Gameplay of Final Fantasy

Although each installment of the Final Fantasy series is generally set in a different fictional world with separate storylines, there are several commonalities from game to game when it comes to gameplay, many aspects of which have remained relatively consistent throughout the series.

Parties and battles

Throughout the Final Fantasy series, the most basic element of the gameplay has been that players command a party of characters during battle. The maximum size of the party has been as low as two and as high as eight, depending on the game. Players must face a variety of enemies who continually try to damage the player, as well as afflict "status ailments" upon the characters, such as poisoning them or putting them to sleep. Many of the games feature a random encounter system, where the player is randomly drawn into battle with enemies that are not visible on the map. This remained true of the numbered entries in the series until Final Fantasy XI changed to a system where all enemies are visible as the player explores the game world.

Final Fantasy (video game)

Final Fantasy (ファイナルファンタジー, Fainaru Fantajī) is a fantasy role-playing video game created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, developed and first published in Japan by Square (now Square Enix) in 1987. It is the first game in Square's Final Fantasy series. Originally released for the NES, Final Fantasy was remade for several video game consoles and is frequently packaged with Final Fantasy II in video game collections. The story follows four youths called the Light Warriors, who each carry one of their world's four elemental orbs which have been darkened by the four Elemental Fiends. Together, they quest to defeat these evil forces, restore light to the orbs, and save their world.

The game was originally going to be called Fighting Fantasy, but the name was changed to Final Fantasy when the development team discovered Fighting Fantasy was the title of a series of single-player roleplay gamebooks.

Square believed the game would be the last title they ever released, as the company faced bankruptcy. Instead, the game was a great commercial success, received generally positive reviews, and spawned many successful sequels and supplementary titles in the form of the Final Fantasy series. The original is now regarded as one of the most influential and successful role-playing games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, playing a major role in popularizing the genre. Critical praise focused on the game's graphics, while criticism targeted the time spent wandering in search of random battle encounters to raise the player's experience level. By March 2003, all versions of Final Fantasy have sold a combined total of two million copies worldwide.

Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy IV (ファイナルファンタジーIV, Fainaru Fantajī Fō, also known as Final Fantasy II for its initial North American release) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System platform. Released in 1991, it is the fourth main installment of the Final Fantasy series. The game's story follows Cecil, a dark knight, as he tries to prevent the sorcerer Golbez from seizing powerful crystals and destroying the world. He is joined on this quest by a frequently changing group of allies. Final Fantasy IV introduced innovations that became staples of the Final Fantasy series and role-playing games in general. Its "Active Time Battle" system was used in five subsequent Final Fantasy games, and unlike prior games in the series, IV gave each character their own unchangeable character class.

Final Fantasy IV has been ported to several other platforms with varying differences. An enhanced remake, also called Final Fantasy IV, with 3D graphics was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007 and 2008. The game was re-titled Final Fantasy II during its initial release outside Japan as the original Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III had not been released outside Japan at the time. However, later localizations used the original title.

List of Final Fantasy compilation albums

Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. There have been a number of compilation albums of Final Fantasy music produced by Square Enix, as well as several albums produced by outside groups, both officially and unofficially licensed. These albums include music directly from the games, as well as arrangements covering a variety of styles, such as orchestral, piano, vocal, and techno.

Square Enix produced the first album, Final Fantasy 1987–1994, in 1994. Since then, Square Enix has produced thirteen albums, leading up to Final Fantasy Remix in 2008. The first compilation album produced by an outside group was The Best of Final Fantasy 1994–1999: A Musical Tribute, released in 2000 by Sherman F. Heinig; the newest is Voices of the Lifestream, a download-only album from OverClocked ReMix released in 2007.

Albums

See also

Fantasy (1938 magazine)

Fantasy was a British pulp science fiction magazine which published three issues in 1938 and 1939. The editor was T. Stanhope Sprigg; when the war started, he enlisted in the RAF and the magazine was closed down. The publisher, George Newnes Ltd, paid respectable rates, and as a result Sprigg was able to obtain some good quality material, including stories by John Wyndham, Eric Frank Russell, and John Russell Fearn.

Publication history

The first U.S. science fiction (sf) magazine, Amazing Stories, was imported into the U.K. from its launch in 1926, and other magazines from the U.S. market were also available in the U.K. from an early date. However, no British sf magazine was launched until 1934, when Pearson's launched Scoops, a weekly in tabloid format aimed at the juvenile market. Soon Haydn Dimmock, Scoops' editor, began to receive more sophisticated stories, targeted at an adult audience; he tried to change the magazine's focus to include more mature fiction but within twenty issues falling sales led Pearson's to kill the magazine. The failure of Scoops gave British publishers the impression that Britain could not support a science fiction publication.

Fantasy (group)

Fantasy is an urban pop vocal group based in New York who scored several hits on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, including "You're Too Late", which hit number one in 1981.

Group members include Ken Roberson, Fonda Rae, Tami Hunt, Rufus Jackson and Carolyn Edwards. The groups' producer, Tony Valor, continued to use the name in 1985 when they released an Italo disco-influenced single called "He's My Number One."

History

"You're Too Late" was a number-one dance hit in the United States. It had a five week reign at the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in early 1981. It also reached the top 30 on the Soul Singles chart.

In 1982, the band released a pop-soul number entitled "Hold On Tight", which peaked at number 35 on the Dance Club chart, followed by "Live the Life I Love", boogie song that had reached #41 position on the same chart by 1983.

Their last successful track titled "He's Number One" reached #37 on the Dance chart in 1986.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Fantasy (Bashy song)

"Fantasy" is a dance-pop song by British rapper Bashy, featuring vocals from Indian singer and actress, Preeya Kalidas. The song was released as a single on July 26, 2010 via digital download, as the lead single from Bashy's upcoming second studio album, The Great Escape. The single will also be included on Kalidas' debut album, I'm Over It. The music video for Fantasy was filmed in Los Angeles, whilst Bashy was supporting Gorillaz' North American tour. The video does not feature Kalidas. The single charted at #88 on the UK Singles Chart.

Track listing

Chart performance

References