Good day! I would like to begin this article by congratulating a few people on an incredible document. Some people from all over the world and from different fan-sites put in a whole lot of time and effort into something they really love and created a great thing. The one thing they all had in common: their love for the Final Fantasy saga. I took notice of it through the good people at Final Fantasy Network. (http://www.finalfantasy.net/misc/celebrating-25-years-final-fantasybrunofficial-celebration-emagazine/#comments)
While reading this incredible 129-page document, my eyes opened up to some amazing facts. Facts that I never even thought about while previously playing through these epics. I myself have only played through VI to XIII of the main series and so those are the ones I can speak of. Never had I realized this before but, Final Fantasy has truly influenced an entire generation's way of thinking. Whether it comes to politics, religion, or important life lessons such as the loss of loved ones, this game taught us all a lot while we were still at a young age. Let's take a closer look.
I will begin with the numerically first of the titles I had the pleasure of playing through. And, even though I was engulfed in the world of FF VI quite recently, I must say it was enticing, despite it being in 16-bit sprites. The most shocking scenes in this whole story was when the villain, Kefka, decided to kill an entire nation by poisoning it's water supply. And the second was when one of the heroes, General Celes, deprived of all hope since the planet had crumbled into oblivion and she didn't know the whereabouts of her comrades, decided to end her own life. There were other moments as well, but just through these two it is obvious that the main concept of this title was the loss of hope.
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Then there was VII. Instant classic, for some the best game that ever graced the series, the cries for a remake have been endless. What this game's story had was never seen or heard of before, especially for a video game. This game tackled issues such as environmentalism, what goes on behind the scenes in politics, combining science and magic, and it even went so far as to address psychological issues. The main character, Cloud, had actually created a persona of himself based on past experiences of his deceased friend Zack. Cloud was subject to a matter of experiments that he did not have memory of and because of this, he sometimes didn't have control of his own actions. The saddest moment in this game was when Cloud's nemesis Sephiroth impaled Aerith, a young flower girl Cloud had met in the slums. The reason for this became apparent quite a while later in the game's story.
Final Fantasy VIII seemed to have more of a "high-school musical" theme at first, except the high-school was actually training students to go to war instead of being able to become useful members of society. Still, you could see how they got along with each other and that was what this addition to the series tried to address. How teenagers fail to communicate what they're truly feeling, how heavy burdens can be when trying to take them on alone and how opening up to others can really help you out. Other important issues in this game were tyranny and the effects of time-travel.
It may have seemed to be a bit of a return to the classics with the release of FF IX one year later, but that wasn't the case. Handling issues such as the effects of a monarchy, being overindulgent with power, and being full of philosophy about life, the colorful creatures of this title had many things to teach and even more to be taught. The way this story went from serious, to humorous, to action-packed, all in a fully Shakespearean England environment was truly a marvel to the sore eyes. Players have returned to this title time and time again, just to get a taste of how things used to be.
Final Fantasy X was the first step in the next generation. Better graphics, better sound that included voices for the characters, a lot of neat stuff was added to the series. What wasn't lost though was the fact that the series continued to talk about important life matters. FF X went into a sort of sensitive area. Religion. According to this title, people followed a certain religion blindly. Because it was they're only hope for salvation. Only a few dared to question it and they were excommunicated and treated as outcasts. The people at the head of this religion (known as Maesters) were the only ones that knew the truth. But, in their words, hope was the only thing that was left for the people. Take away their hope and they have nothing. A certain someone arrived from 1000 years in the past. He had a fresh outlook on things and questioned them. Why should this be like this and not like that? Did you ever stop to think that you could do things another way and not just blindly follow whatever they tell you? Eventually, this young man's outlook on things is what ended up saving an entire planet from it's fate. His name was Tidus. But, what that game taught us is that we should be able to question things for our selves before choosing to follow them.
Moving on to XII (I didn't play XI), politics found it's way back into the games. A lot of VII's dirty, behind-the-scenes, tricks along with IX's corruption of power theme was found here, along with a bit of a new theme. Family affairs in politics and in business in general. Whether it was House Solidor's indecisiveness as to which of the two brothers was best suited to lead the Archadian Empire after Emperor Gramis's resignation, or ex-judge magister's Balthier good-gone-bad relationship with his father after he, the highly profound scientist Cid became obsessed with the manufacture of nethicite, this addition to the series always spoke of some broken family, one way or another. It always seemed that these characters were looking for a missing part in their life. Yet another new theme here was revenge and it's consequences. Lady Ashe of Dalmasca desires revenge upon the Archadian Empire for the death of her father and husband during the war that enslaved her dukedom, but to claim it she knows that it would only bring more hardship to her people. So after a lot of inner turmoil, she decides against it. The voices for this title where quite excellent, British royalty standards!
Nowadays a new epic is reaching it's conclusion, with the FF XIII trilogy. The issues at hand on this latest addition to the series are challenging one's fate, making your own destiny and how we could all be part of an even bigger plan. It was something in between politics and religion, since at the head of the human society wad a god-like entity that provided them with everything they needed -including sunlight! In the second part of this three-parter, XIII-2, the theme was how far would you go for your loved one and hope. The frailty of the human race was also addressed here, as was the time-space issue. F.e. how could a person's actions in one time and place affect the future of another time and place. And what could be done to set things right, if there was anything that could be done at all.
So, there you have it. A series full of life lessons with each new chapter that is brought to us. Whether it is how people play on the dirty field of politics, or which other way they decide to use the people (religion), Final Fantasy has taught this generation that not only is it alright to ask questions, but sometimes it can be vital! Also, handling matters such as death, loneliness, loss of hope, making the best out of the small happy moments of life is another thing this series has always had a knack for. Delivering a few good laughs when appropriate, full of action-packed battling, this series always had a great way of story-telling that took your breath away every time you got to that next chapter. A little taste of what I mean is just below... And, despite all of this, the best is yet to come!
While reading this incredible 129-page document, my eyes opened up to some amazing facts. Facts that I never even thought about while previously playing through these epics. I myself have only played through VI to XIII of the main series and so those are the ones I can speak of. Never had I realized this before but, Final Fantasy has truly influenced an entire generation's way of thinking. Whether it comes to politics, religion, or important life lessons such as the loss of loved ones, this game taught us all a lot while we were still at a young age. Let's take a closer look.
I will begin with the numerically first of the titles I had the pleasure of playing through. And, even though I was engulfed in the world of FF VI quite recently, I must say it was enticing, despite it being in 16-bit sprites. The most shocking scenes in this whole story was when the villain, Kefka, decided to kill an entire nation by poisoning it's water supply. And the second was when one of the heroes, General Celes, deprived of all hope since the planet had crumbled into oblivion and she didn't know the whereabouts of her comrades, decided to end her own life. There were other moments as well, but just through these two it is obvious that the main concept of this title was the loss of hope.
\
Then there was VII. Instant classic, for some the best game that ever graced the series, the cries for a remake have been endless. What this game's story had was never seen or heard of before, especially for a video game. This game tackled issues such as environmentalism, what goes on behind the scenes in politics, combining science and magic, and it even went so far as to address psychological issues. The main character, Cloud, had actually created a persona of himself based on past experiences of his deceased friend Zack. Cloud was subject to a matter of experiments that he did not have memory of and because of this, he sometimes didn't have control of his own actions. The saddest moment in this game was when Cloud's nemesis Sephiroth impaled Aerith, a young flower girl Cloud had met in the slums. The reason for this became apparent quite a while later in the game's story.
Final Fantasy VIII seemed to have more of a "high-school musical" theme at first, except the high-school was actually training students to go to war instead of being able to become useful members of society. Still, you could see how they got along with each other and that was what this addition to the series tried to address. How teenagers fail to communicate what they're truly feeling, how heavy burdens can be when trying to take them on alone and how opening up to others can really help you out. Other important issues in this game were tyranny and the effects of time-travel.
It may have seemed to be a bit of a return to the classics with the release of FF IX one year later, but that wasn't the case. Handling issues such as the effects of a monarchy, being overindulgent with power, and being full of philosophy about life, the colorful creatures of this title had many things to teach and even more to be taught. The way this story went from serious, to humorous, to action-packed, all in a fully Shakespearean England environment was truly a marvel to the sore eyes. Players have returned to this title time and time again, just to get a taste of how things used to be.
Final Fantasy X was the first step in the next generation. Better graphics, better sound that included voices for the characters, a lot of neat stuff was added to the series. What wasn't lost though was the fact that the series continued to talk about important life matters. FF X went into a sort of sensitive area. Religion. According to this title, people followed a certain religion blindly. Because it was they're only hope for salvation. Only a few dared to question it and they were excommunicated and treated as outcasts. The people at the head of this religion (known as Maesters) were the only ones that knew the truth. But, in their words, hope was the only thing that was left for the people. Take away their hope and they have nothing. A certain someone arrived from 1000 years in the past. He had a fresh outlook on things and questioned them. Why should this be like this and not like that? Did you ever stop to think that you could do things another way and not just blindly follow whatever they tell you? Eventually, this young man's outlook on things is what ended up saving an entire planet from it's fate. His name was Tidus. But, what that game taught us is that we should be able to question things for our selves before choosing to follow them.
Moving on to XII (I didn't play XI), politics found it's way back into the games. A lot of VII's dirty, behind-the-scenes, tricks along with IX's corruption of power theme was found here, along with a bit of a new theme. Family affairs in politics and in business in general. Whether it was House Solidor's indecisiveness as to which of the two brothers was best suited to lead the Archadian Empire after Emperor Gramis's resignation, or ex-judge magister's Balthier good-gone-bad relationship with his father after he, the highly profound scientist Cid became obsessed with the manufacture of nethicite, this addition to the series always spoke of some broken family, one way or another. It always seemed that these characters were looking for a missing part in their life. Yet another new theme here was revenge and it's consequences. Lady Ashe of Dalmasca desires revenge upon the Archadian Empire for the death of her father and husband during the war that enslaved her dukedom, but to claim it she knows that it would only bring more hardship to her people. So after a lot of inner turmoil, she decides against it. The voices for this title where quite excellent, British royalty standards!
Nowadays a new epic is reaching it's conclusion, with the FF XIII trilogy. The issues at hand on this latest addition to the series are challenging one's fate, making your own destiny and how we could all be part of an even bigger plan. It was something in between politics and religion, since at the head of the human society wad a god-like entity that provided them with everything they needed -including sunlight! In the second part of this three-parter, XIII-2, the theme was how far would you go for your loved one and hope. The frailty of the human race was also addressed here, as was the time-space issue. F.e. how could a person's actions in one time and place affect the future of another time and place. And what could be done to set things right, if there was anything that could be done at all.
So, there you have it. A series full of life lessons with each new chapter that is brought to us. Whether it is how people play on the dirty field of politics, or which other way they decide to use the people (religion), Final Fantasy has taught this generation that not only is it alright to ask questions, but sometimes it can be vital! Also, handling matters such as death, loneliness, loss of hope, making the best out of the small happy moments of life is another thing this series has always had a knack for. Delivering a few good laughs when appropriate, full of action-packed battling, this series always had a great way of story-telling that took your breath away every time you got to that next chapter. A little taste of what I mean is just below... And, despite all of this, the best is yet to come!
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