>>718271070
>Final Fantasy is a series by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) best described as a ragtag group of unlikely heroes learning about their world and their place in it. Personal growth stories. Crystals also play a role in these stories as small as in FFII with the Crystal Rod, or as large as FFXV and FFXIII where crystals define what characters can and can't do. Though not every unlikely hero is playable, their growth takes center stage in both gameplay and story, which is why you have Jobs, character classes, and changes in ability acquisition systems every entry or so. Combat systems also tend to differ from entry to entry. Games also use physical appearance to show that strong changes in character have taken place for certain characters, like Kain in IV and The After Years, Garnet in FFIX, and the l'Cie brand system in FFXIII. No matter what the worlds look like, there is always a mix of magic and technology influencing the setting. Now there are two 'main' strands of Final Fantasy games.

>Games by Kitase and his people (Nomura, Toriyama) strongly focus on interactions within the player party, and by seeing characters develop, you learn more about the world and the events that go on in it. Characters tend to drive the plot as a result and by uncovering themselves do story events move forward leading to many plot twists and turns. as is the case in the XIII 'Lightning Saga' trilogy. These give these games strong emotional impact, which is what X is especially known for.

>Games by Matsuno and his people (Yoshida, Maehiro) instead focus more on warring factions affecting the player party, and characters develop separately from lore. In these games, characters act in response to political intrigue with long in-game history, which what drives the plot. You also get some commentary here too, like with the Yugoslav Wars and Square company culture as in Tactics, or even some nation building in response to migrant diasporas in XIV.