Was the Final Fantasy franchise influenced by Dungeons and Dragons?

[SuperMillionaire]

When Square first invented the Final Fantasy franchise, were they influenced by Dungeons and Dragons?

[qwertysaur]

Most likely

[oddler]

Abso-freaking-lutely. It was a game designed to simplify and streamline the basic principles of a D&D campaign.

[The Crystal]

I cannot answer your question. But I know that Star Wars have a big influence on the franchise.

[G13]

^ I agree! Biggs and Wedge anybody? Evil Empires! Young protagonists joining a rebel faction to overthrow the Evil Empire!

[Elly]

if i remember correctly they originaly made FF to be a last ditch effort to save their company, they decided on a game model that they hoped would be able to compete with Dragon Quest, both series' highly steeped in D&D but with much less focus on manual stat manipulation, and yes Square likes to pay tribute to Star Wars too but if i remember correctly the Star Wars referances didn't begin untill FFIII... Star Wars referances can also be found in the Chrono series, Biggs, Wedge, & Piete with Biggs translated incorrectly on the first release of CT as Vicks, for example, Square loves them some Star Wars...

[G13]

??? Square didn't make FF as a last ditch to save themselves. It was called Final Fantasy because it was going to be their last game. It was just a bonus that it saved the company.

[Elly]

i remember reading in several places (internet, magazines, ect...) that they made it to be either the final game or the game that would save the company, it was a make it or break it gamble that paid off for them in the end... so in essence it was a last ditch effort to save a failing company... they were planning to quit making games if FF failed but since it was a success they continued making more, saving the company was not a bonus it was the intent of seveal people within SquareSoft... only a fool would make a product expecting little to no return on their investment and the people at SquareSoft were not fools they just had a run of bad luck...

[Jiro]

You're both saying the same thing in different ways. Same dood, different hat.

Anything that dares call itself an RPG has been influenced by D&D. If it claims not to be, then it is lying or so goddamn revolutionary that it's not really an RPG anymore

[Shattered Dreamer]

I would say every RPG ever was inspired in some way shape or form by D&D

[MJN SEIFER]

There used to be an FF Name Origans site somewhere (not the compendium one) which had around half the FF1 monster's names as being "from D&D" (the other half where apparently "most likley a Square creation") the reasons the sites creator gave was that Square where about to give up on RPGs and created Final Fantasy as their swan's song (but it was so succesful they kept going) so they probably didn't put as much thought into naming random monsters like they did in their later games.

[NeoTifa]

Why D&D? Why not Call of Cthulu? >=(

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

It's more than a vague influence endemic to all RPGs: most of FFI's bestiary comes directly from D&D's Monster Manual. The Beholder (a.k.a. EYE) enemy's sprite was even altered from the Japanese version of the game (and carried over in subsequent versions) to make the resemblance less incriminating.

[G13]

i remember reading in several places (internet, magazines, ect...) that they made it to be either the final game or the game that would save the company, it was a make it or break it gamble that paid off for them in the end... so in essence it was a last ditch effort to save a failing company... they were planning to quit making games if FF failed but since it was a success they continued making more, saving the company was not a bonus it was the intent of seveal people within SquareSoft... only a fool would make a product expecting little to no return on their investment and the people at SquareSoft were not fools they just had a run of bad luck...

I'm confused. How can it be either of those reasons in the magazine you read but only one of them in your first post? I'm sure they all hoped it would save the company but I don't think they were counting on this one game to make up for every other failed game they made. I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just saying that, yes, "only a fool would make a product expecting little to no return on their investment", but only a fool would expect one game to reverse the effect of years of inadequate games. It did of course, but to expect it is... foolish.

[Bolivar]

FF and DQ were both influenced by the western computer RPG's like Ultima, which were in turn influenced by D&D.

The whole concept of being able to go out and fight monsters in you own fantasy campaign like in the books you read was itself a dream which D&D brought to life, so the entire genre really owes it to that.

I also recall hearing as well that a lot of the foes were directly taken from the Monster Manual.


Lastly, I think the story about it being their last game/game to save the company has been largely exaggerated over the years, and that Square really wasn't doing all that bad, at least in comparison to other developers who indeed went on to survive those early famicom/msx days. I know that's not the consensus today, but I'm just saying what I've gathered from reading about it over the years.