Game #1: Final Fantasy

Game #1: Final Fantasy

Release Date: December 1987 (JP), July 1990 (NA)

Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi

Original System: Famicom, NES

Favorite Song: "Matoya's Theme"

The journey begins with Final Fantasy, a fantasy-based role playing game that was created nearly 30 years ago by Square (now SquareEnix). I think the most incredible thing about this game and the Final Fantasy series is that this game really was a last-ditch effort and was close to not being created at all. Hironobu Sakaguchi had wanted to make an RPG for Square for a long time, but was never given permission by Square because they believed the product would not sell and essentially be a failure. Determined, Sakaguchi kept putting himself out there and pursuing his dream to release his RPG. When Square saw the success of another RPG that was released in Japan called Dragon Quest (now the Dragon Warrior franchise, interestingly created by Enix), they reconsidered their position on letting Sakaguchi release his RPG. Sakaguchi created a game called "Fighting Fantasy", which was finally approved by Square. The title was then later changed to "Final Fantasy" because it was believed at the time that this would be a "make-or-break" product for Square under threat of bankruptcy. The title of "Final Fantasy" also had personal meaning to Sakaguchi who said that if this product failed, he would end his career in the gaming industry.

Wow. To think how close this incredibly successful video game series was to never existing is mind-boggling. Not only would the face of role-playing games be very different today, the video game industry itself would be an arguably much different place.

Final Fantasy (also referred to as Final Fantasy I or the "original Final Fantasy") follows the story of four youths and their journey  to return light to their darkened crystals and save the world. A very basic sounding plot, but there wasn't really much room for plot twists and character development on an 8-bit video game system in 1987. And to be honest, they actually do manage to pull off a sort of plot "twist" near the end of the game. I'll get more into that later.

That said, Final Fantasy should get a lot of credit for actually creating a story at all in the small NES video game cartridge. Most video games that were released during that time had very little story whatsoever (Tetris, Donkey Kong, Mario) or stories that were only told through the game's instruction manuals (Zelda). In this way, Final Fantasy really set itself apart from the norm and established a good credibility for story telling that wound up defining the Final Fantasy series standard over the next few decades.

I will be playing the original, 1990 North American NES release of Final Fantasy. Since its initial release, this FF game has been remade, repackaged, and rereleased more than any other FF game, for a grand total of 13 individual versions of this game. Each one comes with different difficulty modifications, updates to graphics, updates to music, game mechanics and bugs updates, and so on. I've decided to play the original NES version of the game so that I truly get a feel for what the game was like when it was initially released and this will better allow me to comment on the advances in the FF series through time.

It's really easy to find a NES emulator on the internet and download a ROM of FF to play along on your own computer for free. I'm using FCEUX as my NES emulator to play the game, but I'll leave it up to you to track down a ROM of the game (legal mumbo jumbo).

As the days go by, I'll be commenting on my progress throughout the game and speak a bit about themes, game mechanics, graphics, music, etc along the way. There are lots of characteristics that define the FF series that can be traced all the way back to its 1987 roots.

Have you guys played Final Fantasy? If so, when did you play it and which version? Do you think this game still holds up today, nearly 30 years after it's inception?

Morphing the Challenge: A New Outlook

And so, a new adventure begins...

Over the last few days, I've had some really engaging conversations with some folks about the scope of the FF challenge I will be undertaking over the next year and given second thought to the idea of playing the FF games in a random order versus playing the games in the sequential order in which they were released.

Originally, the goal of the challenge was to play through 12 Final Fantasy games over the next 12 months without regard to the sequence of how I strung the games together. I figured that by keeping the game order random, it would stagger the various play styles, game mechanics, music arrangements, and graphics, which come with the games being developed on different game systems over the past 25 years. Additionally, if readers were particularly interested in FFXIII, for example, they may not necessarily have to wait until next August/September to actually see how the game played out or to play alongside me. That said, simply reading along with someone as they play a game could be somewhat....unenlightening? Further, maybe rushing through one game every thirty days wouldn't allow me (and readers) to fully explore the intricacies of what makes each title so special.

And so I have decided to morph the scope of this project. As others have stated, and I now agree, I am probably missing a wonderful opportunity here to fully explore not only what makes each individual title great, but also to explore the evolution of the series from a simple 8-bit Nintendo "last-ditch effort" to one of the greatest and most highly regarded roleplaying game series of all time. I am therefore changing the scope of this project to play each numbered Final Fantasy game in sequential order.

By playing the games in sequential order, it will give myself (and the readers) the ability to discuss changes to gameplay mechanics, character development, music arrangements, combat systems, graphics, etc and how those influenced (or were influenced by) current events and/or technology at the time. Removing the one year time constraint takes away some of the "challenge", but it also provides the opportunity for us (readers included here!) to really roll up our sleeves and dig into the nitty-gritty of these games and why they are important, not only to the video game industry, but to each of us on a personal level.

I'm looking forward to hearing (and playing along with) you all! Can't wait to get started.

Game #1: Final Fantasy VIII

Game #1: Final Fantasy VIII

Release Date: September 1999

Director: Yoshinori Kitase

Original System: Playstation, PC

Favorite Song: "Eyes on Me"

After a lot of debating back and forth, I have decided for my first game in the challenge to be Final Fantasy VIII. I chose FFVIII to be my first game because it is one of the few FF games that I have never beaten. I figured this challenge would give me good motivation to press on through the entirety of the game and also give me a good chance to blog/interact with the community on strategies, tips and tricks, storyline interpretation, favorite scenes, etc. Also, since the FF Playstation games are available through Playstation Network, I can transfer my save files back and forth between my PS3 and PSP, allowing me to play the game on the go (awesome functionality there!)

Goal for my challenge: Beat the storyline through to the credits and obtain all GFs.

Stretch goal: Defeat optional bosses Ultima Weapon and Omega Weapon

I absolutely welcome anyone out there to play along with me over the next month! I would love to hear your thoughts, strategies, and comments/complaints as we work our way through this game.

Now I'd like to hear a bit from you guys! How many of you out there have beaten FFVIII? How does it rank among your top favorite FF games?

The Mission: Quest Accepted!

Hi again! I'm going to take the time now to detail the challenge I will be undertaking over the next year. The mission (and I have chosen to accept it) is to play through all of the main (numbered) Final Fantasy games in 365 days.

This does not include FFXI and FFXIV, which are online installments in the series. Thank goodness too because MMOs really have no "end". I could easily spend all 365 days on just one of those games and perhaps never even beat the main storyline.....I'm looking at you FFXI! *cough*ChainsOfPromathia*cough*

So! What it boils down to is working my way through FF I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, XIII. That's a lot of roman numerals. 12 in fact. And wow isn't that convenient? 12 games in 12 months. Doable? Absolutely.

Since my curiosity was piqued, I dug into the details a little bit further (this could also be because I'm a scientist by day and statistics are another of my callings....). Breaking it down a bit more, this is how things shake out:

Assuming 100 hours per game x 12 games = 1200 hours 
1200 hours / 365 days = 3.29 hours per day

Again, this seems totally reasonable? The assumption that all 12 games will take 100 hours is probably giving me plenty of wiggle room. The early games in the series should take half of that time, allowing me some more time to play around in the later installments. :)

One more thing to note is what I actually consider "playing through the game". I'm going to consider the challenge complete for a given game once I reach the credits and thank you screen. This does not necessarily include obtaining ultimate weapons/gear/summons etc. It's also probably (okay, definitely) impractical to do any sort of stat maxing or perfect games. I'll try to mention at the outset some "stretch goals" for the games that may or may not include obtaining ultimate weapons, gear, etc.

I figured I would outline some of this stuff in the event that some readers down the line decide to play along with one of the games (or the entire 365 day challenge!). What do you guys think? Can I do it? ;)

And so the journey begins...

Hello out there!

I'm not sure how you came to stumble upon this blog, but I'm glad you did. Welcome!

If you have come to read this blog, you are probably a fan of the Final Fantasy series, like I am. I have been playing Final Fantasy since 1997, beginning with my first foray into the series - Final Fantasy VII. I became so enamored with every nuance of the game that I started branching out to play all the other games in the series, and to this day I struggle to pick a favorite. Every game in the series holds a special place in my heart, and no matter how many times I stray away playing non-FF games, I always wind up coming back to the series like a homesick child longing to be back in the comfort of family. 

Looking around online, there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of Final Fantasy-related blogs and websites out there. Unfortunately, I never really took advantage of the wonderful FF fanbase and community that is out there, full of people just waiting to express their passion of FF with others. 

As I approach my 28th birthday at the end of this month, I have decided that I would like to become involved and engaged in the FF online community and share my passion for FF games with others. So I have decided that my gift to myself for my birthday will be to spend the next year playing (and replaying) through the main series of FF games! I believe it will be a fun challenge and will give me a way to immerse myself with the larger FF community.

As I sit here typing this post and thinking about the challenge ahead of me, I cannot help but be reminded of the famous opening scene from Final Fantasy I as you cross the bridge north of Cornelia...

And so, it is here that I finish my first post. Over the next few posts, I plan to detail out some specifics of my final fantasy journey for the next year. I hope that some of you will join me in this endeavor, whether for the entirety of the year, or for just one of the games in the series! It's going to be a fun ride, and I cannot wait to get started!