final fantasy- today it is the recognized queen of the JRPG genre. Incredibly twisted plots built on drama and emotions, "live" characters that you empathize with, magical music, chic, well-thought-out worlds, worked out to the smallest detail - all these are the games of the Final Fantasy series. No wonder they are compared with fairy tales - these are not action movies, these are, first of all, interesting stories that make you want to spend a lot of time, forgetting about food and sleep. And when such stories end, it’s always a little sad and I want to continue.
Eight-bit Tales
Today, Final Fantasy is a veritable multimedia empire that includes dozens of games on a variety of platforms, feature-length cartoons and animated series, as well as various related products such as literary works and soundtrack discs. However, twenty-three years ago, the prospects for Final Fantasy were not at all rosy. The creator of the game, the Japanese company Square Co. Ltd was literally on the verge of bankruptcy. By the very name of the project - Final Fantasy ("Final Fantasy") - the developers seemed to say to gamers: "Farewell, we are leaving the game business, and this toy is our last gift to you." And ironically, it was "Final Fantasy" that was destined to become a great hit, the very game that pulled out Square Co. Ltd from a web of debt.
By today's standards, the first project in the Final Fantasy series, which was born in Japan on the eight-bit Nintendo Famicom Disk System, looks pathetic. But in 1987, the game was a real revelation. All those main advantages, with which the series wins the hearts of gamers to this day, were very clearly manifested already in the very first game. The creators of "Final Fantasy" chose Enix's Dragon Quest toy as a reference point for imitation. However, Square's game surpassed the JRPG pioneer in every way. The plot is especially worth highlighting. Four heroes, so far nameless, perform feats in a certain magical kingdom-state. First - light tasks, then more serious ones, and in the final you have to deal with a global threat altogether. An interesting story was complemented by turn-based battles, a beautiful fairy-tale world, as well as traditional RPG character classes.
The first game was a hit, and Square Co. Ltd figured out to strike while the iron is hot. In 1988, Final Fantasy II went on sale, cementing the success of the series. The characters of the main characters have become more developed, and the characters themselves have acquired names and characters. And it was in this game that the yellow chocobo birds first appeared, which later became an integral part of the world of Final Fantasy. But the gameplay has been greatly simplified - probably, some of the fans of the series were grateful for this, while others, on the contrary, met these simplifications with indignation. The "eight-bit" period in the series' history ends with Final Fantasy III (1990). This project brought into the universe "professions" for characters that could be developed, "pumped" as the game progressed.
Subsequently, the games of the "eight-bit" period of Final Fantasy were repeatedly re-released on various portable and home consoles.
Final Fantasy on Super Nintendo
Final Fantasy IV (1991) opened a new page in the history of the now famous game line. The game moved to a more powerful Super Nintendo Entertainment System console, of course, in parallel, the graphics and musical accompaniment were greatly improved. Like Final Fantasy II, the first 16-bit "fantasy" stands out for its carefully crafted characters. The combat system has changed a bit, elements of real-time battles have been added to it. And in Final Fantasy IV there are a couple of pleasant surprises for our compatriots: creatures "borrowed" from Slavic mythology - goblin and brownie.
Experiments continued in Final Fantasy V (1992) - here the developers have already focused on the study of the gameplay. Five main characters, the opposition to the new Absolute Evil - the Void, as well as three large game worlds and the profession system brought to mind from Final Fantasy III - that's what the stake was made when creating a new game of the series. Despite the fact that Square baked Final Fantasy like hot cakes (every year a new game came out), it nevertheless managed to produce very high-quality projects over and over again. And although Western gamers took the project rather cool, in Japan the toy sold almost 2.5 million copies. And in 1994, even an anime sequel to this game was filmed, a small animated series called Final Fantasy: Legend of Crystals.
Final Fantasy VI, which was born in 1994 on the same Super Nintendo, at that time was the crowning development of the series. Until now, many players consider it the best JRPG on this platform. In addition, in the Final Fantasy series, the sixth part is considered one of the most beautiful pearls, of those that the series can rightly be proud of. One of the main features of this game is its deep psychologism, and very serious problems that are put before the heroes during the passage. Other trump cards were, as usual, a great story and wonderful music. It seemed that now everything is perfect, that there is nowhere better. However, in their next game, Square proved that the series still has room to grow.
New Breakthrough - Final Fantasy on Sony PlayStation
With the advent of 1997, the series moved to the "main" platform - the Sony PlayStation console. The console had a capacity that far exceeded the potential of the old Super Nintendo. The opened opportunities turned the heads of the developers. So is it any wonder that Final Fantasy VII easily put all the games of the illustrious series that came into being before it into the belt?
Square proved that three years of "silence" was not in vain for her. Placed on as many as three CDs, the game stunned gamers with unprecedented graphic beauties for those times and a wonderful, once again original and original game universe, built at the junction of technical and magical sciences. Many attribute the game to the cyberpunk genre - for Final Fantasy this is very serious praise. As an experiment, it was decided to turn the colorful magical world into a gloomy technological fairy tale - and as a result, Final Fantasy VII was born, perhaps the best game in the series to date. It's no surprise that fans are still begging Square to release a FFVII remake on modern consoles - and now the developers, they say, are seriously considering this idea.
However, we will certainly return to the affairs of today. In the meantime, let's pay attention to 1999 - the time when Final Fantasy VIII appeared on sale. This game is no longer such a great hit as the previous part, but it sold quite well. It was this project that brought to the fore (for the first time in the series, by the way) the romantic line. "Airplanes first, girls later" - this is said about previous games, but obviously not about FFVIII, where the romantic relationships of the characters seem to be the most important thing in the world.
In 2000, at the turn of the millennium, a new game comes out. Final Fantasy IX closes the Sony PlayStation period in the history of the famous JRPG. The game has become a kind of gift for fans of the very first Final Fantasy - the developers have prepared for them a wonderful walk into the past, which is located on four discs. A magical world, colorful scenery, a fascinating story about the struggle between good and evil - everything is like in the good old classics. What else does a JRPG fan need to be completely happy?
The new millennium also brought the move to new platform. Ahead was the PlayStation 2 with its incredible technological capabilities.
beautiful fairy tales
Final Fantasy X (2001), created for the PlayStation 2 console, once again left the fans speechless with its release - full 3D came into the game! The next revolution, according to tradition, was accompanied by a wonderful plot, presented in a very original way - we learned about the adventures of the protagonist through his memories. Tidus, the hero of the game, finds himself in a world alien to him, where he meets a girl, Yuna. By the way, "ten" is the only numbered game in the series that has a direct continuation - we are talking about Final Fantasy X-2 (2003), in which the girl Yuna goes in search of Tidus. In the main characters this time there were as many as three girls - in fact, Yuna, Rikku and Payne. Of course, the games themselves are made, as usual, very worthy - the transition to a new platform was once again a success.
Final Fantasy XI, which appeared in stores in 2002, staged another (which is already on the account?) Local revolution. This time around, Square Enix has introduced an online RPG to Final Fantasy fans. The eleventh draft of the series focuses on the game as part of a team - as you would expect from a JRPG in which parties of heroes usually fight against enemies. In addition, for the first time in the series, this game did not have a separate screen for battles - battles with enemies took place in the same place where the heroes first encountered monsters.
The fights were organized in a similar way in Final Fantasy XII, the game that closed the PS-2 period in the history of the line. The project arrived in stores in the spring of 2006. The twelfth episode of "Final Fantasy" is notable for being one of the six games in the world that the Japanese magazine Famitsu gave the highest rating - 40 points. The battles took place in real time, and the monsters were visible on the locations - the players could run away from them if they wanted. Other innovations were the "License System" (licenses are the skills that characters need to learn in order to master new types of weapons) and the "Gambit System" (and these are the combat characteristics of heroes, a kind of "autopilot" that allows companions to fight on their own, without the player's vigilant control over them). In general, the game, of course, did not become a revolution, but it was able to present several interesting innovations to the fans. Well, as usual, it was a very high-quality, very well-made project, otherwise why would Famitsu give Final Fantasy XII 40 points?
The future is already here
Final Fantasy XIII, which was released in Japan in 2009, is currently the last numbered game in the series to go on sale. The project was originally created for the PlayStation 3, but later it was decided to make a version for the Xbox 360. Together with the projects announced by Square, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII, this game is included in the "New History of Crystals" (Fabula Nova Crystallis). In the world of Final Fantasy XIII, there is an aerial city called Cocoon that floats in the sky above the surface of a planet called Pulse. As usual, a great plot presents us with several heroes who are forced to challenge almost the entire civilized world. From the same Famitsu, the game received 39 points - not the highest score, of course, but also a very good result.
What's next? And then - new games of the Fabula Nova Crystallis line, as well as Final Fantasy XIV, the second MMORPG in the Final Fantasy world. The universe is still growing and developing, drawing more and more new fans into its networks, preparing the next beautiful fantasy tales. And let her live for many more years, delighting fans with magnificent, emotional stories, as well as characters who want to empathize. After all, according to the laws of the world of Final Fantasy, one fantasy always comes with another - that's why this fairy tale has not ended for more than twenty years.
Alexander SNEGIREV
Leather was the first material that man began to process and use. Its possibilities are endless - the skin was used for clothing, it was used to create tools and weapons, it was covered with dwellings. Naturally, over time, in addition to a purely utilitarian purpose, the role of leather processing and for artistic purposes.
There are many ways to work with leather. From embossing and appliqué to burning and intarsia. Perhaps one of the first methods was perforation, in which holes of various shapes were made on leather products, the holes were woven into patterns. In this technique, leather accessories can be found in the cultures of the Stone Age.
It has also been used since ancient times for artistic processing of leather burning and engraving with paints or hot needles. Such techniques were used to decorate clothes, horse harness, and panels. There were even almost 300 years during the Baroque era in Europe, leather wallpapers with a gilded pattern were popular.
But leather is a warm living material. It carries a huge energy charge, which is a sin not to use. That is why the past special leather processing becomes the main element of amulets and amulets.
Modern masters do not bypass this material. In combination with natural minerals, semi-precious and ornamental stones, leather amulets can bring peace, help gain wisdom, awaken a creative impulse.
But apart from the classic skin increasingly used and exotic - crocodile, ostrich, stingray, eel, etc. in some products, even whole parts of animals are used. For example, a kraken amulet is made from the tentacles of an octopus, which is able to protect the owner’s wallet from encroachment, and the owner himself from unkind thoughts.
What would we do without our imagination, which saves us in difficult situations? To come up with something incredible to make your life more comfortable is the motto of a huge number of people. Some of the inventions are amazing.
When a person finds himself in a difficult situation, then his inner potential is fully revealed. To quickly find a way out, solve a problem or prevent it, people have ways to come up with a completely unexpected and even original way out. After looking at our selection, you will understand what we are talking about.
1. This is what the ideal navigation system looks like. Frozen, so frozen.
2. Everything is simple and ingenious, but now the wires are not disconnected at the most unexpected moment.
3. If you often forget your keys when leaving home, then this idea is for you.
4. Now you can not be afraid to get bogged down in a swamp - these are just walking boots.
5. For a truly invigorating and refreshing shower, hang a couple of eucalyptus sprigs in it.
6. It looks like this guy has had his shoes stolen more than once, and now he has an anti-theft mechanism.
7. If you are unlucky with the birds, you can simply hang a speaker on a tree and turn on their singing.
8. Comfort for pregnant women is paramount.
9. Who does not want to spend money on special shoes to climb poles can use this idea.
10. This is the most unusual place where you could see paper hand towels, but save on electricity.
11. No more crying from this terrible onion, and cooking is a joy.
12. Now you don’t have to collect ribbons, candy wrappers and so on scattered around the house every hour.
