The Complete History of 8-Bit Final Fantasy

[@Unalochy]

Three and a half hours about old FF games, I'm all in!

[@A_real_Ha_So]

I remember just turning 21 in '91 and a friend giving me the first FF and Nobunaga's Ambition and fell in love with both. 32 years later and am still buying the latest installments.

[@marlonthomas8042]

Nobunagas ambition is that old of a franchise? Wow

[@LordRone]

Nobunaga's Ambition was Awesome!

[@NihonNoMajin]

NA us such a fun strategy series! 35 here and FF is my favorite franchise 🫡

[@pikachuattack542]

Nice!

[@jamesromesburg3733]

Question about Nobunagas, what was the last good one in the series in your opinion. Haven't bought one since sphere of influence: ascension and afraid to invest in a newer version.

[@austinhensley5705]

What a way to make a Monday so much better!

[@KevinoftheCosmos]

I recently went to Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy, performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for the 35th anniversary of FF. I can't explain how unexpectedly moving that experience was. It hit me like a truck. I hadn't realized how significant the series had been for my entire 38 years of living. I knew every song, and they played numerous from each game, mainline and otherwise. From my first childhood RPG, to some of my fondest memories gaming in my formative years, and even into present adulthood. Every title is a marker and milestone in my memory. It was the greatest concert of my life. Tomorrow I'm taking my girlfriend on a date to buy boba drinks for a flying pig mount FFXIV. Final Fantasy simply permiates my existence. Life is hard, but it's made mine so much more tolerable. It continues to. And that's a really special thing.

[@jonathanhargraves2241]

Removing the save point between Crystal Tower and World of Darkness out of spite is such a crazy move, it's probably the inspiration for save points in the dungeon in FF4.

[@reiddutchess9955]

It’s almost unbelievable that Nobuo ever struggled to make ends meet as a musician. My brain doesn’t even comprehend how that is possible.

[@michaelmoran2125]

Didnt Van Gogh die poor as it gets?

[@retrokat9285]

The starving artist ambition, he never gave up and I'm glad everyday. Growing up playing final fantasy is the reason why I did band in high school!

[@versustherest]

Hahaha, I still don't understand how a musician and composer like me can't get any popularity. It's like that in most arts. You either get all the fame or nobody gives a f*** about you no matter how good your songs are.

[@tonymitsu]

A friend of mine is gifted with a calendar containing Amano's artwork every year since she went to highschool with his daughter and she simply doesn't understand why that's such a big deal to me and my friends 😂

[@RandomBucket]

3.5 hours of FF info! My Tuesday morning is now going to be the best one ever thank you! 🤩

[@Muncheiy]

I love you guys and the style of deep dive videos you do. I want you to know that you inspired me to write to Sakaguchi and Uematsu. I’m a struggling writer who grew up playing FF and these guys were already my heroes. Your description of their early struggles and how they defied all expectations was so inspiring to me. Thank you.

[@LaRonStar]

I was one of the few Nintendo Power subscribers as a kid to get Dragon Warriors FREE. It was a great addition to my gaming. Since unlike now having a laundry list of back log games was rare back then. I was forced to learn how to play the RPG which then launched my love for the genre. Plus my dad was a DnD fan, so we learned the Dragon Warriar game together.

[@Glokta4]

Amazing video, so incredibly thorough. Thank you for all your work.

[@samjames7244]

Thanks

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you so much Sam, that's very kind of you! ~Darryl

[@samjames7244]

@@FinalFantasyUnion haha sorry didn’t realise it posted a comment with just “thanks”! 😂 love the content man, and appreciate the work you have put into this

[@davidgeorge3944]

Fantastic video as always 👏 always here for the new FF union drops! 💙

[@faisal1979m]

Amazing FF history upload well done with the relaxing background music

[@BCBS4631]

thats so awesome you got john oeths renditions of final fantasy music. i love it

[@natehancock9663]

Thank you for this content seriously i would buy a physical copy of this documentary. Thanks for your hard work, Darryl & Lauren!

[@happyjam92]

Final fantasy has become my unwind/escape game. Ive only been playing the FF7 games so far: original, remake and rebirth currently but its a world that i love being in. Ill probably play ff8 next

[@VcassCsoto]

Bravo sir. I got slightly nervous near the end when there wasn’t much mention of Amano but u curveballed me and I feel…complete. Thank u

[@ThatLuckyBear]

First time at the channel and I'm astonished at the quality and readability of this breakdown. Brilliant work. See you again once I beat some more Final Fantasy games (on 4 now!)

[@Tarnaseus]

Great video! It’s fascinating to see how the the earlier games shaped the RPG genre and laid the groundwork for so many future titles. The depth and creativity of these early games are still impressive today. Thanks for the detailed look back!

[@2ndchanceguy]

Fun fact! Final Fantasy taught 6 year old me to read!

[@zalden2565]

I regularly cite final fantasy as a significant factor in my early reading abilities

[@througtonsheirs_doctorwhol5914]

made me learn to read english. As a francophone it was what truly put me o nthe road to being bilingual

[@Jinnnnnnnnn]

Me Chrono Cross, stuck at early game where you need to kill 3 Komodo Dragon for their Scales.

[@JoshWiniberg]

I'm encouraging my six year old to play early FFs for that very reason!

[@mikebrew8121]

It was ff7 when I was 8 for me 😊

[@Kaljuun13]

For a silly moment, the title made me think of the old Nuklear Power webcomic that told the entire FF1 story in a parody way. Ran for years. 8-Bit Theater. Heh

[@Nyxpphire]

I like swords.

[@Kaljuun13]

@@Nyxpphire then you'll love the sword-chucks. :3

[@notmousse]

Welcome to Corneria ​@@Nyxpphire

[@balthezaar100]

Fighter-doken

[@ninjahedgehog5]

Chaos used some of my wonderbread and threw away the twist tie

[@TJ-vh2ps]

Fantastic work on this documentary!

[@zPamboli]

lmao so you are telling me that the most famous and well known JRPG developer / publisher, started not wanting to make RPGs at all

[@BigGahmBoss]

Correction: Toriyama was not a rising star when he did the art for Dragon Quest. It's easy to not realize it in the west, but the manga he did before DragonBall (Dr Slump) was widely successful. So much so that he was already a millionaire before drawing the first Goku image

[@BigGahmBoss]

You even confirm this later on around the half hour mark when you acknowledge that Toriyama was a renowned artist lol

[@NorthernPixels1]

You could argue that fits rising star. Once dragonball got popular, he was a titan in the industry. It's like uh... saying timothee chalamet was a rising star a few years ago. Undoubtedly a millionaire at that point.

[@BigGahmBoss]

@@NorthernPixels1 are we just having this discussion because we're not recognizing American fame? Enix hired him because he was an icon

[@7milesdavis]

So he was at the absolute peak of his fame then? Or would he go on to be increasingly well known over the years? I think rising star works. There is a big difference between being famous in Japan and being famous worldwide.

[@BigGahmBoss]

@7milesdavis I think it can easily be debated in both directions, honestly. Because it's hard to call a literal millionaire a rising star in anything. Sounds to me like he made it with Dr Slump alone. But if you're strictly looking at it from the international market and taking the big picture out of it, then yeah. I guess To aid my point, the script referred to Toriyama at the same point in his career as "renown" so even they acknowledge both sides

[@sajinokami]

I am one of those people who got the free copy of dragon warrior and I still have it.Of course. I will say, I never would have gotten into final fantasy or even knew about it, without dragon warrior. After I played that game, I went into a used video game store and I said, are there any other games that are like dragon warrior? I really enjoyed that. The person behind the counter handed me a copy of final fantasy and said you will like this. To be completely honest, I don't think I would still be into video games and I definitely would not have any playstations if it wasn't for me chasing final fantasy to different consoles. I own playstations 1 through 5, because of final fantasy. My rule is I will buy the console once there is a new final fantasy for it. I have never played another dragon warrior.

[@zPamboli]

the 3D remake of FF3 was my first FF game and to this date it still saddens me that it isn't held in a higher regard. It's not as extreme as FF2, but still, it's a much better game than people remember, that is, if people have even played it, as many casual fans just played the titles that always make the top of tier lists and that's it.

[@TheWiddaC]

I just listened to this while sketching. I don't normally listen to/watch videos this long but this was Fantastic!! Brilliant job 👍

[@smeagle3295]

Cartoonist Kayfabe is a pretty good background for sketching as well.

[@IceLexicon]

Excellent. Work can wait.

[@ducksoup10]

Exactly what I was thinking! Lol

[@amincooper1]

Great work listened to its entirety. I learned a lot. Thank you

[@RemoWilliams1227]

18:21 well that's good since I can listen to it all day 😂

[@OYME13]

I remember when I first read an article in Nintendo Power, about an upcoming RPG called Final Fantasy. Having enjoyed Dragon Quest quite a lot, I was certainly interested. But it was Amano's artwork, which was heavily displayed in the article, that really sold me.

[@ThisICommand666]

Cannot wait for the 16-bit era!

[@36inc]

man this was alot- one thing though im not saying nobuo isnt the legend he is and a genius- but youd be surprised how common it is to put some of your most memorable songs together in one go. in my genre shortest it could logically take is 45 minutes but with his limitations and expectations you can reasonably shorten that mandatory input time to 10 minutes. this usually just means that you had one of those momentum shifts, where you just hum and it comes together. ive done it twice now two of my easiest songs to get through was in such a momentum shift its just like how an athlete has their hot and cold phases. sometimes your mind just snaps into perfect harmony with the body-and you fully enjoy it so it even feels really brief.

[@RemoWilliams1227]

I know exactly what you mean in regards to creativity or even just understanding certain aspects of life perfectly. As you say it's fleeting but for a minute, day, week you feel perfectly capable in that aspect.

[@36inc]

@@RemoWilliams1227 yeah momentum is a constant but its so background that we only notice it when were competing for something.

[@FullMetalXV]

These are the youtube videos i live for

[@oblivioustouch9012]

Great video. I loved it as always

[@MasterLauche]

Liked and subscribed. This video is an incredible achievement

[@joe9739]

Dragon Quest in USA actually had better box-art than Japan, imo. Kinda had a classic fantasy look.

[@sierrakobold6896]

Great video! Hori developed the original PC platform Portopia version himself in 1983, him and Nakamura didnt collaborate on developement of the original game in '83, they first collaborated on the Famicom port/version in 1985

[@rogermucroy750]

Love your channel!

[@thesecorridorsoftime]

3,5 hours? Yes! Thank you! ❤

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Another great documentary!!

[@travismorse5050]

I wasn't sure how I felt about 12 when it first released. I was often confused and didn't really care for the characters. I put it down and revisited it many years later. Man I'm glad I did because I matured during those years and I could really appreciate this for what it is. It's such an incredible game with some truly memorable characters. Once I grasped the Gambit system the game was such a blast, I did play the zodiac remake which I'm forever grateful for the battle speed mechanic. Lol I took my time with one and it's definitely in my top 5 FF games. Man now I'm gonna have to replay it again soon!

[@Betterthanzero]

When you said, "a game of this scope" in reference to FF1, it was eye opening to realize how far games have come since then! Also, I didn't realize that King's Knight from FF15 was a reference to a real game. Very cool!

[@kuailiang6312]

Check it out, he showed the 3 women that worked on ff. Lmao.

[@loafofgof4250]

Never thought I'd watch a 3 hour long KZbin video....but i did!

[@driftninja64]

amazing video. epilepsy warning at 15:16 thanks for all the hard work making a video of my most favorite final fantasy.

[@barryschalkwijk9388]

What a gargantuan effort...very well done.

[@vampirecountingmoneyup2248]

fantastic video

[@LunarWingCloud]

I just got the Pixel Remasters and this was the perfect video to hype me up to play them

[@jjinc1957]

Amazing historical endeavor! I absolutely loved this work: Thank you!

[@martin_from_sweden]

This is exactly what I need. I was looking for something else to listen to than Trump or Ukraine or everything else depressing. Fantastic work!

[@SoraMatt]

I hope we get a sequel series/compilation that covers the 16 bit era, then the PS1 era doing them in 3s. This was good and want to see this format continue

[@PatrickGann]

"Say - Ken" Densetsu. Grating my ears, man.

[@dakotawinston7677]

Greetings, nice to meet you the next two weeks of my lunch breaks.

[@Tootbook]

I sold my copy of ff1 for weed. Im so sad i didnt treasure what i had. I had all of them. I sold them all for small amounts of weed. I didnt realize my emotional connection to each game. I will never forgive myself.

[@evolancer211]

Can you go over that again, rated 59.53 out of 30?

[@frempy4426]

7 out of 5

[@Mana2Burn]

What a magical time to be in the industry. Lightning in a bottle that would go on to change many people’s lives including mine.

[@Plistors]

This was so good that my leg fell asleep and i rolled my ankle

[@argentorangeok6224]

I'm 48. Since the age of 12, I have not been able to get enough of the old style Final Fantasy & Dragon Warrior type RPGs. I've replayed them so many times. Most of the new "old school" RPGs are just awful. This video was a monumental effort. Excellent documentary of these classic and masterful games.

[@IronRangeOutlawBrigade]

We used the FF1 strategy guide as a D&D handbook for years!!!

[@sierrakobold6896]

Can someone please tell me the horse jockey game at 43:19. Its not derby stallion and i cant find it searching online

[@tinyetoile5503]

I think you might be a bit confused on how to use the word "predecessor"? You keep using it to mean "one that comes after" (calling FF2 the predecessor to FF1 in this video for example) but it means the opposite, "one that comes before" (ie, FF1 is the predecessor to FF2)

[@JanusThePaladin]

Anyone else want to see that original ff2 script as a real game?

[@evolancer211]

12 isn't that old to start learning a musical instrument for a career

[@darkmessiah757]

For Japan and their culture, it kinda is.

[@througtonsheirs_doctorwhol5914]

it is old, you gotta learn the music language early to make it easier , like learning additional languages as a kid.

[@larsonabilla5066]

In general, yes it’s young. But if you’re trying to get into a conservatory or goto college for music (especially on scholarship) … 12 is old , especially considering many people start piano lessons at 4 years old. Many quit, but most professionals have this pedigree

[@ecritdelajaponographie8565]

"Saiken" (再建) means "rebuilding". I think the reference is meant to be "seiken" (聖剣), i.e., "holy sword".

[@navi2710]

Damn it, i feel old for playing SCH.

[@flansburgh1100]

Fighting Fantasy is such a bland name. I'm sure the books are great, but I'm very glad Square had to choose something else. Final is so much more poetic.

[@dylanmiller9162]

Agreed absolutely, though re: great or not, fighting fantasy books were a huge part of inspiration in making the Souls series

[@througtonsheirs_doctorwhol5914]

@@dylanmiller9162 Lone Wolf is way more in the vein of Dark Souls than Fighting Gantasy though. Lone Wolf were the ultimate RPG books series, Fighting Fantasy only stand alone episodes. Lone Wolf is a saga, like the Souls world

[@dylanmiller9162]

@@througtonsheirs_doctorwhol5914 Absolutely, honestly I’m not as familiar, I’m just citing Miyazaki calling them an inspiration

[@througtonsheirs_doctorwhol5914]

@@dylanmiller9162 The quality of the horror in a continous world is unequalled in Lone Wolf, Miyazaki chan might have known

[@dylanmiller9162]

@@througtonsheirs_doctorwhol5914 Totally, but I don’t think it came up in the video like Fighting Fantasy did?

[@diebesgrab]

“The Complete History of 8-bit Final Fantasy” Complete? 8-bit? THEN WHERE’S THE SEGMENT ON FINAL FANTASY GAIDEN? False advertising! I call shenanigans!

[@Emi_Alvarez]

Imagine a remaster of Defiance with a free camera

[@inthefade]

Man Dragon Warrior II was sooooo good as a kid.

[@Zarnubius]

2:29 yoooooo grandpa had absolute babes like THIS on his computer?? got dam

[@bigblue344]

Heh, another story about something "deep and symbolic" in Japanese media that just ended up being "We used it because it sounds cool!" 40:30

[@SickSoundingStuff]

Having just played FF7 Rebirth, I find it amazing that the piece of artwork shown at 1:50:43 time slot of the monsters created for FF2 have been on the enemy roster this long. Take a look for yourself. Even the Blob of Jelly thing with a ton of Eyeballs is there. It's just too cool to see the origins of these creatures done in watercolor. Edit: There's even a Barret in a sailors outfit if you look hard enough. Ha!

[@pikachuattack542]

I still haven't beat it, given I'm playing other games too, but good god I love the game. Exploring Gongaga and trying to head to the airfield cuz I wanna avoid burnout when I play it again.

[@SickSoundingStuff]

@@pikachuattack542 Honestly, for me, Gongaga was a bit exhausting to try and figure out. I had to really study the map to try and find routes to places I wanted to go (looking for mushrooms that pointed in certain directions) and even then sometimes I was wrong or would get lost. It was easily my least favorite area to explore. I thought that was my opinion because I had a cold while playing through that part but it's an opinion I've seen shared elsewhere. Up until shortly after Chapter 13 you can go back, so if it's giving you trouble you can just dip for a bit. I'm a bit obsessive so I HAD to complete the area before moving on. It's a great game otherwise. No other major complaints.

[@Scitch-et4vk]

Great video

[@drako9110]

I'm old enough to remember when it was called Dragon Warrior

[@yotaruvegeta]

RIP, Toriyama.

[@Willrocs]

I just want to beat it once before I die lol

[@andrewgrow5711]

dragon quest was so good, it was awesome

[@forcelightningcable9639]

It’s nice to be able to cook lunch while listening to a fantastic documentary on the history of one of my favorite game series. It is actually possible to feel happy living in late capitalism sometimes. (Also just a side note, seeing rad racer after playing nothing but side-scrollers in the early 90’s blew my young child mind)

[@voshadxgathic]

It's not official content, but I'd love a video about the 8-bit theater comic strip.

[@ethanleasure1561]

1:08:50

[@prsuave420]

Best buy has the samsung 990 pro on sale right now for $110. 1TB model. Has 7450 read speed. It's a steal

[@tinyetoile5503]

If those american sales for dragon quest include canada, then my mom is apparently one of the few people who actually bought the game. Crazy to think about

[@matthewhensel7050]

I hope y’all are making a 16 bit video!!! 🥹👉👈

[@evolancer211]

My mom worked at Broderbom during this time, unfortunately no free games 😕

[@Ds117]

I've been on final fantasy for years and years now. 😊😊

[@damionmanuel7337]

The original Final Fantasy was one of my first RPGs as a pre-teen American boy in the early 1990's. I bought FF right after borrowing Dragon Warrior from a cousin that had gotten it free with a Nintendo Power subscribtion. He told me DW was boring and didn't make sense, lol. Final Fantasy has been one of my favorite games through my lifetime and I've played the NES version all the way through more times than I can count, and later remakes as well. But is the first FF polished? While it looks great, it's quite broken in many respects. The magic system is full of non-working spells and the intellegence stat does nothing. The weapon damage-type is pretty broken as well with many weapons that are supposed to do more damage to certain enemy types just not doing so. And those are just a couple of the broken things. Other issues are not bugs but design choices. Attacks to enemies killed by another party member earlier in the round doesn't pass to another viable enemy, you just lose the turn as an 'ineffective' attack. There's no way to recover magic slots in a dungeon in the original game and that makes magic much less useful. You can't just use magic whenever you want because slots are pretty limited as well. While I'll accept it as a storage limitation of the time, the fact that you are limited to four equipable items per character means that you have to sell or drop many useful weapons with unique properties due to simple lack of space. That can be pretty hard to swallow these days and remakes remove this limitation. It's surprising how little these things do to bring the game down though. I and many others have remedied many of these 'flaws' through rom hacking. As much as I love the game I don't think I can bring myself to call it polished. It is a flawed masterpiece in my book.

[@booradley6832]

43:34 I had that game, called "Legacy of the WIzard" in the US and it SUCKED you cant figure out whats going on at all.

[@darkmessiah757]

Something about the Japanese public being educated on RPGs is hilarious to me, especially in hindsight, where RPGs are massive over there. Its like if FPS ganes had to be explained over here in the west.

[@joesmith3590]

Japanese rpgs are inspired from the west. Finals fantasy 1 the lead director was in love with the game wizardly on the apple 2. He used to skip school to play it. The spells and many other things are directly from that. Ultima and wizardly are the start of rpg in Japan. Wizardly is inspired by early Plato games. Those games were inspired by DnD. Japan may rule the RPG now but it is undeniably American.

[@frempy4426]

Nice video but where are your sources? None of your info or images are sourced as far as I can tell… Also, I was confused by the repeated use of American box art when talking about the Japanese release… Also it would be better to have original gameplay footage instead of remakes or emulation with shaders, but maybe that’s just me

[@Grind24hours]

They talk about Final Fantasy, but there is always a new FF so there is never a Final Fantasy!

[@Kakerate2]

wild how a lot of these people got starts on just hard work, instead of years wasted in school. these things dont happen anymore :/

[@levi1929]

Sakaguchi looks like a total knob. He seems so proud of himself in every photo!

[@SventFulgur]

I mean he kind of earned it 😅

[@booradley6832]

What a strange thing to say. "People came to interview you on camera about how they're such huge fans of your massively popular work and you're proud of yourself? What a dickhead." Do something productive maybe you'll feel good about yourself too.

[@levi1929]

@@SventFulgur More so than I did, and I'm a complete bell end. Good point, well made.

[@BaldingSasquatch]

Please stop saying cruise chaser blassty i've never heard a worse title in all my years.

[@aidanhogan-thomas1797]

The 80s were a wild time. Lol.

[@lucianoprocopio937]

Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty Cruise Chaser Blassty

[@tatikagila5057]

Worse than "bravely default"?

[@DcoyCartes]

MORE

[@WhyYouAskingMe]

I tried to like Final Fantasy and I failed. I was too busy playing EverQuest.

[@Krizzah47]

still waiting for 32 bit

[@navi2710]

I'm getting tired of FF7 fans constantly telling people who don't think Rebirth is a 10 out of 10 that they should stop playing the game. I think a game should be rated overall and I fight Rebirth to be a 6 out of 10. Has good ideas but SE went with quantity over quality.