Final Fantasy is a console role-playing game developed and published in Japan by Square (now Square Enix) in 1987 and published in North America by Nintendo of America in 1990. It is the inaugural game in Square's flagship Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy has been remade for several different video game consoles. The game has frequently been packaged with its follow-up, Final Fantasy II, in collections such as Final Fantasy I-II, Final Fantasy Origins, and Final Fantasy I & 2: Dawn of Souls.

The story begins with the appearance of the four youths called the "Light Warriors", who each carry one of their world's four elemental orbs, which have been darkened by the four Elemental Fiends. Together, they quest to defeat these evil forces and restore light to the orbs, thus saving the world.

Final Fantasy was one of the most influential and successful role-playing games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and played a major role in popularizing the genre after Dragon Warrior.

Setting:
Final Fantasy takes place on a fantasy world with three large continents. The elemental powers on this world are determined by the state of four orbs (crystals in later localizations), each governing one of the four classical elements: earth, fire, water, and wind. The world of Final Fantasy is inhabited by numerous races. Elves appear as residents of Elfland (Elfheim). They are distinguished mainly by their pointy ears. The Elves are at war with the Dark Elves, led by Astos. Mermaids live on the top floor of the submerged Sea Shrine (Sunken Shrine) and provide the player clues. Dragons live in the Cardia islands. Bahamut, the King of the Dragons, will upgrade the Warriors' classes if they bring proof of courage from the Castle of Ordeal (Citadel of Trials). Robots mainly reside in the Floating Castle (Sky Castle). Along with the castle itself and the airships, they were constructed by the ancient Lefeinish civilization.

Story:
Four hundred years prior to the start of the game, the Lefeinish (Lufenian) people, who used the Power of Wind to craft airships and a giant space station (called the Floating Castle (Sky Castle) in the game), watched their country decline as the Wind Orb went dark. Two hundred years later, violent storms sunk a massive shrine that served as the center of an ocean-based civilization, and the Water Orb went dark. The Earth Orb and the Fire Orb followed, plaguing the earth with raging wildfires, and devastating the agricultural town of Melmond as the plains and vegetation decayed. Some time later, the sage Lukahn tells of a prophecy that four Light Warriors will come to save the world in a time of darkness.

The game begins with the appearance of the four youthful Light Warriors, the heroes of the story, who each carry one of the darkened Orbs (known as Crystals in later Final Fantasy games). Initially, the Light Warriors have access to the kingdom of Coneria (Cornelia) and the ruined Temple of Fiends. After the Warriors rescue princess Sara from the evil knight Garland, the grateful King of Coneria builds a bridge that enables the Light Warriors' passage east to the town of Pravoka. There the Light Warriors liberate the town from Bikke and his band of pirates, and acquire the pirates' ship for their own use. The Warriors now embark on a chain of fetch quests on the shores of the Aldi Sea. First they retrieve a stolen crown from the Marsh Cave for a king in a ruined castle, who turns out to be the dark elf Astos. Defeating him gains them the Crystal, which they return to the witch Matoya (Matouya) in exchange for an herb needed to awaken the Elf Prince cursed by Astos. The Elf Prince gives the Light Warriors a key capable of unlocking any door. The key unlocks a storage room in Coneria Castle which holds TNT (Nitro Powder). Nerrick, one of the Dwarves of the Cave of Dwarf/Dwarf Village (Mount Deurgar), destroys a small isthmus using the TNT, connecting the Aldi Sea to the outside world.

After visiting the near-ruined town of Melmond, the Light Warriors go to the Earth Cave (Cavern of Earth) to defeat a vampire and retrieve the Ruby, which gains passage to Sage Sarda's (Sadda) cave. With Sarda's Rod, the Warriors venture deeper into the Earth Cave and destroy the Earth Fiend, Lich. The Light Warriors then obtain a canoe and enter Gurgu Volcano (Mt. Gulg) and defeat the Fire Fiend, Kary (Marilith). The Floater (Levistone) from the nearby Ice Cave allows them to raise an airship to reach the northern continents. After proving their courage by retrieving the Rat's Tail from the Castle of Ordeal (Citadel of Trials), the King of the Dragons, Bahamut, promotes each Light Warrior. Using an air-producing fairy artifact known as Oxyale, the Warriors defeat the Water Fiend, Kraken, in the Sunken Shrine. They also recover a Slab (Rosetta Stone), which allows a linguist named Dr. Unne to teach the Lefeinish language. The Lefeinish give the Light Warriors access to the Floating Castle (Sky Castle) that Tiamat, the Wind Fiend, has taken over. With the four Fiends defeated and the Orbs restored, a portal to two thousand years in the past opens in the Temple of Fiends. There the Warriors discover that the four Fiends sent Garland (now the archdemon Chaos) back in time and he sent the Fiends to the future to do so, creating a time loop by which he could live forever. The Light Warriors defeat Chaos, thus ending the paradox, and return home. By ending the paradox, however, the Light Warriors have changed the future to one in which their heroic deeds from their own time remain unknown outside of legend.

Final Fantasy II is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in 1998 for the Nintendo Family Computer as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was only released on this system in Japan, although enhanced remakes for the PlayStation (Final Fantasy Origins) and Game Boy Advance (Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls) were released in North America and the PAL region. Other remakes were released on the WonderSwan Color and mobile phones. The most recent remake was for the PlayStation Portable in 2007.

The game's story centers on three youths whose parents were killed during an army invasion. The invasion leader, an emperor, pursues world control using monsters and demons. The youths join a resistance to end the emperor's war.

Final Fantasy II introduced many elements that would later become staples of the Final Fantasy franchise, including chocobos and a character by the name of Cid. It also eliminated the traditional experience-based advancement system, introducing a system wherein the statistics of playable characters increase according to how they are used or acquired.

Setting:
The game features a series of cities and landscapes that set the stage for a battle between the resistance movement and the Empire of Palemecia. The resistance was born in the kingdom of Fynn, far away from Palemecia. South of Fynn are the towns of Altair and Gatrea, the former being the base of the resistance movement as of the start of the game. To the east is the magical town of Mysidia, and to the west are a series of small waterside villages, including Paloom and Poft. To the north are the mountain towns of Salamand and Bafsk; the former is an outpost for rebel activity, and the latter is an Imperial work colony building the Dreadnought airship. Several islands, including the dragon-infested, Imperial purged island of Deist, and the land featuring the large Mysidia Tower, dot the oceans. The Imperial capital of Palemecia and its ultimate headquarters, Castle Pandemonium, round out the regions.

Characters:
Final Fantasy II features four playable characters as well as several secondary characters who are only briefly controlled by the player. Primary characters include Firion (Frioniel in the Japanese release), a humble resident of the country of Fynn and one of the top commanders of the Rebels; Maria, a soft-spoken archer and dedicated enemy of the Empire; Guy (Gus in the remake for the Playstation), a simple monk who communicates with animals; and Leon (Leonhart in the Japanese release), a conflicted dark knight who is the missing friend of Firion and brother of Maria.

Five playable characters temporarily join the party to assist Firion, Maria, and Guy in their missions for the rebellion before Leon appears, each offering special services to the team, including Gordon, the prince of Kashuan who has been a member of the Wild Rose rebellion since the Emperor of Palamecia attacked Flynn; Josef, a kind soul who lives with his wife and daughter in the snow mountain village of Salamand; Leila, an adventurous girl who speaks in pirate-like jargon and first encounters the party by offering them transportation to the island of Deist; Minwu, or Mindu in the enhanced remake, who is a white mage for the Wild Rose rebellion; and Ricard Highwind, Gareth in the remake, but Ricard again in Dawn of Souls, who is the first dragoon to appear in the series. As non-playable characters, Hilda, the former princess of Fynn and leader of the Rebels, issues commands to the party, and Cid, the staple airship pilot of the series, makes his first appearance. Boats no longer needed to be docked in harbors to return to land.

They all oppose the Emperor of Palamecia, who is startlingly handsome but hides a personality of total evil. Throughout the game, there are characters and names that are referenced in later titles of the Final Fantasy series. In Final Fantasy IX, Josef's story is told by the eidolon Ramuh to Zidane and his party. Leon is most likely the namesake of the more-popular Final Fantasy VIII character Squall Lionhart. The name Leonhart is both Squall's last name and also is very close to the name of Squall's strongest gunblade, the Lion Heart. Squall also uses the name Leon in Kingdom Hearts. In the Japan-exclusive novelization of the game Final Fantasy II Nightmare's Labyrinth (ファイナルファンタジーII 夢魔の迷宮, Fainaru Fantajī Tsū Muma no Meikyū), the Emperor is given the name Mateus (マティウス, Matiusu). This name would be used in reference to him in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as the Totema of the Hume race as well as in Final Fantasy XII as the ice-based Esper. Hilda is the namesake of the Final Fantasy IX non-player character, Hilda, the wife of Cid Fabool IX, and the owner of the Steaming Sheep Tavern in Final Fantasy XI, Hilda, whom Cid shares a close relationship with.

While Final Fantasy was mostly focused on story, Hironobu Sakaguchi decided for the second installment to put more emphasis on character development. Care was taken to make the characters feel like real human beings, able to experience various emotions that the player could similarly feel, such as sadness or happiness. Final Fantasy II was also the first console game in which playable characters could die as part of the normal storyline. Music composer Nobuo Uematsu was initially opposed to the creation of these death scenes, but eventually agreed with Sakaguchi's ideas. In terms of gameplay, once a guest character would die in a scripted event, the player would have no mean to revive them or recover their equipment and weapons.

Story:
Final Fantasy II begins with Firion, Maria, Guy and Leon being attacked by Palamecian soldiers and left for dead. Firion, Maria, and Guy are rescued by Princess Hilda of Fynn, who has established a rebel base in the nearby town of Altair after the Emperor's capture of Fynn. Hilda denies a request by Firion that he, Maria and Guy join the rebel army on the grounds that they are too young and inexperienced. Shortly thereafter, the three set off for the besieged Fynn in search of Leon, where the four find an ailing Prince Scott of Kashuan, Princess Hilda's fiancé, in the basement of the local pub. As he was dying, he informs them that Borghen, who was once a knight in the service of Fynn, betrayed the rebellion and became a General in the Imperial army. He tells the party to tell Hilda that he loves her, but retracts the request. He then gives the party his ring, which allows them to view the world map, and dies shortly afterward. They then return to Altair and present Hilda the ring, who after an emotional reminiscence of Scott, allows them to join the rebel movement.

Having proved their worth, the party is charged with journeying to the mountainous northern parts of the world to find Mythril that the rebels need to make weapons that can measure up to that of the Empire's. She originally sent Josef of the village of Salamand to retrieve it, but they lost contact with him. Before leaving, the party is joined by the White Mage Minwu, who healed the party at the beginning of the game. The party sail across the ocean to the eastern continent and make it north to the mountain village of Salamand, which is under siege by the Empire and are forced to mine Mythril for the Imperial army. There they meet Josef, who informs them that the men of the village are being forced to mine Mythril in the Semmit Falls. Josef, however, can do nothing, as his daughter, Nelly, is being held captive.

The party enters the mine and saves the captives, including Nelly and Paul, who proclaims himself to be the world's best thief. The party defeats an Imperial soldier and returns to Altair with the mythril. The party is then told to go to Bafsk, a small village east of Salamand, to prevent the construction of a large airship known as the dreadnaught. The village is under General Borghen's command and is easier to infiltrate. However, the party is too late to stop the Dreadnought from being completed. A plan is formed to use Sunfire from Kashuan Keep, but to enter, either the Goddess Bell or the voice of a Kashuan is needed to open the keep. Josef helps the party enter the snow caves with a snowcraft, and the party retrieves the bell. As they were leaving, Borghen attacks the party, and although he is defeated, he sends a boulder down the main entrance's stairway to prevent them from escaping. Josef holds back the boulder to allow the rest of the party to escape, however he is killed as it reaches the entrance.

The party reaches Kashuan Keep, where they find Gordon has already entered. Although they retrieve Egil's Torch, and use it to capture the Sunfire, the Airship — with Cid and Hilda on board — is captured by the Dreadnought's crane arm. The party enters the airship and saves Hilda, before throwing the Sunfire into the engine. Immediately after doing so, the Dark Knight appears, and Maria recognizes his voice before she escapes.

The King of Fynn, now close to death, summons Gordon, Minwu and Firion's group into his bedroom and gives them assignments. Gordon is given command of the rebel army, Minwu is told to find the Ultima Tome, and Firion's group is given the task of finding the seemingly extinct dragoons of Deist. The king then dies of his wounds. Firion's group realizes that no captain will take them to Deist save one — Leila. Leila, however, turns out to be a pirate, and orders her crew to attack Firion's party. The party fights them off, and although Leila expects that Firion will kill her, he instead asks for her help in taking them to Deist, a request with which she complies. In Deist, the party finds only a mother with her son, learning that the all but one of the Dragoons and all but one of the Wyverns are dead, partly as a result of Imperial poison. The party obtains a pendant to speak with the last Wyvern, who tells the party to take its egg to a pool deep in the cave before it dies. The party plants the egg in the cave, and fights off some monsters that come after it.

The party returns to Altair, where they learn that Hilda has been acting oddly, eating mice and acting seductively. She summons Firion to her room and tries to seduce him, revealing her true form as the Lamia Queen. The party defeats the Lamia Queen, and learns that they had rescued a decoy on the Dreadnought; the real Princess is in the Arena; Gordon goes to save her while leaving Leila to run the rebellion. The party defeats a Behemoth to win the Princess, but the Emperor tricks them and has the Dark Knight and his soldiers capture and detain them. Paul, however, breaks them out, and the party saves the real Princess.

Upon their return, the party learns that Hilda and Gordon are launching an attack on Fynn, and infiltrate the castle to kill the commander of the
enemy forces. Hilda then tells the party that Minwu has not been heard from for some time, and tells them to search for him. The party acquires a Crystal Rod to enter the tower after acquiring the White and Black Mask, but Leviathan swallows their ship and separates them from Leila. They meet Ricard (his name is based on the Game Boy Advance translation, and varies significantly with the translation), the last surviving Dragoon, who had set out to find the Ultima Tome, and they join forces. After gaining another ship, they sail to the Magicians' Tower. At the top, Minwu explains that he was waiting for the party, and then casts a powerful spell to shatter the Ultima Tome's seal, at the cost of his own life.

The party returns to Fynn and sees that many towns have been destroyed by the Emperor's Cyclone. The party calls upon the newly born last Wyvern to take them to a castle inside the Cyclone, where they confront and kill the Emperor. Everyone celebrates the Empire's defeat, but a mortally wounded soldier arrives and reveals that the Dark Knight has taken the throne and plans to destroy the Rebels with the Imperial army. He then makes a more shocking revelation- that the Dark Knight is Leon, Maria's long-lost brother. The party realizes that they will have to infiltrate the castle of Palamecia from the air after talking with Paul, and receive the airship from a dying Cid, who was mortally wounded by the Cyclone.

The party enters the castle and confronts Leon. Then, the Emperor returns in a new demonic form, and reveals that he does not seek to regain the Empire, but to destroy the entire world. As he summons magical fire against the party, the Wyvern arrives, and takes the party to safety as Ricard holds off the Emperor and dies. Princess Hilda is shocked to see Leon on their side, but Maria convinces her to trust him, and Leon agrees to help his friends and sister once again.

The party then enters the Jade Passage, an underground cavern near a lake, and find a portal to Pandemonium. The party fights its way through the fortress, and reaches the Emperor at the top, defeating him for a second time. The party then receives congratulations for their efforts, and learns of Hilda and Gordon's plan to unite Fynn and Kashuan, which may indicate that they plan to marry. Paul is upset that he will no longer have the Empire to steal from, and suggests that he will steal from the former rebels. Leila invites Firion to become a pirate, but Maria objects, and Leila suggests that Firion will have to deal with her in the future. Maria hopes that they will live together as they once did, but Leon says that they cannot live together again- some translations have him indicating that they know too much about each other, which may refer to his lust for power. Maria begs Firion to stop him, but Firion believes that Leon must follow his own path, but tells him that they will be waiting for him, as though he hopes that Leon will return someday.

Final Fantasy III is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square in 1990 for the Famicon as the third installment in the Final Fantasy series. It is the first numbered Final Fantasy game to feature the job-change system.

The story revolves around four orphaned youths drawn to a crystal of light. The crystal grants them some of its power, and instructs them to go forth and restore balance to the world. Not knowing what to make of the crystal's pronouncements, but nonetheless recognizing the importance of its words, the four inform their adoptive families of their mission and set out to explore and bring back balance to the world.

The game was released in Japan on April 27, 1990. It had never been released outside of Japan until an enhanced remake was released on the Nintendo DS on August 24, 2006. At the time, this made it the only Final Fantasy game not released in North America or Europe. There had been earlier plans to remake the game for Bandai's WonderSwan Color handheld, as had been done with the first, second, and fourth installments of the series, but the game faced several delays and was eventually canceled after the premature cancellation of the platform. The Nintendo DS version of the game was positively received internationally, selling over one million copies in Japan. SettingOne thousand years before the events in the game, on a floating continent hovering high above the surface of an unnamed planet, a technologically advanced civilization sought to harness the power of the four elemental crystals of light. They did not realize that they could not control such fundamental forces of nature. This power of light would have consumed the world itself had the light crystals not had their natural counterparts: the four dark elemental crystals. Disturbed by the sudden interruption of the careful balance of light and dark, four warriors were granted the power of the dark crystals to recapture the power of the light crystals. These so-called Dark Warriors succeeded in their quest, and restored harmony to the world. But their victory came too late to save the doomed civilization. Their culture was reduced to ruin, though their floating continent remained. On that continent, the circle of Gulgans, a race of blind soothsayers and fortune-tellers, predicted that these events will ultimately repeat.

Characters:
Final Fantasy III Final Fantasy III focuses around four orphans from the remote village of Ur. The remake of the game for the Nintendo DS Revealed the default names of the party members redesigned by Akihiko Yoshida, each with new backstories and personalities: Luneth (ルーネス, Rūnesu), an orphan raised in the village of Ur who is curious and adventurous by nature; Refia (レフィア(Refuia, Refia), who tires of her father's blacksmith training and often runs away from home; Arc (アルクゥ, Arukū), who is Luneth's childhood best friend and a timid yet intelligent young man; and Ingus (イングズ, Inguzu), who is a loyal soldier serving the King of Sasune, who is trying to save the missing Lady Sara.

Story:
An earthquake opens up a previously hidden cavern in Altar Cave near the village of Ur on the floating continent. Four young orphans under the care of Topapa, the village elder, explore the earthquake's impact and come across a crystal of light. The crystal grants them a portion of its power, and instructs them to go forth and restore balance to the world. Not knowing what to make of the crystal's pronouncements, but nonetheless recognizing the importance of its words, the four inform their adoptive family of their mission and set out to explore an overworld outside the area in which they were brought up to bring back balance to the world. Their adventures bring them to discover that there lies a whole world beyond the boundaries of the floating continent upon which they were living. In the world below, they discover that a warlock named Xande, one of three apprentices to the legendary Archmage Noah, is trying to possess the crystals of light to bring forth chaos and disorder. The four warriors eventually arrive at the Crystal Tower where they discover that the Cloud of Darkness is the source of the recent events. The Cloud attempts to bring back a similar situation as the Flood of Light a millennia earlier so that the world is pulled into the void. The warriors from the light traverse into the domain of the dark crystals to free the imprisoned dark warriors and defeat the Cloud of Darkness, thereby restoring the crystals and balance to the world.

Final Fantasy IV is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicon in Japan, but has been ported with minor changes to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as by TOSE to the Sony's Playstation, Bandai's WonderSwan Color, and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. In May 2007, Square Enix announced that it was developing a remake of the game for the Nintendo DS. The game was re-titled "Final Fantasy II" during its initial release in North America, but later localizations used the original title.

The player takes the role of Cecil, a Dark Knight from the kingdom of Baron, on his journey to save the world from the evil Golbez. Struggling to prevent Golbez from acquiring powerful Crystals, Cecil learns of his heritage and travels through three realms to battle Golbez's minions. His lover, best friend, and other warriors join him for the adventure. Final Fantasy IV introduced innovations that became staples of the Final Fantasy series and role-playing games in general. Its "Active Time Battle" system was used in six subsequent Final Fantasy games. Its character-driven plot, use of the new technologies (such as Mode 7) and critically acclaimed score by Nobuo Uematsu has prompted critics to consider Final Fantasy IV one of the greatest games of all time.

Plot and Setting

Most of Final Fantasy IV takes place on Earth, also known as the Blue Planet, which consists of a surface world (or Overworld) and an underground world (or Underworld). The Overworld consists of territories populated by different character classes from the series. The Underworld is primarily inhabited by the Dwarven and is covered in rock and magma. A red, artificial moon orbits the planet, upon which two races, the Lunarians and the Hummingway live. A second, natural moon orbits as well, though it is never visited in the game. Travel among the three realms is accomplished through airships.

Races:
Besides the humans and Dwarven, there are two other important races in Final Fantasy IV:

The Hummingway are a race from the Moon, rabbit-like in appearance wearing blue and yellow clothing with turbans on their heads, however, some appear in pink and white. Most of them only speak in humming noises. One notable Hummingway is named Namingway, whose attire is red, and appears in most towns offering to change the names of the characters who talk to him. In Final Fantasy IX, the player can find the Namingway card in Kuja's castle, or win it from Mario in the card arena. This card allows players to rename their characters.

The Lunarians are a race of human-like wizards who came from a world destroyed which became the asteroid belt, and are identified by a moon-shape crest on their foreheads. They created the second moon that revolves around the world the story takes place on, resting until a time they believe their kind can co-exist with humans. The only known full-blood Lunarians are FuSoYa, the guardian of the Lunarians; Zemus, a restless Lunarian who plans on destroying life on Earth so his kind, alone, can inhabit the planet; and KluYa, who is believed to be the first Lunarian to interact with humans. In fact, KluYa fell in love with a human, and had at least two sons with her: Theodor, whom Zemus corrupted and renamed Golbez; and the younger brother raised by the King of Baron as Cecil.

Characters:
Final Fantasy IV offers twelve playable characters, each with a unique character class. The hero, Cecil Harvey, is a Dark Knight of Baron who serves the king alongside his childhood friend Kain Highwind. Kain was once asked to become a Dark Knight, but instead followed his father's example and became Commander of the Dragoons. Rosa Farrell is the heroine and Cecil's girlfriend; she became a white mage and archer to protect Cecil as her mother protected her father. Cecil is Lord Captain of the "Red Wings", an elite air force unit constructed by his friend, the engineer Cid Pollendina, Baron's airship engineer

During his quest, Cecil is joined by others. Rydia, a young Summoner from the village of Mist, who joins shortly after Kain disappears and Cecil gains her trust by saving her life. Tellah is a legendary sage of Mysidia; his daughter Anna died protecting her love, prince Edward Chris von Muir of Damcyan, who poses as a bard. Yang Fang Leiden is the well-mannered head of the Monks of Fabul. Palom and Porom are twin apprentices from the magical village of Mysidia who assist Cecil as he went to Mt. Ordeals. Edward "Edge" Geraldine is the rowdy Ninja prince of Eblan who has a crush on Rydia. Lastly, FuSoYa is the guardian of the Lunarians during their long sleep.

Story:
Final Fantasy IV begins with the unmatched monarchy of Baron using its Air Force, the Red Wings, to attack peaceful nations and find four powerful Crystals that correspond to the classical elements. Cecil, Dark Knight and captain of the Red Wings, questions the king's motives after stealing the Water Crystal from the wizards' town of Mysidia, murdering several in the process. He is stripped of his rank and sent with Kain to deliver a package to the Village of Mist. To reach the mountain valley where the Village is located, the two traverse the Mist Cave and defeat the Mist Dragon that guards it. Upon reaching the village, they discover the package is actually a bomb, which explodes, resulting in the destruction of the town and the death of many of its inhabitants. In the ensuing chaos, Cecil and Kain encounter Rydia, a young girl who appears to be the only survivor from the village, standing over her mother's body. Rydia's mother was spiritually connected to the Mist Dragon; the dragon's death ended her life as well. The infuriated girl summons a monster to attack Cecil and Kain; it causes an earthquake, which cuts off the route back to Baron and knocks the three unconscious. When Cecil awakens, he discovers that Kain has disappeared and the girl is injured. He carries her through a desert to an inn at the oasis town of Kaipo.

Soldiers from Baron arrive in the night to abduct the girl on orders from the king of Baron to kill all Summoners, and Cecil defeats them; impressed, Rydia joins him. While in Kaipo, Cecil discovers a bedridden Rosa; searching for Cecil, she had contracted Desert Fever, curable only by a "Sand Ruby" located in the nest of a creature called the Antlion. Access to the Antlion's lair is controlled by the Kingdom of Damcyan, so Cecil and Rydia travel north to Castle Damcyan. Along the way they meet Tellah, a sage, in the waterway, who is also travelling to Damcyan in search of his daughter Anna, who ran off there with a bard. The three arrive just in time to witness the Red Wings bombard the castle. In investigating the ruins of the castle, they discover that Anna was killed in the assault; Tellah blames her death on her lover, Prince Edward, the smitten bard. Edward explains that a warrior named Golbez orchestrated the attack and stole Damcyan's Fire Crystal, prompting Tellah to leave the party to seek vengeance on Golbez for Anna's death. Edward joins Cecil and Rydia and helps them retrieve the Sand Ruby.

At Kaipo, the revived Rosa joins the party; they resolve to go to Fabul to protect the Wind Crystal from being stolen by Golbez and the Red Wings. While crossing Mt. Hobs they encounter Yang, the head of the Fabul Monks, being ambushed by Golbez's monsters; the party helps him fight them off. Yang requests Cecil's help in defending Fabul after they inform him of Golbez's plot. The Red Wings attack Castle Fabul and Cecil's party falls back to the Wind Crystal's room. There, Cecil is confronted by his friend Kain and learns Kain is allied with Golbez though unbeknownst to Cecil, Kain has actually been brainwashed into serving Golbez. Kain challenges and defeats Cecil in a duel. Golbez arrives, kidnaps Rosa, and steals the Wind Crystal. The next morning, the party concludes that they will need an airship to confront Golbez's Red Wings. They decide to sneak into Baron to acquire an airship from Cid, Baron's airship engineer. Yang charters a ship to take Cecil, Edward, Rydia, and himself to Baron. While sailing, however, they are attacked by the sea monster Leviathan and the ship sinks.

Cecil awakens alone on a beach near Mysidia, where he is met with contempt by the town's wizards for stealing the Water Crystal earlier. However, the Mysidian elder understands Cecil's plight, and tells him that to defeat Golbez, Cecil must climb Mt. Ordeals, surrender his dark sword and become a Paladin. The elder sends twin wizards Palom and Porom to assist and spy on Cecil. On the mountain, they encounter Tellah, who is searching for the legendary spell Meteor to defeat Golbez. Golbez attempts to stop the party by sending Scarmiglione, the Archfiend of Earth, to stop them, but the party defeats the demon, Cecil completes the trials, and becomes a Paladin; Tellah also learns the secret of Meteor, a dangerously powerful spell that may defeat Golbez.

Upon returning to Mysidia, the town elder is impressed that Cecil successfully became a Paladin and allows him the use of the "Serpent Path," a teleporter that takes the party to Baron. There, Cecil learns that Cid has been arrested and Yang brainwashed into the service of Baron. After helping Yang recover, Cecil, Yang, and the others infiltrate the castle and discover that the king is actually the Archfiend of Water, Cagnazzo. After defeating him, Cid is freed and attempts to take Cecil and his friends to his newest airship. Before dying, however, Cagnazzo causes the walls of the castle to move with the intent of crushing the party. Palom and Porom petrify themselves to halt the trap.

Cecil takes command of the airship and is met at takeoff by the brainwashed Kain, who demands Cecil retrieve the final Crystal in exchange for Rosa's life. Cecil heads for Troia, where the Earth Crystal is enshrined. Upon arriving, Cecil is informed that the Dark Elf has stolen the crystal and is bunkered down in his magnetic cave, making the groups metallic (and powerful) weaponry useless. The party also discovers that Edward survived the attack at sea and has been recovering in Troia. When Edward learns of Cecil's need to retrieve the earth crystal, he provides him with a magical harp that negates the Dark Elf's magnetic field, allowing the party to defeat the Elf and retrieve the crystal. Kain leads the group to the Tower of Zot, where Rosa is imprisoned. At the tower's summit, Golbez takes the Crystal and attempts to flee. Tellah tries to kill Golbez by using Meteor. The spell kills Tellah and weakens Golbez, shattering his control over Kain's mind. Kain helps Cecil rescue Rosa and, after defeating the Archfiend of Wind, Barbariccia, the party escapes to Baron.

In Baron, Kain reveals that Golbez must also obtain four subterranean "Dark Crystals" to achieve his goal of activating the Tower of Babel. Cecil swears to defend the Crystals; Kain gives him a "Magma Rock" he obtained while in the service of Golbez, which opens a passage to the Underworld. They fly through the opening, but their airship is soon damaged while caught in the cross-fire of a battle between the Dwarves' tanks and the airships of the Red Wings, forcing it to crash outside the Castle of Dwarves. King Giott of the dwarves accepts Cecil's offer to guard the Crystals. Cid departs to repair and upgrade the airship; soon after he leaves, Cecil, Rosa, Yang, and Kain discover Golbez has infiltrated the dwarves' crystal room and try to stop his theft of the Crystal. During the battle they are joined by Rydia, who was sucked into the Underworld by Leviathan. However, Golbez escapes with the Dwarves' Dark Crystal, and Cecil sets out to the Tower of Babel to retrieve the lost crystals. King Giott offers the services of his tanks to draw the fire of the tower's defenses while the party infiltrates it. While inside, the party confronts Golbez's servant Dr. Lugae. He informs the party that the crystals have been moved to the above ground portion of the Tower, and as his last act Dr. Lugae orders that the Tower's Super Cannon destroy the dwarf tanks. Yang volunteers to stay behind and destroy the Super Cannon while the party escapes, and is presumed dead.

Upon escaping the Tower the party is met by Cid and a repaired airship. They are pursued by the Red Wings and fly back to the upper world to escape them; Cid throws himself overboard and detonates a bomb to re-seal the passage, apparently sacrificing himself. Back on the surface, they find the path to the Tower of Babel's upper half. While following it they encounter Edge, the ninja prince of Eblan, who seeks revenge on Rubicante, the Archfiend of Fire, for the death of his parents; Edge joins the party. Inside the tower, the party defeats Rubicante but falls through a trap door to an Underground portion of the Tower and finds an abandoned Red Wing airship. The party then goes to the Underworld's Sealed Cave to retrieve the eighth and final crystal before Golbez gets to it. After they do so, however, Golbez reassumes control over Kain and forces him to steal the Crystal. Back at the Dwarf castle, Giott tells Cecil of the Lunar Whale, a "ship of light" designed to take travelers to and from the moon. Cid, who was found by the dwarves and nursed by them back to health, fits their airship with a drill and the party drills their way back to the surface. Cecil returns to Mysidia to pray for the Lunar Whale's appearance. It rises from the ocean, and Cecil, Rosa, Rydia, and Edge board it to travel to the moon.

Upon arriving on the moon, the party enters the Lunar Palace, and there the party meets an elderly man named FuSoYa who explains that Cecil's father is a heroic but deceased Lunarian. FuSoYa also explains that a Lunarian named Zemus plans to destroy life on the Blue Planet to facilitate Lunarian inhabitation. To achieve this, Zemus manipulated Golbez and Kain to obtain the Crystals needed to revive a giant destructive machine, the Giant of Babel. Meanwhile on Earth, the forces of the world, including some characters (Yang, Palom, Porom) thought to have died, attack the unleashed Giant. FuSoYa, Cecil, Rosa, Rydia, and Edge enter and destroy the Giant. FuSoYa breaks Zemus' control over Golbez and Kain, and Cecil learns that Golbez is his brother. After destroying the Giant, Golbez and FuSoYa head to the core of the moon to defeat Zemus. Cecil's party follows after reuniting with Kain. After battling to the moon's core, the party witnesses Golbez and FuSoYa defeat Zemus but quickly lose to his ultimate form, Zeromus. With the united life force of all beings combined with a special Crystal provided by Golbez, Cecil and his party defeat Zeromus. Following the conflict, Golbez decides to remain dormant along with the other Lunarians, as he would not be welcome on Earth. One year later, the heroes reunite for Cecil and Rosa's wedding and coronation as Baron's new king and queen.

Final Fantasy V is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in 1992 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Famicon (known internationally as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System). It has been ported with minor differences to Sony's Playstation and the Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. An original video animation produced in 1994 called Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals serves as a sequel to the events depicted in the game.

The game begins as a wanderer named Bartz investigates a fallen meteor. There, he encounters several characters, one of whom reveals the danger facing the four Crystals that control the world's elements. These Crystals act as a seal on Exdeath, an evil sorcerer who once threatened their world. Bartz and his party must keep the Crystals from being exploited by Exdeath's influence and prevent his resurgence. Final Fantasy V has been praised for the freedom of customization that the player has over the characters, achieved through the greatly expanded Job System. Despite the lack of an early release in territories other than Japan, the Super Famicom version sold more than two million copies. The Playstation version has earned "Greatest Hits" status, selling more than 350,000 copies.

Plot and Setting

The backstory of Final Fantasy V is revealed during the course of the game. One millennium before the events of the main story, a powerful mage named Enuo imperiled the world using the power of an evil entity known as the "Void". The people of the world retaliated, using twelve legendary weapons to vanquish Enuo. Because the Void could not be destroyed, the people split the world's four elemental Crystals into two sets, which sequentially caused the world itself to split. The Void then became sealed in a dimensional cleft between the two worlds. Nearly 1,000 years passed without incident and both worlds prospered due to the powers of their Crystals of Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth. Several kingdoms and towns developed, and travel by ship acted as a prominent means of commerce and communication. The evil mage Enuo had been sealed inside a tree in the Great Forest of Moore, and the tree soon transformed into an evil spirit. The being emerged as Exdeath, the game's primary antagonist. As he attempted to claim the world for himself, a group of heroes called the "Four Warriors of Dawn"(Named Galuf, Xezat, Dorgann, and Kelger) defeated and sealed him within the parallel world using its Crystals, and peace returned for another 30 years.

Characters:
Final Fantasy V features five player characters, only four of which are playable at a given time. Bartz Klauser is a traveling adventurer who becomes involved in the game's events when he investigates the site of a meteorite strike. Lenna Charlotte Tycoon is a princess of Tycoon who follows her father to investigate the Wind Shrine, she is knocked unconscious and saved from a group of goblins by Bartz. Galuf Doe is a mysterious old man discovered unconscious near the meteorite who suffers from amnesia. Faris Scherwiz is a pirate captain who captures Bartz, Lenna, and Galuf when they try to steal her ship, and is later revealed to be Sarisa Scherwill Tycoon. Krile Mayer Baldesion is the granddaughter of Galuf who journeys with him to the planet and receives all of her grandfather's abilities after his death.

Most of the main characters in the game were involved with or related to people who defeated Exdeath 30 years prior, such as Bartz's father Dorgann Klauser, Kelger Vlondett and Xezat Matias Surgate, three of the original Four Warriors of Dawn. The game also contains several supporting characters including the engineer Cid Previa (keeping the series tradition of having a character named Cid), his grandson Mid Previa, and the turtle sage Ghido. One of Exdeath's henchmen, Gilgamesh, is a recurring mini-boss, who would later appear in other games such as Final Fantasy VIII.

Butz is ranked third on Game Informer’s list of "the top 10 worst character names."

Story:
Final Fantasy V begins on a day when the world's wind currents begin to slow down. Concerned, the King of Tycoon flies off on Hiryuu to the Wind Shrine, which holds the Crystal of Wind, only to see it shatter into pieces upon his arrival. Meanwhile, a meteorite plunges to the planet's surface in the lands near Tycoon Castle. Resting with his Chocobo Boko in the woods, Bartz decides to investigate the meteor's crash site, where he comes across a young woman named Lenna under attack by goblins. He rescues her, and they soon discover an old man in the wreckage who is unable to remember anything except his own name: Galuf. Lenna explains that she is on her way to the Wind Shrine, where her father has gone to discover why the wind has suddenly ceased. Galuf, suddenly realizing that he needs to go there without knowing why, accompanies her. Bartz continues on his way, but is unable to get far before Boko forces him to return and rescue them from more goblins. The three then decide to travel together to the Wind Shrine. However, the path to Tule Village is blocked by the meteor's wreckage, leaving water as the only route. With the help of the pirate captain Faris, the group makes its way to the Wind Shrine, only to discover a missing King Tycoon and the shattered Wind Crystal. The shards, as well as the world's other three crystals, react to their presence. An image of King Tycoon appears. He explains to them that they are charged as the chosen warriors, who must protect the Crystals to prevent an ancient evil from being revived and devastating their world.

They find that the four elemental crystals on the planet are actually the seal binding the warlock Exdeath, who was once bent on destroying their world. Unfortunately, each crystal is being exploited for its powers, and this, accompanied with their pending destruction, is causing them stress that will eventually make the world itself uninhabitable. Bartz and his companions attempt to save each of the remaining crystals—the Crystal of Water at the tower of Walse, the Crystal of Fire at Karnak, and the Crystal of Earth at Gohn—but ultimately fail. As they attempt to save the last Crystal they meet Krile, Galuf's granddaughter, who helps restore Galuf's memory completely. He remembers that he is actually from a distant world and quickly departs with his granddaughter. With the help of the engineers Cid and Mid, whom they met at Karnak and the Library of Ancients, Bartz and the others resolve to travel to Galuf's world, Exdeath's true target. The warlock is already wreaking havoc when they arrive, battling armies of men on the Big Bridge. Bartz, Lenna, and Faris are ultimately captured. Galuf flies in on his wind drake to save them, defeating Gilgamesh, one of Exdeath's lieutenants, in the process. However, the warriors are blown to a distant continent when a barrier is activated during their escape. Thanks to Krile, her wind drake, and a group of moogles, they make their way to Bal Castle, where Galuf is king.

Searching for the legendary Dragon Grass to heal their wind drake, the party meets Kelger, Galuf's companion and one the Four Warriors of Dawn, who reveals to Bartz his father's past as one of the Warriors. Galuf and the others also seek help from Ghido, a sage who originally predicted the destruction of the Crystals on Bartz's world, but narrowly escape the island he inhabits before Exdeath causes it to sink. The warriors immediately join up with one of Galuf's companions, Xezat, who is leading a fleet against Exdeath. They infiltrate one of the towers powering the barrier around Exdeath's castle, but Xezat is forced to sacrifice himself in the process. Making their way back to Ghido's sunken island, they regroup with the turtle sage, who explains Exdeath's origin as the mage Enuo, and the significance of the Moore Forest in which Exdeath was born. Bartz and his party resolve to reach the Guardian Tree to dispel the seals within it. However, Exdeath, having claimed the power of the Crystals, immobilizes them. Krile arrives on her wind drake to stop Exdeath temporarily, but the warlock imprisons her in a ring of fire. Galuf summons the strength to break free, saves his granddaughter, and fights Exdeath until he collapses. Exdeath retreats, leaving Galuf to die of his wounds, despite the party's efforts to save him. As the four of them leave the Guardian Tree, Galuf's spirit imparts upon Krile all of his abilities.

The party enters Exdeath's castle and defeats him, but the three remaining crystals shatter and the worlds are reunited. They learn that he seeks the power of the Void, which had been sealed in the dimensional interval called the Rift by dividing the worlds. Exdeath has acquired this power, and he uses it across the newly combined world, consuming entire towns and kingdoms. After collecting an ancient book entailing the seals on the Tablets, which hold the twelve legendary weapons within Kuza Castle that were used against Enuo one millennium ago, Ghido proposes that the party collect them as quickly as possible. Bartz and others seek out the Tablets and break the seals on the weapons, slaying several monsters from the Rift that Exdeath sends after them. The party eventually enters the Rift, where Exdeath has acquired the power of the Void and shows his true form—that of a tree, one that had been possessed by evil spirits. With help from the original Four Warriors of Dawn and King Tycoon, the party survives the Void and begins a final battle with Exdeath. As he loses strength, Exdeath is absorbed by the Void and becomes Neo Exdeath, intent on negating all creation in his wake. The party destroys him, and, using the power of the Crystal shards, vanquishes the Void to return form to the shattered Crystals of the original world. The game's ending varies based on how many people are still alive at Neo Exdeath's defeat. Cid receives a letter from one member of the party talking about what will happen in the future. If everyone survives the final battle, Krile will visit the Guardian Tree to mourn for her grandfather, until Bartz, Lenna, and Faris arrive to comfort her and remind her of her duty to protect the Crystals. If anyone in the group dies during the battle, they will be unable to return home. Instead, the survivor or survivors will visit the Guardian Tree, and find that those who were lost in the battle have returned to life.

Final Fantasy VI, also known as Final Fantasy III in North America when it was first released, is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in 1994 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game first appeared on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, then was ported by TOSE with minor differences to Sony's Playstation and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance.

The game's story focuses on a group of rebels as they seek to overthrow an imperial dictatorship. Final Fantasy VI was the first game in the series to be directed by someone other than producer and series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi; the role was filled instead by Yoshinori Kitase and Hiroyuki Ito. Released to critical acclaim, the game is regarded as a landmark of the series and of the role-playing genre.

Final Fantasy VI has more battle customization options than its predecessors and has the largest playable cast in the Final Fantasy series to date, excluding spin-off titles. It remains widely praised for its storyline and characters.

Plot and Setting

Final Fantasy VI takes place on a large, unnamed world. During the course of the game, its geography and landscape change due to various developments in the game's plot. During the first half of the game, the world is divided into two major continents and referred to as the World of Balance. The northern continent is punctuated by a series of mountain ranges and contains many of the locations accessible to the player. Halfway through the game, the world's geographical layout is altered, resulting in its two large continents splitting into several islands of various size situated around a larger continent at their center. This altered layout of the game's locations is referred to as the World of Ruin.

In contrast to the medieval settings featured in previous Final Fantasy titles, Final Fantasy VI is set in a steampunk environment. The structure of society parallels that of the latter half of the 19th century, with opera and the fine arts serving as recurring motifs throughout the game, and a level of technology comparable to that of the Second Industrial Revolution. Railroads are in place and a coal mining operation is run in the northern town of Narshe. Additionally, several examples of modern engineering and weaponry (such as a chainsaw, power drill, and automatic crossbow) have been developed in the kingdom of Figaro. However, communication systems have not reached significant levels of development, with letters sent by way of carrier pigeon serving as the most common means of long-distance communication.

The in-game historical context of the story is mysterious to the player at the beginning of the game, but over the course of the first half of the game (particularly towards the end of this segment), the characters come to understand the situation as follows. One thousand years before the events of the game, three gods who served as the source of all magic in the world were at war with one another. This quarrel released magical energy into the world, transforming any human touched by it into an esper, each under the control of the gods. The gods, known as the Warring Triad, then used the espers as soldiers in their war against one another in a conflict known as the War of the Magi. Eventually, the gods realized their war had disgraced them, and in order to repent, they returned free will to the espers and turned themselves to stone. Their only request was that the espers ensure their power remain sealed so that it could not be misused again. When the war ended, the remaining humans and espers were burdened with differences in lifestyle, appearance, and beliefs. As a result, the espers departed to a hidden land, taking the statues of the gods with them and sealing the entrance to their world.

Gradually, the human race built a society based on technology while the War of the Magi passed into legend. In the present day, the most powerful technology is in the hands of the Empire, a cruel and expanding dictatorship led by Emperor Gestahl and his top generals, Kefka, Leo,
and Celes Chere. Approximately eighteen years before the events of the game begin, the barrier between the esper's land and the rest of the world weakens and a human woman passes through. Though most of the espers are distrusting of her and believe that humans cannot co-exist with espers, one named Maduin believes that they should at least try before passing judgment. The woman stays in the espers' world, and soon she and Maduin have a child named Terra. At this time, driven by greed to wield the legendary power of the espers, Gestahl takes advantage of the weakened barrier and launches a strike on the espers' land in an attempt to capture as many espers as possible. Despite the esper elder casting a spell to send Gestahl's forces back through the gateway and to seal the gate once again, many espers are captured, and Maduin, his wife, and infant Terra are also caught in the spell. Maduin and his child are captured, while his wife dies.

Using the espers as a power source, Gestahl initiated a research program to combine magic with machinery and infuse humans with magical powers, the result being a technology known as Magitek. The Empire allocated this concept of Magitek into large mechanical vehicles known as Magitek Armor, allowing a soldier to use the power of magic. Additionally, Kefka was infused with magic, becoming one of the prototypes in a line of soldiers called Magitek Knights that would later include Celes Chere. The process was still experimental in the prototype phase and as a result, Kefka's sanity was impaired. Another Magitek invention was a mind control device called the Slave Crown. As Terra grew older, the Empire would use this device to control her actions and use her as a weapon. Though the potency of Magitek is less than that of natural magic, as of the beginning of the game, the Empire is on the verge of rediscovering the full potential of magic by reopening the gateway to the world of the espers. However, the Empire's rule is opposed by the Rerturners, a group of rebels seeking to overthrow the Empire and free its territories.

Characters:
Final Fantasy VI features fourteen permanent playable characters, the most of any game in the main series, as well as several secondary characters who are only briefly controlled by the player. The main character Locke Colea treasure hunter and rebel sympathizer with a powerful impulse to protect women . Other primary characters include Terra Branford,is a reserved half-human, half-esper girl who spent most of her life as a slave to the Empire and is unfamiliar with love ; Celes Chere, a former general of the Empire, who joined the Rerturners after being jailed for questioning imperial practices; Edgar Roni Figaro, a consummate womanizer and the king of Figaro, who claims allegiance to the Empire while secretly supplying aid to the Returners; Sabin Rene Figaro, Edgar's brother, who fled the royal court in order to pursue his own path and hone his martial arts skills; Cyan Garamonde, a loyal knight to the kingdom of Doma who lost his family and friends as a result of Kefka poisoning the kingdom's water supply; Setzer Gabbiani, a habitual gambler and thrill seeker; Shadow, a ninja mercenary, who offers his services to both the Empire and the Returners at various stages throughout the game; Relm Arrowny, a young but tough artistic girl with magical powers; Strago Magus, Relm's elderly grandfather and a Blue Mage; Gau, a feral child surviving since infancy in the harsh wilderness known as the Veldt; Mog, a Moogle from the mines of Narshe; Umaro, a savage but loyal sasquatch also from Narshe, talked into joining the Returners through Mog's persuasion; and Gogo, a mysterious, fully shrouded master of the art of mimicry.

Most of the main characters in the game hold a significant grudge against the Empire and, in particular, Kefka, who serves as one of the game's main antagonists along with Emperor Gestahl. The supporting character Ultros serves as a recurring villain and comic relief throughout the game. A handful of Final Fantasy VI characters have reappeared in later games, such as Secret of Evermore and Kingdom Hearts II. Additionally, Final Fantasy SGI, a short technology demo produced for the Silicon Graphics Onyx workstation, featured polygon based 3D renderings of Locke, Terra, and Shadow.

See next post for the Story of Final Fantasy VI

Story:
Final Fantasy VI begins with Terra Branford participating in an Imperial raid on Narshe in search of a recently unearthed frozen esper (later identified as Tritoch; Valigarmanda in the GBA retranslation) found in the city's mines. However, during the raid, her controllers are killed and the Imperial control over her is broken, but she is unable to remember anything about her past. Locke Cole, a thief, promises to protect her until she can regain her memories and helps her escape to the hideout of the Returners, a group of militants opposing the Empire. Along the way, they pass through the Kingdom of Figaro and meet Edgar Roni Figaro, the king, and his estranged brother, Sabin Rene Figaro, who join them. Banon, the leader of the Returners, asks for Terra's help in their struggle against the Empire, and she agrees. Just as the resistance is preparing to return to Narshe to investigate the frozen esper, the Empire attacks South Figaro. Locke heads to the besieged town to slow the Empire's advance, while the rest of the group makes their way via rafting down the nearby Lethe River. However, they become separated after a battle with Ultros, self-proclaimed "octopus royalty" and a recurring antagonist, forcing the various members of the Returners to find their own ways to Narshe in three different scenarios controlled by the player.

Eventually, the original party reunites in Narshe. Locke brings with him Celes Chere, one of the Empire's own generals, whom he saved from execution for defying the Empire's ruthless practices. Sabin brings with him Cyan Garamonde, whose family was killed during the Empire's siege of Doma Castle when Kefka ordered the water supply poisoned, and Gau, a feral child he befriended on the Veldt. In Narshe, the Returners prepare to defend the frozen esper from the Empire. After the player successfully thwarts the Imperial invasion, Terra approaches the frozen esper, prompting her to transform into an esper-like form herself. She flies away, confused and horrified by her own transformation.

The Returners set out to search for Terra and eventually trace her to the city of Zozo, though they are still shocked by her apparent existence as an esper. There, they also meet the esper Ramuh, who tells them that if they free various other espers from the Magitek Research Facility in the Empire's capital, Vector, they may find one who can help Terra. Vector is on the southern continent, to which the Empire does not allow maritime access, so the Returners go to the Opera House and recruit Setzer Gabbiani, who is believed to be the owner of the Blackjack, the only airship in the world. They then travel to Vector and attempt to rescue several espers, including Maduin, who is revealed to be Terra's father. However, the espers choose instead to give their lives to transform into magicite—the crystallized remains of their essences that form when they
die and allow others to use their powers—which they bestow upon the Returners. Before the group can then escape, Kefka arrives and causes the Returners, including Locke, to momentarily doubt Celes's loyalty, much to her anguish. However, she provides proof to them of her support by covering for the group while the rest escape. The rest of the group then returns to Zozo, where Terra reacts to the magicite of her father, prompting her to gain knowledge of her past and accept herself as the half-human, half-esper child of Maduin and a human woman.

After reuniting with Terra, the Returners decide that it is time to launch an all-out attack on the Empire, and Banon asks Terra to attempt contacting the espers' land in order to gain their support. Terra succeeds in making contact, and when the espers learn that the others captured by the Empire previously have now perished, they become infuriated and enter the human world, where they destroy much of Vector. When the Returners arrive in the capital, they find Emperor Gestahl claiming to no longer have the will to fight, inviting the Returners to a banquet to negotiate peace. Gestahl asks Terra to deliver a truce to the espers on his behalf, to which she agrees. Accompanied by Locke, Shadow (a ninja hired by the Empire) and Generals Celes and Leo, the player must then guide Terra to the remote village Thamasa in search of the espers, where they meet Strago Magus and his granddaughter, Relm Arrowny, who also accompany them.

Soon, they find the espers and Terra convinces them to accept a truce with Gestahl. However, during the negotiations, Kefka attacks the espers, killing each of those still alive and capturing the magicite that remains from their essence. Additionally, he kills General Leo, who is appalled by Kefka's dishonorable tactics and attempts to defend the espers. The Returners reunite, now aware that the peace was a ploy for Gestahl to obtain magicite and the stone statue remains of the Warring Triad within the espers' now-unsealed land. Kefka and Gestahl travel through the open gate to the esper world, find the Warring Triad, and prompt the island on which the esper world is located to detach and fly in the sky as an ominous Floating Continent. The Returners attempt to stop them from causing further damage, but despite their efforts, they are unable to prevent Kefka and Gestahl from gaining the power of the statues. Now empowered, Kefka promptly kills Gestahl and moves the statues out of their proper alignment, upsetting the balance of magical power and causing the destruction of most of the surface world. In the disaster, the Returners are separated from one another as Setzer's airship is torn apart. Celes discovering Locke's bandana in the World of Ruin, displayed in a full motion video in the PlayStation re-release.

One year later, Celes awakens from a coma on a deserted island and learns that the world has been devastated by Kefka. Much of its human population has died and its plant and animal life are slowly being killed by sickness to punctuate humanity's despair. Celes sets out from the Solitary Island to try and reunite with as many of her friends as she can find. One by one, in a series of mostly optional side-quests, the gamer has the opportunity to reunite the group, all still alive, as well as new allies Umaro and Gogo. Each character has a side-quest that dramatically increases their power. Together, the reunited Returners launch a new offensive against Kefka, using the Falcon—an airship that belonged to a deceased friend of Setzer's—to reach Kefka's Tower and infiltrate it. Inside, the Returners battle their way through Kefka's defenses and destroy the three statues, the source of Kefka's newfound power. When destroying the statues, once the source of all magic, does not cause any noticeable reaction, the party realizes that Kefka has successfully drained the Warring Triad of power and has become the source of all magical power.

Making a final stand against Kefka, the characters successfully destroy him, but since the gods' power had come to reside in him all magicite begins to shatter and Kefka's magically-maintained tower begins to crumble. Terra leads the characters out as she begins to weaken due to her half-esper heritage. However, before her father's magicite shatters, his spirit informs her that by holding to the human side of herself, she may survive the passing of magic. In the end, the party escapes Kefka's Tower aboard the Falcon. Terra survives, and the group observes the world's communities rejuvenating themselves.

Final Fantasy VII is a console role-playing game developed by Square (now Square Enix) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was released in 1997 for Sony's PlayStation and in 1998 for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers. The game is the first in the series to use 3D computer graphics, featuring fully rendered characters on pre-rendered backgrounds.

Set in a dystopian world, Final Fantasy VII's story centers on mercenary Cloud Strife who joins with several others to stop the megacorporation Shinra, which is draining the life of the planet to use as an energy source. As the story progresses, the situation escalates and Cloud and his allies must battle the game's main antagonist, Sephiroth.

Development of Final Fantasy VII began in 1994 and the game was originally intended for the SNES, but it was later moved to the Nintendo 64. As the system's cartridges lacked space, Square decided to release the game for Sony's PlayStation instead. The music was scored by Final Fantasy veteran Nobuo Uematsu, while the series' long-time character designer, Yoshitaka Amano, was replaced by Tetsuya Nomura.

A major critical and commercial success, the game remains arguably the most popular title in the series. Noted for its graphics, gameplay, music, and story, Final Fantasy VII is recognized as one of the greatest and most influential games of all time. As of December 2005, the game has sold more than 9.8 million copies worldwide, earning it the position of the best-selling Final Fantasy title. The ongoing popularity of the title led Square Enix to produce a series of sequels and prequels under the collective title Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Plot and Setting

The game's setting follows in the footsteps of Final Fantasy VI by presenting a world with considerably more advanced technology than the first five games in the series. Overall, the game's technology and society approximates that of near-future science fiction. The world of Final Fantasy VII, retroactively named "Gaia" but referred to in the game as "The Planet", is composed of three main land masses. The eastern continent features the city of Midgar, an industrial metropolis that serves as the headquarters of the Shinra Electric Power Company, a ruthless megacorporation operating as the de facto world government. Other locations on the continent are Junon, Shinra's major military base; Fort Condor, a fort with a huge condor covering up a Mako reactor on top of it; a chocobo ranch; and Kalm, a small town inspired by medieval Europe.

The western continent features most of the accessible areas, which include the Gold Saucer, an amusement park; Costa Del Sol, a seaside resort; Nibelheim, a town residing at the base of Mt. Nibel; Rocket Town, the location of Shinra's failed rocket launch; and a settlement called Cosmo Canyon. Wutai, a village inspired by pre-modern Japan and China, is located on a large island off the western continent. The tribe inhabiting Cosmo Canyon emphasize living in harmony with nature and dedicating causes to the planet's well-being. Their settlement features an observatory and serves as a research facility for those who wish to participate in a philosophy known as the "Study of Planet Life", a lifestyle that encourages deference for nature and teaches that the planet has a life of its own. The northernmost continent is a heavily glaciated wasteland, and its few settlements include an excavation site; a ski resort; the mythical "City of the Ancients"; and the Northern Crater, where the game's climax takes place. There are also underwater locations accessible via submarine, such as a sunken plane transporter.

Characters

The nine main playable characters in Final Fantasy VII are Cloud Strife, an unsociable mercenary who claims to be a former 1st Class member of Shinra's SOLDIER unit; Aeris Gainsborough, a flower merchant who has been pursued by Shinra's special operations unit Turks since childhood; Tifa Lockhart, a martial artist and childhood friend of Cloud's; Barret Wallace, the leader of the anti-Shinra rebel group AVALANCHE; Red XIII, a wise lion-like creature who was experimented on by Shinra scientists; Yuffie Kisaragi, a young thief and a skillful ninja; Cid Highwind, a pilot whose dreams of being the first man in outer space were crushed; Cait Sith, a fortune-telling robotic cat who rides an animated moogle doll; and Vincent Valentine, a former member of Shinra's Turks unit who was killed and brought back to life as an immortal. The game's main antagonist is Sephiroth, a former member of SOLDIER who reappears several years after disappearing in a battle in which he was concluded to have died.

The game's character designer, Tesuya Nomura, has expressed that Final Fantasy VII was hindered by graphical limitations, and as such his designs were very plain in comparison to his real style. Cloud's original design of slicked back black hair with no spikes was intended to serve as a contrast to Sephiroth's long, flowing silver hair. Nomura feared that such masculinity could prove to be unpopular with fans, and therefore he changed Cloud's design to feature a shock of spiky, bright blond hair. Tifa's outfit with her dark miniskirt was designed to contrast Aeris' long, pink dress. Vincent's character developed from horror researcher to detective, then to chemist, and finally to the figure of a former Turk with a tragic past. Nomura has indicated that Cid Highwind's fighting style resembles that of a Dragon Knight, a character class which was chosen because his last name is the same as that of two previous Dragon Knights featured in the Final Fantasy series, Ricard Highwind of Final Fantasy II and Kain Highwind of Final Fantasy IV.

Due to their popularity, several characters from Final Fantasy VII have made cameo appearances in other Square Enix titles, most notably the fighting game Ehrgeiz and the popular Final Fantasy-Disney crossover series Kingdom Hearts. Sephiroth remains one of the most popular villains in video game history, unanimously voted #1 by the staff of gaming publication Electronic Gaming Monthly in their "Top 10 Video Game Bosses" list in October 2005, and winning GameFAQ's' best villain contest in spring of the same year.

See next post for the Story of Final Fantasy VII

Story

Final Fantasy VII begins with Cloud joining AVALANCHE in a series of raids against the Mako reactors surrounding the city of Midgar. Although the first mission is successful, AVALANCHE is trapped at another reactor during a subsequent raid. The reactor explodes, launching Cloud from the upper levels of Midgar into the slums below. He lands on a flower bed, where he is formally introduced to Aeris. Prompted by the arrival of Shinra's Turks operatives sent to capture Aeris, Cloud agrees to be Aeris's bodyguard and defends her from the Turks. After meeting up with Tifa in Sector 7, they infiltrate the mansion of crime boss Don Corneo. The party learns that Shinra has discovered the location of AVALANCHE's hideout and plans to collapse the upper plate of Sector 7 onto the slums below. Shinra destroys Sector 7, killing its population and three members of AVALANCHE. The Turks capture Aeris, who is revealed to be the last surviving "Cetra", a race closely attuned with the planet, and previously thought extinct. President Shinra believes Aeris can lead him to the "Promised Land", a mythical land of fertility, where he expects to find Mako energy.

The remaining members of AVALANCHE infiltrate Shinra's headquarters to rescue Aeris. After freeing her and Red XIII, they escape when most of the personnel in the building—including President Shinra—are killed. Cloud suspects that Sephiroth, a man presumed to be dead, was behind the attack, suspicions confirmed by an executive who claims to have witnessed Sephiroth murder the president and state that he would never allow Shinra to claim the Promised Land. The party also learns that during Sephiroth's attack on Shinra, the headless body of a creature named "Jenova" disappeared from the building's research facility. While the president's son, Rufus Shinra, assumes control of the company, AVALANCHE pursues Sephiroth across the planet, fearing his intentions for the Promised Land may be more destructive than Shinra's. The party is joined by Yuffie, Cait Sith, Vincent, and Cid. Each member of the group must come to terms with personal conflicts from their past. The full scope of Sephiroth's plan is eventually revealed: if the world is significantly damaged, the Lifestream within will gather in an attempt to heal the wound. Sephiroth intends to use a powerful spell called "Meteor" to fatally injure the planet, inciting a reaction in the Lifestream to safeguard the planet. Sephiroth would then merge with all of the planet's energy, allowing him to be reborn as a god and rule over the planet.
Sephiroth kills Aeris in a scene referred to as "the most shocking moment in video games".

At an ancient temple created by the Cetra, AVALANCHE attempts to undermine Sephiroth's plot by claiming the Black Materia needed to activate Meteor, but Sephiroth displays a mysterious power over Cloud, forcing him to relinquish it. Fearing Sephiroth may cast Meteor, Aeris sets off to stop him on her own. AVALANCHE follows her to the northern continent, where they enter an ancient Cetra city. After finding Aeris praying to the planet for aid, Sephiroth begins affecting Cloud's behavior, and attempts to force him to kill her. Cloud resists Sephiroth's command, but Sephiroth appears and kills Aeris. After laying her body to rest, the party resolves to defeat Sephiroth.

Cloud, however, begins to doubt his ability to control his own actions. Influenced by Sephiroth, Cloud becomes suspicious of his memories and insists he is not a real human, but instead a specimen created from Jenova's genetic material by Professor Hojo. Jenova was an interstellar creature who crash landed on the planet roughly 2,000 years prior to the game's events. Jenova had intended to infect all living organisms on the planet with a virus inducing insanity and monstrous transformations; among its victims were most of the Cetra. Attempting to defend itself, the planet created giant monsters called "WEAPONs". The majority of humans fled rather than fight Jenova; however, a small group of Cetra survivors managed to defeat and confine Jenova. Eventually, the remains of Jenova were unearthed by Professor Gast, a researcher for the Shinra Company. Mistaking the creature for a Cetra, Gast was given authorization to conduct an experiment to artificially produce a Cetra by combining cells from Jenova with the fetus of an unborn child. Sephiroth learned that he was the product of this experiment while on a Shinra mission in Cloud and Tifa's hometown, Nibelheim. He concluded that he was a Cetra who had been produced solely from Jenova's genetic material. He burned down Nibelheim, intending to kill all descendants of those he believed had abandoned his ancestors in the defense of the planet. Cloud confronted Sephiroth during this massacre, after which Sephiroth vanished under unknown circumstances and was presumed dead until his reappearance in the Shinra building. When AVALANCHE travels to the Northern Crater to confront Sephiroth, he tells Cloud that he was not in Nibelheim, showing him images of a SOLDIER with dark hair who occupies Cloud's place in his memories. With Tifa unable to refute Sephiroth's claims, Cloud surrenders the Black Materia to Sepiroth, allowing him to cast Meteor. This in turn results in the WEAPONs' awakening. During the earthquake that follows, Cloud is separated from his companions and falls into the Lifestream.

As the meteor summoned by Sephiroth slowly approaches the planet, the Shinra Company focuses its efforts on protecting humanity from the WEAPONs. Meanwhile, the members of AVALANCHE obtain Cid's airship, the Highwind, and begin searching for Cloud. They find him in a catatonic state on a tropical resort where he washed up following the casting of Meteor. The WEAPONs' destructive activity causes the island to split open, depositing Cloud and Tifa into the Lifestream, where she reconstructs Cloud's memories and learns the truth about his past. It is revealed that Cloud never succeeded in joining SOLDIER, and that the dark-haired SOLDIER from his memories was actually Aeris's first boyfriend, Zack Fair. Zack, Tifa, and Cloud had fought Sepiroth during the latter's attack on Nibelheim. Although Tifa and Zack were defeated, Cloud and Sephiroth severely wounded one another. After decapitating Jenova, Sephiroth is thrown into the Lifestream by Cloud, taking the creature's head with him. Rather than dying, his body and consciousness were crystallized in Mako inside Jenova's crater.

Cloud and Zack were among the wounded survivors who were apprehended by Shinra as part of a cover-up of Sephiroth's massacre. Professor Hojo subjected these survivors to an experiment, performing the same enhancements given to SOLDIER members—a procedure which included Mako showers and the injection of Jenova cells. All but Zack entered a comatose state, and nearly five years later, Zack broke free from his confinement and took Cloud with him. However, the alien cells inhabiting Cloud's body also allowed Sephiroth to modulate his behavior. Moreover, the cells' ability to duplicate information allowed Cloud's mind to construct a false persona built around Zack's behavior, leading him to believe that he had been the 1st Class SOLDIER in Nibelheim. Zack was killed outside Midgar by Shinra soldiers after saving Cloud's life; during Zack's final moments, he tells Cloud to live both of their lives. Afterward, Tifa discovered Cloud, who was wearing a 1st class uniform that Zack found, and offered him a job with AVALANCHE.

After Cloud awakens, it is revealed that Aeris, in her final moments, was casting the spell "Holy" with the White Materia, the only means of opposing Meteor. Although she succeeded, Sephiroth had since prevented the spell from taking effect. Deciding to protect humanity from the WEAPONs before approaching Sephiroth, Shinra and AVALANCHE destroy the WEAPONs, although nearly all of Shinra's executives are killed in the process. Among the few survivors are Reeve Tuesti, who is revealed to be the repentant controller of Cait Sith, and Professor Hojo, who is revealed to be Sephiroth's biological father. He explains that he and his wife were assistants to Professor Gast, and offered up their unborn child as a test subject to research involving Jenova. After finding out that Hojo is trying to help Sephiroth gain mastery over the Lifestream, AVALANCHE kills him. Cloud tells his team to go find what they are fighting for, before they begin a final assault against Sephiroth. With each member of Cloud's group at peace with his or her past, the group travels through the Northern Crater to the planet's core. They defeat Sephiroth and free Holy, but the spell is unable to destroy Meteor alone. Selected as Meteor's target, Midgar is almost completely destroyed. However, the Lifestream rises from the planet to aid Holy in destroying the Meteor. During the epilogue, taking place 500 years after the game's events, Red XIII runs through a canyon with two cubs at his side. He proceeds up a cliff-face, which reveals a lush land of greenery where Shinra's destroyed Midgar had once been.

Final Fantasy VIII is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) as the eighth installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was released in 1999 for Sony's PlayStation and in 2000 for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers. Final Fantasy VIII is the first game in the series to consistently use realistically proportioned characters, and does not have a magic point-based system for spellcasting.

The game's story focuses on a group of young mercenaries who are drawn into an international conflict, and seek to protect the world from a sorceress manipulating the war for her own purposes. Players follow Squall Leonhart, a 17 year old loner and student at the military academy Balamb Garden, who is training to become a "SeeD", mercenaries who get paid by the academy.

Development of Final Fantasy VIII began in 1997 while the English language translation of Final Fantasy VII was in process. The music was scored by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The game is the first in the series to feature a vocal piece as its theme music, "Eyes on Me", performed by Chinese singer Faye Wong.

The game was positively received by critics and was commercially successful. It was voted the 22nd best game of all time by readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu. 13 weeks after its release, Final Fantasy VIII had earned more than US$50 million in sales, making it the fastest-selling Final Fantasy title. The game has sold 8.15 million copies worldwide as of March 31, 2003.

Plot and Setting

Most of Final Fantasy VIII is set on an unnamed fantasy world with one moon. The planet comprises five major landmasses, with Esthar, the largest, covering most of the eastern portion of the map. Galbadia, the second largest continent, lies to the west, and contains many of the game's locations. The northernmost landmass is Trabia, an Arctic region. Positioned roughly in the middle of the world map lies Balamb, the smallest continent, the island on which the game begins. The remaining two landmasses are smaller and mostly desolate, riddled with rough, rocky terrain caused by the impact of a "Lunar Cry", an event where monsters from the moon fall to the planet. The southernmost landmass includes an archipelago of broken sections of land that have drifted apart. Islands and marine structures flesh out the rest of the game world, and a handful of off-world locations round out the game's playable areas.

As part of a theme desired by director Yoshinori Kitase to give the game a foreign atmosphere, various designs were given to its locations using the style of internationally familiar places, while also maintaining a fanasy atmosphere. Inspiration ranged from ancient Egyptian and Greek architecture, to the city of Paris, France, to an idealized futuristic European society.

Characters

The six main playable characters in Final Fantasy VIII are Squall Leonhart, a loner who keeps his focus on his duty to avoid vulnerability; Rinoa Heartilly, an outspoken and passionate young woman who follows her heart in all situations; Quistis Trepe, an instructor with a serious, patient attitude; Zell Dincht, a martial artist with a passion for martial arts and hot dogs; Selphie Tilmitt, a cheerful girl who loves trains and pilots the spacecraft Ragnarok; and Irvine Kinneas, a marksman and consummate ladies' man. Temporarily playable characters include Laguna Loire, Kiros Seagill and Ward Zabac, who appear in "flashback" sequences, and antagonists Seifer Almasy and Edea Kramer.

During the game's pre-production, character designer Tetsuya Nomura suggested the game be given a "school days" feel. Scenario writer Kazushige Nojima already had a story in mind in which the main characters were the same age; their ideas meshed, taking form as the "Garden" military academies. Nojima planned that the two playable parties featured in the game (Squall's present day group and Laguna Loire's group from the past) would be highly contrasted with one another. This idea was conveyed through the age and experience of Laguna's group, versus the youth and naïveté of Squall's group.

To maintain the game's theme of a foreign atmosphere, the characters were designed to have predominantly European appearances. The first Final Fantasy VIII character designed was Squall. Desiring to add a unique angle to Squall's appearance and emphasize his role as the central character, Nomura gave him a scar across his brow and the bridge of his nose. As there was not yet a detailed history conceived for the character, Nomura left the explanation for Squall's scar to Nojima. Squall was given a gunblade, a fictional revolver-sword hybrid that functions primarily as a sword, with an added damaging vibration feature activated by use of its gun mechanism, similar to a vibroblade. His character design was complemented by a fur ruff along the collar of his jacket, incorporated by Nomura as a challenge for the game's full motion video designers.

With Final Fantasy VIII came the inclusion of some designs Nomura had previously drawn, but had not yet used in a Final Fantasy game. These were the designs of Edea, Fujin and Raijin. The latter two had originally been designed for use in Final Fantasy VII, but with the inclusion of the Turks characters in that game, it was felt that Fujin and Raijin were unnecessary. Nomura had designed Edea before the development of Final Fantasy VII, based on the style of Yoshitake Amano.

See next post for the Story of Final Fantasy VIII.

Story

Final Fantasy VIII begins as Squall duels with Seifer in a training session outside the Balamb Garden military academy. The two cadets scar one another's faces and are returned to Garden for treatment. Meanwhile, the Galbadian regime invades the Dollet Dukedom, forcing Dollet to hire assistance from the Balamb Garden branch of "SeeD", Garden's elite mercenary force. SeeD uses the mission as a final examination for its cadets; with the help of his instructor, Quistis, Squall passes its prerequisite and is grouped with Seifer and Zell. Seifer disobeys orders and abandons his team halfway through the mission, forcing Selphie to accompany Squall and Zell for the duration. After the mission, SeeD halts the Galbadian advance; Squall, Zell, and Selphie graduate to SeeD status; Seifer is disciplined for his disobedience. During the graduation party, Squall meets Rinoa, whose personality is apparently the opposite of his own. When assigned with Zell and Selphie to help her Galbadian resistence, Squall learns that a sorceress named Edea is behind Galbadia's hostilities. Under orders from the Balamb and Galbadia Gardens, Squall and his comrades—now joined by Rinoa, Quistis, and Irvine—attempt to assassinate Edea. Despite a nearly flawless execution of the plan, the sorceress thwarts the attack, and the party is detained. Squall's party also learns that Seifer has left Garden to become Edea's "knight", her second-in-command.

After the team escapes, Galbadian missiles deploy towards Trabia Garden. Fearing that Balamb Garden is the next target of Edea's revenge, the team splits into two units: Squall's group returns to Garden to warn of the attack, but must first stop an internal conflict incited by NORG, SeeD's financial supporter; while Selphie's team travels to the Galbadian Missile Base in attempt to stop the missile launch, but fails. Squall inadvertently turns Balamb Garden into a mobile fortress and manages to evade the missiles; however, he loses control, and the Garden collides with the docks at Fisherman's Horizon. While local technicians repair the Garden, Galbadians invade in search of a girl named "Ellone", who had been staying at Balamb Garden until recently. Ellone eventually escapes to Esthar, the world's technological superpower.

During Squall's meeting with Ellone, he learns that she had been "sending" him and his party members into flashbacks set seventeen years in the past in order to change it. The scenes center on Laguna and his two friends, Kiros and Ward. During the flashbacks, Laguna changes from Galbadian soldier to the defender of a country village to leader of a resistance movement against Sorceress Adel, and later goes on to become the president of Esthar.

Meanwhile, Squall confronts his personal anxieties fueled by ongoing developments, such as Headmaster Cid appointing him as SeeD's new leader, and his increasing attraction to Rinoa. While investigating Trabia Garden's ruins, Squall and his comrades learn that they, along with Seifer and Ellone, were all raised (with the exception of Rinoa) in an orphanage run by Edea; they later developed amnesia due to their use of Guardian Forces. It is also revealed that Cid and Edea had established Garden and SeeD primarily to defeat corrupt sorceresses. After these revelations, the forces of Balamb Garden and the Galbadian army, led by Squall and Seifer respectively, engage in battle above the orphanage. After Balamb defeats Galbadia, the player learns that Edea is merely an unwilling tool for "Ultimecia", a powerful sorceress from the future who wishes to compress time into a single moment; it is for this reason she has sought Ellone. Edea loses a decisive battle against the SeeD, forcing Ultimecia to transfer her powers to Rinoa; Edea survives, but Rinoa enters a coma. Squall becomes obsessed with waking her and goes to Esthar to find Ellone, as he believes that she can help save Rinoa.

While Rinoa is being treated on Esthar's space station, Ultimecia uses her to free Sorceress Adel from her orbital prison. Ultimecia then orders Seifer to activate the Lunatic Pandora facility, inciting a rain of creatures from the moon that sends Adel's containment device to the planet. Having selected Adel as her next host, Ultimecia abandons Rinoa in outer space. Squall rescues her, and they return to the planet on a derelict starship. Upon their landing, delegates from Esthar isolate Rinoa for fear of her sorceress abilities, forcing Squall to rescue her. President Laguna apologizes for the incident and announces Dr. Odine's plan to let Ultimecia possess Rinoa, have Ellone send Rinoa (and thus Ultimecia as well) to the past and then retrieve only Rinoa back to the present, enabling Ultimecia to achieve Time Compression to occur, as it would allow Squall's group to confront Ultimecia in her time. To do this, Squall's team infiltrates Lunatic Pandora, defeats Seifer and Adel, and has Rinoa inherit Adel's sorceress powers. Time Compression is thus initiated; Squall and his allies travel to Ultimecia's era and defeat her.

With Ultimecia defeated, the universe begins returning to normal; however, Squall is nearly lost in the flow of time as he witnesses the origins of the game's story. When a dying Ultimecia travels back in time to pass her powers to Edea, Squall informs Edea of the concepts of Garden and SeeD that she will create. Afterward, he is able to properly recollect his memories and was able to regain consciousness and thus return to the present. The ending cinema depicts the events after Squall and co.'s return to the present. Seifer is once again reunited with Raijin and Fujin; Laguna visits Raine's grave (and recollects his proposal to her) along with Ellone, Ward, and Kiros; and a celebration takes place in the Garden, with Squall and Rinoa embracing one another under the moonlight.

Final Fantasy IX is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) as the ninth installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was released in 2000 and is the third and last numbered Final Fantasy game for Sony's PlayStation. The game introduced new features to the series, such as the "Active Time Event", "Mognet", and a revamped equipment and skill system.

Set in the fantasy world of Gaia, Final Fantasy IX's plot centers on a war between several nations, sparked by an ambitious queen named Brahne. Players follow a young thief named Zidane Tribal, who joins with several others to defeat the Queen. The plot shifts, however, when the characters realize that Brahne is a puppet for an arms dealer called Kuja.

Final Fantasy IX was developed alongside Final Fantasy VIII, but took a different path to return to the series' roots with a more traditional fantasy setting. Consequently, Final Fantasy IX was influenced heavily by the original Final Fantasy game, and features allusions to other titles in the series. The music was scored by then regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The game has been subject to generally positive reviews, but received mixed opinions for its return to the style of older Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy IX was commercially successful, selling 5.08 million units worldwide as of March 31, 2003.

Plot and Setting

Final Fantasy IX takes place primarily on the four continents of a world named Gaia (homonymous with Final Fantasy VII's Gaia, but not the same world). Most of Gaia's population reside on the Mist Continent, named so because the entire continent is blanketed in thick Mist. Lands outside the Mist Continent—the Outer, Lost and Forgotten continents—are uncharted territories not explored until midway through the game. Several locations on the parallel world of Terra and the dream land of Memoria round out the game's areas. The Mist Continent features four factions: Alexandria, Lindblum, Burmecia, and Cleyra. Each country is separated by mountain ranges; the isolated Cleyran civilization, nestled in a giant tree in the desert, is protected by a sandstorm summoned by the village elders.

Gaia is inhabited by humans and various non-human races. Alexandria and Lindblum are both populated by a mix of humans and anthropomorphic animals. The Burmecians are anthropomorphic rats who live in both Burmecia and Cleyra. The Cleyrans, who value dance, split from the Burmecians when the latter started to appreciate "the art of war". The dwarves are short humanoid creatures who appear as inhabitants of the village of Conde Petie on the Outer Continent. There is also a village of black mages that have gained sentient thought which reside in the Outer Continent as well. The Genomes, an artificial race of soulless vessels, inhabit Terra; they will house the once-dormant Terran souls when Terra assimilates Gaia. Summoners are similar to other humans, but with a horn on their forehead. In the story, only two summoners remain (Garnet and Eiko); the others were exterminated when the Terran warship Invincible destroyed their homeland of Madain Sari. Lastly, the Qu are large, seemingly androgynous humanoids, who are recognized as fine gourmands. They inhabit marshlands throughout the world where they catch their main source of nutrition: frogs.

In Final Fantasy IX, the game's developers sought to make the game's environment more "fantasy-oriented" than its PlayStation predecessors. Since the creators wanted to prevent the series from following a redundant setting, Final Fantasy IX distinctly breaks from the futuristic styles of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII by reintroducing a medieval setting. In the game, steam technology is just beginning to become widely available; the population relies on hydropower or wind power for energy sources, but sometimes harness Mist or steam to power more advanced engines. Continuing with the medieval theme, the game's setting is inspired by Norse and Northern European mythology. According to director Hiroyuki Ito, "[The development team is] attracted to European history and mythology because of its depth and its drama". The main Final Fantasy IX website says the development of the game's world serves as a culmination of the series by blending the "successful elements of the past, such as a return to the fantasy roots," with newer elements.

Characters

The eight main playable characters in Final Fantasy IX are Zidane Tribal, a member of a group of bandits called Tantalus masquerading as a theater troupe; Garnet Til Alexandros XVII (alias Dagger), the Princess of Alexandria who has a strange connection to "eidolons"; Vivi Orunitia, a young, timid, and kind black mage; Adelbert Steiner, the Captain of the Knights of Pluto and loyal servant of Alexandria and Princess Garnet; Freya Crescent, a dragon knight from the city of Burmecia looking for her lost love; Quina Quen, a Qu whose master wants him/her to travel the world so that s/he will learn about cuisine; Eiko Carol, a six-year-old girl living in Madain Sari, the lost village of the eidolon summoners, and along with Garnet, one of the last two remaining summoners; and Amarant Coral, a bounty hunter hired to return Garnet to Alexandria. Other main characters include Regent Cid Fabool, the charismatic leader of Lindblum; Queen Brahne, Garnet's mother and the power-hungry Queen of Alexandria; General Beatrix, the powerful leader of the female knights of Alexandria; and antagonist Kuja, an arms dealer and enemy of Gaia. Other minor characters and groups also appear; their significance and back-stories are revealed as the game progresses.

During development, the creators made the characters a high priority. The return to the series' roots also affected the characters' designs, which resulted in characters with "comic-like looks". Uematsu commented that the design staff attempted to give the characters realism while still appearing comic-like. To accomplish this, and to satisfy fans who had become used to the realistic designs of Final Fantasy VIII, the designers stressed creating characters with whom the player could easily relate.

See next post for the Story of Final Fantasy IX

Story

Final Fantasy IX begins with Zidane and the Tantalus Theater Troupe planning to kidnap Princess Garnet during her sixteenth birthday celebration. The group learns that Garnet, who is concerned about Queen Brahne's increasingly erratic behavior, actually wanted to escape to Lindblum to meet with Regent Cid, and had planned to stow away on the theater ship anyway. The Troupe's airship, Prima Vista, is attacked by the royal guards, and damaged during the escape; it crashes in the Evil Forest, prompting Zidane to continue the trek to Lindblum without the rest of Tantalus. Zidane and Garnet are accompanied by Vivi and Steiner, who became entangled with Tantalus during their escape from Alexandria. During their journey, Garnet adopts the alias "Dagger" and struggles to mingle with the locals. The group learns of a factory that manufactures soulless black mage warriors for Alexandria's use. Brahne dispatches three powerful ones called Black Waltzes to retrieve Garnet by force, but their mission ends in failure.

In Lindblum, Zidane meets Freya and joins in Lindblum's Festival of the Hunt. Regent Cid has been turned into a bug-like oglop by his wife Hilda, for his womanizing behavior. Wishing to protect Garnet from Brahne's newfound aggression, he had ordered Tantalus to kidnap her. When the group learns that Alexandria has invaded Burmecia, Freya investigates the situation with Zidane and Vivi, while Dagger and Steiner head to Alexandria to ask Brahne to stop the war. Both parties are powerless to stop her, and Dagger has her eidolons forcibly extracted from her body. Brahne uses Dagger's eidolons to destroy Cleyra, after which she attacks Lindblum, forcing Cid to surrender. Zidane, Freya, and Vivi, after witnessing the assault on Cleyra, rescue Dagger, befriend General Beatrix, and return to Lindblum.

Afterward, Cid tells the party about Brahne's arms dealer, Kuja. The party travels to the Outer Continent, the location of Kuja's headquarters, through an underground tunnel with the help of Quina. There, the party meets a young summoner named Eiko, who assumes herself to be the last survivor of Madain Sari. They also discover a village inhabited by self-aware black mages. Their pursuit of Kuja leads them to the nearby Iifa Tree, an entity that emits Mist, a compound that increases aggressiveness. They also learn that Kuja uses Mist to create the black mages. The party defeats the Iifa Tree's core and stops the Mist from flowing. When the party returns to Madain Sari, they confront Amarant, who was hired by Brahne to apprehend Dagger. Dagger slowly realizes that she is also a Summoner from Madain Sari. Amarant joins the party for his own reasons. At the Iifa Tree, Brahne turns against Kuja and intends to kill him with the eidolon Bahamut. However, Kuja uses his own airship, Invincible, to gain control of Bahamut, killing Brahne and defeating her army.

The party returns to Alexandria, and Garnet is crowned Queen. Afterward, Kuja assaults Alexandria with Bahamut. To combat it, Eiko and Garnet summon the legendary eidolon Alexander, who dwells within the royal castle of Alexandria. Alexander spreads his wings out of the very foundation of the castle and protects it from Bahamut's powerful Mega Flare attacks. Eventually Alexander overpowers Bahamut. Kuja attempts to control Alexander using the Invincible, but is foiled by a mysterious old man named Garland, who destroys Alexander and most of Alexandria. Kuja, still intent on mastering a powerful eidolon to defeat Garland, shifts his attention to Eiko. The party learns of Kuja's Desert Palace and attempts an assault. However, Kuja imprisons the party and escapes with Eiko to extract her eidolons. During the extraction attempt, Eiko's guardian moogle Mog uses Trance to transform into her true form, the eidolon Madeen, disrupting the process. Learning of the powers of Trance, Kuja escapes to further his aim of defeating Garland. The party rescues Eiko and also finds Hilda, who turns Cid back into a human. He is now able to design an airship for the party that does not need Mist for power.

With Hilda's aid, the party pursues Kuja to his home world of Terra by opening a dimensional portal. In the Terran town of Bran Bal, it is revealed that Garland was created by the people of Terra to orchestrate the process of assimilating Terra into Gaia, as Terra was a dying world. Garland created Genomes—intelligent, sentient beings who lack souls—to become future vessels for the souls of the dormant Terrans. The Iifa Tree's existence, the phenomenon of Mist, the eidolons' destruction, and even Kuja and Zidane's true purpose of existence, were part of the process. Angered by Garland's motives, the party confronts him. However, Kuja has now obtained enough souls to achieve Trance. Trance Kuja ends Garland's life, but not before Garland warns him of his limited lifespan, and that Zidane was created to replace him. Enraged by this revelation, Kuja destroys Terra while the party rescues the Genomes and returns to Gaia on the Invincible.

The party discovers that Mist has returned and now envelops all of Gaia. Assisted by the combined forces of Burmecia, Lindblum, and Alexandria, they travel to the Iifa Tree, where they are teleported to a mysterious location called Memoria. The spirit of Garland guides the party to Kuja. When Kuja is defeated, he uses his Trance abilities to destroy the Crystal, the source of life, prompting the appearance of Necron, the "Eternal Darkness" bent on destroying life. After Necron is defeated, Memoria and the Iifa Tree collapse. Although the party escapes, Zidane remains to save Kuja, and is later assumed to have died with Kuja in the collapse.

Some time later, Alexandria has been rebuilt, and Tantalus arrives in Alexandria to perform a play for Queen Garnet. During the performance, one of the performers removes his robe and reveals himself to be Zidane. The credits roll as Garnet and Zidane embrace. Other scenes reveal that Vivi somehow has children; Steiner and Beatrix have returned to their old posts as royal bodyguards and have also become romantically involved; Eiko has been adopted by Regent Cid and Hilda; Freya is attempting to start over with her former love, Sir Fratley; and Quina has now become the head chef of the Alexandria Castle kitchen.

Final Fantasy X​ is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) as the tenth title in the Final Fantasy series. It was released in 2001 for Sony's PlayStation 2. The game marks the Final Fantasy series' transition from entirely pre-rendered backdrops to fully three-dimensional areas, and is also the first in the series to feature voice acting. Final Fantasy X replaces the Active Time Battle (ATB) system with a new Conditional Turn-Based Battle (CTB) system, and uses a new leveling system called the "Sphere Grid".

Set in the fantasy world of Spira, the game's story centers around a group of adventurers and their quest to defeat a rampaging monster known as "Sin". The player character is Tidus, a blitzball star who finds himself in Spira after his home city of Zanarkand is destroyed by Sin. During the game, Tidus, along with several others, aids the summoner Yuna on her pilgrimage to destroy Sin.

Development of Final Fantasy X began in 1999, with a budget of more than US$32.3 million and a team of more than 100 people. The game was the first in the main series not entirely scored by Nobuo Uematsu; Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano were signed as Uematsu's fellow composers. Final Fantasy X was both a critical and commercial success. It was voted by the readers of the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu to be the greatest video game of all-time. As of January 2004, the game has sold 6.6 million units worldwide. In 2003, it was followed by Final Fantasy X-2, making it the first Final Fantasy game to have a direct sequel.

Plot and Setting

Final Fantasy X is set in the fictional world of "Spira", and it consists of one large landmass divided into three subcontinents, surrounded by small tropical islands. It features diverse climates, ranging from the tropical Besaid and Kilika islands to the temperate Mi'ihen region to the frigid Macalania and Mt. Gagazet. Although it is predominantly populated by humans, Spira features a variety of races. Among them are the Al Bhed, a technologically advanced but disenfranchised sub-group of humans with distinctive green eyes and unique language. The Guado are less human in appearance, with elongated fingers and other differences. They also have a natural propensity for magic and conjuring monsters. Still less human in appearance are the large, lion-like Ronso, and the frog-like Hypello. A subset of the sentient races of Spira are the "unsent"—the strong-willed spirits of the dead who remain in corporeal form. It is explained that the dead who are not "sent" to the Farplane by a summoner come to envy the living and transform into "fiends", the monsters that are encountered throughout the game. However, those with strong attachments may remain in human form as unsent. Other fauna in Spira, aside from those drawn from real animals, such as cats, dogs, birds, and butterflies, include the gigantic, amphibious "shoopuf", and the emu-like chocobo, which appears in most Final Fantasy games. Both are used primarily for transportation purposes. Most other unusual creatures encountered in Final Fantasy X are the aforementioned fiends.

Spira is very different from the mainly European-style worlds found in previous Final Fantasy games, being much more closely modeled on Southeast Asia, most notably with respect to vegetation, topography, architecture, and names. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura has identified the South Pacific, Thailand, and Japan as major influences on the cultural and geographic design of Spira, particularly concerning the geographic location of the southern islands; Besaid and Kilika. He has also said that Spira deviates from the worlds of past Final Fantasy games in the level of detail incorporated, something he has expressed to have made a conscious effort to maintain during the design process. Producer Yoshinori Kitase felt that if the setting went back to a medieval European fantasy, it would not seem to help the development team advance. While he was thinking of different world environments, scenario writer Kazushige Nojima suggested a fantasy world that incorporated Asian elements.

Characters

The seven main playable characters in Final Fantasy X are Tidus, an energetic and upbeat blitzball star; Yuna, a reserved and soft-spoken summoner who always puts others before herself; Kimahri Ronso, an exile of the Ronso tribe who is devoted to protecting Yuna above all else; Wakka, a blitzball player and devout follower of the Yevon order; Lulu, a stoic and self-possessed, but well-meaning Black Mage; Auron, a taciturn former warrior monk; and Rikku, a perky Al Bhed girl with extensive knowledge of machinery. The primary antagonists of the game are maester Seymore Guado and the other maesters of the Yevon religion, while the enormous whale-like monster Sin serves as the primary source of conflict.

Sub-character chief designer Fumi Nakashima's focus was to ensure that characters from different regions and cultures bore distinctive characteristics in their clothing styles, so that they could be quickly and easily identified as members of their respective sub-groups. For example, she has said that the masks and goggles of the Al Bhed give the group a "strange and eccentric" appearance, while the attire of the Ronso lend to them being able to easily engage in battle.

Story

Final Fantasy X begins late in the story, with the main character, Tidus, waiting with his allies outside the ruined city of Zanarkand. Tidus narrates the series of events leading up to his present situation, which spans most of the game's storyline. It begins in Tidus' home city, the unruined and high-tech Zanarkand, where he is a renowned star of the underwater sport blitzball. During a blitzball tournament, the city is attacked by an immense creature shrouded in water known as Sin. The city is destroyed, and Tidus and Auron are taken by Sin to the world of Spira.

After arriving in Spira, Tidus is rescued by Al Bhed divers in the area, and upon asking where he is from, one of them, Rikku, tells him that Zanarkand had been destroyed 1000 years earlier. After another attack by Sin, Tidus is separated from the divers and drifts to the tropical island of Besaid, where he meets Wakka, the captain of the local blitzball team. Wakka introduces Tidus to Yuna, a young summoner planning a pilgrimage to the ruins of Zanarkand to get the "Final Aeon", the only weapon capable of defeating Sin, who is described as mankind's punishment for their sins. Accompanying Yuna are her guardians, Lulu, Wakka, and Kimahri.

The party travels to gather aeons, defending against attacks by Sin. The party encounters Auron, who joins them. He reveals to Tidus that Yuna's father, Lord Braska; Tidus's father, Jecht; and himself made the same pilgrimage and defeated Sin ten years ago. Tidus thought his father had died at sea ten years earlier. Following more encounters with Sin, they are joined by Rikku, who is revealed to be Yuna's cousin. Throughout the pilgrimmage, Tidus and Yuna draw close through their shared experiences and mutual interest.

When the party arrives in the Guado city Guadosalam, Seymour proposes to Yuna, and she informs the group of her intent to marry him to give Spira hope. Seymour's aide, Tromell, guides the group to Guadosalam's temple, where they see a message from Seymour's late father. He declares he was killed by his son, and that Seymour's evil nature will destroy Spira.
The group engages Seymour in battle and they kill him; soon afterward, Sin attacks the group and they lose track of Yuna. Rikku guides the group to the Al Bhed "Home", which is under attack by Yevonite soldiers. While searching Home's base, Tidus learns that a summoner must give their life to perform the "Final Summoning", leading to his desire to find a way to defeat Sin that would not result in Yuna's death. Using the Al Bhed's airship, they escape the base before it is destroyed. The group finds Yuna in Bevelle, where she is forced to marry the now unsent Seymour. They interrupt the wedding and escape with Yuna towards Mt. Gagazet, where Seymour has slaughtered the Ronso tribe; after defeating him again, the group heads to Zanarkand.

Tidus learns that he, Jecht, and the Zanarkand they hail from are summoned entities akin to aeons. Long ago, a summoner named Yevon had the city's surviving people become "fayth" so that he could use their memories of Zanarkand to create a new city in its image, removed from the warfare on the Spiran mainland. Sin was also created, given form by Yevon to serve as armor; protecting himself and the fayth. While continuously summoning Dream Zanarkand, Yevon lost his humanity and became known as Yu Yevon, a being existing solely to maintain Dream Zanarkand's existence. Sin's true purpose was not punishment for mankind's sins, but to prevent the discovery of Dream Zanarkand's existence by persistently attacking the people of Spira.

Once the player completes Yuna's pilgrimage, Lady Yunalesca—Yevon's daughter and the first summoner to have defeated Sin—tells the group that the Final Aeon is created from the spirit of one close to a summoner. After defeating Sin, Yu Yevon's spirit possesses the aeon, transforming it into a new Sin. The group decides against using the Final Aeon and they defeat Yunalesca. They then seek a new way to permanently destroy Sin that will not require any sacrifices. This leads the group to enter Sin's body and battle Seymour, Jecht's imprisoned spirit, and Yu Yevon. Sin's cycle of rebirth ends, and the spirits of Spira's fayth are freed from their imprisonment, dispersing the pyreflies of the aeons, Dream Zanarkand, and Tidus in the process. Afterward, in a speech to the citizens of Spira, Yuna resolves to help rebuild the world now that it is free of Sin. After the credits, there is a brief scene with Tidus underwater. He opens his eyes and begins swimming upward, and the screen fades to white. This scene segues into the sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, in which Yuna investigates Tidus' possible survival in order to continue their relationship.