In 1987, a dying company decided to put all its eggs in one basket and developed a title that would take the role-playing genre in a new direction. It was a bold risk and something that absolutely had to reap some sizeable benefits if the company wanted to salvage the smallest chance of surviving in the market. Thankfully, this title not only ended up selling loads of copies but also paved the way for a historic gaming series that is still going strong to this day.
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Final Fantasyisone of the most legendary gaming franchisesof all time, andit owes all its successto the first title, which pretty much sets the base for a brilliant title that would set the groundwork for future titles to constantly improve with new and interesting mechanics. So, it’s only a given that this historied title has been extensively researched by fans. However, given all the time they’ve spent looking at each and every aspect of this game, there are still 10 things about the title that have eluded the grasp of most fans.
10The Game Was Rushed For A Christmas Release
SinceFinal Fantasyneeded to sell gangbusters, to begin with, the game had to be released during a time when sales would be at their highest point. So, Square chose to keep its deadline for Christmas.
As a result, the game was rushed in the later stages of development, to the point where the game was shipped with several errors and bugs.
9The Blind Status Effect Didn’t Work In The NES Release
The Blind status effect is one of the most iconic and effective status effects in theFinal Fantasyseries… so it might be surprising that its initial use was completely broken.
This status effect did absolutely nothing in the NES release because of poor coding, which is quite a surprising revelation indeed.
8A Number Of Spells In The Game Are Broken… And Not In A Good Way
Normally, the term “broken” in the context of JRPGs is used to refer to abilities that are so powerful that they turn the entire game into a complete cakewalk.
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However, in the case of the originalFinal Fantasygame, some of the spells were broken simply because they did not work — like Tmpr, Sabr, and Lock — or did the exact opposite of what the player intended — like how Lok2 actually increases the enemy’s evasion by 20% instead of decreasing it.
7The Intelligence Stat Didn’t Work Because Of A Programming Error
Another error that led to a pretty important stat in the series being rendered completely useless was the Intelligence stat. This stat was supposed to govern the intensity of magic spells in the game but ended up doing nothing of the sort.
This led to ridiculous situations wherea Red Mage would pretty much be superior for most of the gamesince their spells had the same power asa Black or White Mage.
6A Number Of Weapons Have Special Abilities That Don’t Activate
A number of items were also affected by a rushed release, with special weapons being perhaps the most bugged of the lot.
Most special weapons had abilities that just didn’t activate. Notable examples include the Rune Sword — which didn’t affect magical enemies adversely at all — or the Xcaliber — which was supposed to be the best sword in the game but doesn’t do any extra damage to enemies.
5It Was Heavily Inspired By Dungeons And Dragons
Any person well-versed with the basics ofD&Dwould recognize the classes ofFinal Fantasyin an instant, even if they’ve never heard about the game before.
Along with this, the bestiary and combat of the first game were also inspired byDungeons and Dragons. Honestly, it’s quite lucky for Square that TSR never thought about taking them to court.
4Western Players Saw This Game For The First Time In 2003
Final Fantasywas one of the most legendary titles of all time, so one might assume that the first game was quickly released in the West to cash in on the hype of this franchise.
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However, that wasn’t even remotely the case. In fact, most players in the West didn’t even get their hands on the firstFinal Fantasyuntil 2003, and it took even longer for the original NES version to arrive — five years, to be precise.
3The Iconic Final Fantasy Prelude Was Made In Just Five Minutes
The prelude ofFinal Fantasyis one of the most iconic pieces of music ever composed, accompanying everyFinal Fantasygame ever since.
However, what most people might not know about is the fact that this prelude was made in just five minutes, making it one of the most rushed compositions in the entire series.
2Yoshitaka Amano Was Initially Not Supposed To Work On The Game At All
Most people simply can’t think aboutFinal Fantasywithout attaching the name Yoshitaka Amano to it, who was a driving force in the early years ofFinal Fantasyand still designs the title logo of modern games to this very day.
However, during the early stages ofFinal Fantasy’s development, Sakaguchi was actually against the idea of Amano working on the project since he had no clue about his mettle as an artist. This changed once he finally took a look at Amano’s brilliant artwork.
1The Name Wasn’t Chosen Because Square Was Going Bankrupt
WhileSquarewas in dire financial straits during the development ofFinal Fantasy, that wasn’t the reason why the game was named this way.
Apparently, Sakaguchi just wanted the initialsFFin his game, and the first thing that came to his mind wasFighting Fantasy. However, this name was already taken, and the name was switched over toFinal Fantasyinstead.
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