Final Fantasy is an RPG~! *Please note! This isn't supposed to be an indepth essay on Square Enix or the FF series. Just consider it the babbling of an idiot, with some facts and possibly ranting thrown in. Because something had to go in the info section, right?
Will this have something to do with crystals?
The Final Fantasy series was originally developed by Square, with the first game appearing on the Famicom/NES twenty years ago this year, way back in 1987 (1990 in North America). Square Co. Ltd was founded in 1983 by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Masafumi Miyamoto, and their first few games were released on the Famicom, but were not successful. By 1987 they were on the verge of bankruptcy, and partly inspired by the success of Enix's Dragon Quest, Square decided to go for broke and make a last ditch effort with a new RPG. The result of this was, of course, Final Fantasy, which proved to be far more successful than anyone could ever have anticipated. The name comes from the fact that this was supposed to be Square's and Sakaguchi's final game. Twelve games, two animated movies, an anime series, plenty of other spin offs and lots of profit later makes this very ironic. Square has gone from strength to strength, and have expanded the company hugely over the years, particularly after a merger with Enix in 2003. Aside from the FF series, Square Enix's other franchises include the Seiken Densetsu (Mana), Chrono, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest and Star Ocean series. Namely, some of the biggest RPG names around. Their games have been released on every major games system, with the company branching into the still newish mobile phone market. The company has also published manga for a few of these games, and some very popular standalone titles (you may have heard of Fullmetal Alchemist?) Square Enix have also made films - two, to be exact. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was produced before the merger with Enix, and didn't do very well. That other little film they made, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was, to make the understatement of the year, better received.Square quickly followed up the success of Final Fantasy with Final Fantasy II. The name may have been a bit misleading, as it wasn't a direct sequel - as has been the case with all the Final Fantasy games. Up until X-2, at least, and that was really opening a can of worms, as Compilations and sequels in the series appear to be becoming the norm. But while all of the stories are different, and take place in different worlds (for the most part), they all share recurring elements and motifs, marking the games apart from other RPGs and making them uniquely Final Fantasy. As the years have gone by, the stories and characters have become more intriguing, indepth and complicated, as has the gameplay. And when it comes to gameplay, everyone has their preference - some people adore the sphere grid of FFX, while others prefer FFVII's materia system. And of course, technology has improved the visuals and music dramatically, with breath taking FMVs and beautiful scores (Oh, Nobuo, we love you) being expected and demanded. But hopefully the pretty isn't the only reason you play these games, eh?
As I type, there are 12 games in the main series, with a 13th announced for the Playstation 3 and rumoured to be released in 2007. But really, while we all love Square Enix a whole lot, let's not trust too much to that, at least not for North America and especially not Europe and Australia. (I may as well mention that I am a slightly bitter European. Games take too long to get here) Various remakes and ports have been made of the older games, meaning that Final Fantasy games have appeared on most gaming platforms - making them hugely accessible for everyone. So if you're curious about the series and haven't yet played one, you should totally go pick up one of the games. And a DS, because you can get all the old school remakes on that. For great gaming justice!