UrbanWire

With the release of Final Fantasy XI this month, the game has indeed come a long way since its Nintendo days. Colin Koh looks at the series humble beginnings and the way it has revolutionised the gaming industry. Also, he takes the word on the street on what “Final Fantasy” means to different gamers.

From Concepts to Reality and Finally, Fantasy

20 titles. That is the number of games bearing the name Final Fantasy that SquareEnix (formerly SquareSoft) has produced to date. In the gaming industry where most series either die out by their second instalment; or fade into obscurity like the Army Men series, this impressive feat is considered second to none.

Yet, for all its vaunted fame and critical appraisal, Final Fantasy indubitably has the most inaccurate name in all of videogame history. Ironically, with each title selling far more copies than the previous, it'll be a long time before the name becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Dream that Nearly Faded
It began in 1987 when creator Hironobu Sakaguchi became desperate for a game that would not only save his company from bankruptcy, but also revolutionise the way games are played and made.

Back then, role-playing games (RPGs) were slowly becoming popular, thanks to the introduction of rival company's – Enix – Dragon Quest series. Sakaguchi felt that SquareEnix could “borrow” the basic formula behind Enix's success, while significantly improving the elements of the game such that it would not be taken as a cheap rip-off.

Thus, SquareEnix channelled all its resources, hopes and dreams into this one title that, if successful, would pull SquareEnix back from the edge of catastrophe; and if not, become the dream that was not to be. That dream is what we salute today.

Thankfully, the latter scenario never got a chance to crystallise and with each sequel raising the benchmark further, the series continue to enchant audiences worldwide visually, aurally and most importantly, emotionally. Join UrbanWire as we celebrate the past, present and needless to say, future of Final Fantasy in this first of 4 weekly instalments.

And In the Beginning, There Was Light: Final Fantasy I

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