Final Fantasy: How Sakaguchi's Last Gamble Became the Face of JRPGs
The origins of Final Fantasy and its name, ATB and job systems, why it's a classic, and how to play it today, from Pixel Remaster to the latest games.
Final Fantasy is a role-playing game (RPG) series that Square first released for the Family Computer (Famicom) in 1987. The numbered main entries alone total 16, and the series has continued for nearly 40 years with a unique structure in which each game features an entirely new world and cast of heroes.
In this post, we look at where the name "Final" came from, what the series' signature gameplay systems are, and why it became the defining Japanese RPG (JRPG) franchise.
At the end, we also cover the remasters, latest entries, and platforms officially available as of 2026. Dates and sales figures are limited to those confirmed on Wikipedia and official sites.
At a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| First release | December 18, 1987 (Japan, Famicom) |
| Developer | Square (now Square Enix) |
| Publisher | Square (now Square Enix) |
| Platforms | Famicom/Super Famicom, PlayStation family, PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, mobile, and more |
| Genre | Role-playing (RPG); some entries are action RPGs or MMORPGs |
The series was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi. According to Wikipedia, the series has sold more than 200 million copies in total, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. Square merged with Enix in April 2003 to become today's Square Enix.
Origins
In the mid-1980s, Square was a company making simple RPGs, racing games, and platformers for the Famicom Disk System. Sakaguchi had long wanted to make an RPG, but the company refused, believing it wouldn't sell. Then, when Enix's Dragon Quest became a huge hit in Japan, the company changed its mind and approved Sakaguchi's proposal, which drew inspiration from Ultima and Wizardry.
There are several theories about the name. It's commonly said that the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, so the game was named as its "final" project, but Sakaguchi explained that the game was his own personal last shot, and that if it failed he planned to leave the industry and go back to university. In 2015, he gave a more specific reason as well: he wanted the abbreviation "FF," which is easy to pronounce in Japanese, and since the first candidate, "Fighting Fantasy," could have caused trademark issues with a gamebook series of the same name, he chose "Final," an English word well known in Japan.
The first game tells the story of four "Warriors of Light" who restore crystals that have lost their light. Square initially planned to produce only 200,000 copies, but Sakaguchi asked to increase it to 400,000 with a sequel in mind, and ultimately 520,000 copies shipped in Japan. This success improved Square's fortunes, and Final Fantasy became the company's flagship series.
How It Plays
Final Fantasy is an "anthology" series in which the setting and characters change with each game. Even so, many elements recur.
- Menu-based combat: You choose commands such as "Fight," "Magic," and "Item" for each character. The first game introduced side-view battles, with your party on the right side of the screen and enemies on the left.
- ATB (Active Time Battle): Introduced in Final Fantasy IV (1991), this system adds the flow of time to turn-based combat, so you must hurry to issue commands before enemies attack. Its designer, Hiroyuki Ito, got the idea from watching cars overtake one another in a Formula One race and thinking it would be fun if each character had a different speed.
- Jobs and magic: From the first game there were classes like Warrior, Thief, White Mage, and Black Mage, and Final Fantasy V introduced the "Job System," which lets you freely change jobs. Magic is divided by color, such as healing-focused White Magic and offense-focused Black Magic, and summoning magic has continued since III.
- Recurring symbols: Notable examples include airships and Chocobos used for travel, and a character named "Cid" who has appeared in nearly every game since II. Sakaguchi has said that the airships and Chocobos were influenced by Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
In later entries, combat shifted toward real time. XI and XII introduced real-time combat, and XV and XVI are closer to action RPGs.
Why It's a Classic
First, it's a series that reinvents itself every time. Because Sakaguchi thought of the first game as a standalone work, the sequels carried over only the themes rather than the story, and rebuilt the systems from scratch. This approach became established, so each main entry brings a new world, new characters, and new combat. The ability to keep experimenting under the same name is the series' strength.
Second, it raised the bar for storytelling and presentation. Wikipedia describes Final Fantasy IV as a milestone for the genre thanks to its dramatic story focused on character growth and relationships. VII, released on PlayStation in 1997, marked a big shift with 3D graphics and pre-rendered backgrounds, and is credited with turning console RPGs into a mainstream genre worldwide.
Third, its music and art. Nobuo Uematsu served as the main composer until 2004, and Yoshitaka Amano handled the art from the first game through VI and also designed the title logos for every main entry. IV's "Theme of Love" was included in the Japanese school curriculum, and music from VIII was used in synchronized swimming at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The Series and Its Influence
Here are the main entries organized by platform.
| Platform | Main entries |
|---|---|
| Famicom | I (1987), II (1988), III (1990) |
| Super Famicom | IV (1991), V (1992), VI (1994) |
| PlayStation | VII (1997), VIII (1999), IX (2000) |
| PlayStation 2 | X (2001), XI (2002, online), XII (2006) |
| Later | XIII (2009), XIV (2010, relaunched in 2013), XV (2016), XVI (2023) |
There are also many spin-offs and related games. Elements of the series appear in Final Fantasy Tactics, the fighting game Dissidia, the Chocobo series, and the Kingdom Hearts series. VII is being remade as a trilogy, beginning with Final Fantasy VII Remake in 2020.
Its influence on the industry is also significant. Western developers such as Peter Molyneux and BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk have named VII as a game that greatly influenced them. The series holds seven Guinness World Records, including "most prolific RPG series."
How to Play Today
As of October 2026, the main officially available titles are as follows.
- Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster: A series remastering the original I through VI. It includes rearranged music supervised by Uematsu and graphics redrawn by Kazuko Shibuya, the original pixel artist. After launching on iOS, Android, and Windows in 2021, it came to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2023 and Xbox Series X/S in 2024.
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: The second game in the remake trilogy. It was released on PlayStation 5 in 2024, Windows in 2025, and Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S in June 2026. The final installment, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, is scheduled for release in 2027.
- Final Fantasy XIV: A subscription-based MMORPG that is still in service, playable on Windows, macOS, PlayStation 5, and more.
- Final Fantasy XVI: The latest main entry, released on PlayStation 5 in 2023, Windows in September 2024, and Xbox Series X/S in June 2025.
If you're new to the series, we recommend IV or VI from the Pixel Remaster for a short, classic experience, or the VII remake trilogy or XVI if you want modern presentation. Since the main entries' stories aren't connected, you can start with any of them.