The North American PSN store is having a Final Fantasy sale on right now. This is your chance to pick up Final Fantasy XV if the normal price tag is a bit too steep, or maybe you want to get some old classics or try some you haven't played before! ...

Getting a head start on celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Final Fantasy Franchise next year, Square Enix has opened a site dedicated to it at http://www.finalfantasy.jp/30th/. Unfortunately, the site is entirely in Japanese, so unless you plan on brushing up on your Nihongo, then the most you'll get out of it is watching the promo video and listening to the sweet tunes that play in the background. There's no word yet (in English anyway) on what they plan on doing to celebrate the big 3-0, or if they plan on celebrating it world wide (they may wait for the western release anniversary to do that, however, that won't be until 2020). ...

Today, is the 26^th anniversary of the US release of the original Final Fantasy on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It’s hard to believe that the game has been around so long, and in so many incarnations. Since the original release in December 1987 in Japan, there’s been over a dozen re-releases, starting with the MSX release in 1989, which improved the sound and colorization. The US release was pretty faithful to the Famicom version, albeit with a single save file on battery (the MSX version saved files on blank floppy disks, so you could store as many as you wanted), and with more technical limitations. There was, as well, Nintendo of America’s censorship, which prohibited use of religious iconography (such as churches, crosses, etc.). Despite all of that, the NES version of Final Fantasy was a very solid game. ...

So you've slain the beast. Saved the kingdom. Restored balance to the world. If you're a member of a party, long-term future career prospects are not exactly at the forefront of your mind. ...

Final Fantasy Portal is a Square Enix app available for iOS and Android and they just hit their first anniversary! In a limited time event they're offering Final Fantasy II for free on your smartphone! ...

Square Enix released new screens for the upcoming third installment to the Dissidia series. These screenshots show off the recently confirmed Firion, Cecil, and Bartz, along with Cloud, Terra, Warrior of Light, Onion Knight, Ramuh, Ifrit, and Shiva. Dissidia Final Fantasy will be hitting Japanese arcades this November 26. ...

While Final Fantasy may be the favorite gaming series for many of us here at Eyes on Final Fantasy, it's far from being flawless. Even in our most favorite games, there are tiny flaws that still nag us every time we play. Since Square Enix is in the remake mood, here are some changes we'd like to see in these Final Fantasy games, if they were to be remade. ...

If there was ever a game I would have loved to be a fly on the wall to witness it's inception it would probably be Final Fantasy II. Well XIII as well but I feel II would be more interesting. In many ways Final Fantasy II could be considered to be the first real Final Fantasy; by which I mean it was the first entry in the series to really accomplish some of the things the series would later be known for. An interesting story focus, good characters, catchy music, a unique and experimental game design, but mostly it threw out the rule book established from the previous entry and tried to strike out on it's own as something different. Final Fantasy II is not just a bigger and badder sequel to Final Fantasy I (we'll get back to this idea with the next article ) but instead a bold step into uncharted waters for both the series and the genre. If Final Fantasy I could be described as Square's attempt to emulate and capture the fun of Dragon Quest and Wizandry on a console, then Final Fantasy II was the title that tried to show that Square could create something that could stand on its own merits and be unique among the rest ...

You’re a young prince with an unusually deep voice. You and your motley crew of amigos are stranded as your car needs major repairs. So what’s a better way to make a quick buck than to hunt down a bounty? Mind you, so far you only exist in a demo, so how difficult can this be? ...

Recently I was challenged by Eyes on Final Fantasy member Freya to beat the first four Final Fantasy games while I was away from the site due to outstanding circumstances. In that time (which was supposed to be only a few weeks, but turned into a month) I took that challenge, playing the Dawn of Souls version of the first two games, the DS version of Final Fantasy III, and Final Fantasy IV Advance. ...

Throughout the ages people have viewed Piracy in many different ways. It’s been romanticized, symbolic of adventure and freedom. It’s been scorn as thieving, murderous, scrupulous. Pirates have been heroes, anti-heroes, and villains. For as many tales and legends there have been, there have been variations of the Pirate Mythos.

The Final Fantasy series has its own interpretation of it, as well. The first Pirates to appear in the series were members of Bikke’s Crew, who invaded the port town of Provaka. The heroes quickly dispatch of the large but seemingly inept crew and are awarded by the cowardly Bikke with his SHIP.

Bikke’s Crew represents the theme of Pirates being vicious and untrustworthy. Here they show typical Pirate traits such as plundering, harassing the locals, and most likely, getting drunk. Pirates represented in this vein tend to be swarthy outlaws, many times foreigners, who are only out for trouble.

This view of Pirates often emboldened xenophobic views. Barbary Pirates, whom operated along the northern coast of Africa, where thought to have invaded European towns, kidnapping Christians for the Ottoman Slave ...

Final Fantasy has a long and storied history, and if you're on this site, then chances are you know a lot of this history already. But do you know everything? Here are a handful of lesser known facts from Square's perennially popular series: ...

'Tis the season for everything ghastly, ghoulish and horrifying. One of the most popular types of horror are the reanimated corpses. Whether they're called zombies, ghouls, ghasts or revenants, you can find them all over the media. Whether it's classic films like Night of the Living Dead, the ultra popular television/comic book series The Walking Dead or in literature like World War Z. Final Fantasy is no stranger to this archetype.


Zombies, the most common of the reanimated corpses to appear in mass media, are inspired by Haitian Folklore. A bokor, a Voodou witch, would raise the dead to serve their own purposes. These zombies have no will of their own, as the bokor controls their souls.


Zombies that appear in most modern fiction deviate a bit from this origin. The Zombie Apocalypse has become a popular archetype, where a widespread outbreak of zombie attacks plauge the globe. When humans get attacked by zombies, a zombie virus will spread and infect them, turning them into the undead. This type of zombie is popular in the series The Walking Dead, as well as being parodied on an episode of Community.


Zombies ...

Recently at Roppongi Nico Fare event, Granblue Fantasy was announced. Inside Games had the scoop on this event where Nobuo Uematsu, Hideo Minaba and many voice actors appeared. According to Cygames director Yuita Kimura stated that the project started when he approached Minaba about creating a new RPG. He felt that if he were to make a game with him, naturally Uematsu would need to be asked as well. So it began! The two Final Fantasy heavy hitters were once again back in action. ...