Vivi illustration by Stephen MauriceGrahamThis year sees a buffet of Final Fantasy goodness that will appeal to hardcore series stalwarts and absolute beginners alike. We've already had the HD port of Final Fantasy Type-0 for current-gen consoles, the PSP original translating decently to home systems. With it comes access to a demo of the upcoming Final Fantasy XV, "Episode Duscae." In the summer Heavensward,__ the first expansion pack for FF's MMORPG title will be released. And that's not all, as news has emerged that a smartphone port of FFXI, a co-development between franchise overlords Square Enix and mobile specialists NEXON, will be available in 2016.
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Because there's so much happening, here's a run down of Final Fantasy's greatest moments. Now, the most important thing to remember is that this is not a numbered list. The order doesn't denote the importance of each individual moment against the rest of them, because I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment. Final Fantasy is such a huge, well-loved series, and most of its entries have something to adore about them, so rather than argue over which ones should have been higher on the list, this way we can all concentrate on arguing over which ones I've neglected to feature in the list at all instead. You're welcome!
Red XIII learns the truth about his father—Final Fantasy VII
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Once you take him back there, his adopted grandfather Bugenhagen—a strange old dude who floats around on a levitating green orb—discovers Nanaki's resentment of his father Seto, who he believes was a coward that ran out on his mother and his entire community during their war against the vengeful Gi tribe. In response, Bugenhagen takes Nanaki and the party through the haunted Gi Cave, where their angry spirits roam. Upon making it to the other side, Nanaki learns the true fate of his father: he rushed to defend his home and family on his own, and in doing so was pierced by several of the Gi's poisoned arrows. But he fought on, keeping Cosmo Canyon safe from harm and preventing his enemies from taking even one step into the village. Eventually he succumbed to the poison and was turned to stone, never able to return home, but still he kept guard over the cave's entrance.Upon learning this, Nanaki is filled with grief and pride over his father's sacrifice, promises to save the planet in his name, and howls to the moon in his honor, whereupon little crystal tears start falling from the petrified Seto's eyes. I'm tearing up now thinking about it, and this is why when it's good, the Final Fantasy series is really good—it can make you, a grown adult with things like mortgages and tax returns to worry about, care enough to leak water from your own eyes because a silly wolf-lion thing is sad and proud of his dad.
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Vivi discovers his origins—Final Fantasy IX
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Yuna and Tidus observe, "The wind… it's nice."—Final Fantasy X
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Tifa jumping off Junon's cannon—Final Fantasy VII
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Galuf's Final Stand—Final Fantasy V
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He borrows strength from the Guardian Tree to speak with her from beyond the grave, however, and tells her not to cry, to be strong and fight, because she's not alone—he'll be in her heart, always. Then she flies off—on a fucking dragon—to save the world in his name. Don't tell me that's not some inspirational stuff right there.Eidolons, Espers, GFs, Aeons, Avatars, Totemas—summoned creatures have been a staple of Final Fantasy for pretty much forever, and as such they've been featured in quite a few memorable moments across the series. Though the wedding scene in Final Fantasy X ranks highly (Valefor FTW), the epic battle between good and evil that is Alexander against Bahamut in IX just about tops it.Queen Brahne and Kuja both use eidolons to further their own evil ends, with Kuja using Bahamut to kill Brahne and then attempting to kill her daughter Garnet, herself a summoner, with the dragon as well. Garnet is having none of this, however, and together with fellow summoner Eiko she calls forth Alexander—basically a fortress with angel wings—who obliterates Bahamut with a beam of holy light before being destroyed by Garland. Sadly, because of this, Alexander is never summonable by your party—but the confrontation is still quite the light show, and is one of the few times in the series you really get a true sense of the scale and majesty of these often wondrous beings.
Alexander and Bahamut fight—Final Fantasy IX
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