If you accidentally meet on the Japanese street and ask him to name his favorite game, then he will say with a 99 percent probability: “Dragon Quest”. The series debuting in 1986 for the country of the rising sun turned into the main RPG in the Universe and still remains one of the most profitable series in history. However, Dragon Quest has a competitor, which, unlike the creation of Enix, has become widely known not only in his homeland, but also won the hearts of millions of fans around the world. Today we recall how in July 1990 the debut of Final Fantasy in the United States took place.

From the last forces

Final Fantasy was created in difficult times. At the end of 1987, the company Square was on the verge of bankruptcy. This contributed to a series of failure projects, including The Death Trap , Alpha , King’s Knight , and action movie based on the film "Aliens". The company was enough for the strength to scrape money for the final project, which she gave into the hands of a group of seven people led by a young developer Hironobu Sakaguchi.

[[Bullet]] Reprint of the Final Fantasy for PSP was produced with Final Fantasy II and boasted significantly improved graphics.

Hironobo Sakaguchi joined Square in 1984 during the summer holidays at the National University of Yokohama. There he met a student of Hiroshi Tanaku, who regularly went to Akihabar in search of new computer components and games. It was on the Khiroshi computer that the future author of Final Fantasy discovered for himself Wizardy. The game was radically different from the popular Arcad at that time – there was a plot, and the dungeons practically did not end (so there was no time left for the university). Wizardy determined the future fate of the young man who decided to connect his life with the game industry.

[[Bullet]] Prologue Final Fantasy passes on the island cut off from land, and the main game events unfold already on the mainland.

In Square, Sakaguchi was the leader of the “team a” (a Team). The early projects of this team turned out to be quite successful. Of particular interest is not even King’s Knight (1982), and the first stereoscopic experiments of the company. Race Highway Star (also known in the United States as Rad Racer ), for example, actively used special glasses that Nintendo Sold for NES (Famicom). The same technology formed the basis 3-D Worldrunner , where the little green man could run around the three -dimensional world, jumping over the abysses and obstacles. These entertainment were invented by the Nasir Goebelli, a native of Iran. The programmer was known as a real legend in the circle of Apple II enthusiasts due to its amazing productivity: in times Sirius Software He, a big travel fan, found time to create a new game every month.

Both Rad Racer and 3D Worldrunner were sold by a circulation of 500 thousand copies, so Square insisted that Goebelli and Sakaguchi continue to make 3D-boa, although the Japanese did not particularly attract the Japanese. Instead, Hironobu planned to combine the depth and variety of Wizardy with beautiful graphics and modern sound effects on Famicom. Therefore, when he was offered to make the last, saving game for Square, the choice was made in favor of RPG.

New directions

Final Fantasy is based on the concept of a large virtual world. This idea is by no means new. This was successfully embodied in Dragon Quest https://blood-moon-gb-casino.co.uk/, The Legend of Zelda , Ultima. However, the trick consisted in another. Instead of the usual clone, Dragon Quest Sakaguchi offered his way to develop the genre. In addition to the vast world, he composed an interesting story and made several design decisions innovative at that time.

[[Bullet]] with each new reprint RPG, everything was good, although by the end of the eighties the project seemed like the height of technical progress.

The game talked about four warriors of the world. They should have united and save the state from the impending plague, for which it was necessary to find four balls (and not at all a crystal around which the entire series would subsequently spin). Of course, in order to carry out the plan, the heroes also had to deal with the four monsters who wanted to destroy all the living. As soon as the last boss was dying, an unexpected turn was opened: the four giants in our time sent another villain, with whom the brave seekers of adventures had to fight. Today in this discovery there is nothing surprising, but in 1987 it was a breakthrough (as well as the fact that the name of the project appeared only after a long interactive entry). However, the main charm of Final Fantasy was not even in the submission of the plot, but in the evolving gameplay.

Of all the means of transportation, the aircraft that protected from random battles turned out to be the most useful.

In this RPG we conditionally distinguish three main modes: world map, dungeons and combat screen. In the area, the detachment moved first on foot, then on the ship and canoe, and as a result, on the real air -melting agent. There were several buildings and a dozen inhabitants in the cities. The dungeons were crowded with random battles and confusing intricate corridors. First -person type that was used in Dragon Quest and Ultima did not provide. Instead, adventures were shown in isometry.

Unlike today's Final Fantasy, the original project made it possible to configure everything to the smallest details. The players themselves called the team members, chose the classes that attracted for them: black, red and white magicians, thief, fighter, black belt (later it turned into a monk). As they advanced and acquaintance with some characters, it was allowed to improve the professions of heroes and their abilities.

In the American version of the game, crosses on temples were replaced with neutral symbols so as not to cause unnecessary conversations.

The biggest discovery was the battle. Previously, in such games, the battles were one on one, but Final Fantasy needed to fight at the same time against nine opponents at the same time. The second important innovation was the rejection of the “view from the eyes”: now the heroes stood on the right side of the screen, and on the left were numerous opponents. This made it possible to evaluate the situation and enjoy the quality design and animation.

Instead of deliberately children's decoration from Akira Toriyama (author Dragon Ball ) the developer used more elegant and complex drawings of the Yosilii Acamano. This artist before participating in Final Fantasy has achieved great success. After working on Speed ​​Racer in 1967 (at the age of fifteen), he began to draw characters for another popular animated series-Gatchaman, and in 15 years he came up with the iconic images of Vampire Hunter D and Angel’s Egg. His brilliant illustrations of characters, monsters, peace and scenery helped to give Final Fantasy a unique appearance, which was successfully complemented by the music of the greatest game composer Nobuo Wematsu.

[[Bullet]] The famous game designer honestly admits that ideas often come to his mind during a morning shower or expectation of a suitable wave on the beach.

Dragon Quest melodies – magnificent brave marches. The music turned out to be optimistic and bright, with an abundance of drums and pipes, becoming a visiting card of the series. In Final Fantasy, Sakaguchi wanted to convey a more serious mood. Wamatsu coped with the task perfectly as possible. He used synthesized versions of wooden wind and stringed tools to create air orchestral arrangements. The melodies invented by Wematsu have become an integral part of Final Fantasy magic.

For all its innovation and beauty, Final Fantasy still remained a real game of the end of the eighties-terribly complex. The abundance of random battles in the caves can bring to frenzy, as well as the absence in the dungeons of places to maintain progress. You can safely forget about restoring the hero after death on the battlefield. On the other hand, all these are the little things that only made the players get deeper in the fantastic world of the “last fantasy”.

The beginning of the path

The Japanese premiere took place in December 1987, so this year the series celebrates its twenty-five. Only three years after the release of the original on the islands, in July 1990, Nintendo released a translation for North America. Square initially did not bet on the project and ordered only 200 thousand cartridges. Sakaguchi begged to increase the circulation to 400 thousand – and in the end did not lose. Contrary to expectations, the game became a big hit in Japan and was favorably accepted in the United States.

Having served the beginning of the new series, the project did not sink into oblivion, but survived reprints on a variety of platforms. In 2003, Final Fantasy was transferred to PlayStation with updated graphics. In 2007, the RPG PSP version was released, and in February 2010 the adventure was sent to iOS.

[[Bullet]] battles in Final Fantasy have become an analogue of a Russian roulette – every new meeting could be the last for your team.

Final Fantasy was not the perfect game. She just appeared at the right time and in the right place (the premiere in Japan took place a few days before the debut Phantasy Star from Sega ). Sakaguchi managed to competently combine in his creation Western game traditions and a magical Japanese design, receiving a memorable role project with a rich plot and gameplay at the exit. His “last fantasy” unexpectedly turned out to be the beginning of a large and fruitful creative path.

What it was? The first part of one of the most successful Japanese role series that became famous in the West. Epic 8-bit hit of unprecedented scale.

Fantastic failure

One wrong step of Sakaguchi was the work of the whole studio in Hawaii

Hironobo Sakaguchi is known not only as a game designer, but also as a film director. True, his experiments in the cinema were much less successful. The first and so far the only feature film Sakaguchi is the owner of the dubious title of the most commercially failed film project.

Animated picture published in 2001 Final Fantasy: The Spirits with could boast of phenomenal computer graphics and high details of models. The main character – Dr. Aki Ross – looked so realistic that there were doubts about the further feasibility of using living actors in films. Voices were lent to other characters by large Hollywood celebrities, including Alek Bolvin and James Woods.

Unfortunately, the audience remained indifferent to the new venture of Sakaguchi. With a budget of $ 130 million, the picture managed to earn only about $ 85, reaching the unit Square Pictures , managed to remove only a short film Finalflight of the Osiris From the cycle "Animatrice". Fanal Fantasy fans remained in complete bewilderment, since it was practically in no way connected with other games and worlds of the series.

True enemies

The collision of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest took place not only on store shelves

It's funny, but former opponents, Square and Enix, in 2003 became part of the single Square Enix concern, making up previously implacable opponents-Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Unlike FF, which successfully won large desktop systems and PCs, the work of Yuji Hiori for the most part remained on the portable prefixes Nintendo and only by 2012 it grown up to a full exit to the Mmorpg genre. Final Fantasy managed to carry out this sortie at least twice, in both cases.

Together, the Heroes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest usually do not encounter and live in parallel universes, except for the famous in Japan, but not too well -known in our area of ​​the series of “desktop electronic games Itadaki Street. The most interesting episodes Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special (PS2), Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Mobile (mobile phones) and Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable (PSP).

However, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy are also tied by other little things. For example, a popular SID character, which prayed from one Final Fantasy to another, got into Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime. And in Final Fantasy XII Errick's sword appeared, which was called WYRMHERO BLADE.