Final Fantasy - On this day

The first Final Fantasy on this day, 34 years ago, appeared for the NES console in the Japanese market. At the time, such a game was very risky because publisher Square felt that a fantasy-themed RPG would not be particularly profitable.

The game was originally supposed to be called Fighting Fantasy, but due to a problem with the brand name, a team of only seven producers eventually opted for Final Fantasy. They believed it could be their final fantasy if the game didn’t sell out, given that Square was in a pretty bad financial situation at the time.

Final Fantasy was primarily a response to the Dragon Quest series, but it drew inspiration for its turn-based combat system from the Dungeons & Dragons and Wizardry franchises. Unlike those RPGs that came from the West, Final Fantasy did not show its fight in the first person, but divided the characters on the screen - enemies on the left and the player's team on the right.

Final Fantasy was initially supposed to be produced in only 200,000 copies, but game creator Hironobu Sakaguchi managed to persuade Square to deliver twice as much, as it was the only way to possibly make the game profitable and pave the way for a sequel. The risk paid off and Final Fantasy soon became a hit and was a port for MSX2 computers, and later came to other markets.

To date, the game has undergone numerous adaptations, remakes, and ports. In the last decade, it has become available for PSP, Wii, Android, iOS, 3DS, PS3, and some other platforms. As you know, it's hard to count how many Final Fantasy games, sequels, and spin-off titles have come out in the last 34 years. And it’s fascinating how it all came out of great risk.