Finished Final Fantasy Five
A while back (2023?) I made a goal to play all mainline Final Fantasy games. I don't have much affinity for the series - having played none of them when I was younger (I played Golden Sun instead). But it seemed like a big gap in my gaming knowledge.
While playing the first Final Fantasy I found myself surprised at both the lack of story (this is it, really?) and what they were able to do with 1987 technology (though I was playing the pixel remaster). The only real context for the FF series I had before starting this journey was Final Fantasy XIV (the MMO). I enjoyed playing it as an MMO, but the Final Fantasy of it all didn't really do much for me.
After beating 5, I now have some clues as to what Final Fantasy is and I'm curious if these elements sustain throughout the entire series, or how they may evolve.
Here is my current list of what a Final Fantasy is:
Cid - A character that shows up and is a master of technology. He fixes airships, adds new gadgets to your repertoire, and tries his best to do what's right. His backstory seems to change with the game and sometimes he has others around him, but all-in-all, Cid seems pretty cool.
Airships - Final Fantasy is giant steampunk ass airships that sometimes turn into submersibles, plows, and are capable of whatever the game needs them to be capable of. Yours is usually cool. Sometimes there are bigger, cooler ones that you can't pilot but can sometimes run around on. Dreadnought from FF2 -
Gags - Final Fantasy loves a good gag. There are visual gags like one member of your party waking up on the floor after spending a night at the inn. There are localization gags like a reference to TMNT where a sage turtle claims he hasn't spent the last few centuries eating pizza down in the cave he's in. There are in-game gags where the character will lay flat on the ground while you move to avoid the enemies seeing them through a window. Even in the first game, they had a tombstone with a reference to various RPG characters depending on the version you're playing ("Here lies Link" was what I saw).
Little weirdos - In a world of weirdos, chocobos and moogles are some of the best. It's surprising how much character they're given with such little dialogue and screentime. I found myself smiling every time Bartz talked with Boko in this latest installment.
Warriors of Light / Crystals - Each game revolves around chosen warriors of light who have been placed on the earth to fight capital 'E' Evil.
Big giant end fight - Each game ended with a huge multi-phase fight against some Evil god, demon, weird multi-bodied lunatic, etc.
So far, I've been enjoying the journey. I'm excited for 6 and 7 (hah!) as I've heard they're some of the best games in the series. As I work through 6 I'll see if it has all the elements I've listed above and maybe find a new thing to add!