The Greatest Moments in Final Fantasy

Written By Kyle (RunicBlade98)

Image Credit: Square Enix

You know, looking back on what I’ve written about this year, I’m surprised that much like Pokemon, I’ve never dedicated an entire article about Final Fantasy. As a series, this is one of the most influential franchises to my life, and was one of the reasons why I took up creative writing as a hobby. And while I may have my issues with some of the newer entries, I still adore this franchise to pieces.

After playing through the Final Fantasy Tactics remaster last month, I wanted to take a look back at some of the series’ most memorable moments. The series has no shortage of great moments, and having to narrow it down to only four picks was a very difficult task. There were plenty of great moments that had to get cut, but I’m happy with the four that I’ve selected for this list.

And this should go without saying, but there’s gonna be spoilers on here.

Meager Ambition - FFT

SPOILERS FOR FINAL FANTASY TACTICS

Let’s get this list started with the game that gave me this idea. Final Fantasy Tactics is a game that is full of great moments. This game is a brilliant political drama that lives off of constantly throwing new twists at the player, leaving no part of the grander plot left hanging. 

When it comes to iconic and memorable moments, the fight with Wiegraf in Chapter 3 is probably the one that comes to mind for most players. And while that boss fight is surprising on a first playthrough, and getting softlocked on the PS1 version is funny, I think that we can do better.

No, the moment that I want to look at isn’t from the original PS1 version, nor is it from the new Ivalice Chronicles version. For what I want to talk about, we need to look at the middle child of Final Fantasy Tactics. The PSP version of FFT is unique in the fact that they adapted a handful of important cutscenes into fully animated scenes, complete with voice acting.

The cutscene that we’re looking at is near the start of the game’s final chapter. At this point in the game’s story, Ramza is privy to the plot of the Church and what they plan to do with the Auricite stones and he’s trying to build up his forces to combat them. Ramza is visiting a church, saying a prayer for his journey ahead. Then in walks Delita; Ramza’s childhood friend, and current adversary to Ramza.

Delita joins Ramza, kneeling down beside him, and the two of them just talk. Ramza asks what Delita’s end goal is, and Delita doesn’t hide anything from him. He tells Ramza straight up that the church is aiming to assassinate the leaders of the two armies, which would lead to the masses flocking to the peace that the church offers Ivalice. Delita then tells Ramza that he’s the biggest obstacle in the way of his personal goals, and that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Ramza if he needed to.

One thing that I love about this scene is how the shots are framed. It starts with Ramza and Delita both on their knees beside each other. Delita then gets up and stands in front of the altar, looking down on Ramza who is still on his knees. It then ends with the two of them talking with their backs to each other.

The shot of Delita looking down at Ramza is also just iconic. The fact that you have Ramza (who was born to nobility) is on his knees having to look up at Delita (who was born a commoner) is such a great way to show how things have changed between the two of them since their time training to become knights. It’s a great bit of symbolism, and a perfect way to show the reversal of roles that the two have undergone during their separate adventures.

The performances in this scene are also fantastic. Phil LaMarr as Ramza and Robin Atkin Downes as Delita each do great work. They each do a fantastic job of selling the pain of Ramza and Delita. The way I read this scene is that Ramza and Delita do want to work with each other, but they’re both committed to the paths that they’ve chosen. Delita especially has come too far to turn back.

Close in the Distance - FF14

SPOILERS FOR FINAL FANTASY 14

I mean, I feel like I had to put something from FF14 on this list. It’s an MMO with over ten years of history behind it. The game itself has six different stories to tell, all ranging from above average, to peak fiction. There are quite literally hundreds of moments I could put here. But I want to talk about something different.

The music of Final Fantasy is the most consistent aspect of the whole franchise. No matter which composer is at the helm, there’s going to be a litany of tunes that you’ll constantly find yourself humming long after your time with even one of these games. But I think that the music is at its best when it’s being used for storytelling. 

Enter Endwalker. This expansion was completely nuts to experience blindly. When I started playing FF14, never did I think that the story would take us to the Moon and beyond! Ultima Thule is one of the coolest locations in all of FF14. You’re out in deep space exploring a bunch of broken up land formations. And the music is unlike anything else in the game.

The song that plays in Ultima Thule is called “Close in the Distance”. This is a very somber song that doesn’t give the feeling of adventure or exploration. What makes it unique from every other overworld theme in the game is that there are lyrics to this song (performed by Jason Charles Miller). When I first got here, I genuinely stopped everything to just listen to this song.

This song has a very reflective tone. I’ve always personally thought of it as being from the perspective of your player character, looking back on their journey up to this point with lines like:

“Whispers falling silently, drift on the wind

But I hear you...

Our journey now a memory fading from sight”

As well as lyrics that reference the four previous stories before Endwalker

“No time for mourning...

Rises on a land reborn from the ashes (A Realm Reborn)

'Neath the heavens (Heavensward)

To sunset, blood-red skies tranquil after the storm" (Stormblood)

Blessed shadow” (Shadowbringers)

Now, I didn’t play Final Fantasy 14 upon release. I didn’t start playing it until late 2022. I can only imagine how hard this song must have hit for people who have been playing since A Realm Reborn, or even the original 1.0 release of FF14. 

The way that this song is written makes it feel like a closing credits song. Like if they were unsure if they’d get another expansion after Endwalker, then this is what they’d close the FF14 story on. And what a way to signal the end of an adventure. 

“Turning, wending, always night follows day

The sun will shine again

Walk on, never look back

Through you, we live”

If nothing else, this is almost like a reset for FF14’s story as Endwalker ends and Dawntrail begins. No more Zenos or any of the other old players in FF14’s history to that point. It’s time to leave it in the past and move on to new characters and stories.

Immortal Soul - FF5

SPOILERS FOR FINAL FANTASY 5

Let’s talk about death! Final Fantasy has never been a stranger to deaths throughout the series’ history. Though it’s been used to mixed results. You have games like Final Fantasy 3, 4, and 16 that kill off characters before they ever really have a chance to develop. But you also have Final Fantasy 6, 7, and Tactics actively kill off characters that were important and had fulfilled their purpose.

In the past, I’ve ragged on FF5’s story a lot. It’s not that I think it’s necessarily bad, but it can get very goofy at times. Compared to other games like 6, 8, or Tactics, the tone can be all over the place, which I think actually helps the adventurous tone that the game has. There’s still a huge amount of iconic moments. I mean, this is the game that gave us Gilgamesh for Sakaguchi sake! FF5 is also home to one of the best handled deaths in the series. 

Toward the end of FF5’s second act your party faces off against the four Elemental Crystals under control of Exdeath, the game’s main villain. After defeating the Crystals (in one of FF5’s hardest boss fights) your party is suddenly attacked by Exdeath, who uses the latent power of the Crystals to immobilize your party.

And then Galuf gets on his feet.

Galuf rushes at Exdeath and you’re then thrust into the battle dimension against Exdeath. His massive boss sprite towers over Galuf’s tiny battle sprite, but Galuf is fighting to the very end. Exdeath will begin blasting Galuf with powerful magic attacks, which includes all of the -aga spells, Flare, Holy, and Meteor. Yet Galuf continues to stand long after his HP hits zero.

This is one of the coolest ways I’ve seen a game do a forced loss scenario. Galuf is fighting on pure adrenaline here. Fighting not only to save his friends, but also his granddaughter. But eventually the fight comes to an end.

After the battle is over, Galuf lays face down on the ground. All of the party gathers around him, trying anything to bring him back. From utilizing spells like Curaga and Raise, to trying basic restorative items like Phoenix Downs and Elixirs. But nothing seems to work and Galuf’s flame flickers out.

What I like about this scene is how much it contrasts with the rest of the game. The rest of FF5’s story feels like a very happy-go-lucky adventure around the world. So to have a moment where one of your characters is fighting to the death against the game’s main villain is very powerful. It’s a moment that demands you pay attention. And seeing the rest of the party desperately try to bring him back to life is heartbreaking. 

Galuf may not even be in my top twenty favorite Final Fantasy characters, but he’s been with us since the start of the game. He’s a cool character that can go from goofy old man to extreme badass grandpa in an instant. And in his final moments, he was able to get a hero’s death; fighting against the main villain and surrounded by his friends and loved ones.

The Lion’s Heart - FF8

SPOILERS FOR FINAL FANTASY 8

I think that the internet’s heel turn on the opinion of Final Fantasy 8 is fascinating. What used to be known as the crappy middle child of the PS1 trilogy has shifted towards genuine appreciation for the game and its system mechanics (at least from the people that actually give it a fair chance). FF8 has always been a personal favorite of mine, and that’s because of how much I love the game’s main character: Squall Leonhart.

Of all the main characters in the Final Fantasy series, I feel like Squall is the one that gets misunderstood the most. Whenever I see someone write him off as a moody, angsty teenager, or Cloud 2.0, I just automatically assume they either didn’t play the game, or didn’t read what was on screen. Squall is a lot more complex than he lets on. He says as much himself at the start of the game.

As a bit of context for this scene we’ll be discussing. At the end of Disc 2, Squall’s party has recently fought against the Sorceress Edea who ended up possessing Rinoa (Squall’s love interest) and making her unconscious for a good section of Disc 3. Squall is with Rinoa in the infirmary, watching over her. He then decides that he should do something, rather than standing and waiting. He takes Rinoa and starts his own journey to Esthar to find Ellone, the only person that can help Rinoa.

Squall carries Rinoa piggyback style alone across a long bridge with train tracks. As he walks, he begins another one of his classic Squall monologs. He realizes that this walk is going to be longer than he expected. But he keeps moving forward, constantly reminding himself of his goal.

After an unspecified amount of time, Squall sets Rinoa down for a moment so that he can rest. As Squall sits on the edge of the bridge, staring out at the setting sun on the horizon, he begins talking to the comatosed Rinoa. And I’ll just let him take over from here.

“(I wonder what everyone’s doing…? They’re probably laughing at me. Or maybe they’re angry…?) What do you think? To tell you the truth… I worry too much about what others think of me. I hate that side of me… That’s why I didn’t want anyone to get to know me. I wanted to hide that side of myself. I hate it. Squall is an unfriendly, introverted guy. It made it easy for me when people perceived me that way. That’s a secret between you and me. Got that?”

One thing that I feel like people forget about Squall when discussing him is the fact that he’s still just a teenager (17 years old). He’s a child soldier who has been forced into a leadership role that he never wanted. He’s been thrown into impossible situations, and right now he wants to help the only person who ever tried to get to know him and break him out of his shell.

The reason why I rate this scene (and FF8) so highly is because of the simple fact that I saw a lot of myself in Squall. Hearing him say that he keeps to himself because he struggles to relate to people. Externally not caring about what people think about him, but internally caring too much about how he’s perceived. It was a struggle that anyone (especially someone in high school at the time) could very easily find themselves relating to.

There’s also a sort of cruel irony to this scene. Squall is finally opening up, talking about how he feels to the girl that he’s developing feelings for, and she can’t even hear him. The only ones that know what he said is the audience.

There were a lot of moments from FF8 that I could have put here. A close second place was when Squall gave Rinoa a tour of the Balamb Garden just for how seriously Squall treats that little section. But the bridge scene just hit very close to home for me, and it’s one of the first things I think about when I remember Final Fantasy 8.

Closing

And with that, there are four legendary moments from a legendary franchise. This was a lot of fun getting to reminisce on a series that I love. Again, there was no shortage of moments to put on this list, and I wouldn’t mind revisiting this idea with other franchises.

This also marks the final unique topic from me for this year! I know, a whole year of my ramblings. Thanks to anybody who even read one of them. Next month’s topic is my year-end Top 6 Games of the Year. There will also be articles from my colleagues with their Top 6s coming in the weeks after mine.

Kyle (RunicBlade98)
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