The Core Series

A deck by Omar Lindqvist · 9 cards

The main numbered installments that define the evolution of the franchise.

Final Fantasy (video game)

Final Fantasy is a 1987 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the first game in Square's Final Fantasy series, created by Hironobu Sakaguchi. The story follows four youths called the Warriors of Light, who each carry one of their world's four elemental crystals which have been darkened by the four Elemental Fiends. Together, they quest to defeat these evil forces, restore light to the crystals, and save their world.

Final Fantasy XV

Final Fantasy XV is a 2016 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. The fifteenth main installment of the Final Fantasy series, it was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2016, Windows in March 2018, and as a launch title for Stadia in November 2019. The game features an open world environment and action-based battle system, incorporating quick-switching weapons, elemental magic, and other features such as vehicle travel and camping. The base campaign was later expanded with downloadable content (DLC), adding stand alone story content and further gameplay options such as additional playable characters and multiplayer.

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation. The seventh main installment in the Final Fantasy series, it was released in Japan by Square and internationally by Sony Computer Entertainment, becoming the first game in the main series to have a PAL release. The game's story follows Cloud Strife, a mercenary who joins an eco-terrorist organization to stop a world-controlling megacorporation from using the planet's life essence as an energy source. Ensuing events send Cloud and his allies in pursuit of Sephiroth, a superhuman who seeks to wound the planet and harness its healing power to be reborn as a god. Throughout their journey, Cloud bonds with his party members, including Aerith Gainsborough, who holds the secret to saving their world.

Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X is a 2001 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for PlayStation 2. The tenth main installment in the Final Fantasy series, it is the first game in the series to feature fully three-dimensional areas (though some areas were still pre-rendered), and voice acting. Final Fantasy X replaces the Active Time Battle (ATB) system with the "Conditional Turn-Based Battle" (CTB) system, and uses a new leveling system called the "Sphere Grid". Set in the fantasy world of Spira, a setting influenced by the South Pacific, Thailand and Japan, the city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan has been cited as an inspiration for Zanarkand.

Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy XII is a 2006 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2 in March 2006. It added elements including an open world; a seamless battle system; a controllable camera; a customizable "gambit" system, which lets the player control the artificial intelligence of characters in battle; a "license" system, which determines what abilities and equipment can be used by characters; and hunting side quests, which allows the player to find and defeat increasingly difficult monsters. Final Fantasy XII also includes elements from previous Final Fantasy games, such as Chocobos and Moogles. The game takes place in Ivalice, where the empires of Archadia and Rozarria are waging an endless war.

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI, titled Final Fantasy III in its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the Final Fantasy series, the final to feature 2D sprite based graphics, and the first to be directed by someone other than series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi; the role was instead filled by Yoshinori Kitase and Hiroyuki Ito. Long-time collaborator Yoshitaka Amano returned as character designer and concept artist, while composer Nobuo Uematsu returned to compose the game's score, which has been released on several soundtrack albums. Set in a world with technology resembling the Second Industrial Revolution, the game's story follows an expanding cast that includes fourteen permanent playable characters.

Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix. Directed and produced by Naoki Yoshida and released worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Windows in August 2013, it replaced the failed 2010 version, with subsequent support for PlayStation 4 in April 2014, macOS in July 2015, PlayStation 5 in May 2021, and Xbox Series X/S in March 2024. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is set for release in August 2026. Final Fantasy XIV is set in the fantasy region of Eorzea, five years after the devastating Seventh Umbral Calamity which ended the original version.

Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy IV, titled Final Fantasy II in its initial North American release, is a 1991 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the fourth main installment of the Final Fantasy series. The game's story follows Cecil Harvey, a dark knight, as he tries to prevent the sorcerer Golbez from seizing powerful crystals and destroying the world. He is joined on this quest by a frequently changing group of allies. Final Fantasy IV introduced innovations that became staples of the Final Fantasy series and role-playing games in general. Its "Active Time Battle" system was used in five subsequent Final Fantasy games and, unlike prior games in the series, Final Fantasy IV gave each character their own unchangeable character class — although at a few points in the story, members of the cast change or evolve their vocation to suit the narrative.

Final Fantasy XVI

Final Fantasy XVI is a 2023 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. The sixteenth main installment in the Final Fantasy series, it was first released for the PlayStation 5, with a Windows version released in September 2024, and an Xbox Series X/S version released in June 2025. The game features segmented open environments and an action-based combat system involving melee and magic-based attacks. There are recurring series features including Chocobos for area travel, and summoned monsters called Eikons, which are both fought as bosses and used through channelling their power in combat.