You can answer this question with merely a number, possibly even a single digit…
How old were you when you played your first Final Fantasy?
I was 14, and I know this for a fact because Final Fantasy VI (then Final Fantasy III) was my first FF, and it came out in 1994. I remember how happy I was when I watched my brother beat it for the first time, because it has such an uplifting, hopeful ending. I mean the entire theme of the game is hope and how Terra represents that in a sort of Pandora’s Box parallel per the story Banon (the Returners’ leader) tells in an attempt to persuade her to join.
Holy shit…I actually remember that. Well, I was really obsessed with Final Fantasy VI. It was the video game that brought me into the world of fanfiction. I’ll have to dig those up some day, dust them off, and present them for your amusement. They mostly concern Celes, my favorite character,
but at one point I attempted to novelize the entire game. I think I stopped around the time the party first gets to South Figaro, but I elaborated on some side characters, delved into some of the implied politics, and tried to render in words what the game meant to me at the time. I’d probably do a much better job of it now with two decades worth of life experience (and knowledge of A Song of Ice and Fire for political intrigue), but at the time, it was a great way for me to stretch my writing wings. There are still parts I made up for my FFVI fanfics that I use to this day in original work.
Even though I didn’t continue with the story directly, I did pick up later to write about the part where Locke rescues Celes, and I restarted again during the World of Ruin with Celes on the edge of that cliff. My teenage brain never registered that this was the first game (and possibly story) I’d ever seen where a character made a suicide attempt, but I found it much easier to write about the former general’s despair in the face of Cid’s death than if the old man had survived. That colored the character and her journey through a desolate, despondent world, and I’m a bit sorry I didn’t continue with it. With that part, I stopped right before Celes and co reach Jidoor to connect with Setzer again. Writing the fight with the tentacle monster infesting Figaro Castle’s engine room was both exhilarating and fun.
Maybe I’ll down a bottle of wine and actually post my old fanfiction without any edits for you to peruse 😉
I picked this question because I thought my answer would be short o.O
When did you play your first Final Fantasy? If that’s an N/A question for you, let me know when your played your first RPG (Legend of Zelda counts in my book).
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
Final Fantasy 1. 7 or 8 years old. I didn’t understand how RPGs worked at all and got my ass beat badly. After many struggles, and running away from way more battles than I should have, I managed to finally get past Astos. Then my little cousin came over and insisted on trying it, ran and told my dad when I wouldn’t let him, my dad made me let him play it, and then he overwrote my save with his new characters exactly like I knew he would. It was probably about a decade before I went back and tried again and finally finished it. Good times.
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I would’ve been so pissed off about that. I did that to myself once with FFVIII. I was playing it on my PS2 as God intended, and for some reason my husband convinced me to play it on his PS3 in the living room. I think the system made a save when I started; I played for like three or four hours, and then someone the original system save was saved over my progress. I was livid and didn’t play again for at least a month.
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Probably about 14. I got a copy of the PC version of FF8 from a friend at school. I’d heard of the previous ones but had never played them on the NES and I never owned a SNES.
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I was 11. The original Final Fantasy came out on the NES at the tail end of fifth grade for me and I split the cost with a friend from school and we passed the game back and forth (playing on the same save) every other week. Such a weird way to play any game, let alone that one.
In my “off” weeks though I tried to novelize it as well. I remember taking a notebook out to the area by the community college and sitting under a tree with the instruction manual (which had a mini guide in it) and trying to write a more detailed story for it, fleshing out characters and motivations. Sadly, that notebook has been lost to time.
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Hey it worked for you! That was actually pretty wise to collaborate since it would’ve taken you much longer to save the money for it on your own.
That’s how I worked on FFVI! I’d use the strategy guide for finer points. I also did a tiny bit of sketching in my college days, and tried to copy some of Amano’s artwork. I have no idea where that sketchbook is now. I think I do still have my fanfiction though, but I did lose a big chunk of it that I never had a chance to type out.
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I played the PC version of Final Fantasy VIII with my friend Jason when I was around 13… I thought it was a pretty awesome game! He was much better at figuring things out than I was, and he did most of the playing, but it was still fun! 🙂
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I was 13-ish and it was FFX. I’m surprised I beat it actually, haha. I was never big on RPGs until late teens/adulthood.
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Soooo you played your first Final Fantasy when you were “13?” It was a sign!
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I was destined to become the internet’s lone lover of the FFXIII trilogy 🙂
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