Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive - Volume 2: VII VIII IX

[Loony BoB]

Anyone else got it? I'm so happy with it!

[Wolf Kanno]

Man I still haven't picked up the first volume.

[Shauna]

Mine hasn't arrived yet. It is a sad time.

[Lord Golbez]

What is it?

[Wolf Kanno]

What is it?

It's the translated Anniversary Ultimanias in a nutshell. Vol.1 is the first six games while Vol. 2 is the PS1 entries. So if you ever wanted to learn some of the background info on the game or just have a simple overview of the titles at your disposal, there you go. I've been meaning to pick them up, but money has been tight this year.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Money is real right now so I probably can’t get it for a bit. I have the first one though.

[maybee]

They're about $80 each over here, so don't know whether to get the first part for FFII, FFIV, FFV, and FFVI goodness, or the second part for FFVII, FFVIII, and FFIX or get the 3rd Volume for FFX and FFXII.


help.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

Yikes. They're only $20 over here (America). On Amazon, anyway.

I have volume 1 and I really enjoy it. I'm ready to get this one, but I'm holding off until the holiday is over. But it definitely stares me down every time I pass it in the book aisle.

Soon.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Yeah, I saw they were only $20 on Amazon and broke down and bought it. I like the books, but I tend to never really look at these kinds of books after the first time i open them.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

I did end up getting this shortly after Christmas. The breakdown is something like this:

FFVII: 114 pages
FFVIII: 70 pages
FFIX: 126 pages

VIII fans like myself may feel like they trimmed the fat, but the book is so packed full of content it's hard to complain about.

It's a thoroughly enjoyable read packed full of images ranging from storyboard art to concept images, memorable quotes, anything you might expect. It's really well put together, the binding holds up, the pages are thick, every space feels utilized.

I'll say this though, it's not so much a "lore" book as you might expect from an Ultimania, so much as it is a very large art book with a beautiful trip down memory lane, showcasing memorable quotes and scenes, character bios, etc.

[Wolf Kanno]

That's what the Ultimania's really are though. You get a few nice details here and there but for the most part, a lot of them are just glorified strategy guides with a few behind the scenes tidbits. I feel the closest you ever get to an actual "lore style" book is with the Anniversary FFVII Ultimania that released with the Compilation ten years ago.

There's also the stuff from the SNES guide books as well which details a crap ton of things that are never seen in the game, but considering all future Ultimania tends to ignore all of that info, it's safe to say it's likely non-canon. Funny enough, I find it's the non-FF games that tend to treat their Ultimania guides as actual lore books. Xenogears Perfect Works is probably the most famous example, but even the Chrono Cross and SaGa Frontier 2 Ultimania's have a surprising amount of story detail found in them that never made it into the games proper.

Still, it's nice to get some info and you do still learn a few interesting bits of info from these guides which is why people make a big deal out of them.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

Yeah, that's on me. I've been spoiled by Xenogears Perfect Works and the Encyclopedia Eorzea to associate these tomes with huge chunks of lore.

But the Ultimanias are still incredibly enjoyable as they are, certainly for the value and all the great content within.

[Wolf Kanno]

Yeah, that's on me. I've been spoiled by Xenogears Perfect Works and the Encyclopedia Eorzea to associate these tomes with huge chunks of lore.

But the Ultimanias are still incredibly enjoyable as they are, certainly for the value and all the great content within.

Oh yeah, totally agree, they are still pretty awesome overall. I have the Japanese 20th anniversary Ultimania's and despite being able to barely read them, you cans till get some interesting info out of them regardless.

[Shauna]

Yeah it was an entertaining 30 minutes before it was put on my shelf forever