Final Fantasy is pretty cool, innit?
I have pretty spotty experience with Final Fantasy. I’ve played some of the games that have evolved from the series, like Kingdom Hearts, and I’ve been a fan of FF14 since Shadowbringers came out. I’ve played a lot of games in the series to some degree, but I’ve actually finished surprisingly little of it overall, and I’ve never beaten any of the singleplayer mainline numbered games. But I’ve always been interested in the series and its history, as well as its impact on the gaming landscape as a whole. So, in the back of my mind, I’ve always had a thought like, “I should really play the series one day, since I enjoy JRPGs so much.” Though, with things happening, with other games catching my attention, and so on, the idea was left on the pile, in a state of limbo.
Then, headfallsoff, someone I follow on Bluesky, posted a list on Backloggd with the title “Final Fantasy Extended Canon.” The list contained one hundred and ninety games in it, and the description reads partly as follows:
“This is every Final Fantasy, every tangentially connected game, every spiritual successor, every clone, every fan game and total conversion, even every tangentially connected game's spiritual successor's spiritual successor's sci-fi spin off. You will never beat every Final Fantasy game.”
They then went on to explain that there was some logic behind the shitposting, that the list was meant to be a representation of Final Fantasy thematically, “including the offshoots and seeds that came from it, rather than tracking a series as a brand.” And it was funny! The list was funny. It was interesting to scroll through it and see games I recognised and had played. There was a lot I didn’t know about and a lot of cool games I hadn’t seen before.
Then, about an hour later, I had a terrible idea.
What if I played them all?
This will be a series of posts about my experiences playing through this list of games. It is by no means comprehensive, nor will there be a post for every single game (because some of them I just won't have much to say about), but will instead be a chronicle of the highs, lows, and interesting bits of the experience. A few housekeeping notes and rules before we get into it. First off, here’s the ruleset I set for myself before starting the list.
1. The list must be played in release order.
2. Preferably, I would play the original game, unless there are definitive versions like the Kingdom Hearts Final Mix revisions. Assume this rule is followed unless stated otherwise.
3. Any game I've already played I don't have to replay unless I want to.
4. Any mobile game can be completed by watching the cutscenes on YouTube, regardless of whether they're still actively playable or not. I'm not playing another gacha game.
5. The MMO content can be done at any pace, not release order, as long as it is finished before the final game on the list. This is mostly so I don’t have to stop and start playing FF11.
6. Any other exceptions or special circumstances will have a note on the game.
7. I can drop a game and move on to the next if I want but I have to give the game a solid fair shake first before the decision is made. This is largely vibes based.
8. Rules are subject to being broken or changed at any time if I really feel like it. Ultimately, this list is something to have fun with, not torture myself over.
Secondly, regardless of what I have to say about any of these games, I do not want to make anyone feel bad for liking what they like. You aren’t stupid for disagreeing with me; my opinion is not law. This goes for every game on this list, but especially to SaGa fans because I have a feeling that series and I are going to mesh like oil and water.
Thirdly, I haven’t played a lot of Dragon Quest. I’ve tried a few different titles but have never beaten any of them. I don’t really like Dragon Quest. So if Dragon Quest is the one to credit for a particular advancement or genre trend and I don’t mention it, my apologies. I am limited by my own experiences, after all. This shouldn’t be too big of an issue, if it even becomes one at all, but it kept bothering me that I didn’t mention it, so.
And finally, thanks to headfallsoff for making this list in the first place. If you're interested, here's their list. This was a very interesting idea and I'm thankful to them for making it, even if it was mostly a shitpost.