I finished Final Fantasy IX this week (for those keeping track at home, this is the sixth Final Fantasy since booting up VIII back in the fall of 2022). It’s a lot like the other Final Fantasies. It’s got the hero who, like in X, has to grapple with the fact that his very existence is a lie. It’s got a plot that changes direction as it goes like in VIII. It’s got Chocobos and Moogles and Summons.
But like every other Final Fantasy, it’s different from every other Final Fantasy. Zidane (of IX) and Tidus (of X) are both relatively happy-go-lucky guys who are accompanying a Summoner on a quest, but each has a different story. Zidane is the guy who helps push the Summoner along into helping save the world, while Tidus is along for the Summoner’s quest and supports her all the while. Variations on a theme that, though they may seem minor, when developed over the course of a 30+ hour game, make each story feel that much more distinct.
Each entry in Final Fantasy is effectively its own beast. It’s not a sequel, the way Empire Strikes Back follows A New Hope, nor is it another story in the same world like Captain America and Iron Man. If anything, each game is like a complete reimagining, starting from scratch with some similar ideas but teasing it out in different ways. Most all games have Summons, but in IX they’re incredible Eidolons who can only be brought forth by chosen people, while in VIII they’re Guardian Forces that people can ‘junction’ at the cost of their memories. Similar ideas, different executions.
In that way, Final Fantasy is kinda like Batman.
You’ve got Batman, Batman Begins, and The Batman. Those are all movies about a man named Bruce Wayne who dresses up as a bat to fight crime, but each one approaches the idea in very different ways. Batman Begins is more of a modern thriller while The Batman leans into noir trappings. Batman, as a character/concept, can be transformed and reinterpreted a dozen different ways, just as Final Fantasy can be in the diselpunk world of VII or the Game of Thrones pastiche that is XVI but still have commonalities between them. Each iteration is fun on its own, but there’s a lot to mine from putting them in conversation with each other. Both The Dark Knight and The Batman have a Bruce Wayne who’s sacrificing his personal life in pursuit of justice, but the former sees it as a noble calling and the latter self-destructive. Zidane and Tidus are remarkably similar on paper, but their executions are wildly different
Over the last decade or so, game development times have gotten so darn long (the last three big Final Fantasy games came out in 2009, 2016, and 2023); the longer wait means there are fewer chances for iteration and so fewer variations on the theme. It’s a shame because one thing I find so interesting about the Final Fantasy games is how willing they are to completely overhaul everything from story to gameplay each time — X and XII feel way more different than even, say, The LEGO Batman Movie and Batman VS Superman. When there are fewer opportunities for these divergent interpretations of what a Final Fantasy is, something truly unique is lost.
In any case, I managed to find a working copy of Final Fantasy XIII from a GameStop and I’ve got my PS3 up and running for the first time in nearly a decade. So it’s time to revisit yet another Final Fantasy and enjoy what it does the same and especially what it does differently.
Essays, Not Rants! 