The Last Fantasy collection is constructed upon a treasure trove of fantastic moments. With a legacy lasting over 35 years, Last Fantasy is among the longest-running RPG collection in gaming historical past. It’s a collection famous for its fixed evolution and innovation. No recreation is like one other, and that is very true on the story axis. All of us have our favourite Last Fantasy moments, however listed below are the 10 wildest moments that solely the collection might pull off.
Garland’s Time Loop (Last Fantasy I)
For those who suppose fashionable Last Fantasy tales are deviating from the classics with their convoluted time journey and dimensional shenanigans, suppose once more. The very first Last Fantasy recreation featured time journey as a core plot component. Sure, that’s proper, the traditional medieval Last Fantasy video games of yore had their justifiable share of sci-fi wonkiness in them, and it wasn’t at all times simple to grasp both.
Last Fantasy 1 is a textbook instance of the sort of multi-layered storytelling Sq. Enix is understood for within the fashionable period. In Last Fantasy 1, The principle villain, Garland, constructs a time loop that enables him to stay without end. The 4 heroes of sunshine journey again 2000 years prior to now to defeat Garland earlier than he units the loop in movement. What’s exceptional is that Last Fantasy 1 was launched again in 1987 earlier than Tetsuya Nomura would confuse everybody along with his Kingdom Hearts plots.
My Buddies Are My Energy! (Last Fantasy IV)
Some of the stunning points of Last Fantasy IV was what number of celebration members died sacrificing themselves. All through the sport, a minimum of 5 major celebration members seem to die alongside the best way. Cid actually straps a bomb to his chest and falls right into a pool of lava a number of hours after assembly him. Palom and Parom sacrifice themselves as they flip to stone, and Tellah casts the devastating Meteo spell, dying within the course of.
Properly, what might be much more stunning than all these deaths, you say? The truth that all of them come again to life by the top of the sport. All these useless celebration members come collectively for a kumbaya second within the Tower of Prayers to deliver Cecil and associates the facility they should defeat Zeromus on the moon. The ‘associates are my energy’ trope would go on to infest anime and video video games within the late 90s and past, however again in 1991 when FFIV was launched, this was nonetheless a recent idea.
The Opera Home Scene (Last Fantasy VI)
Music is a strong factor; it might probably inform tales in ways in which phrases can’t, drawing out highly effective feelings within the course of. The builders of Last Fantasy VI understood the facility of music properly and demonstrated it higher than some other recreation prior. Last Fantasy VI contains a totally fleshed-out opera and has the participant truly performing traces in it.
Portraying a Shakespearian retelling of the sport’s themes by way of such a medium makes the opera scene actually revolutionary within the historical past of online game storytelling. However the most effective factor about it’s simply how darn phenomenal the precise music is. Collection composer Nobuo Uematsu efficiently emulated vocal opera singing throughout 4 operatic actions utilizing the tiny Tremendous Nintendo soundchip. All in all, the opera home scene in FFVI helped to cement Last Fantasy’s music as being among the absolute best in online game historical past.
Kefka Destroys the World (Last Fantasy VI)
How typically does the villain of an RPG win? Not very. How typically does a villain of any story win? Nonetheless fairly dang uncommon. The villain of Last Fantasy VI wins, and it’s not even on the finish of the sport, it’s smack dab within the center. Many gamers (myself included) thought the climax on the Floating Continent with Kefka was the top of the sport, however oh no, it’s solely the start of the second half.
The second half of Last Fantasy VI takes place in a world completely destroyed by Kefka. If the dreary funeral dirge music or the barren panorama doesn’t paint the tone completely, perhaps Celes’ tried suicide will. There’s little question about it; Kefka destroying the world in the midst of Last Fantasy VI’s journey is a setting-changing incident unparalleled in gaming. The World of Destroy marks a turning level in RPG historical past for its radical tone shift and gameplay implications. Say what you need about Kefka being a clown of a villain, he’s one of many few that truly succeeded.
Sephiroth Kills Aerith (Last Fantasy VII)
Vital characters dying wasn’t a brand new factor when Last Fantasy VII hit the scene in 1997. Last Fantasy IV had half of the primary solid die in some unspecified time in the future in its story and Last Fantasy II wasn’t shy about dying and bloodbath within the slightest. What units Aerith’s dying aside in Last Fantasy VII is the presentation and story implementation. Aerith wasn’t only a major celebration member, she was arguably the major character of your complete recreation. You play the sport by way of Cloud’s perspective, however Aerith’s significance because the final residing Cetra makes her dying extra impactful than some other.
Not like previous video games within the collection, Last Fantasy VII didn’t swap round celebration members. The sport encourages you to get comfy with the staff with personalised Materia builds and a static celebration structure. There was a powerful sensation that the celebration was everlasting in Last Fantasy VII; as Barret says, “There ain’t no getting off this prepare we’re on.” Aerith is the only healer of the staff and the sport doesn’t warn you not to equip her with invaluable stuff.
All of this makes for a stunning dying out of left discipline. Last Fantasy VII doesn’t pull any punches with Aerith’s dying; we see her stabbing in intimate element and by no means get her again by the top of the sport. Aerith’s dying in Last Fantasy VII stays one among gaming’s best twists for good motive.
The Opening Blitzball Scene (Last Fantasy X)
Last Fantasy X has maybe the strongest opening of any online game, full cease. It’s bought intrigue, humor, pleasure, and shock worth, nevertheless it’s additionally bought a complete lotta bizarre to high it off. We begin with a well-recognized sufficient scene: a sports activities star signing followers’ autographs earlier than enjoying within the huge recreation. Issues begin feeling alien after we see Tidus (the aforementioned sports activities star) being lectured by some eery ghost boy, and we spot an enormous vat of water suspended within the sky, which is the Blitzball stadium. And that’s not even scratching the floor of how bizarre Last Fantasy X will get.
The underwater Blitzball match begins with some glorious heavy metallic music enjoying over gamers brutally tackling one another as they fly into the stands. All of that is enjoying out in spectacular CGI, which was high of its class in 2001. Then, an enormous sky whale interrupts the match by decimating your complete metropolis and warping Tidus and his mysterious acquaintance to an underwater break… Yeah, I can go on, however Last Fantasy X has many of those otherworldly moments. That intro hook remains to be one of the mind-bogglingly superior of any I’ve ever seen in gaming, so it simply earns a spot on this record.
Serah Shouts At Hope Throughout Time and Area (Last Fantasy XIII-2)
Last Fantasy XIII-2 solved among the gameplay points that plagued its prequel however launched some new story issues together with it. Whereas Last Fantasy XIII’s story is generally coherent and linear, XIII-2’s is something however. The plot of FF XIII-2 revolves round fixing paradoxes which have contaminated the space-time continuum. A few of these paradoxes are downright nonsensical, however none are as loopy because the one on this record.
Right here’s my try to elucidate this paradox in easy phrases, *takes deep breath*. Serah and Noel should confront a rogue AI earlier than it destroys your complete metropolis of Academia. When the protagonists fail to defeat this proto-Fal-Cie in fight after time-traveling again to its preliminary AI rampage, Serah yells out in frustration on the character who created the AI. She shouts, “Your machines are driving me nuts!” which in flip shuts the Fal-Cie down and solves the paradox. Serah’s shouting was transmitted to the previous and the AI’s creator heard it by way of an Oracle Drive gadget, thus refraining from creating the AI within the first place.
I might go into much more element, however I gained’t rot your brains out with Last Fantasy XIII-2’s dimensional time-travel shenanigans. I’m a giant fan of the Last Fantasy XIII trilogy, however even I can’t defend laughable sequences like this.
Lightning Kills a God and Creates a World With out Magic (Lightning Returns: Last Fantasy XIII)
Okay, buckle in of us, this one’s a doozy and a half. On the very finish of the XIII trilogy, Lightning goes face to face in opposition to the god of your complete setting: Bhunivelze. The boss struggle itself is a blast, and the music is among the absolute best last battle themes that I’ve heard in any recreation.
However let’s speak about what happens after the boss struggle. After killing the god, Lightning has all of her associates revived and so they go on to create a brand new world with none magic. The final shot of the sport has a classy Lightning strolling by way of modern-day Paris.
In abstract, Lighting kills a god, resurrects all her companions, after which creates a brand new world with out magic. Lightning Returns has a ridiculously over-the-top ending, however hey, not less than it offers closure for the trilogy, proper?
Noctis Sacrifices Himself (Last Fantasy XV)
Say what you’ll about Last Fantasy XV’s story, however the ending is among the collection’ most emotional and satisfying. As an alternative of god-slaying wackiness, we get some intimate character moments between the 4 boys and see the ultimate moments of Noctis’s life. After the ultimate struggle with Ardyn, Noctis sacrifices himself utilizing the complete extent of his kingly powers, which allow him to principally summon the outdated kings.
This kingly sacrifice was one thing Noctis’ dad was hesitant to offer to him and was foreshadowed all through the sport. The flashback scene of Noctis saying his goodbyes to his three bros by no means fails to emotionally grip me. Props to Last Fantasy XV for not shying away from killing off main characters and permitting the story to get dreadfully darkish when wanted.
The Whispers Are The Traditional Last Fantasy Followers (Last Fantasy VII Remake)
As quickly as we see the Whispers surrounding Aerith within the opening chapter, we all know Last Fantasy VII Remake isn’t a one-for-one retelling of the traditional recreation. Whereas FF VII Remake stays largely devoted and has the identical story beats as the unique, small deviations exist, accompanied by the Whispers. By the finale of the sport, it’s revealed that the Whispers are literally attempting to maintain the outdated FF VII timeline intact. Sephiroth reveals up and forces the celebration to struggle an amalgamation of the Whispers, basically killing the outdated FF VII timeline and opening an ‘something goes’ story for the following video games.
Whereas the Whispers had been clumsily built-in into the story at occasions, they symbolize an interesting idea that attracts on the setting’s lore and the meta implications of remakes on the whole. You may solely have an idea so loopy with a legacy as longstanding as Last Fantasy’s. With Last Fantasy VII Remake, Sq. Enix can have their cake and eat it too concerning deviation from the unique and staying true to supply.
That concludes our 10 wildest Last Fantasy moments that solely the collection can pull off. Take a look at our Last Fantasy VII Rebirth character quiz to see which character you’re. We additionally characteristic a number of helpful guides on FF VII Rebirth, so remember to browse them so that you don’t miss a factor.