The Ultimate Fantasy sequence is constructed upon a treasure trove of fantastic moments. With a legacy lasting over 35 years, Ultimate Fantasy is likely one of the longest-running RPG sequence in gaming historical past. It’s a sequence famous for its fixed evolution and innovation. No sport is like one other, and that is very true on the story axis. All of us have our favourite Ultimate Fantasy moments, however listed below are the 10 wildest moments that solely the sequence may pull off.
Garland’s Time Loop (Ultimate Fantasy I)
![garland speaking to four heroes](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/final-fantasy-1-garland.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
When you suppose fashionable Ultimate Fantasy tales are deviating from the classics with their convoluted time journey and dimensional shenanigans, suppose once more. The very first Ultimate Fantasy sport featured time journey as a core plot aspect. Sure, that’s proper, the traditional medieval Ultimate Fantasy video games of yore had their fair proportion of sci-fi wonkiness in them, and it wasn’t all the time straightforward to grasp both.
Ultimate Fantasy 1 is a textbook instance of the form of multi-layered storytelling Sq. Enix is understood for within the fashionable period. In Ultimate Fantasy 1, The principle villain, Garland, constructs a time loop that enables him to stay without end. The 4 heroes of sunshine journey again 2000 years prior to now to defeat Garland earlier than he units the loop in movement. What’s outstanding is that Ultimate Fantasy 1 was launched again in 1987 earlier than Tetsuya Nomura would confuse everybody together with his Kingdom Hearts plots.
My Pals Are My Energy! (Ultimate Fantasy IV)
![heroes fighting zeromus](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/final-fantasy-4-ending.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
One of the surprising elements of Ultimate Fantasy IV was what number of social gathering members died sacrificing themselves. All through the sport, at least 5 most important social gathering members seem to die alongside the best way. Cid actually straps a bomb to his chest and falls right into a pool of lava a number of hours after assembly him. Palom and Parom sacrifice themselves as they flip to stone, and Tellah casts the devastating Meteo spell, dying within the course of.
Nicely, what could be much more surprising than all these deaths, you say? The truth that all of them come again to life by the tip of the sport. All these lifeless social gathering members come collectively for a kumbaya second within the Tower of Prayers to deliver Cecil and mates the ability they should defeat Zeromus on the moon. The ‘mates are my energy’ trope would go on to infest anime and video video games within the late 90s and past, however again in 1991 when FFIV was launched, this was nonetheless a contemporary idea.
The Opera Home Scene (Ultimate Fantasy VI)
![opera scene in ff6](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/final-fantasy-6-opera.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
Music is a strong factor; it will possibly inform tales in ways in which phrases can’t, drawing out highly effective feelings within the course of. The builders of Ultimate Fantasy VI understood the ability of music nicely and demonstrated it higher than another sport prior. Ultimate Fantasy VI includes a totally fleshed-out opera and has the participant truly performing strains in it.
Portraying a Shakespearian retelling of the sport’s themes by means of such a medium makes the opera scene actually revolutionary within the historical past of online game storytelling. However the perfect factor about it’s simply how darn phenomenal the precise music is. Sequence composer Nobuo Uematsu efficiently emulated vocal opera singing throughout 4 operatic actions utilizing the tiny Tremendous Nintendo soundchip. All in all, the opera home scene in FFVI helped to cement Ultimate Fantasy’s music as being among the best in online game historical past.
Kefka Destroys the World (Ultimate Fantasy VI)
![kefka destroys world](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ScreenHunter-281.png?resize=640%2C350)
How typically does the villain of an RPG win? Not very. How typically does a villain of any story win? Nonetheless fairly dang uncommon. The villain of Ultimate Fantasy VI wins, and it’s not even on the finish of the sport, it’s smack dab within the center. Many gamers (myself included) thought the climax on the Floating Continent with Kefka was the tip of the sport, however oh no, it’s solely the start of the second half.
The second half of Ultimate Fantasy VI takes place in a world completely destroyed by Kefka. If the dreary funeral dirge music or the barren panorama doesn’t paint the tone completely, perhaps Celes’ tried suicide will. There’s little question about it; Kefka destroying the world in the midst of Ultimate Fantasy VI’s journey is a setting-changing incident unparalleled in gaming. The World of Spoil marks a turning level in RPG historical past for its radical tone shift and gameplay implications. Say what you need about Kefka being a clown of a villain, he’s one of many few that really succeeded.
Sephiroth Kills Aerith (Ultimate Fantasy VII)
![aerith dying in ff7](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/aerith-ff7-death.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
Essential characters dying wasn’t a brand new factor when Ultimate Fantasy VII hit the scene in 1997. Ultimate Fantasy IV had half of the principle solid die sooner or later in its story and Ultimate Fantasy II wasn’t shy about dying and bloodbath within the slightest. What units Aerith’s dying aside in Ultimate Fantasy VII is the presentation and story implementation. Aerith wasn’t only a most important social gathering member, she was arguably the most important character of all the sport. You play the sport by means of Cloud’s perspective, however Aerith’s significance because the final residing Cetra makes her dying extra impactful than another.
Not like previous video games within the sequence, Ultimate Fantasy VII didn’t swap round social gathering members. The sport encourages you to get comfy with the workforce with customized Materia builds and a static social gathering format. There was a powerful sensation that the social gathering was everlasting in Ultimate Fantasy VII; as Barret says, “There ain’t no getting off this practice we’re on.” Aerith is the only healer of the workforce and the sport doesn’t warn you not to equip her with invaluable stuff.
All of this makes for a surprising dying out of left area. Ultimate Fantasy VII doesn’t pull any punches with Aerith’s dying; we see her stabbing in intimate element and by no means get her again by the tip of the sport. Aerith’s dying in Ultimate Fantasy VII stays one in every of gaming’s biggest twists for good motive.
The Opening Blitzball Scene (Ultimate Fantasy X)
![Tidus playing blitzball in the ffx opening](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ffx-blitzball-scene.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
Ultimate Fantasy X has maybe the strongest opening of any online game, full cease. It’s bought intrigue, humor, pleasure, and shock worth, nevertheless it’s additionally bought a complete lotta bizarre to high it off. We begin with a well-recognized sufficient scene: a sports activities star signing followers’ autographs earlier than taking part in within the large sport. Issues begin feeling alien once we see Tidus (the aforementioned sports activities star) being lectured by some eery ghost boy, and we spot a large vat of water suspended within the sky, which is the Blitzball stadium. And that’s not even scratching the floor of how bizarre Ultimate Fantasy X will get.
The underwater Blitzball match begins with some glorious heavy steel music taking part in over gamers brutally tackling one another as they fly into the stands. All of that is taking part in out in spectacular CGI, which was high of its class in 2001. Then, a large sky whale interrupts the match by decimating all the metropolis and warping Tidus and his mysterious acquaintance to an underwater break… Yeah, I can go on, however Ultimate Fantasy X has many of those otherworldly moments. That intro hook continues to be one of the crucial mind-bogglingly superior of any I’ve ever seen in gaming, so it simply earns a spot on this record.
Serah Shouts At Hope Throughout Time and House (Ultimate Fantasy XIII-2)
![serah yells at hope to stop the fal-cie](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ff-xiii-2-fal-cie-dumb-moment.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
Ultimate Fantasy XIII-2 solved among the gameplay points that plagued its prequel however launched some new story issues together with it. Whereas Ultimate Fantasy XIII’s story is generally coherent and linear, XIII-2’s is something however. The plot of FF XIII-2 revolves round fixing paradoxes which have contaminated the space-time continuum. A few of these paradoxes are downright nonsensical, however none are as loopy because the one on this record.
Right here’s my try to elucidate this paradox in easy phrases, *takes deep breath*. Serah and Noel should confront a rogue AI earlier than it destroys all the metropolis of Academia. When the protagonists fail to defeat this proto-Fal-Cie in fight after time-traveling again to its preliminary AI rampage, Serah yells out in frustration on the character who created the AI. She shouts, “Your machines are driving me nuts!” which in flip shuts the Fal-Cie down and solves the paradox. Serah’s shouting was transmitted to the previous and the AI’s creator heard it by means of an Oracle Drive gadget, thus refraining from creating the AI within the first place.
I may go into much more element, however I gained’t rot your brains out with Ultimate Fantasy XIII-2’s dimensional time-travel shenanigans. I’m a giant fan of the Ultimate Fantasy XIII trilogy, however even I can not defend laughable sequences like this.
Lightning Kills a God and Creates a World With out Magic (Lightning Returns: Ultimate Fantasy XIII)
![lighting creating a new world](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lightning-returns-ending.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
Okay, buckle in people, this one’s a doozy and a half. On the very finish of the XIII trilogy, Lightning goes face to face towards the god of all the setting: Bhunivelze. The boss struggle itself is a blast, and the music is likely one of the best closing battle themes that I’ve heard in any sport.
However let’s discuss what happens after the boss struggle. After killing the god, Lightning has all of her mates revived and so they go on to create a brand new world with none magic. The final shot of the sport has a classy Lightning strolling by means of modern-day Paris.
In abstract, Lighting kills a god, resurrects all her companions, after which creates a brand new world with out magic. Lightning Returns has a ridiculously over-the-top ending, however hey, at the least it offers closure for the trilogy, proper?
Noctis Sacrifices Himself (Ultimate Fantasy XV)
![noctis at the end of FF XV](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/noctis-campfire-ffxv.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
Say what you’ll about Ultimate Fantasy XV’s story, however the ending is likely one of the sequence’ most emotional and satisfying. As a substitute of god-slaying wackiness, we get some intimate character moments between the 4 boys and see the ultimate moments of Noctis’s life. After the ultimate struggle with Ardyn, Noctis sacrifices himself utilizing the total extent of his kingly powers, which allow him to mainly summon the outdated kings.
This kingly sacrifice was one thing Noctis’ dad was hesitant to present to him and was foreshadowed all through the sport. The flashback scene of Noctis saying his goodbyes to his three bros by no means fails to emotionally grip me. Props to Ultimate Fantasy XV for not shying away from killing off main characters and permitting the story to get dreadfully darkish when wanted.
The Whispers Are The Traditional Ultimate Fantasy Followers (Ultimate Fantasy VII Remake)
![whispers surround aerith in ff 7 remake](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/whispers-final-fantasy-7-remake.jpg?resize=640%2C320)
As quickly as we see the Whispers surrounding Aerith within the opening chapter, we all know Ultimate Fantasy VII Remake isn’t a one-for-one retelling of the traditional sport. Whereas FF VII Remake stays largely devoted and has the identical story beats as the unique, small deviations exist, accompanied by the Whispers. By the finale of the sport, it’s revealed that the Whispers are literally making an attempt to maintain the outdated FF VII timeline intact. Sephiroth reveals up and forces the social gathering to struggle an amalgamation of the Whispers, primarily killing the outdated FF VII timeline and opening an ‘something goes’ story for the following video games.
Whereas the Whispers had been clumsily built-in into the story at instances, they characterize an interesting idea that pulls on the setting’s lore and the meta implications of remakes basically. You possibly can solely have an idea so loopy with a legacy as longstanding as Ultimate Fantasy’s. With Ultimate Fantasy VII Remake, Sq. Enix can have their cake and eat it too concerning deviation from the unique and staying true to supply.
That concludes our 10 wildest Ultimate Fantasy moments that solely the sequence can pull off. Try our Ultimate Fantasy VII Rebirth character quiz to see which character you might be. We additionally characteristic a number of helpful guides on FF VII Rebirth, so you should definitely browse them so that you don’t miss a factor.