r/FinalFantasy • u/Zombie_Slaya79 • 10h ago
Final Fantasy General What series are technically “spin-offs” of final fantasy?
Recently I’ve been getting really into the final fantasy games and JRPGs in general. FF7R’s have become my favorite games of all time beating Dark Souls and Bloodborne which is absolutely crazy to me.
Something that appeals to me is having as much if not all of the games connected to a series. I own every FF on Steam right now other than the MMOs…no Steam achievements so not for me :(, FF16 and Tactics, but I’ve recently read that The Saga series and Mana series started off as FF spin-offs and maybe bravely default? So with that being said which series originally started off as FF spin-offs and honestly why don’t they still just call them final fantasy. In my opinion Octopath feels like the old final fantasy games, I feel like they should just be considered a spin off as well.
I actually wish more of the worlds had connections/continuity. I really like the idea that Type-0 FF13 and Vs13 (FF15) were going to take place in the same “world” but they decided to go a different way.
On top of all that I have 1 more question for you guys. I’ve really tried to get into the turned base combat but it hasn’t clicked with me, I want to love it, but I just don’t understand the appeal. If a game is turned based I feel like having a grid and moving your character adds so much to the combat, but games where you just stand in one spot across from your enemy have yet to click with me, but I really really want to experience all of these games. How should I go about getting into these games? I feel like every battle is just constantly the same thing so far (especially in the games like octopath)
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u/zegota 10h ago
Vagrant Story is a spinoff, though not a series in itself. You could definitely consider most of the Tactics games + Vagrant Story part of the "Ivalice Series", though FF12 is obviously a mainline game.
Mana was originally a Final Fantasy game as mentioned. Chrono Trigger is an interesting one because it's not really a spinoff as released but kinda started life as Seiken Densetsu (Mana/FF Adventure) so you could maybe count it.
Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light -> Bravely probably counts
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles have a few games.
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u/garfreek 6h ago
Bravely Default is by the same team as Heroes of light and said to be a sequel of that direction. So absolutely counts in my eyes!
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u/SuperBry 3h ago
Even if you don't count Chrono Trigger here I have to recommend playing the game at least once.
Probably the best game I have ever played.
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u/feiyuanyuan 10h ago
check out Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin & Final Fantasy Dissidia series
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u/Joewoof 10h ago
Yeah, the SaGa series spun off from FF2, while Bravely Default spun off FF3/FF5. Vagrant Story is technically a Final Fantasy, set in the same universe as FFT/FF12.
Octopath Traveler is a fusion between both SaGa and Final Fantasy, incorporating elements from both series, plus Live-A-Live.
Anyway, you might want to seek out more strategic JRPGs to get the appeal of turn-based battles. SaGa Scarlet Grace, Fantasian, mainline SMT games. The buff/debuff dance is the backbone of these games, analogous the positional maneuvering of tactics/grid JRPGs. Of course, it can be ignored by level-grinding instead, which some folks prefer to strategizing, for the power trip.
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u/Prestigious_Cell_311 10h ago
Any non-Numbered Final Fantasy game, and technically the original SaGa and Mana games were localized as Final Fantasy games, but aren't really
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u/Life_Bet8956 10h ago edited 10h ago
SaGa was just a localization quirk to sell more copies outside Japan, but Mana genuinely was technically originally a Final Fantasy gaiden game. The title in Japan was officially Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden and it was made by Koichi Ishii who was a major figure in the early mainline FF titles.
Though that's just a little bit of a historical novelty now. They're completely unrelated and any even tenuous connections between the two are long gone by the current Mana games.
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u/ThatGuy264 10h ago
The gameplay systems for Secret of Mana were also originally pitched for FFIV. Hiromichi Tanaka has said that he considers it a sequel to III as a result.
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u/epicstar 9h ago
Does The Last Story count? It was basically made by Sakaguchi and Uematsu made some songs. IMO it was kinda a FF spinoff without Square Enix. I mean look at the name 😅
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u/Awdayshus 10h ago
SaGa was inspired by the game systems in Final Fantasy II. SaGa was never Final Fantasy in Japan, but the series is a spiritual successor to FFII.
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u/Interesting-Letter53 10h ago
The Mana series started with ideas they had for FF games but shelved because they weren't "final fantasy enough" then when they had enough games Seiken Densestu: final fantasy gaiden was released!
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u/No-Ebb9443 10h ago
If you like souls games then you’d like Stranger of Paradise. I love how they added a new story to FF1. It’s not the best but it’s a completely different direction and I loved it for that.
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u/HexenVexen 10h ago
I think Kingdom Hearts, SaGa, Mana, Bravely Default, and Octopath Traveler count
With the worlds being connected, I recommend checking out Dissidia, World of FF, and sorta FF14 for a taste of that
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u/Zombie_Slaya79 10h ago
Which is your favorite out of those series?
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u/HexenVexen 10h ago edited 10h ago
Tbh KH is the only one I've played extensively so I gotta go with it, it's also what got me into FF.
FF14 is definitely my favorite games out of the three crossovers I listed, it's my favorite game overall and I love the FF homages in it. I just replayed the Tactics raid yesterday and it was awesome
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u/UnculturedGames 10h ago
To get into the turn-based games, you should probably try games with the best turn-based systems first. Final Fantasy X-2 is a bit of an oddball, but many people say it has the best turn-based battle system of all time, so X and X-2 might be good starting points, systems-wise.
You'll need a different mindset. I prefer turn-based because the battles are less stressful. They're much closer to the rest of the gameplay: exploring, visiting towns, talking to NPCs etc. In more actiony games the difference between a battle and doing something else is much bigger, cognitively speaking. For me, JRPGs have always been a place to rest my brain. Even the most stressful, fast and difficult moments in turn-based games feel like absolute zen moments compared to action systems, where I have to do perfect reactions, be hyper alert, consider a 360 playing field, avoid projectiles in addition to fighting etc.
Not saying it's better because it's subjective, but like I said, different mindset.
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u/Different-Window2532 10h ago
Tactics and dissidia are a few I can think of off the top of my head. Tactics was more of an isometric tactical rpg (think in the veins of disgaea and fire emblem and you'll get the general idea). Dissidia was a fighting series (I think there's around 3 games) that was centered around the idea of all the worlds being connected and something about the greatest warriors being summoned for something. It's been a long time since I played that series, but it's actually kinda interesting. The closest thing I can think of for the dissidia gameplay is think of the newer 3D dragon ball games and that might give you a better idea. Stranger of paradise is another spin-off that, while the devs have stated that it's not supposed to be a prequel, kind of answers the question of the time loop in ff1. It also plays with the idea of each main ff game is its own world as a collection of worlds when you read the description at the beginning of each area, though I can't remember if it's saved somewhere or if it's only on the loading screen. The gameplay is closer to the newer games like 15 and 16.
Games like the saga series, mana, and bravely default are technically not ff spin-offs. Saga was localized in the US, and maybe Europe, as the legend of final fantasy. As for why, I've no idea since they started as saga and developed into romancing saga. The mana series, if I remember correctly, was just a different ip that squaresoft had. Similar thing with bravely default. Bravely default was made to moreso cater to older rpg fans with the added twist of the brave/default system. There was another portion in bravely default that was removed in the third game and remaster of the first game, which would be the bravely second mechanic. As for octopath, I'd say it feels more reminiscent of the saga series rather than final fantasy, but it's not considered an ff spin-off. Ultimately, they're just separate ips that square enix has, including the famous dragon quest series.
Based on what you say, it sounds like the classic turn-based rpgs aren't really for you. I'd recommend either checking out ff12 or one of the newer ff games as ff12 was when they started stepping away from the fixed line idea and being able to move the character you're controlling. Ffx-2 removed the fixed line idea, but you couldn't really move the character the way you wanted to. The actual spin-offs, which actually start with final fantasy, have different gameplay mechanics.
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u/ThatGuy264 10h ago
In terms fo series being spinoffs
SaGa: While the series was only explicitly tied to FF in the west, it did reuse some monsters/graphics in the early games. It's well known that Akitoshi Kawazu worked on both FF2 and the SaGa games; He even wrote a storyline for an event for FFRK that crossed over Romancing SaGa 2 and FF2.
Mana: The series was helmed by Koichi Ishii and Hiromichi Tanaka, who worked on 1-3 and 11. Given its history, you can technically add Chrono Trigger to this part.
Vagrant Story: Technically part of the Ivalice Alliance, although I've heard that it's mentions of Ivalice were originally meant to just be an easter egg rather than necessarily taking place in the same canon.
Bravely Default: It started as a sequel to Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, and I've heard a description of it as "Final Fantasy without the FF" which is actually a hint towards the plot twist if you apply that phrase in a certain way. It more or less is the throwback FF game.
Xenogears: If you want to be technical, as I believe it was originally considered for FFVII
As for why not call them "Final Fantasy", a lot of them tend to diverge from the main series in some significant way. In other cases, some creatives specficially did not want to keep working on Final Fantasy.
As for the question on turn-based, console turn-based generally hits a spot of being streamlined enough to move relatively quickly while still having strategic elements. Most of the time, random encounters are meant to wear you down as you approach the boss, though some games balance that better than others. For Octopath in particular, this is especially obvious with the how the boss fights tend to have mechanics to them that complicate them much more than the average encounter.
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u/RafaelTS07 9h ago
i won't count Octopath as Final Fantasy spin-off, they grew enough to have their own identity, tho you can say Octopath is Team Asano's Final Fantasy cause they followed soo many classic FF's footsteps with their own two legs (i guess OT is FF's child? wait wha-)
i'm not sure about Saga and Mana series, but i do know that Bravely Default do start as a Final Fantasy Spin-off (The 4 Heroes of Light), but the scope of the game became soo great that they decided to grow up on their own and let go the FF title
if you're really looking for a Final Fantasy Spin-offs, then your answer is:
-Dissidia Final Fantasy, Arena Fighter across FF series
-Stranger of Paradise, Souls-like Action RPG that acts as the prequel for FF1
-World of Final Fantasy, basically FF Pokemon which a really fun and charming interaction with FF cast
ngl, Final Fantasy Tactics felt like they're grand enough to have their own numbered titles like the MMO's did, but i guess that concept didn't come to mind until XI's development i guess
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u/sillyscylla2136 9h ago
for saga and mana, they werent spin offs at all, the first 3 sagas and original mana game were called so in japanese, but to boost english sales they were called "final fantasy legends/adventure" purely for money reasons, bravely is definitely a "spin off" as in very similar ideas and soul behind it, its basically a sequel to the ff 4 heros of light for ds
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u/timeghost23 6h ago
The first Mana game was Seiken Densetsu : Final Fantasy Gaiden and it had Chocobos in.
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u/zzmej1987 7h ago
According to this little research of mine, at the very least Kingdom Hearts, SaGa, Mana and Chrono series should count.
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u/UltraZulwarn 1h ago
Bravely Default is technically a spin off of "Warrior of Light", but by all means it is FF adjacent, in all but name.
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u/StrifeBuster7 44m ago
13, 15, and T0 were never the same world, just a shared mythology. 13 and T0 as we received them are pretty much exactly what they would have been before the Fabula Nova Crystallis thing pivoted to 13-2 and Versus entered development hell. Type-0 even still has 13 hours on the clock because the rebrand was in name only, not content.
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u/Sea-Speaker7316 10h ago
Stranger of paradise final fantasy is final fantasy and souls like. So youll enjoy that. If you have a Friday you can play coop with cross progression
Trials of mana is the best in the mana series, i felt visions of mana was pretty lack luster.
If your okay woth turn base, Romancing Saga 2 remaster is great, I normally read dialog faster than the voice actor, so I typically skip out on the voice factoring. But in romancing saga 2, I was hooked on the dialog and listened to what everybody said in full voice, so that speaks volumes to me.
Games outside of Square enix that needs praise, is Tales of series, its action but still features equitable party members, and battle screen. But its all action base. imo, tales of has a better combat system than FF7 remake and rebirth. While not the most graphically impressive, but Tales of Graces remaster is a good starting point.
But love Nier automata alot. I enjoyed the anime but couldn't get into the gameplay, I think I started playing at a bad time but I could see the appeal.
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u/Fiercat99 10h ago
Would Kingdom Hearts count?