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This section is to discuss the Final Fantasy series, the origins of various names, and the differences between the English and Japanese language versions of Final Fantasy. (Sorry I've been to busy and/or lazy to do half of the things I want here. Expect them eventually.)
In the Japanese version the Final Fantasies tend to have the same names for the various items, weapons, monsters, spells, etc. from one game to the next. The English versions are at the mercy of the translators and end up different from each other.
Having trouble with which Japanese game equates to which American or European game?
Look here:
| System | Japan | North America | PAL |
| NES | FF1 | FF1 | nr |
| NES | FF2 | nr | nr |
| NES | FF3 | nr | nr |
| SNES | FF4 | FF2 | nr |
| SNES | FF5 | nr | nr |
| SNES | FF6 | FF3 | nr |
| SNES | FF USA: Mystic Quest | FF Mystic Quest | Mystic Quest Legend |
| PSX, PS2, Etc. | FF7+ have the same names in each region. |
The reason for the different numbers in each region...
By the time FF1 made it to the USA, FF2 & FF3 were already out in Japan. These were all NES/Famicom games. (FF2 is the game that is now found on FF Origins & FF1+2:Dawn of Souls, with Firion, Maria, and Gus. FF3 has a remake for the Nintendo DS.)
FF4 was then made for the Super Famicom (Japanese SNES), and rather than have the USA be way behind Japan they just skipped 2 & 3 and released 4 here, probably hoping an SNES game would sell better. Since we didn't get 2 or 3, FF4 was renamed to FF2. What's more, the US FF2 was a watered down, easy version of the game which was then made even easier and released in Japan as FF4 Easy Type. Think of it as the genesis of the "International" editions that all the FFs get these days. (This is the game now found on FF Chronicles in the US and FF Anthology in Europe, and is also available on the GBA, with Cecil, Rosa, Kain, Golbez, etc. The Chronicles/Anthology version is based on the original "hard" version, not the "Easy Type".)
Next there was FF5. We were going to get it, but for whatever reason, they skipped it and FF6 became our FF3. (FF5 is the game that is now found in FF Anthology and on the GBA, with Bartz, Faris, and Galuf. FF6 is the one now found in FF Anthology in the US (and on its own in Europe) and the GBA, with Terra, Locke, Celes, Edgar, Kefka, etc.)
The PAL regions (by which I mean Europe, Australia, and some other places that use the PAL television standard) didn't get any of the first 6 FF games in their original forms. They often get the short end of the stick on game releases.
When FF7 came around, they ditched the whole renaming crap and ever since they've had the same names in all regions. When the older games got remade for the Playstation, they all got their original Japanese numbering back. Here's what's in each collection:
FF Anthology (USA version)
- FF5
- FF6 (same as US FF3 SNES)
FF Anthology (Euro version)
- FF4 (same as US FF2 SNES)
- FF5
FF Chronicles
- FF4 (same as US FF2 SNES)
- Chrono Trigger
FF Origins
- FF1
- FF2
More information can be found on the Releases page.
For some basics of reading Japanese, especially for reading things like menus and monster names, check out the Kana page.
These text guides detail the differences between versions of the games:
Final Fantasy I
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