The Chronicle of a Crystal: A History on Final Fantasy

[Andrew Scaves]

Here's a documentary report I made on the series I am so deeply devoted to. I tried to get my information as factuaL as possible and I think everything's correct, correct me if I'm wrong. To further inform you I know my report on XII isn't that good since I've played it only one time and on the internet there isn't many articles that go into depth on the storyline, because it's still fresh. Anywho I hope you enjoy it. I made it especially for this site and me of course.

PS. Sorry I had to double post to fit this here

The Chronicle of a Crystal: A History on Final Fantasy

Introduction

Final Fantasy is known as the world’s longest running role playing game (RPG) series in all of video game history. It may also be known as the most popular and successful as well with a huge fan base and their most popular game Final Fantasy VII in the top 20 best selling games of all time. Created by a company called Square, Final Fantasy gains its fans through riveting tales, fun and intuitive game play, unique artistic visuals, influential music, and characters that that you can feel for and relate to. The series stands strong with twelve mainstream games and eighteen games in total.

Origin
To achieve what Final Fantasy has achieved, one must learn of how it came about. In Japan during the 1980’s, a small gaming company called Square Ltd. produced games for the Famicom Disk system also known as the Nintendo Entertainment System internationally. The company had a problem of producing well-selling games and they came upon the verge of bankruptcy.
In 1987 the man known as Hinorobu Sakaguchi started working on the company’s final game before they would retire. The game was a fantasy role playing game he named Final Fantasy inspired by an already successful RPG known as Dragon Quest. He named it Final Fantasy presumably it being his last work before he would retire. To his and the rest of the company’s amazement, the game became a huge success and the company remained open.

The Trademark Developers
Final Fantasy didn’t get to where it is today without its great developers. Hinorobu Sakaguchi is the man behind the masterpiece. As the original creator he was the man in charge of most of the development for the series. The only one he was not involved in was XII.

Nobuo Uematsu is the series’ main music composer. He has created music for the series ever since the first one. He won awards for his song Eyes on Me sung by Faye Wong which he wrote and produced and one of the awards was for Best Song of the year by the Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1999. He plays concerts around the globe and has The Final Fantasy game soundtracks.
In February of 2003 he created the Black Mages band; a rock band featuring battle music from the Final Fantasy games. Many fans await for his next concert in America.

Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshitaka Amano are the series two main graphic designers designers. Tetsuya was set into the fray when Square was developing Final fantasy IV and required him to work on battle graphics. He continued to work for them then on under the leads of Sakaguchi and Amano, but he didn’t gain recognition until Square gave him the job of being the character designer for Final Fantasy VII. His success lead him for character designer again for Final fantasy VIII and game director under Sakaguchi and Yoshinori Kitase. He continued with character design for Final Fantasy’s X and X-2. He also worked on final fantasy’s Disney spin off Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. He also worked on the film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.

Yoshitaka Amano was born in Shizuoka, Japan during the year of 1952. In his young teen years he grew for a passion in drawing. His first job in art was in 1967 at a company called Tatsunoko Productions. Eventhough Yoshitaka Amano worked on many other projects, he was still the top character designer for the Final Fantasy series. He joined Square during 1987 to work on their upcoming game Final Fantasy. He produced astounding paintings of the characters giving feelings of tranquility and beauty. 1994 after Final Fantasy VI was finished, he remained the lead character designer no more, but continued to create the title logo designs.
He did design character illustrations for VII,VIII, IX, X, and X-2. He made cover art for the game Final fantasy XI and then went back into the shadows. 1up.com did an interview and documentary on him on their site which can be viewed here http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3152237

The Main Final Fantasy's
The original Final Fantasy was a game for the Nintendo Entertainment system. The story revolves around the inhabitants of the world waiting for a prophecy to be fulfilled. They wait for the four Light Warriors to renew the world. You play as the four warriors in the prophecy. They are nameless in the game, but only known as by the class you give them; the Fighter, Black Belt, White Mage, Black Mage, and Thief. The story’s main plot is present when four mighty fiends incarnated from the four elements are decaying the planet known as Gaia. The fiends come from 2,000 years in the past. To rejuvenate or regain their strength, they send the evil knight Garland, 2,000 years in the past. In that time Garland fuses with the four fiends to become a great being of his own called Chaos. With the power of the four fiends inside him attempts to use time magic to bring back the four fiends into present day.
The four light warriors start on a quest to go into the past and stop Chaos before he succeeds with his plan. The game play in the original is pretty basic turned based combat with the additional around-the-world exploration. The game was originally released in 1987 in Japan only and didn’t arrive into the United States until Square was released Final Fantasy III in Japan in 1990. The game was remade twice with Final Fantasy Origins for the Playstation One and Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls for the Game Boy Advance.

Final Fantasy II was based around an evil empire known as Baramekia that killed the parents of four children. Years later the when the four children are adults, they join the resistance in the war for revenge and justice. The four youths are Frionel, Guy, Maria, and Lionheart. They gain comrades along the way and learn that the empire isn’t the one behind the evil that threatens the world, it is an entity called Dark Cloud.The battle system in this game is still turned based, but allows players to earn experience and level up their skills, based on how much you use the skill the more powerful the skill becomes. It is a start to Final Fantasy’s trend of dynamic game play. Final fantasy II was released in Japan during 1988; The United States didn’t see a ring of it until 2001.

The plot of Final Fantasy III was based around four youths from a village called Uru when they fall into a hole where the find the location of the wind crystal shrine The crystal informs them that they are the warriors of light whose destiny was to restore balance of light and darkness The party of four set out to pursue their source of evil that the Crystal has informed them of. They defeat a man called Zande which of whom they thought was the source, but later to find out that a being called the Dark Cloud is behind everything.
Final Fantasy III was released in Japan during 1990. It wasn’t released into the United States until last year of 2006 on the hand held console, the Nintendo DS as a complete remake restored in 3-D graphics.

Final Fantasy IV’s story takes place when a dark knight named Cecil returns from a village where he has just required a crystal taken by force from the people. He is stripped of his status as captain of an air troop called the Red Wings due to the king believing he is untrustworthy. The king gives Cecil a job to deliver a ring to a village with his long time friend Kain.
When Cecil and Kain arrive to their destination they learn that it was sabotage to burn down the village. Cecil feeling that his king has changed and betrayed his kingdom Cecil leaves the kingdom. He repents for sins by converting himself into a Paladin or holy knight. He later discovers that the king has been slayed and the man who he thought was his king is actually an imposter who is working for a man to retrieve the four elemental crystals so that the path to the moon will open. Cecil embarks on a quest to stop them.
Final Fantasy IV was released in Japan on the Super Nintendo console of 1991. It was also released in the US, but as Final Fantasy II. Being the first Final Fantasy for the Super Nintendo the graphics were still 2-D, but polished and given a smoother look. It was also re-released to the Playstation as Final Fantasy Chronicles which came with another Square game called Chrono Trigger in 2001.

The story of Final Fantasy V takes place when a shower of meteorites hits the planet. Meanwhile four citizens investigate the recent shattering of the four elemental crystals. In their studies they discover that the meteorites that recently hit the planet came from another dimension. They find their way into the dimension and discover that a man by the name of X-Death was behind the meteor attack. The party decides to leave the seen and come upon four warriors that have claimed that they had imprisoned X-Death thirty years ago by a spell sealing him into a tree, but he has somehow managed to break out. The four warriors influences the party to accompany them on assassinating X-Death and the party agrees.
Final Fantasy V was released in 1992 in Japan, but didn’t arrive into the United States until 1999 on the original Playstation as Final Fantasy Anthology which also came with Final Fantasy VI. All three of these games, II, IV, and V deal with a plot around the elemental crystals that hold nature’s power and spirit.

[Andrew Scaves]

Final Fantasy VII’s plot takes place at the start of a rebellion operation where a man known as Cloud assists the rebel group called Avalanche to destroy a mako reactor made by a corporation called Shinra. Cloud was an ex-SOLDIER for the corporation. The rebellion believes the corporation is sucking away the life of the planet. Sometime later after he assists the group, he discovers that his friend Aeris has been kidnapped by the Shinra, he sets out to the HQ to rescue her. He then witnesses the death of the Shinra president and proof that his childhood hero of his is alive and has apparently murdered the president. Cloud leaves the city with feelings that there is nothing left there for him and to investigate the whereabouts of his childhood hero Sephiroth.
Final Fantasy VII, the most popular and best-selling Final Fantasy was released all around the world in 1997. It was the first Final fantasy to be in full 3-D. It was released on the Playstation One console and sold over 8.6 million copies worldwide. The game done so well that it brandished a sequel that was a movie released last year here in the US known as Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The game also brandished a sequel spin off game known as Dirge of Cerberus Final Fantasy VII also released this year and two more are said to be released this year for the PSP (Playstation Portable) and for cell phones.

Final Fantasy VIII is a story of love and war. It all begins when a student at a military base named Squall awakens in the infirmary after being knocked unconscious from a duel with his combat partner. He gets ready for a field exam to judge if he is worthy to be in the military’s most honorable soldiers called SeeD. He passes the exam and after the night of his inauguration he is already sent on a mission. He sets out to a city called Timber to assist a rebel group called the Timber Owls to liberate their city which is under the control of the Galbadia country. His assignment leads him to task of assassinating the sorceress named Edea. He confronts his objective and sets to it with his comrades.
Final Fantasy VIII was released in 1998, bringing more realistic balanced and designed characters. It also introduced more and better FMVs (Full motion videos) in the game. Many fans were displeased with the game’s new battle system known as the Junction System. The Characters’ strength comes from magic that is stored by drawing from enemies, draw points, or by using synthesizing items. The more magic you have stored, the stronger the character will be, but also when you use the magic the characters’ strength will deplete. Final fantasy VII and VIII were set in modern day like environments, where automobiles were present and energy sources.

The Magnificent story of Final Fantasy IX takes place when a troupe of thespians head to the city of Alexandria to perform a play. During the play they devise a plan to kidnap the princess of Alexandria, Garnet til Alexandros XVI. Zidane is the one who is to carry out the plan. When he confronts and corners the princess, surprisingly she begs him to kidnap her.
The queen discovers that her her daughter is gone and sends out the castle troops to search for her. When there hassle brings them about onto the stage. The queen gets furious and attacks the ship even though her daughter is on it. When the airship crashes, Zidane finds himself in the deadly mist filled forest known as Evil Forest. Not only that, but the princess has gone missing. He searches the forest for her and finds her trapped in a monster he attacks the monster, but is unsuccessful and the monster captures her. Zidane decides to leave his troupe in search of the princess .
Final Fantasy IX was released in 2000 also for the Playstation One. It brought back the medieval origin from Final Fantasy’s I-VI. The game was a forgotten memoir and didn’t sell as nearly as much as the other two Playstion games. The game also brought references from the previous Final Fantasy games within the game. It was the final game for the Playstation era.

On December 17 or 2001 Square released Final Fantasy X statewide being the first game of the series on the Playstation 2 console. Two years later the game had led to a sequel known as Final Fantasy X-2. The story of X takes place when a star of the famous blitzball team the Zanarkand Abes, Tidus heads off to play his next game. He is the son of Jecht who was a blitzball star like him and even played on the same team. Jecht was said to have died 10 years ago of the coast of the city. In the middle of Tidus’ game, a giant sphere of water attacks the city. In the attack Tidus is sent flying and knocked out of the stadium unconscious.

When he awakes he finds a friend of his father’s named Auron, relaxed during this chaotic situation. Auron beckons Tidus to follow him and Tidus does so. He informs Tidus that the being attacking the city is known as Sin. When small creatures from the gigantic being fall in front of them, Auron gives Tidus a sword and orders him to fight. After defeating the monsters and causing a mass explosion on the bridge under them Tidus runs across and jumps a cliff where Auron stands. Auron lifts him up and Tidus in enraptured in a mystical light. Later when Tidus awakens he finds himself in an unknown land. He takes shelter in a temple nearby. At the temple a group of people speaking a foreign language he has never heard somewhat rescues him. The female along the group informs Tidus that he is in a land called Spira and the home he thought he was from was said to be destroyed over 1,000 years ago. The shock of this devastates Tidus.The girl promises Tidus that she will send him to Blitzball city, Luca if he will help her crew in an operation. After the operation, the being known as Sin comes and knocks Tidus off the ship and into the sea where he blacks out.

In the year of 2003 Square released Final Fantasy XI. The game was majorly different from all its other titles. The reason being is that it was an online only game or a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role playing Game). The story doesn’t have as much depth as other FF’s because it’s based on the broad scope of the game’s world Vana'diel and not on a particular group of characters. To date there are over 500,000 users playing online with approximately over a million characters utilized. It became the first cross-platform MMORPG in history.

Final Fantasy XII was released on Halloween of 2006. This game like XI, swayed greatly away from all the other FF’s. One reason being that the game wasn’t being made by the usual team who develop the FF games, it was being made by the creators of Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story. Another reason is that the game turned away from the traditional turned based battle system. Final Fantasy XII consisted of real time combat.
Final Fantasy XII’s story takes place in the world of Ivalice. The story takes place seven years after the war between Dalmasca and Archades. Vaan had a brother who fought in the war named Reks who was killed by the Dalmascan traitor Basch who also killed his own king, King Raminas. The daughter of King Raminas is said to be missing. Vaan longs for the dream to become a sky pirate.

In the near future comes five new Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy VII Before Crisis for the mobile phone, Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core for the PSP and three other three are under title of Fabula Nova Crystilliss meaning The New Tale of the Crystal. This is a compilation of Final Fantasy XIII games. Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII are for the Playstation 3, while Final Fantasy Agito XIII is for the mobile phone. Final Fantasy XIII is bringing back the roots Hinorobu Sakaguchi and team who took a break for Final Fantasy XII. Final Fantasy Versus XIII's main developer is Tetsuya Nomura and the game is said to be more action oriented than Final Fantasy XIII. With so many games coming out fans wonder "When will the series end?" with humility of course. Square responds as long as there are fans the crystal will continue to shine.

References
Works Cited
#1 http://Final Fantasy.wikipedia.com
#2 Andrew Vestal http://gamespot.com
#3 LocoColt04 http://thefinalfantasy.com
#4 http://1up.com
#5 Cid http://eyesonff.com
#6 http://fflegend.com

[jedi geoff]

very nice

[Andrew Scaves]

Tahnk you I think it would've been better if a mod can move it to the info section if they it belongs there.

[ThroneofDravaris]

Final Fantasy is known as the world’s longest running role playing game (RPG) series in all of video game history.

Dragon Quest pre-dates Final Fantasy. So does Ultima.

The game was remade twice with Final Fantasy Origins for the Playstation One and Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls for the Game Boy Advance.

It was also originally re-made for the Wonder Swan Colour, upon which the Playstation version is based.

Final Fantasy II was based around an evil empire known as Baramekia

*Palmacia. As far as I know that is still the official translation

Lionheart

*Leonhart

They gain comrades along the way and learn that the empire isn’t the one behind the evil that threatens the world, it is an entity called Dark Cloud

That’s FFIII, not FFII. Emperor is the antagonist in FFII.

It is a start to Final Fantasy’s trend of dynamic game play.

Misuse of term ‘dynamic’. The gameplay doesn’t change in anyway, only the skill levels. It should also be noted that this system was ditched after FFII, and has not been used since, so I wouldn’t exactly call it a trend setter.

Final Fantasy IV was released in Japan on the Super Nintendo console of 1991. It was also released in the US, but as Final Fantasy II. Being the first Final Fantasy for the Super Nintendo the graphics were still 2-D, but polished and given a smoother look. It was also re-released to the Playstation as Final Fantasy Chronicles which came with another Square game called Chrono Trigger in 2001.

There is also a gameboy advance port.

All three of these games, II, IV, and V deal with a plot around the elemental crystals that hold nature’s power and spirit.

Crystals have almost no role in FFII and appear in a completely different form from other titles (most people don’t even pick up on them being in the game). FFIII is the one you are thinking of. You also missed FFI, which was the origin of the crystal plot device.

In the year of 2003 Square released Final Fantasy XI.

That’s only the American release date, and only for the PC version. The PS2 version was released in 2002 in Japan.

It became the first cross-platform MMORPG in history.

Phantasy Star Online was multi-platform and predates FFXI.

In the near future comes five new Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy VII Before Crisis for the mobile phone

Already released in Japan. It is unlikely that it will see a release anywhere else.

Final Fantasy XIII is bringing back the roots Hinorobu Sakaguchi and team who took a break for Final Fantasy XII.

Hinorobu Sakaguchi doesn’t work for Square-Enix anymore.


It might seem like I’m nick-picking with those, but if you’re going to write an article and expect anyone to take it seriously at least make sure it’s factually accurate. Also, there are several typos/lack of punctuation through the body of that essay: get someone to proof read it.

[Spec Highwind]

Yeah, there were some errors in the article...

[Andrew Scaves]

Originally Posted by ThroneofDravaris

Dragon Quest pre-dates Final Fantasy. So does Ultima.


It was also originally re-made for the Wonder Swan Colour, upon which the Playstation version is based.



*Palmacia. As far as I know that is still the official translation


*Leonhart


That’s FFIII, not FFII. Emperor is the antagonist in FFII.


Misuse of term ‘dynamic’. The gameplay doesn’t change in anyway, only the skill levels. It should also be noted that this system was ditched after FFII, and has not been used since, so I wouldn’t exactly call it a trend setter.


There is also a gameboy advance port.


Crystals have almost no role in FFII and appear in a completely different form from other titles (most people don’t even pick up on them being in the game). FFIII is the one you are thinking of. You also missed FFI, which was the origin of the crystal plot device.


That’s only the American release date, and only for the PC version. The PS2 version was released in 2002 in Japan.


Phantasy Star Online was multi-platform and predates FFXI.



Already released in Japan. It is unlikely that it will see a release anywhere else.


Hinorobu Sakaguchi doesn’t work for Square-Enix anymore.


It might seem like I’m nick-picking with those, but if you’re going to write an article and expect anyone to take it seriously at least make sure it’s factually accurate. Also, there are several typos/lack of punctuation through the body of that essay: get someone to proof read it.

I did try me best to get everything factual everything I put in the article I got from those reference sites oh except I forgot where I got my xi info from I had several for that, but I lost and forgot where I got it from. Well everything I didn't get from those sites the only thing that came from me were the story summaries on IV,VII,VIII,IX,X, and XII. I just simply forgot about FFIV advance that happens and I never heard of a Swan console does that really even exist?

[ThroneofDravaris]

Well everything I didn't get from those sites the only thing that came from me were the story summaries on IV,VII,VIII,IX,X, and XII.

I would choose another source for wherever you got the information on FFII at least, since most of it was completely wrong. Also, I get the impression that you haven't actually played a couple of these games (specifically the earlier ones). If this is the case, you might want to do so before you try to write a paper on them.

I never heard of a Swan console does that really even exist?

The Wonder Swan Color was only released in Japan. It died after a pretty lackluster initial run.

[ShadowHeart]

Yes, not everything is released in the US. And most definitely not in Europe lol

[Lyde Lyde]

You must have obatined the gamespot information from this page http://www.gamespot.com/features/vgs...nalfantasy_hs/

It's quite old. They still don't have the information for X.

[jedi geoff]

ThroneofDravaris ur so *brutally honest !!!

[ThroneofDravaris]

ThroneofDravaris ur so *brutally honest !!!

I pointed out flaws in his article and gave him suggestions as to how he might improve it. I'll let someone else make him feel good about himself while not actually contributing anything worthwhile.

[Slider]

which reminds me, u've seen my ff8 tip page?

lemme know what u honestly think!

[Andrew Scaves]

Originally Posted by Lyde Lyde

You must have obatined the gamespot information from this page http://www.gamespot.com/features/vgs...nalfantasy_hs/

It's quite old. They still don't have the information for X.

Yeah that's where I got my storyline summaries from.

[Phoenix Flame]

Originally Posted by jedi geoff

ThroneofDravaris ur so *brutally honest !!!

* fix'd

= D