Final Fantasy is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. Since launching back in 1987 the series has sold millions of copies and created die hard fans worldwide. It’s had its share of ups and downs but true fans of the series stick with it because when it’s good, it’s amazing. Here are 10 things you might not know about the Final Fantasy series.
#10 – Prelude Only Took Five Minutes To Create
There are a few things that stay constant in the Final Fantasy series and the song “Prelude” is one of them. The song is iconic and a defining piece of music for the series. It’s hard to believe that it was created in only five minutes. The story goes that Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi barged in on composer Nobou Uematsu and demanded he write one more song for the game. Five minutes later the song “Prelude” was born.
#9 – It Only Took 7 People To Make The First Game
Yes you read that right. It only took seven people to create the first Final Fantasy. Pretty crazy to think about considering that nowadays each game takes hundreds of people in order to bring it to life.
#8 – Nintendo Helped Fund Crystal Chronicles
At the time Crystal Chronicles was a big deal because Final Fantasy had finally made its way back to the land of Nintendo. History hasn’t been so kind to the Crystal Chronicles games though, they certainly have their detractors. Nintendo got exclusivity to the series by helping to fund some of the money needed to produce the games.
#7 – Final Fantasy V Tried To Come To America Several Times
Final Fantasy V wasn’t released in America until 7 years after the Japanese release date but that wasn’t for lack of trying. Former Square employee Ted Woolsey claims that the game was supposed to make its debut as a Super NES game under the title “Final Fantasy Extreme” and it was then reprogrammed for a PC release that never happened. Eventually it came to America as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology. Better late than never right?
#6 – The Battle System Was Inspired By Sports
The turn based battle system that has been commonly used in the series was inspired by sports strategies according to Hiroyuki Ito. He explained that the way your party lines up is based on American football and that the active time battle gauge was inspired by Formula One Racing.
#5 – The Themes Are Sometimes Based On Religion
It’s not hard to figure out for big fans of the series but sometimes the themes of the games are based on religion. Final Fantasy X specifically focuses on the corruption of organized religion. The l’Cie in Final Fantasy XIII are meant to be a reference to Hinduism and Buddhism and their beliefs about the afterlife.
#4 – The Game Originally Had A Different Name
The original name for the series was supposed to be Fighting Fantasy. The name was changed to Final Fantasy because Sakaguchi believed it was his last shot at making video games a career after Dragon Quest flopped. The series went on to see huge success and has become one of the most beloved video game titles of all time.
#3 – Final Fantasy VIII Features The Dance From Thriller
If you watch the masked dancers that are featured in Edea’s parade during the Deling City portion of Final Fantasy VIII you can see that they’re doing the dance from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video.
#2 – According To Kazushige Nojima Final Fantasy VII And X Are Connected
Longtime writer for the Final Fantasy series Kazushige Nojima has said that the pyreflies from Final Fantasy X are used to create mako energy in Final Fantasy VII meaning the two games are connected. You can read an excerpt from an interview with him below:
–“Huh, so VII and X ARE connected?”
Nojima
“Well, there’s not many specifics to it. I know that what becomes of people
when they die is among them; you could say that it’s basically the same. Both
[concepts came to] function along the same line of thought as I wrote the
stories. Sometimes my thoughts just flow out like that, even though pyreflies
distinctly aren’t green.”
–“When you speak of the dead becoming [something] green, do you perhaps
[mean]……?”
Nojima
“Yes. In my mind, pyreflies and VII’s Lifestream are the same substance.”
****
Nojima
“Actually, it does. After quitting the Gullwings, Shinra received enormous
financial support from Rin, and began trying to use Vegnagun to siphon Mako
Energy from the Farplane. But, he is unable to complete the system for
utilizing this energy in his generation, and in the future, when traveling to
distant planets becomes possible, the Shin-Ra Company is founded on another
world, or something like that……. That would happen about 1000 years after
this story, I think.”
#1 – Final Fantasy VII Was Supposed To Be A Nintendo Game
Final Fantasy VII is one of the most iconic games in the series and it gets a lot of credit for launching the Sony Playstation but originally it was supposed to be released on a Nintendo console. Development for the game started in 1994 and it was intended for release on the Super Nintendo and then later the Nintendo 64. After learning how limited they would have been as far as memory for the game goes in regards to cartridges, Square decided to release the game on Sony Playstation instead.
