Which game best personified the definition of "Fantasy"?

[Goldenboko]

We always see "Favorite" or "Best Game" or whatever, but this is something different, which game of the main series best lived up to the term 'fantasy'?

Personally I have to give this one, to FFXII. On first glance, I was worried that FFXII was going to revert back to the VII and VIII definition of the setting of an FF, some futuristic crap-hole, because the very first thing I saw was huge Star Wars-esc, ship battles. Once I actually got into the game, this changed. From the deserts of Dalmasca and the pure foreign look and idea (a mine in the sky?) of Bhujurba, the entire game really gave that fantasy world effect. It managed to tie in so many different types of scenery and places, both in and out of this world.

[Vivisteiner]

For me its FFIX, and thats not just because Im an FFIX junky.

FFIX was complete fantasy. Stuff like Cleyra, Iifa tree, silver dragons etc. Even the characters were non-real and imaginitive. It stuck less to real, accepted environments and character designs than other games. Out of the other games Ive played...

FFVII: Not really. It had the life stream, but the business of Shinra etc made it seem un-fantasy ish. Then again, Cloud's hairstyle was fantastical.

FFVIII: This was more sci-fi and FF combined. Its futuristic and thus not your typical 'fantasy'.

FFX: That was pretty much fantasy. Only thing is, the environments seemed more normal and less original. Correct me if Im wrong.

FFXII: The political side made it seem very real. But diverse characters and floating cities lands it firmly in fantasy category. Less so than FFIX IMO. The star wars -eque bits too made it a little less like fantasy.

The eariler FFs were very typical fantasy, but I havent played them yet. (Playing FFI and own FFII)

[Bolivar]

I don't think you could really say anything is "more" fantasy than something else when it comes a category that encompasses all of them.

If anything, I would say I-V were the "least" fantasy since they all used generic vanilla-flavored fantasy settings with little to no delving in to them. There wasn't much thought put into the locations and such, because at the end of the day, it was just a Dragon Quest knock-off.

FFVI is when you started really getting into specific crevices of the genre - steampunk, and the artistic representation complemented the idea well. Like VII, it also shared biopunk devices, storytelling about totalitarian organizations which biologically alter humans and other living organisms for control/power/profit.

VIII kind of went in the other direction, presenting a Utopia where nature and science coexisted, exemplified by the Shumis and Fisherman's Horizon.

IX might also be a little vanilla but it did include a wide array of locations, creatures, and legends.

I voted for X because it got so far into its concept that almost everything in the game was symbolic of it. Spira and its culture of death permeated every fabric of their world.

XII also was pretty in-depth with its middle eastern/east mediterranean features.

But if you want to add up which ones have the most amount of swords/magic spells/dragons/princesses, that'd be another thing.

[scrumpleberry]

X, because I loved the world. For me, fantasy is about escapism. It worked the best there.

[Hyperion4444]

Final Fantasy VIII
Love = Fantasy

[Vivisteiner]

Final Fantasy VIII
Love = Fantasy

And thats why Romantic novels are found in the Fantasy section.


This topic is kinda weird though, because they are all fantasy. I guess the most fantasy would be the world which is least like earth.

[Roto13]

I have come to the conclusion that none of you know what fantasy is. Well, most of you.

[Brennan]

FFIX was complete fantasy. Stuff like Cleyra, Iifa tree, silver dragons etc. Even the characters were non-real and imaginitive. It stuck less to real, accepted environments and character designs than other games. Out of the other games Ive played...

[Elskidor]

Well..errmm..all of them pull it off pretty well. Some of them lean toward the sci-fi side, but all of the Final Fantasy games are great fantasy tales. If you're looking for your basic sword and dragon fantasy then you can rule most of them out. By these terms then I'd have to give my vote to IV.

[s[H]sIkuA]

Well..errmm..all of them pull it off pretty well. Some of them lean toward the sci-fi side, but all of the Final Fantasy games are great fantasy tales. If you're looking for your basic sword and dragon fantasy then you can rule most of them out. By these terms then I'd have to give my vote to IV.

This.
Although if you want me to pick one, I'll pick IX

[Kenshin IV]

The answer to this does not need pages and pages of paragraphs or discussion: It's all of them. Could not be a simpler answer.

All of them are pure, 100% fantasy.

[Bastian]

IV, for sure! But IX is a VERY close second. They both fall into the genre of fantasy (Lord of the Rings, etc) perfectly of elves and princes and dragons and castles and swords and sorcery, etc.

Some will argue that the fantasy genre can just as easily encompas things like VII and VIII and the Spirits Within movie . . . but those are DEFINATELY sci-fi, as far as I'm concerned. So there.

Wark!

[f f freak]

Quite frankly, I fail to see how VII and VIII fall into Sci-Fi. Nothing about them actually makes me think Sci-Fi, apart from Esthar in VIII which is obviosuly just an advanced Civilization, that many FF games have. Besides, they're called Final Fantasy.

[The Crystal]

To me, is FFIX.

Treno the city of eternal night, Burmecia the city of eternal rain, Cleyra the city on a tree surrounded by a magical sandstorm, the misterious Mist envolving the entire Mist Continent, the exotic and misterious Iifa Tree, a world in an alternate dimension(Terra), the misterious Outer Continent and Forgotten Continent, Madain Sari and the story of the Summoners and Eidolons, the surreal Memoria, the beautiful Crystal World, etc.

The locations of FFIX scream "fantasy".

[ReloadPsi]

I liked that, in contrast to the predecessors, FFIX seemed to be more awash with diverse races such as dudes with fish heads, anthropomorphic rats and whatnot...

You could walk past these things in the game and you, the player, would be the only person finding it remotely odd. Stuff that's not real is accepted as the norm in that game, instead of just magic.

But saying that, I'd have trouble just picking one.