
2004–2010 |Japan / USA / EUR |Mobile phones | |Square Enix / Bandai Namco Games |
2007–2008 |Japan / USA / EUR |PlayStation Portable |Tose |Square Enix |High-resolution 2D graphics, FMVs, remixed soundtrack, extra dungeons.
2009–2010 |Japan / USA / EUR |Wii Virtual Console | |Square Enix |
2009–2012 |Japan / USA |PlayStation Store PSOne Classics |Square | |
2010 worldwide	Square Enix|Square Enix|Adapted from PSP version.
2011 Japan/EUR	Square Enix| |
2012 worldwide	|Square Enix|Based on iOS port.
2012 worldwide	Square Enix|Square Enix|Derived from iOS version; lacks bonus content.
2013 Japan	Square|Square Enix|
2013 Japan	Square|Square Enix|
2015 Japan	Square Enix|Square Enix|Based on PSP edition with stereoscopic 3D support.
2016 Japan	Square|Square Enix|
2016 USA/EUR	Square|Square Enix/Nintendo|Emulated original version on console.
'Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster' series' first title'|'2021, 2023, 2024'|'Worldwide'|'Android/iOS/Windows/Steam/Nintendo Switch/PS4/Xbox Series X/S'|'Square Enix'|'Square Enix'|'2D remaster faithful to original game.'

The initial MSX2 reissue in Japan during 1989 provided increased storage capacity but introduced slower loading times. The 1994 Famicom compilation titled Final Fantasy I・II, released exclusively in Japan, included only slight graphical refinements.

The WonderSwan Color edition from 2000 featured enhanced visuals with redrawn character sprites and battle backgrounds inspired by later entries in the series. The PlayStation compilation Final Fantasy Origins, launched between 2002 and 2003, utilized WonderSwan graphics alongside FMVs, rearranged music tracks, and art galleries; this collection was also part of the 25th Anniversary Ultimate Box set released in 2012.

The Game Boy Advance port Dawn of Souls, released in 2004, incorporated four new dungeons and an updated bestiary. Mobile adaptations by Square Enix began appearing in Japan starting from 2004 with improved visuals compared to earlier mobile games but remained less advanced than console versions. The North American mobile launch was postponed until 2010 through a partnership with Namco.

To commemorate the franchise's twentieth anniversary, Square Enix issued PSP remakes of the first two titles between 2007 and 2008. These editions featured enhanced resolution graphics, FMVs, rearranged soundtracks, additional dungeons, and expanded content from Dawn of Souls. This PSP release was subsequently adapted for Nintendo 3DS with added stereoscopic 3D effects.

The original NES edition became accessible via Wii Virtual Console globally between 2009 and 2010. A worldwide iOS port arrived in 2010 based on the PSP remake; Windows Phone and Android versions followed in 2012.

In November 2016, Nintendo's NES Classic Edition console included the original game as an emulated title. The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, a contemporary two-dimensional remake of the original game alongside its early sequels, launched across multiple platforms beginning in 2021 and expanded onto consoles by 2024.

Reception

Final Fantasy garnered both critical praise and strong commercial performance. The initial Famicom (NES) edition shipped 520,000 units within Japan, generating revenue exceeding (roughly ). By 1994, sales reached 600,000 copies domestically and 700,000 in North America, accumulating to 1.3 million worldwide. By March 2003, shipments of all editions totaled 1.99 million globally, with 1.21 million in Japan and 780,000 internationally. The PlayStation Portable version had shipped 140,000 copies by November 2007.

IGN positioned Final Fantasy as the 11th greatest NES title, commending its varied class system and expansive world map exploration. GamesRadar ranked it eighth among NES games, recognizing its influence in popularizing the role-playing game genre. In 2004, readers of Retro Gamer voted it the 93rd best retro game, appreciating its enduring charm despite modest graphics and straightforward quest design. Famitsu placed it as the 63rd best game ever in 2006. GameFAQs users ranked it 76th in 2005, while Nintendo Power listed it as the 49th top Nintendo game and later as the 19th best NES release, attributing to it the establishment of RPG conventions such as character classes and leveling systems. In 2023, Time Extension included it among the most influential NES titles and top JRPGs.

This title played a pivotal role in shaping early console RPGs and legitimizing the genre. IGN noted its more intricate narrative compared to contemporaries like Dragon Quest. Critics acknowledge that progression requires significant grinding for experience points and currency but find the exploration component engaging. Initial reviews often described it as derivative of Dragon Quest. Although some regard it as the most challenging and weakest installment in the series, it remains a cornerstone of the RPG genre.

Later releases received largely positive feedback. IGN praised the WonderSwan Color edition for its visual improvements; Famitsu rated it 30 out of 40. The Final Fantasy Origins collection was well-received for its music and nostalgic graphics. IGN lauded Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls for enhanced English localization. The PSP adaptation received mixed critiques; GameSpot acknowledged graphical enhancements but considered additional random encounters less beneficial. The Dawn of Souls compilation ranked 76th on Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list.

Legacy

The original soundtrack was issued alongside that of Final Fantasy II in 1989. Several compositions became iconic series themes: the "Prelude" arpeggio on the title screen; the "Opening Theme," commonly known as the Final Fantasy theme; and the "Victory Fanfare" played after victorious battles. The battle theme’s initial motif has been repeatedly utilized throughout subsequent entries. Additionally, Final Fantasy inspired the concluding episode of the video game-themed animated series Captain N: The Game Master, titled "The Fractured Fantasy of Captain N". The sprite-based webcomic 8-Bit Theater, created by Brian Clevinger since 2001, parodies the game and gained notable popularity within gaming circles.

Characters and elements from Final Fantasy have been incorporated into fighting games such as Dissidia Final Fantasy, Dissidia 012, and Dissidia NT. The Warrior of Light—designed by Yoshitaka Amano—and Garland represent protagonist and antagonist roles respectively. Voice actors include Toshihiko Seki (Japanese) and Grant George (English) for Warrior of Light, while Garland’s voice has been provided by Kenji Utsumi, Kōji Ishii, and Christopher Sabat across different versions. These titles expand on the lore by designating the original game's setting as "World A" to differentiate it from other worlds in the series. Both characters and music from Final Fantasy also appear in the rhythm-based Theatrhythm Final Fantasy games. Chaos and Warrior of Light feature as boss encounters within expansions for Final Fantasy XIV.

The alternate universe prequel Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin heavily references this original game while serving as a backstory for antagonist Chaos and the quartet known as the Warriors of Light.

See also

• List of Square Enix video game franchises