If you were an outside observer of the Final Fantasy series, you would think it was one of the most divisive long-running video game franchises out there. Forum posts and YouTube rants are filled with angry “hardcore” fans bemoaning how their favorite RPG series has gone downhill.
But depending on who you ask, the point at which Final Fantasy started to go “downhill” tends to be a debate on itself. Was it Final Fantasy XIII? Or perhaps when the series moved to a more action-based combat system with Final Fantasy XV? Or was it even earlier than that, when Final Fantasy VII’s revolutionary 3D graphics moved the series to mainstream success?
When it comes to Final Fantasy, most fans will have their own opinion on which game is “the best” in the series and which is “the worst” Unsurprisingly, their choices tend to revolve around which game was their personal favorite and which was their most disappointing, regardless of the outside reception for either. This is what happens when a videogame series over thirty years old constantly reinvents itself, both aesthetically and gameplay-wise, but whether or not the constant changing of hats is a good or bad thing is a whole other debate.
Instead, this latest list will talk about some of the more objectively egregious decisions that have added cracks to the otherwise pristine legacy of the Final Fantasy series, from poor management of major projects to technical goofs that have yet to be corrected, to overly expensive experiments that may have seemed good on paper but ultimately led to commercial failure.
25 The Missing (And Mis-Numbered) Titles For The West
For the earlier half of the series’ legacy, several games wound up exclusive to Japan, which caused many games to be re-branded to signify their order of release in the West. By skipping two games between FFI and FFIV, the fourth game wound up being called Final Fantasy II. Skipping the fifth game meant that the sixth would be called Final Fantasy III.
The streak eventually ended with Final Fantasy VII retaining its title across both regions, causing Square to retroactively correct the numbering scheme for previous games.
24 Here Lies Link
In the first Final Fantasy, released on the NES, there is a random gravestone that players can examine that contain the words “Here Lies Link.” It was a cheeky Easter egg that was meant to be a bit of fun, except Nintendo didn’t seem quite as amused.
In the Western release, the name was changed from Link to Erdrick, a character from Dragon Quest (which at the time was not owned by Square). Later re-releases of FFI later inserted the Link reference back in.
23 Final Fantasy XII's Pointless Main Character
Ask most FFXII fans who their favorite character was, and it’s a sure bet that either the rouge pirate Balthier or the stoic knight captain Basch will be among the top choices.
There is much less enthusiasm concerning Vaan, the otherwise plain street thief character who is actually billed as the main character. It turns out that this was never the director’s intention, and Vaan was forcibly inserted in order to appeal to Japanese fans of younger, prettier boy protagonists.
22 Final Fantasy XII Was Unfinished
Speaking of FFXII, the game was one of the first major titles to face notoriously long delays, adding up to six years between its announcement and release.
One of the biggest problems that plagued its development was the departure of the game’s director midway through development.
The final result, despite critical praise and commercial success, is an unfinished game filled with missing content and underdeveloped characters, as well as a story that feels like the Cliff Notes version of a much grander epic.
21 Final Fantasy XIV Was A Disaster
The follow-up to the highly successful MMORPG Final Fantasy XI should have been a sure thing since many of that game’s staff was behind the next generation online game, Final Fantasy XIV.
Instead, the game launched with an uncountable number of issues, including terrible performance, copy/pasted areas, poor gameplay mechanics, and many more. It was such a disaster that Square chose to demolish the game and rebuild it from scratch, resulting in the much more successful Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
20 The Spirits Within
Video game movies have and continue to be poor adaptations despised by fans and audiences alike. On paper, the big-budget CG Final Fantasy film seemed more capable of success, with series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi behind the ambitious project as well as cutting-edge CG technology featuring (at the time) lifelike actors.
Unfortunately, the film’s lackluster reception and box office bomb ended up being the most costly blunder in the history of the company, which nearly caused Square to shut down and Final Fantasy’s creator eventually resigning.
19 Final Fantasy X-2.5
Final Fantasy X was the first game in the series to get a direct sequel with Final Fantasy X-2. The game was a big hit that allowed fans to revisit some of their favorite characters, and the lighter tone was a refreshing change of pace.
Nearly ten years later, another follow-up was released as a novel, called Final Fantasy X-2.5.
The book was unanimously panned for being unnecessary and creating several dark and depressing conflicts in order to dredge up interest for a third game, which to this day sees no hint of ever happening.
18 The Final Fantasy VI "Remaster"
Final Fantasy VI (originally called III in the West, see above) is considered one of the best, if not THE best entries in the entire series and one of the greatest video games, period.
Which is why it’s extra egregious that the only version of the game available on modern machines is the PC version which uses the offensively bad visuals from the mobile re-release. All character sprites and artwork have been replaced with ugly, less detailed graphics with no option to switch to the original look.
17 We Never Got The Original Final Fantasy III
For a long while, Final Fantasy III (the real III, again see above) was the one major entry that had never gotten an overseas release. This was eventually rectified with a Nintendo DS remake that made its way Westward and was eventually ported to other machines.
As serviceable as the remake is, it is unfortunate that the 8-bit original remains exclusive to Japan for anyone curious about experiencing the retro original. Emulation and fan translations exist for anyone willing to go that route, but an official re-release would have been appreciated.
16 Final Fantasy VII Has Never Been Re-Translated
We’ll never have to worry about Square not re-releasing their most cherished entry in the entire series, as the original Final Fantasy VII will continue to be ported even after the Remake is released.
And yet to this day, the game has never received a re-translation to fix its infamous localization, which is rife with errors, missing context, and embarrassingly outdated speech patterns for certain characters. Considering how older titles have benefited from a fresh localization, it baffles why Square won’t put the effort to sprucing up their most recognizable title.
15 Final Fantasy VIII Is Missing From Modern Re-Releases
Recently, Square had announced that they would re-release nearly their entire FF catalog onto the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.
The key word is “nearly,” as Final Fantasy VIII was noticeably absent from the list of confirmed titles.
Several reasons have been speculated as to why this is the case, including licensing costs or missing game code, but many FFVIII fans are upset by the exclusion, regardless, and are hoping that whatever internal issues are holding the game back will be quickly sorted.
14 Final Fantasy XIII Was A Mismanaged Mess
Often considered the black sheep of the series, even when compared to the much more crestfallen FFXIV, Final Fantasy XIII was one of the most open examples of Square’s mismanagement, as the game was reported to have suffered several setbacks during its development that was mostly tied to its Crystal Tools engine, which was difficult to develop games for.
The end result was boring level design, a scattered story that was created out of order, a damaging statement about HD towns and several other snafus that spelled disaster for the game’s legacy despite a vocal fanbase defending its accomplishments.
13 The Troubled Development Of Final Fantasy XV
Out of all the FF games with troubled developments, none have reached the heights of Final Fantasy XV. Originally called Final Fantasy Versus XIII, the spinoff-turned-mainline-entry was supposed to be a PS3 game released alongside FFXIII.
Instead, a decade of development issues, many which remain behind the scenes, resulted in the game being rebranded as a PS4 title under a new director. The final result was adequate but clearly missing many of its original ambitious features, both in regards to gameplay and story.
12 The Final Fantasy VII Game We Never Got
It’s no surprise to anyone that Final Fantasy VII is by far the most popular entry in the series. It would be a bigger surprise to learn that there was an FFVII spinoff that never made its way overseas.
Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII was a mobile game created years before smartphone technology became commonplace and was thus deemed too complicated for Western phones at the time to port over. Despite interest in re-releasing the game as a handheld title, such plans were never followed through.
11 The Changed SNES Games
While Final Fantasy VII was considered at the time to be significantly more grown-up-themed than its predecessors, the original games had a fair number of references to violence, drinking, swearing, and other weird moments that did not sit well with Nintendo’s family-friendly image.
As a result, games like FFIV and FFVI had to change many of their elements for Western release. These changes would eventually be undone following future re-releases and remakes, even the ones re-released on Nintendo consoles.
10 The Missing Wii Games
As convenient as digital game purchases are these days, there is always the ongoing fear that games purchased through online stores may eventually be rendered inaccessible should said stores go offline.
Such was the case with the Nintendo Wii’s digital shop, which recently closed up. This leaves several notable FF games released exclusively on the Wii, such as Final Fantasy IV: The After Years and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King no longer accessible and with no signs of re-releases elsewhere (though a remake of After Years is available on PC).
9 The Audio Issues On PS4
Ever since Square’s infamous “betrayal” of Nintendo by moving the Final Fantasy series to PlayStation, Sony has long been considered the first stop for all things FF.
Which is why it’s puzzling that several notable games ported to PS4, including Final Fantasy VII and IX, suffer from an audio-related bug where music will not loop properly following random battles. This issue has been a continued sore spot for fans and still remains unfixed with patches, even though this issue isn’t present on PC.
8 Crisis Core Remains Exclusive To PSP
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is considered one of the best Final Fantasy spinoffs, offering a prequel story set before the events of the beloved classic and focusing on the fan-favorite character Zack.
Yet, the game remains a PSP exclusive that isn’t even available digitally.
Once again, there have been murmurings of interest to port the game to modern machines, but no other developments have been suggested if and when this will ever happen. Though there are a few theories as to why…
7 Gackt's Inclusion In Final Fantasy VII
For those unaware, Gackt is one of the most famous Japanese musical performers of all time. Lending his likeness and voice into a Final Fantasy game is as exciting as Michael Jackson showing up in Space Channel 5.
But the lameness of Gackt’s character in Crisis Core (known as Genesis) left a sour spot for many FFVII fans. Worse yet, the licensing contract surrounding his inclusion may be the main reason why Crisis Core hasn’t been re-released on modern machines.
6 The Cancelled Final Fantasy XII Sequel
Many fans have wondered what a Western-developed Final Fantasy would look like. For a brief period, Square played with the idea itself by allowing developer GRIN to create a sequel to Final Fantasy XII.
Codenamed “Fortress,” the game would put Basch on the main character role as he was tasked with defending his kingdom (and the newly crowned queen Ashe) from a new enemy threat. Unfortunately, Square remained unsatisfied with the game’s production and soon canceled the project. GRIN would soon go under following the lackluster reception of their Bionic Commando reboot.