Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy SNES Console Should Have Been A Real Thing

I’ve always preferred the PAL/Japanese Super Nintendo to the American one. Not just for its more elegant design, but for its timeless colour palette. This custom console takes that theme and goes all Final Fantasy with it, and I love it We all need more Chocobos on our console power buttons, but it’s the controller…

Happy 20th Birthday, Final Fantasy VI

Twenty years ago, an RPG called Final Fantasy VI came out in Japan, and really, it’s all just been downhill for video games since then. Square’s seminal RPG for the Super Nintendo was filled with issues: buggy skills; weird translations; way too many fights that were way too easy. But somehow, against all odds, the…

If Final Fantasy Battles Were Actually Dance-Offs

Using attack moves and magic is so boring. Why not get down and dance it out instead? Now that would make for an interesting battle! Mike Song is back with a Final Fantasy themed choreography, and it’s fantastic to watch—it even has nice little touches like having the dancers do idle animations of sorts: Here’s…

Square Enix Has Finally Realized That People Like JRPGs

Once upon a time ago, a Japanese company named Squaresoft made lots and lots of RPGs that people really really liked. Today, a Japanese company named Square Enix makes video games. One of those games, an RPG called Bravely Default, sold a lot of copies both in Japan and in the west, which has made…

Final Fantasy Turned into a Religious Experience

The Ise Grand Shrine is one of Japan’s most important Shinto Shrines. This week, as the Emperor and Empress visit, the shrine is launching a new web animation with music from Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. The tune might sound familiar. The composition closely resembles the Final Fantasy “Prelude”—if it’s not, you know, simply that…

You Can Cosplay In Secret, Wearing Regular Clothes

Regardless of the personality of the person wearing the outfit, cosplay is an incredibly extroverted pastime by virtue of what it is: a human being walking around dressed as a make-believe character, usually from a fantasy or science-fiction universe. That being the case, it’s certainly not for everyone. At least not all of the time.…

It Takes A Special Game To Make Me This Obsessive, Bravely Default

I’m fifty-two hours into my first play-through of Bravely Default: Where the Fairy Flies. All four of my characters are level 99, each has all 24 of the game’s jobs mastered. I’ve not maxed-out levels and jobs in a Final Fantasy game in… ever. Recently Jason Schreier wrote about a column by BuzzFeed’s Rachel Sanders…

Final Fantasy XIV… As A Super Nintendo Game

Square Enix made this video. It’s wonderful—like their 16-bit FFXIII video—and makes me wish they’d turn this into a real game. Here’s what that boss looks like in the real Final Fantasy XIV, by the way:

The Best Final Fantasy Music

Over the past couple of decades, Final Fantasy has done many things very well: stories, characters, art direction, chocobos, all that jazz. But one thing has always made Final Fantasy stand out among its peers: the music. Most of the credit for that music goes to Nobuo Uematsu, the tremendously talented composer responsible for the…

Final Fantasy XIV Originally Failed Because of… Flowerpots

Well, that explains everything. As we all know, the first iteration of the second Final Fantasy MMORPG, released in 2010, pretty much sucked. Players were miffed, which prompted Square Enix to rework and re-release the game in 2013 as A Realm Reborn, to much better results. But what caused FFXIV to fail in the first…

Final Fantasy X Gave Me Control, After Spinal Surgery Took It Away

I owe a lot to Final Fantasy X. It was the first game to end up meaning a lot to me. It was the first game I poured over obsessively, thumbing through a thick guidebook to make sure I’d discovered all the celestial weapons for every character. The first game I would start right back…

13 Years Later, Final Fantasy X Is Still Great

I have spent ~20 hours playing the HD remake of Final Fantasy X—out today for PS3 and Vita. In short, it’s wonderful. Play it. To try to capture what my experience has been like, here are the notes I took while playing FFX on PS3, presented with no edits whatsoever: Wow this game looks great.…

The Most Badass Weapons In Final Fantasy

As cool as the Buster sword and Gunblades are, they’re not the only memorable weapons in Final Fantasy, you know. IGN here walks us through their pick of the 15 coolest weapons in Final Fantasy, though I’m curious as to what y’all would vote as the best weapons in the game. Mind, I don’t mean…

Final Fantasy Artwork Auction At Gallery Nucleus

Gallery Nucleus is hosting a Final Fantasy art exhibition and online auction: FINAL FANTASY X/X2 HD GAME LAUNCH EXHIBITION / SIGNING March 15, 2014 – March 26, 2014 Opening Reception / Mar 15, 2:00PM – 8:00PM TODAY! Online Bidding Opens / Mar 15, 2:00PM Bidding Closes / Mar 26, 11:00PM

Bioshock Infinite And Portal T-Shirts

New video game t-shirts at Gametee: Rapture Aperture Fixtures Tifa’s 7th Heaven

Final Fantasy XIV’s 2.2 update is upon us. The changes are outlined in this eight-minute video, but the gist is this: new dungeons, new quests, a raid that’s supposed to be hard (the hardest the game has ever seen), and a way to swap armor stats that looks similar to Guild Wars 2’s transmutation system.…

The Final Fantasy Type-0 Fan Translation Comes Out In August

The story of Final Fantasy Type-0 is long and depressing: released for PSP in 2011, Square Enix’s role-playing game never made it outside of Japan, despite being announced at E3 in North America, and for years now, fans have been wondering whether we’ll ever get to play it in English. (Adding insult to injury: I’ve…

Tetsuya Nomura Picks The Three Best Lightning Fanart

Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy character designer Tetsuya Nomura recently judged a fanart contest at deviantART, which featured the Final Fantasy XIII series’ recurring protagonist and costume aficionado, Lightning. After looking through literally thousands of submissions, he picked three. Here they are. The press release announcing the winners also had comments from Nomura for each…

Everyday Choices Are a Lot Harder in Final Fantasy VII

When it comes to the routine of daily life, Final Fantasy VII doesn’t leave you with many good options. Take grocery shopping with Cloud, for example, as imagined by Fox’s Animation Domination Hi-Def

Final Fantasy Themed Weddings Sure Are Romantic

Sweet and adorable, too! If you plan on getting married, may I suggest doing something like this? While the bride and groom dressed as Final Fantasy characters White Mage and Squall, those attending the wedding were encouraged to dress as their favorite characters—Final Fantasy or not. “Not all guests and relatives know Final Fantasy so…