Summary

Final Fantasyis a staple in the RPG genre, whether players prefer their RPGs to have turn-based or action combat. It has existed for decades and there are more games than one could shake a fist at. It would probably take several months to finish them all without interruption.

That’s an astounding thought to consider, but so is this: Which console or portable gaveFinal Fantasyfans the most bang for their buck? That is to say,which system natively had the mostFinal Fantasygames on it,not taking into consideration ports or remasters? Here are the results.

Wii

Final Fantasy Crystal Chroniclesbegan on the GameCube asan action-based multiplayer game. It seemed to hit its peak on theWii,wherein Square Enix doubled down on it being a Nintendo exclusive franchise.Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a KingandFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklordwere sim games mixed with some tower defense. They were released digitally and reviewed well.Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time,the third game in the multiplayer series, was also released on the DS, and both platforms could talk to each other while playing.

Then there was the much more ambitiousFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers,which was an action-based game with a full narrative. It used the Wii’smotion controls well. Lastly,Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeonwas another entry in the Chocobo-focused Roguelike series which did eventually get remade for systems like the Switch, renamedChocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!,and it, too, featured co-op. Besides the new entries, manyFinal Fantasygames were also released digitally on the Virtual Console.

PS2

ThePS2has a long-standing record of being the best-selling console of all time. That’s in large part thanks to its RPG library via Square Enix, which helped it achieve that success.Final Fantasy 10was huge, not only graphically, but it was the first mainline game in the series to feature voice acting. It’s also the first mainline entry to get a sequel,Final Fantasy 10-2, whichfocused on Yunatrying to find Tidus. If that weren’t enough, the PS2 was also home to the franchise’s first MMO,Final Fantasy 11.

Final Fantasy 12, to close out the main entries, certainly sent off the PS2 on a high note in 2006 before the PS3 took over. There were some weirder games too, likeDirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy 7,which was an action-based shooter starring Vincent fromFinal Fantasy 7. Lastly,Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street SpecialcombinedDragon QuestandFinal Fantasycharacters together for a board game RPG. It was only released in Japan in 2004.

PS1

The PS2 relationship between Sony and Square Enix blossomed on thePS1first, when the two entities, Square and Enix, were separate.Final Fantasy 7broke new ground for the franchise and RPGs overall, as it got more players interested in the genre thanks to flashy graphics and more mature themes. While they didn’t blow up as big,Final Fantasy 8andFinal Fantasy 9were solid entries too, almost giving the franchise back to back to back hits. In between these three mainline entries wasFinal Fantasy Tactics, the franchise’s first tactical RPG.

Then Chocobos had a run on the PS1, with three titles. First, there wasChocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon,which was not released outside of Japan. However, the sequel,Chocobo’s Dungeon 2, was, and followed up on the original’s Roguelike design. Lastly,Chocobo Racingwas aMario Kart-inspired goofy racer featuring Chocobo, mages, monsters, and some familiar mainlineheroes like Cloud. There were also three collections released on the PS1:Final Fantasy Anthology,Final Fantasy Chronicles, andFinal Fantasy Origins.

Nintendo DS

TheNintendoDSis so close to being the best RPG platformof all time thanks to its portability and vast library, even beyond Square Enix andFinal Fantasy.Final Fantasy: The Four Heroes of Lightwas a reboot of the series featuring harder difficulty and a return to turn-based battles. This would seemingly inspire the creation ofBravely Defaultwithin Square Enix.Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Riftwas a solid sequel that improved over its GBA predecessor.Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of FatesandFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Timewere good multiplayer games as well.

Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wingswas a sequel to the original game, set after its events concluded. Instead of an MMO-style RPG system,Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wingswas an RTS.Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Taleswas a collection of mini-games starring Chocobo, andChocobo to Maho no Ehon: Majo to Shojo to Gonin no Yusha, if the name didn’t give it away, was an exclusive sequel in Japan. Beyond those seven new entries, there were also substantial remakes ofFinal Fantasy 3andFinal Fantasy 4,which improved the graphics and added voice acting.

PS4

ThePS4easily has the largest library ofFinal Fantasygames, both new and old. Nearly every mainline game can be played on this console, whether it’s via a digital download or a remaster. Let’s go through the new entries, starting withFinal Fantasy 15,which has a lot of tie-in games. First, there wasPlatinum Demo: Final Fantasy 15,which was indeed a demo. However, it was also a prequel starringa younger version of Noctis. It’s short, but counts as a game as much asP.T.does. There was another prequel,A King’s Tale: Final Fantasy 15, which was about Noctis’ father, and this game was an old-school brawler.

Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy 15was a PSVR game about fishing, andFinal Fantasy 15: Pocket Editionwas a retelling of the original game but with simplified combat, areas, and chibi-style characters. It was released on iOS first, but it also came to platforms like the PS4 in the same year. Moving on from the deluge ofFinal Fantasy 15games, there was alsoWorld of Final Fantasy. It was a monster-catching game likePokemonthat crossed over tons of classic characters, likeSquall fromFinal Fantasy 8hanging around with Rikku fromFinal Fantasy 10.

Speaking of crossovers,Dissidia Final Fantasy NTwas a fighting game that came out in arcades in 2015 before becoming a more full-featured release on the PS4 in 2018.Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy 30th Anniversarywas another board game RPG,Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Originwas a Soulslike co-op game, andTheatrhythm Final Bar Linewas a rhythm-based musical adventure. Last but not least,Final Fantasy 7 Remakefirst came out on the PS4, jump-starting what is to become a trilogy. “Remake” may be in the title, but it’s more transformative for the series than a simple remake. So again, it’s easy to see why the PS4, so far, has been the height of theFinal Fantasyseries.