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Final Fantasy (Japanese: ファイナルファンタジー Fainaru Fantajii) is a popular series of role playing games produced by Square Enix (originally Square Co., Ltd.).

The first installment of the series premiered in Japan in 1987, and Final Fantasy games have subsequently been localized for markets in North America, Europe and Australia, on nearly every modern video game console, including the Nintendo Entertainment System, the MSX2, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sony PlayStation, the WonderSwan, the WonderSwan Color, the PlayStation 2, IBM PC, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, and several different models of mobile phone. Future installments have been announced to appear on the Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game systems. It is Square Enix's most successful franchise, having sold over 60 million units worldwide to date.

As of early 2006, eleven games have been released as part of the main (numbered) series, as well as many other spinoffs and related titles.

For a general overview of the series, see the article Final Fantasy.

Video games
Originally, Final Fantasy II and III for the Famicom and V for the Super Famicom were not released in America. For number continuity, Square of America changed the numerals of the US releases: Final Fantasy IV became "II" and VI became "III". Starting with Final Fantasy VII the pretense was dropped, and all subsequent games used their original numbering, leading to an apparent "jump" over 3 games. This has been a source of much confusion, with many American fans continuing to refer to IV and VI by their American numbers. To solve this, many fans use the disambiguative suffixes "us" and "j" for American numbering and Japanese numbering respectively, e.g. FF3us or FF6j. Later ports include translations of the Japanese games with their original numbering.

Main series

 * Notes
 * Original version was never released in North America or Europe.
 * Reissued with Final Fantasy as part of Final Fantasy I-II for the Family Computer in 1994
 * Remade for the WonderSwan Color in 2001 and the Sony PlayStation in 2002
 * PlayStation version is the first version to be seen outside Japan.
 * Included as part of Final Fantasy Origins and Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls,


 * Notes
 * Original version was never released in North America or Europe.
 * Remake for the Nintendo DS is forthcoming 2006 and has been announced for release in North America and Europe
 * Nintendo DS remake will feature an overhaul of the game in 3D.


 * Notes
 * Originally released in North America as Final Fantasy II
 * Remade and edited to reduce difficulty level as Final Fantasy IV Easytype (1992)
 * Ported to the Sony PlayStation in 1997 and remade for the WonderSwan Color in 2003
 * Included as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles (North America) and Final Fantasy Anthology (Europe)
 * Game Boy Advance version was released in 2005 featuring some new additions not found in previous releases.


 * Notes
 * Original version was never released in North America or Europe.
 * Ported to the Sony PlayStation in 1998
 * Included as part of Final Fantasy Anthology (North America and Europe)
 * Game Boy Advance version is planned for a 2006 release.


 * Notes
 * Originally released in North America as Final Fantasy III
 * Ported to the Sony PlayStation in 1999
 * Included as part of Final Fantasy Anthology (North American version only)
 * Released as a standalone game for the Sony PlayStation in Europe.
 * Game Boy Advance version is planned for a 2006 release.


 * Notes
 * Expanded "international edition" released for the PlayStation in 1998
 * Ported to the PC in 1998
 * First Final Fantasy title to be officially released in Europe, Australia and South Korea


 * Notes
 * Ported to the PC in 1999


 * Notes
 * Expanded "international edition" released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002
 * Not to be confused with the SGI demo produced alternatively called either Final Fantasy X or Final Fantasy SGI.


 * Notes
 * Ported to the PC in 2003
 * Ported to the Xbox 360 in 2006
 * Also known as Final Fantasy XI Online: it is the first MMORPG in the series
 * Three expansion packs have been released: Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart (2003), Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia (2004) and Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan (2006)
 * Rise of the Zilart was included as part of the original North American release of the game in 2003
 * Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia were both included in the European release of the game in 2004.
 * Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia and Treasures of Aht Urhgan were all included in the Xbox 360 release of the game in 2006.

Direct sequels, spin-offs, and related games
Until the release of Final Fantasy X-2 the idea of a "direct sequel," that is, a game which picked up directly from the story of a previous game in the series, was unprecedented in the series. Starting with that game, however, several such sequels emerged, especially the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series of games/movies, all of which continue the story of the game Final Fantasy VII. This is most likely a result of the merger with Enix, which was well-known for producing sequels and spinoffs associated with the Dragon Quest series.