Final Fantasy Timeline

Toys/Games

January 10, 2018 By Joshua Ching

As part of Gallery Nucleus’s Final Fantasy Anniversary art show an exhibit was set up in the backroom which covered the release history of the Final Fantasy series.

Now before I go on any further I just want to state that this timeline only covered the main Final Fantasy series. It did not cover any of the spinoffs such as Tactics, X-2 or any of the add-ons for FFVII. Now if you continue reading and ask why Origins, Anthology, and Chronicles were included and not the rest of the spin offs then the answer is simple: they’re not spinoffs, they’re rereleases.

Before I get to the timeline I do want to apologize for the quality of the photos. Like I said before Gallery Nucleus doesn’t exactly have the best lighting and also shooting things behind glass is pretty hard.

Anyway enjoy this brief walk through Final Fantasy history.

December 18, 1987: Final Fantasy, the game that started it all is released in Japan for the Nintendo Famicom.

December 17, 1988: Final Fantasy II is released in Japan.

April 27, 1990: Final Fantasy III is released. This is the last Final Fantasy for the Famicom.

July 12, 1990: Final Fantasy is released in North America. This is the first and only Final Fantasy for the NES.

July 19, 1991: Final Fantasy IV is released for the Super NES.

November 23, 1991: Final Fantasy IV is released in North America under the name Final Fantasy II.

December 6, 1992: Final Fantasy V is released in Japan.

April 2, 1994: Final Fantasy VI is released in Japan.

October 11, 1994: Final Fantasy VI is released in North America as Final Fantasy III. This is the last Final Fantasy game released for the Super NES.

January 31, 1997: Final Fantasy VII is released in Japan. This is the first Final Fantasy released on the Playstation.

September 7, 1997: Final Fantasy VII is released in North America. It is released under its true title rather than retitling it as Final Fantasy III since it is the third Final Fantasy released in North America. This trend will continue with all future Final Fantasy sequels.

February 11, 1999: Final Fantasy VIII is released in Japan.

September 9, 1999: Final Fantasy VIII is released in North America.

September 30, 1999: Final Fantasy Anthology is released. This is a rerelease of Final Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III in North America) along with a special-edition soundtrack CD.

July 7, 2000: Final Fantasy IX is released in Japan.

November 13, 2000: Final Fantasy IX is released in North America. This is the last main series release on the Playstation.

June 29, 2001: Final Fantasy Chronicles, a compilation consisting of Final Fantasy VI and sister game, Chrono Trigger is released in North America for the Playstation. As part of the rerelease both games are updated with new features such as artwork and newly redone cutscenes.

July 19, 2001: Final Fantasy X is released in Japan. This is the first Final Fantasy game to be released for the Playstation 2.

December 17, 2001: Final Fantasy X is released in North America.

May 16, 2002: Final Fantasy XI is released in Japan. This is the first MMORPG Final Fantasy to be and is the first MMORPG to offer cross-platform play between Playstation 2 and personal computer and will also later go on to be the first MMORPG for the Xbox 360.

April 8, 2003: Final Fantasy Origins, a compilation rerelease of Final Fantasy I and II is released for the original Playstation. This is the last Final Fantasy game of any kind released for the Playstation.