Sentences written about this title, gathered by type from the Japanese and English Wikipedia articles (as of 2026-8-30).
The Famicom version sold about 520,000 copies in Japan.
In the Final Fantasy crossover titles Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008) and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy (2011), a character named Warrior of Light (voiced by Toshihiko Seki) appears — an armoured warrior shown in this game's opening and on its packaging, apparently one of the 4 — but that appearance is never seen in this game itself.
The Famicom version of Final Fantasy, released in Japan on 1987-12-18, recorded sales of 520,000 copies.
In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by the magazine Family Computer Magazine,it scored 25.53 out of 30, as shown below.
In the special supplement "Famicom ROM Cassette All Catalog" in the same magazine's 1991-5-10 issue, the reviewer noted the animation in battle scenes and the strongly staged events, and rated it positively as "a title that widened the variety of Famicom RPGs" (1).
In the "Cross Review" feature of the magazine Famitsu,the game scored a total of 30 out of 40, earning a place in the Silver Hall of Fame.
In the "Cross Review" feature of the magazine Famitsu, the game scored a total of 27 out of 40.
Initially, only 200,000 copies were to be shipped, but Sakaguchi pleaded with the company to make 400,000 to help spawn a sequel, and the management agreed, then the original Famicom (NES) version successfully shipped 520,000 copies in Japan.
Final Fantasy has been well received by critics and commercially successful; the original Famicom (NES) version shipped 520,000 copies in Japan, grossing more than or at retail.
According to Square's publicity department in 1994, the game had sold 600,000 copies in Japan.
The NES release was more successful in North America, where it sold 700,000 copies, adding up to copies sold worldwide by 1994.
As of March 2003, the game, including all re-releases and remakes at the time, had shipped 1.99 million copies worldwide, with 1.21 million of those copies being shipped in Japan and 780,000 abroad.
As of November 2007, another PlayStation Portable version has shipped 140,000 copies.
It is the first game in Square's Final Fantasy series, created by Hironobu Sakaguchi.
He also suggested illustrator Yoshitaka Amano as character designer, but Sakaguchi declined at first as he had never heard the artist's name before.
Initially, only 200,000 copies were to be shipped, but Sakaguchi pleaded with the company to make 400,000 to help spawn a sequel, and the management agreed, then the original Famicom (NES) version successfully shipped 520,000 copies in Japan.
Final Fantasy was first re-released for the MSX2 system and was published by Microcabin in Japan in December 1989.
This version was only released in Japan and had very few graphical updates.
Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls is, like Final Fantasy Origins, a port of the first two games in the series and was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004.
This version was later released for the Nintendo 3DS (on the Japanese eShop only) with the addition of stereoscopic 3D.
The first game in the Pixel Remaster series, Final Fantasy, alongside Final Fantasy II and III, was released on iOS, Android, and Windows PC through Steam on July 28, 2021.
In 2004, readers of Retro Gamer voted Final Fantasy 93rd top retro game, with the staff noting that "despite poor visuals and a relatively simple quest, many still consider the original to be the best (with the exception of FFVII)".
In 2023, Time Extension included the game on their "Best JRPGs of All Time" list, also noting it as one of the best and influential NES games.
In 1987, Famitsu initially described the original Final Fantasy as "one of many" that imitated the Dragon Quest formula.
Adams, III reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that gamers should "put Final Fantasy high on your list of games to recommend to people who have no idea what a CRPG is or how to play one".
Final Fantasy Origins was generally well-received; GamePro said the music was "fantastic", and that the graphics had a suitably retro cuteness to them.
The PlayStation Portable version was not as critically successful as the previous releases; GameSpots Kevin VanOrd cited the visuals as its strongest enhancement but stated that the additional random enemy encounters and updated graphics did not add much value.
Final Fantasy was also the basis for the series finale of a video game-themed cartoon series Captain N: The Game Master entitled "The Fractured Fantasy of Captain N". 8-Bit Theater, a sprite-based webcomic created by Brian Clevinger, parodies the game, and has become very popular in the gaming community since it started in March 2001.
The basic system, largely unchanged in earlier ports, was substantially revised.
Before this title, an RPG called Seiken Densetsu: The Emergence of Excalibur was planned for the Disk System, but development stalled and it was cancelled.
Final Fantasy was originally conceived under the working title Fighting Fantasy, but trademark issues and dire circumstances surrounding Square as well as Sakaguchi himself prompted the name to be changed.
Hironobu Sakaguchi had intended to make a role-playing game (RPG) for a long time, but his employer Square refused to give him permission as it expected low sales of such a product.
In 12, Square — inspired by Dragon Quest — released Final Fantasy, which likewise grew popular as the Final Fantasy series.
Square, which had produced many hits in the PC game market as "a software house making graphically strong adventure games", entered the home console (Famicom) market with much fanfare in 1985, but unlike in its PC days it managed only moderate hits.
Modern critics have criticized the game for being poorly paced by contemporary standards, as it involves much more time wandering in search of random battle encounters to raise their experience levels and money than it does exploring and solving puzzles.
Before this title, an RPG called Seiken Densetsu: The Emergence of Excalibur was planned for the Disk System, but development stalled and it was cancelled.
Square then announced this title, Final Fantasy, as "a game with the same aims as the cancelled Seiken Densetsu" — a party-based RPG.
Final Fantasy was originally conceived under the working title Fighting Fantasy, but trademark issues and dire circumstances surrounding Square as well as Sakaguchi himself prompted the name to be changed.
The original working title for Sakaguchi's RPG concept was Fighting Fantasy, but was changed to avoid issues with a gamebook series of the same name that had already been released.
Following the successful North American localization of Dragon Quest (titled as Dragon Warrior when localized there), Nintendo of America translated Final Fantasy into English and published it in North America in 1990.
Square Enix planned to release this version for North American mobile phones in 2006, but it was delayed to 2010 and released in collaboration with Namco.
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