phdfan replied to your post: “dunquixote replied to your photo:lol… I’m...”:
I have a really dumb question that I'm going to use this post as an excuse to ask! Are all the FF games set in ultimately the same universe, or are they largely separate worlds?
This is a good question given how massive the Final Fantasy universe of games are -- the first game came out in 1987(!!) and the series has created *many* spin offs that aren’t branded under the Final Fantasy brand name.
Each of the “numbered games”, currently Final Fantasy 1 through Final Fantasy 15, are self-contained and exist in their own universes. The worlds in the numbered games have their own unique world maps and some of those worlds are named. FFVII takes place on Gaia, FFX on Spira, FFXII in Ivalice.
Some of these universes have been revisited in follow-on games or in other games within SquareEnix’s catalogue.
In some cases, those follow-on games take place close in time and explore the same characters. Some examples:
Final Fantasy X-2 takes place a couple of years after Final Fantasy X ends and includes some of your main party from FFX.
The Compilation of FFVII is a collection of media (games, movies, novellas, short stories) that take place relatively close in time and feature the same ensemble cast, although each piece of media in Compilation emphasizes different main characters/POVs.
(There are other examples for other numbered FF games, but this post will get too long.)
In other cases, SquareSoft/SquareEnix has repeatedly visited the same world at different time periods although the connections (and maps) can be a bit of a headscratcher **cough** IVALICE:
Initially two very different times periods in Ivalice were explored in Final Fantasy Tactics (1997) and Vagrant Story (2000) on the PlayStation1.
Some of the dev team for prior Ivalice games were assigned to Final Fantasy XII (2006, PS2) which was later re-released with extra bells and whistles in Japan as FFXII:InternationalZodiacJobSystem and, more recently, remastered and re-released worldwide as FFXII:ZodiacAge.
The characters in FFXII plus additional new characters took part in a follow on story, FFXII:RevenantWings (2007, NDS)
And a collection of different spin-off tactics games in Ivalice were released in the late 00s under the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance brand and the Crystal Defenders brands.
AND THEN, to add confusion or alternate universe possibility to all of this, there are various cross-over universes in spin-offs, some very popular, that feature various characters from various numbered FF games all together, sometimes with other new characters. The most notable examples:
Kingdom Hearts -- a Final Fantasy x Disney crossover which is a franchise in its own right with a good dozen or so titles.
Dissidia -- a “toss lots of popular characters from the different numbered FF games into a strange other-world they are magically transported to and FIGHT!” franchise that now has a good handful of games. The story across the dissidia games is much thinner than a typical RPG and generally assumes that the player is already familiar with the characters’ stories from the various numbered FF games.
A variety of different cell phone games that feature new characters and old characters, all mushed together in new worlds.
Phhheww... I think that covers most of the final fantasy franchise without getting into some of the far-outlier spin-offs.
BOTTOM LINE: The easiest way for a newcomer to enter into the Final Fantasy universe is through one of the NUMBERED GAMES, which are each story-rich JRPGs with unique casts in a unique world. It doesn’t matter where you start. FF8? FF12? FF10? FF15? Old school like its the early-mid 90s with FF4? It’s all good. Barring issues of platform and availability, etc. etc. (most of the numbered FFs have been released over time on multiple platforms), any numbered FF can serve as an entry point, although each story in the numbered FFs is unique and different and will appeal a little bit more or a little bit less depending on your personal tastes. Same goes for how one’s tastes run for retro-looking games from the 90s vs games from the 00s and 20teens -- your taste in graphics, in voiced vs unvoiced games, and in game play mechanics.
As a fair warning, some people today feel that PS1 games (games from the mid-late 90s), on average, have a higher level of difficulty than today’s games. They certainly are more fiddly and games guides (or online message boards) were considered a necessity back when I played them on my PS1 when they were first released -- and I still have my large collection of PS1 games [far beyond the final fantasy series].
After playing one of the numbered final fantasy games, a newcomer can, in some cases, explore the universe for that game through various spin-offs **OR** go play another numbered final fantasy game. The x-over universe games (various cell phone games, dissidia, etc.) are more fun/relevant after you’ve played a few numbered games (with or without their spin-offs/add-ons). I can’t speak for Kingdom Hearts but presumably one can jump into that without playing a numbered final fantasy game? It is possible to play Vagrant Story or the original Final Fantasy Tactics (both are in FFXII’s Ivalice) without playing FFXII first, purely because they came out before FFXII and have very strong stand-alone stories.
I can suggest a few good entry points based on tastes and platform availability.
I welcome other people to jump on with additional comments!
