What is Final Fantasy®?
Final Fantasy® is a major media franchise that began with a role-playing video game (RPG), Final Fantasy®, for the Nintendo Entertainment System, released on 18 December 1987. As of 2009, the franchise consists of twenty-eight games, including 12 numbered titles and numerous spin-offs, three animated productions, two full-length CGI films, and several printed adaptations of the games. The Final Fantasy® franchise was conceived by the Japanese company Squaresoft, which later merged with Enix, another game company, to become Square Enix. Since its founding, the Final Fantasy® franchise has sold more than 85 million units and is widely considered the most popular RPG franchise in the world. It is also the fourth best-selling video game series in the world, only bested by Mario, Pokémon, and The Sims. Aside from being RPGs, the signature feature of Final Fantasy® games are long and elaborate stories, which are often widely praised by critics. This contrasts with the idea of a video game be
