Which game best personified the definition of "Fantasy"?

[Wolf Kanno]

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.

Well, I feel its because their is a balance issue, VII and VIII both focused on concepts that most would agree is sci-fi territory, genetic engineering, super weapons, Time Travel, space travel, throw in the fact that both games feature heavy usage of modern technology like cars, guns, cell phones, satellites, helicopters and missile silos.

I feel the original VII can still be classified as fantasy/cyberpunk but VIII is a bit of a different story. It has Fantasy elements but I really feel its genre is much closer to Sci-Fi especially since Sci-Fi has changed so much in the last 20 years. All the games hit both sides, I feel the main difference is a balance of said ratios. I feel most of the FFs generally hit a 50/50 mark V, VI, VII, IX, and X are all just as much traditional fantasy as they are science fiction stories.

My personal taste? I, IV and V are sorta a perfect 50/50 mix of sci-fi and fantasy. II and III are the closest to being traditional fantasy in the series. VI is Steampunk which is easily one of my favorite niche genres, VII has a pretty good steam/cyber punk feel, IX is a good mix of hardcore Jim Henson style fantasy (more Dark Crystal and Labyrinth) but its hard to deny its heavy use of sci-fi elements as well. X is fantasy done with a Japanese mythos. Its story is actually a retelling of one of the oldest legends in Shinto. Though I actually like Oriental Fantasy, I don't particularly care for X's style cause its relatively "safe". XI is more in line of "Old school FF" and XII is quite more difficult to pin down. I'm beginning to feel Ivalice and all its incarnations deserve their won damn category of fantasy.

Of the main series, I feel III and IV represent the best fantasy "feel" to me. Though I would rank XII as the best if I counted all the other games from Ivalice.

[Moon Rabbits]

IX.

[Jiro]

There are a few that stand out to me, though VII and VIII are not among them. They just seem to sci-fi for my liking. I voted XII, just because I couldn't choose between VI, IX, X and XII.

[NeoTifa]

9, just for the fact that zidane had a tail

[Bolivar]

For all of you that keep insisting "SCI-FI!!!":

go to a group that plays the pencil-and-paper version of Shadow Run, and try to convince them that they are playing a sci-fi game.

[Goldenboko]

For all of you that keep insisting "SCI-FI!!!":

go to a group that plays the pencil-and-paper version of Shadow Run, and try to convince them that they are playing a sci-fi game.

How does that prove anything? How does how a group of fans perceive what they do prove anything at all in any situation?

Story genres are there to separate stories, if one qualifies for a type of genre thats all there is to it.

[The Crystal]

What's really funny, is the people who say that FFVII is sci-fi(it's more to steampunk, in my personal opinion), are the same people who don't consider FFVI a sci-fi game.
FFVI... A game with robots, factories, experiments, and etc.

[Bastian]

Not so. I would say that VI falls into that category a bit as well.

For me, the more sci-fi, the less I like it. For that reason, VI is NOT one of my favorites. I've never played it more than once. IV, on the other hand, has a much smaller percent of that stuff and IS one of my favorites and I've replayed it countless times. VII had so much of that stuff that I simply didn't like it and stopped playing it without ever finishing it.

By no means am I saying VII IS scifi . . . but it's too MUCH sci-fi for my gaming tastes.

Basically, if there are guns or laser guns instead of swords, I'm not into it.

[Ouch!]

Science fiction is often regarded a sub-genre of fantasy. It's just a sub-genre that has a much more distinct identity than most.

[Goldenboko]

What's really funny, is the people who say that FFVII is sci-fi(it's more to steampunk, in my personal opinion), are the same people who don't consider FFVI a sci-fi game.
FFVI... A game with robots, factories, experiments, and etc.

Well I do not, so gtfo with your assumptions >:0

[Vivisteiner]

I would say that both FFVII and VIII are fantasy. But FFVII has sci fi elements and FFVIII has strong sci fi elements.

[Wolf Kanno]

For all of you that keep insisting "SCI-FI!!!":

go to a group that plays the pencil-and-paper version of Shadow Run, and try to convince them that they are playing a sci-fi game.

Give me one moment *calls his rpg club* Yes, we do actually consider Shadow Run sci-fi though to be technical its "cyber punk with a decent dose of fantasy". Yet most of us agree its cyber punk background negates it from being a true fantasy.

What's really funny, is the people who say that FFVII is sci-fi(it's more to steampunk, in my personal opinion), are the same people who don't consider FFVI a sci-fi game.
FFVI... A game with robots, factories, experiments, and etc.

VI is Steam punk baby! I don't consider it "traditional fantasy" at all really. Course I don't consider VI, VII, VIII, or X "traditional fantasy" and prefer to call them by their sub-genres.

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OMG! I hate these kind of arguments. Nothing more stupid than people bitching about the definition of a word, especially since if human language has show us anything is that the language changes but not the books. Basically, their is a difference in "educational" definition and "common" definition. I feel when most people hear fantasy, you think Lord of the Rings or D&D. If you said Star Trek was your favorite fantasy series, Trekkies will be quick to point out your wrong in saying its "fantasy" and is in fact science fiction. Saying its "fantasy" is a gross generalization of a very distinct genre with specific characteristics that separate it from other genres. Sci-Fi has grown so much in the last century that its become more than a sub-genre in the basic definition of the word "fantasy". Most book stores or Sci-Fi groups regard it as a separate genre by this point.

To be honest, the dictionary definition of "fantasy" is pretty vague and I feel its mostly understood that anything that isn't based in reality that most people (by that I mean the "common" man) refers to fantasy as in the Tolkien inspired genre of swords and sorcery.

This is most likely due to the fact that the "textbook" definition of fantasy is so vague most people commonly generalize it to mean swords and sorcery fantasy. Why? Cause they were the first genre. The legends and myths of the old world are what most traditional High or epic fantasies are based on. Science Fiction, Occult Fiction, Cyber Punk, and Steampunk all came later and they all have such distinct traits I feel its ok to refer to VI, VII, VIII, and X by their specific genre rather than a generalized word that can mean anything.

Hell, the definition of fantasy and fiction are pretty interchangeable if you read them so I've come to the conclusion that everyone here is wrong and all the Final Fantasy's are in fact not "fantasy" but actually fiction.

Of which, VI, VII, and VIII are the weakest fiction stories cause they contain the most amount of non-fiction elements in their stories.

[The Crystal]

Well I do not, so gtfo with your assumptions >:0

You are not the only person in the world who say that FFVII is sci-fi/steampunk, you know.

[Vermachtnis]

I'm gonna say III cause the first 20% or so takes place on a floating continent and nothing says fantasy to me like a floating land mass. Also two immortals. That's kinda fantasy-ey.

(SPOILER)Cue the smart aleks who have to point out that technically all land masses are floating on magma ;p

[Bastian]

Science fiction is often regarded a sub-genre of fantasy. It's just a sub-genre that has a much more distinct identity than most.

Actually, you've got it reversed there, buddy.

Fantasy is actually a sub-genre of Science Fiction. (Yeay for being a Lit major).