The great thing about theFinal Fantasyseries is that each one is different from the last. There is a formula that they follow as well to make them feel like they are part of the same brand. The inclusion of characters like Cid, Moogles, and Chocobos are just a few examples.
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Some mechanics and traits make them special. Some of these ideas were copied and tweaked for other games while others are completely unique for their experiences. Here are a handful of examples with oneFinal Fantasyentry standing out as one of the most diverse and experimental games in the series. The focus will be on the mainline games overall.
8Final Fantasy 2’s Level System
Final Fantasy 2’sleveling system was so baffling that it branched off into a completely new seriesknown asSaGa. Instead of gaining experience points and increasing stats in bulk upon leveling up, characters became stronger through practice. For example, using a sword against an enemy would increase attack damage.
There was no strict way to tell when a stat would increase though like a level bar. It was all a gambit on the player’s part, making it a difficult system to strategize around.
7Draw Magic
Final Fantasy 8had a lot of odd things about its mechanics. The strangest part of the battle system was the Draw ability which everyone could equip. Draw allowed characters to absorb magic from enemies in battle. So, if a random soldier had Fire, Squall could use Draw on that spell to basically steal a random number of spells.
The inventory allowed players to carry a maximum of a hundred counts of any spell. Even wilder, magic could be equipped to stats to increase them instead of equipping armor thanks to the Summons of this game, Guardian Forces.
6Active Time Events
Active Time Events was a story mechanic fromFinal Fantasy 9. Randomly, these ATEs would pop up while players were controlling another character. For example, if players were controlling Zidane then an ATE may pop up to show what Vivi was up to on his own.
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These ATE could be missed because there was sometimes a correct order to view them. It made sense to have the ATE system because the party was constantly split up sometimes in towns and sometimes halfway across the world.
5Chocobo Hot And Cold
Chocobo Hot and Cold is another mechanic fromFinal Fantasy 9. It is the most involved side quest in the game and themost elaborate Chocobomini-game in the entire franchise. If players venture into the Chocobo Forest they will meet a Moogle who will help Zidane befriend Choco the Chocobo.
In this forest, and other Chocobo-themed forests across the world, players could dig up tablets in an excavating mini-game. These tablets would lead to rare treasures in the overworld and sometimes they would evolve Choco’s abilities. One chest, for example, could grant Choco the ability to cross mountains.
4Gaining Abilities Through Gear
Final Fantasy 9had an interesting approach to learning abilities and magic. Weapons and pieces of armor could give characters new skills. For example, a staff could teach Vivi how to use fire or a piece of armor could increase HP for Steiner. The HP booster is an example of a passive ability that had to be equipped.
There was a limit to these special skills, so players had to pick and choose what they wanted as they went. Also worth mentioning is the fact that equipment was tailored to certain characters, so Zidane could not learn Vivi’s magic, as one example.
3Moogle Mail
This will be the last highlight forFinal Fantasy 9although there could be many other examples brought up. Moogles were all over this game and probably have the greatest appearance rate than most other entries.
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They were how players saved the game in dungeons, towns, and even on the world map. There was also an intricate mail systemset up with Moogles. If players kept up with this mail system, they could get bonus items. It was an elaborate side quest disguised as an integral gameplay mechanic.
2Blitzball
Blitzball is the sport of Spira inFinal Fantasy 10. Mini-games are some of the selling points of these games. Nothing compares to how intricate a game Blitzball was though. It wasn’t so much a mini-game as it was a fully-fledged sports RPG hidden withinFinal Fantasy 10.
The sequel did have Blitzball as well, but it was not as fully-fledged as the original and that’s why it is unique forFinal Fantasy 10. Based on the adoration of fans for this sport, it’s wild that Square Enix never attempted to release a stand-alone Blitzball game.
1Gambits
Gambits were part of the battle system inFinal Fantasy 12. The overall combat system was clearly inspired by MMORPGs at the time. Players could target enemies in the world and then they would start auto-attacking them. Players could input commands whenever they wanted to as well.
Gambits were kind of like programs that players could equip onto characters to make the auto-battling smoother. Having a character heal another if they dropped below a certain percentage is one example. The system could be tweaked to a wild level that sometimes teetered on math homework.
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