Gaming Wednesdays 3: The (de?)evolution of Final Fantasy - Part I

The original Final Fantasy was released  on December 17th 1987, almost a year after the first Dragon Warrior. Following the Dragon Warrior formula of swords and sorcery fantasy but improving on the exploration and battle mechanics, Final Fantasy quickly became a prominent name in the RPG genre. Featuring a turn-based battle mechanic and a large and somewhat open world, the game tickled the imagination of those fortunate enough to play it.

Since this first title, the franchise has undergone many revisions. Many fans of the series, as does my friend, have commented on how the series began an exponential rise in quality which peaked somewhere between Final Fantasy VI or Final Fantasy VII, and since then the series has been in a steady decline. I'm here to argue that this is not the case, that the history of Final Fantasy and the quality of its (main, numbered) games is filled with ups and downs, and that, if graphed, it would look more like a cordillera than a lone peak. 

Final Fantasy II was released on 1988, and featured a more complex story than the previous fantasy. Eschewing the generic 'Warriors of Light are out to save the world' narrative in favor of more fleshed out characters and an empire at war, Final Fantasy II upped the ante on complex stories - at least on stories as complex as could be told in an 8-bit NES cartridge. In addition, the second Fantasy introduced several elements that have been since recurring, including Cid and Chocobos. On the other hand, the battle and character development mechanics, which were based on frequency of use of independent skills rather than traditional leveling up systems that we have become familiar with. Depending on the critic, Final Fantasy II is either a slight step up from the first Fantasy if one can get past the battle system, or a step down from the previous title because of the battle system. 

Final Fantasy III, released on 1990, introduced the well-loved jobs system later used in Final Fantasy V and Tactics and which influenced many of the job systems used in the modern Fantasies. However, with the focus of the narrative focusing once again on crystals, the story was less complex than the one presented in Final Fantasy II. The fact that the characters (in the original version) were unremarkable generic "Onion Kids" sprites didn't help the story either (although this was later addressed in the DS version). Despite the better battle and job system, the quality of the narrative and characters took enough of a hit for it to be considered a drop in Final Fantasy quality. 

Final Fantasy IV, released on 1991 for the SNES, was a tremendous leap in the quality of the Fantasy games. With a compelling story featuring a dark knight looking for redemption and a dragoon torn between loyalty to the kingdom and loyalty to his best friends, it becomes impossible to deny that the leap in storytelling was tremendous. With interesting and complex (for a 16 bit game) characters, including a rogue prince-bard, Final Fantasy IV managed to captivate the imagination of half a generation of SNES gamers.

There is an almost universal consensus that Final Fantasy V (1992) represented a drop in quality for the Final Fantasy franchise. Despite a mildly interesting main character Butz, and a somewhat promising premise to the story which includes an alien meteor crash-landing into the Fantasy world, the implementation of the narrative is lackluster and never goes beyond *go there, do this*. Quickly, the interest in the characters becomes almost null and the focus of the narrative is lost to yet another crystal quest. At the very least, the upgrades done to the jobs system originally presented in the third Fantasy were indeed remarkable, and would help to set the tone for future job systems. 

This leads us to Final Fantasy VI (1994), unquestionably the best 2d Fantasy and what many consider the pinnacle of the Final Fantasy franchise. Final Fantasy VI featured a multi-character party system that allowed players to select which characters were more useful based on their abilities. Locke, a treasure hunter with a hero complex, is the only one who can steal from enemies, while Prince Edgar, a love-stricken prince with a submergible castle, is the only one who can use tools such as crossbows and chainsaws. Meanwhile, Gau, a kid abandoned in the monster-ridden veldt, can learn the abilities of enemies, the amnesic witch Terra can morph into a being of pure magic, and the sorceress Celes can absorb magic attacks thrown at the party. There is a total of fourteen playable characters, each of them with their own unique skills and personalities. It is these characters and their quirks and multi-layered personalities that make them so appealing, as they traverse the world through one of the most compelling narratives in any Final Fantasy. With The Empire threatening to take over the world and the magic in the world dying, the heroes find themselves in a struggle against Kefka's machinations. This leads to a major plot twist the likes of which would not be seen for another 20 years in a Final Fantasy game. For spoilers, check out the video below. 

Final Fantasy VI represents the highest point of videogame storytelling in all the pre-Sony fantasies, and to many every Final Fantasy game since represents a steady decline in quality. However, is this really the case?

To answer that question, make sure to tune in next week, when I tackle the 3D fantasies.