Dozens of Square Enix companion books have been produced since 1998, when video game developer Square began to produce books that focused on artwork, developer interviews, and background information on the fictional worlds and characters in its games rather than on gameplay details. [1] [2] The first series of these books was the Perfect Works series, written and published by Square subsidiary DigiCube. They produced three books between 1998 and 1999 before the line was stopped in favor of the Ultimania (アルティマニア, Arutimania) series, a portmanteau of ultimate and mania. [3] This series of books is written by Studio BentStuff, which had previously written game guides for Square for Final Fantasy VII . They were published by DigiCube until the company was dissolved in 2003. Square merged with video game publisher Enix on April 1, 2003, to form Square Enix, [4] which resumed publication of the companion books.
Both the Perfect Works and Ultimania books have focused primarily on Square and Square Enix's role-playing video game franchises, such as the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series; over half of the more than 75 books are for games related to the Final Fantasy series. Sometimes, multiple books have been written per game or revised editions have been published years afterwards. One of the books, Final Fantasy IX Ultimania Online, was solely published online as part of an experiment by Square Enix with online content delivery; another for Final Fantasy XI was planned, but the idea was abandoned as unsuccessful and all subsequent books have been published traditionally. [5] [6]
The books are written and edited by Studio BentStuff. The Ultimania series had sold over 10 million books by July 2007, [7] increasing to over 12 million copies sold as of 2017. [8] The highest selling Square Enix companion books are Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania (over 2.2 million copies) and Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania (over 1 million copies). [9] All of the books have been released solely in Japanese, but Dark Horse Books published English translations of the three-volume 2012 Final Fantasy 25th Memorial Ultimania as Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive in June 2018. [10]
Title | Game | Date | ISBN | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Xenogears Perfect Works | Xenogears | October 10, 1998 | ISBN 978-4-9250-7532-9 | [11] |
SaGa Frontier II Perfect Works | SaGa Frontier 2 | July 15, 1999 | ISBN 978-4-9250-7554-1 | [12] |
Front Mission 3 Perfect Works | Front Mission 3 | November 20, 1999 | ISBN 978-4-9250-7566-4 | [13] |
Title | Game | Date | ISBN | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania | Final Fantasy VIII | March 31, 1999 | ISBN 978-4-9250-7549-7 | [14] |
SaGa Frontier II Ultimania | SaGa Frontier 2 | June 18, 1999 | ISBN 978-4-9250-7553-4 | [15] |
Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana Ultimania | Legend of Mana | September 30, 1999 | ISBN 978-4-9250-7564-0 | [16] |
Chrono Cross Ultimania | Chrono Cross | January 27, 2000 | ISBN 978-4-9250-7573-2 | [17] |
Vagrant Story Ultimania | Vagrant Story | April 13, 2000 | ISBN 978-4-9250-7575-6 | [18] |
Final Fantasy IX Online Ultimania | Final Fantasy IX | December 29, 2000 | Internet-only | [5] |
Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania | Final Fantasy X | September 14, 2001 | ISBN 978-4-8878-7010-9 | [19] |
Final Fantasy X Battle Ultimania | Final Fantasy X | September 14, 2001 | ISBN 978-4-8878-7011-6 | [20] |
Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω | Final Fantasy X | January 31, 2002 | ISBN 978-4-8878-7021-5 | [21] |
Final Fantasy IX Ultimania | Final Fantasy IX | February 28, 2002 | ISBN 978-4-8878-7025-3 | [22] |
Kingdom Hearts Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts | June 13, 2002 | ISBN 978-4-8878-7042-0 | [23] |
Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Revised Edition | Kingdom Hearts | January 9, 2003 | ISBN 978-4-8878-7090-1 | [24] |
Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania | Final Fantasy X-2 | May 31, 2003 | ISBN 978-4-8878-7126-7 | [25] |
Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania Ω | Final Fantasy X-2 | February 13, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1161-3 | [26] |
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles World Ultimania | Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles | March 19, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1162-0 | [27] |
Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania | Final Fantasy X-2 | April 16, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1205-4 | [26] |
Final Fantasy X-2 International+Last Mission Ultimania | Final Fantasy X-2 International+Last Mission | April 16, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1163-7 | [26] |
Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania | Final Fantasy X | May 28, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1215-3 | [26] |
Final Fantasy X Battle Ultimania | Final Fantasy X | May 28, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1216-0 | [26] |
Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω | Final Fantasy X | May 28, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1214-6 | [26] |
Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania | Final Fantasy VIII | June 25, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1243-6 | [26] |
Final Fantasy IX Ultimania | Final Fantasy IX | June 25, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1244-3 | [26] |
Chrono Cross Ultimania | Chrono Cross | July 30, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1249-8 | [26] |
Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana | Legend of Mana | July 30, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1250-4 | [16] |
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories | December 17, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1344-0 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Revised Edition | Kingdom Hearts | December 17, 2004 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1349-5 | [26] |
Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song Ultimania | Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song | July 15, 2005 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1487-4 | [26] |
Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω | Final Fantasy VII | September 9, 2005 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1520-8 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts Series Ultimania α ~Introduction of Kingdom Hearts II~ | Kingdom Hearts | December 9, 2005 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1597-0 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts II Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts II | February 23, 2006 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1621-2 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XII Scenario Ultimania | Final Fantasy XII | June 16, 2006 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1696-0 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XII Battle Ultimania | Final Fantasy XII | June 16, 2006 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1697-7 | [26] |
SaGa Frontier II Ultimania | SaGa Frontier 2 | July 20, 2006 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1733-2 | [26] |
Vagrant Story Ultimania | Vagrant Story | July 20, 2006 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1734-9 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XII Ultimania Ω | Final Fantasy XII | November 24, 2006 | ISBN 978-4-7575-1821-6 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ | May 2, 2007 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2013-4 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Ultimania | Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings | June 14, 2007 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2024-0 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System Ultimania | Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System | September 6, 2007 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2100-1 | [26] |
Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania | Final Fantasy VII | September 13, 2007 | Part of the Final Fantasy VII Potion box set | [28] |
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Ultimania | Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII | October 18, 2007 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2126-1 | [26] |
Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 1: Character | Final Fantasy series | January 31, 2008 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2206-0 | [26] |
Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 2: Scenario | Final Fantasy series | April 10, 2008 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2251-0 | [26] |
Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 3: Battle | Final Fantasy series | June 19, 2008 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2320-3 | [26] |
Dissidia Final Fantasy Ultimania α | Dissidia Final Fantasy | December 4, 2008 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2466-8 | [29] |
Chrono Trigger Ultimania | Chrono Trigger | January 20, 2009 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2469-9 | [26] |
Dissidia Final Fantasy Ultimania | Dissidia Final Fantasy | January 29, 2009 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2488-0 | [26] |
Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Revised Edition | Final Fantasy VII | April 16, 2009 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2560-3 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XI Story Ultimania Ver.090409 | Final Fantasy XI | June 11, 2009 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2507-8 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days | June 25, 2009 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2578-8 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XIII Scenario Ultimania | Final Fantasy XIII | January 28, 2010 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2775-1 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XIII Battle Ultimania | Final Fantasy XIII | January 28, 2010 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2776-8 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep | March 25, 2010 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2788-1 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Ω | Final Fantasy XIII | September 30, 2010 | ISBN 978-4-7575-2958-8 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts Re:coded | November 4, 2010 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3050-8 | [26] |
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Ultimania Action Side | Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy | March 10, 2011 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3161-1 | [30] |
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Ultimania RPG Side | Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy | March 31, 2011 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3162-8 | [31] |
Final Fantasy Type-0 Ultimania | Final Fantasy Type-0 | November 30, 2011 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3432-2 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Scenario Ultimania | Final Fantasy XIII-2 | January 31, 2012 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3496-4 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Battle Ultimania | Final Fantasy XIII-2 | January 31, 2012 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3497-1 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance | May 1, 2012 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3615-9 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Ω | Final Fantasy XIII-2 | June 21, 2012 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3619-7 | [26] |
Final Fantasy 25th Memorial Ultimania Volume 1 | Final Fantasy series | December 18, 2012 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3769-9 | [26] |
Final Fantasy 25th Memorial Ultimania Volume 2 | Final Fantasy series | December 18, 2012 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3770-5 | [26] |
Final Fantasy 25th Memorial Ultimania Volume 3 | Final Fantasy series | December 18, 2012 | ISBN 978-4-7575-3771-2 | [26] |
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania | Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII | December 19, 2013 | ISBN 978-4-7575-4158-0 | [26] |
Final Fantasy X HD Remaster Ultimania | Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster | December 26, 2013 | ISBN 978-4-7575-4159-7 | [26] |
Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster Ultimania | Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster | January 30, 2014 | ISBN 978-4-7575-4160-3 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts Series Memorial Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts series | October 2, 2014 | ISBN 978-4-7575-4384-3 | [26] |
Biohazard Revelations 2 Ultimania | Resident Evil: Revelations 2 | March 26, 2015 | ISBN 978-4-7575-4600-4 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XV Ultimania - Scenario Side- | Final Fantasy XV | December 28, 2016 | ISBN 978-4-7575-5214-2 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XV Ultimania - Battle + Map Side - | Final Fantasy XV | December 28, 2016 | ISBN 978-4-7575-5215-9 | [26] |
Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age Ultimania | Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age | July 13, 2017 | ISBN 978-4-7575-5339-2 | [26] |
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Ultimania | Dissidia Final Fantasy NT | January 11, 2018 | ISBN 978-4-7575-5615-7 | [26] |
Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space World Ultimania | Another Eden | July 31, 2018 | ISBN 978-4-7575-5800-7 | [26] |
Kingdom Hearts III Ultimania | Kingdom Hearts III | February 28, 2019 | ISBN 978-4-7575-6001-7 | [26] |
Final Fantasy VII Remake Ultimania | Final Fantasy VII Remake | April 28, 2020 | ISBN 978-4-7575-6586-9 | [26] |
Final Fantasy VII Remake Material Ultimania | Final Fantasy VII Remake | October 29, 2020 | ISBN 978-4-7575-6869-3 | [32] |
Final Fantasy VII Remake Material Ultimania Plus | Final Fantasy VII Remake | July 25, 2021 | ISBN 978-4-7575-7347-5 | [33] |
The Chocobo is a fictional species created for the Final Fantasy franchise by Square Enix. A galliform bird commonly having yellow feathers, they were first introduced in Final Fantasy II (1988), and have since featured in some capacity in nearly every Final Fantasy title, usually as a means of transport. Chocobos or chocobo-themed characters have played story roles in multiple titles, notably in Final Fantasy V and XIII. A recurring Chocobo also acts as protagonist of the Chocobo spin-off series.
Barret Wallace is a player character in Square Enix's role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII. Created by character designer Tetsuya Nomura, he has since appeared in the CGI film sequel, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children as well as other games and media in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series. As of Advent Children, Barret is voiced by Masahiro Kobayashi in Japanese and Beau Billingslea in English.
Tifa Lockhart is a character who debuted in Square's 1997 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII. She was created as a foil to her teammate Aerith Gainsborough by members of the development team including director Yoshinori Kitase and writers Kazushige Nojima and Tetsuya Nomura; Nomura additionally contributed her visual design. She has since appeared as a playable fighter in Ehrgeiz and the Dissidia Final Fantasy series and made cameo appearances in several other titles, such as Kingdom Hearts II and Itadaki Street. Beginning in 2005, she has featured in sequels and spin-offs as part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series, including the computer-animated film Advent Children and the Final Fantasy VII Remake project.
Spira is the fictional world of the Square role-playing video games Final Fantasy X and X-2. Spira is the first Final Fantasy world to feature consistent, all-encompassing spiritual and mythological influences within the planet's civilizations and their inhabitants' daily lives. The world of Spira itself is very different from the mainly European-style worlds found in previous Final Fantasy games, being much more closely modeled on a setting influenced by the South Pacific, Thailand and Japan, most notably with respect to its vegetation, topography and architecture.
Squall Leonhart is a fictional character and the protagonist of Final Fantasy VIII, a role-playing video game that was produced by Square. Within the game's plot, Squall is an 17-year-old student at Balamb Garden, a prestigious military academy for elite mercenaries. Forced into becoming the Commander due to his outstanding skills, Squall befriends his underlings, and falls in love with Rinoa Heartilly. These relationships, combined with the game's plot, gradually change him from being a loner to an open, caring person. Squall has appeared in several other games, including Chocobo Racing, Itadaki Street Special, and the Kingdom Hearts series as the older mentor-like figure named Leon.
The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII is a metaseries produced by Square Enix. A subseries stemming from the main Final Fantasy franchise, it is a collection of video games, animated features and short stories set in the world and continuity of Final Fantasy VII (1997). Officially announced in 2003 with the reveal of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the series' core products are four video games and one movie release. Alongside these are tie-in products and spin-offs including books, mobile games and an original video animation. Advent Children and the mobile title Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII are a sequel and prequel to VII, respectively focusing on Cloud Strife, the original game's main protagonist, and covert operatives known as the Turks. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII follows Zack Fair, a minor character in VII, while Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, a sequel to Advent Children, follows Vincent Valentine, one of the original's optional characters.
Masato Kato is a Japanese video game artist, scenario writer and director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal". He then joined Square, and was most famous for penning the script of Chrono Trigger, as well as Radical Dreamers, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy XI and parts of Final Fantasy VII.
DigiCube Co., Ltd. was a Japanese company established as a subsidiary of software developer Square on February 6, 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of DigiCube was to market and distribute Square products, most notably video games and related merchandise, including toys, books, and music soundtracks. DigiCube served as a wholesaler to distributors, and was noteworthy for pioneering the sale of video games in Japanese convenience stores and vending machine kiosks.
Ivalice is a fictional universe setting primarily appearing in the Final Fantasy video game series. The world was created by Yasumi Matsuno and has since been expanded upon by several games as the Ivalice Alliance series. Ivalice is described as a complex world with a very long history, and the stories of Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII take place in it.
Yoshinori Kitase is a Japanese game director and producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X, and the producer of the Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII series. Kitase is a vice president, a member of the board of directors and an executive officer at Square Enix. He is currently the head of Square Enix's Creative Business Unit I and the Final Fantasy series Brand Manager. He was the head of Square Enix's Business Division 1 during its entire existence as well as a Corporate Executive. He is also part of the Final Fantasy Committee that is tasked with keeping the franchise's releases and content consistent.
Kazushige Nojima is a Japanese video game writer. He is best known for writing several installments of Square Enix's Final Fantasy franchise—namely Final Fantasy VII and its spin-offs Advent Children and Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy X and X-2—in addition to the Kingdom Hearts series, the Glory of Heracles series, and the story to the Subspace Emissary mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Nojima also wrote the original lyrics of "Liberi Fatali" for Final Fantasy VIII and both "Suteki da Ne" and the "Hymn of the Fayth" for Final Fantasy X. He is also the founder of Stellavista Ltd.
Motomu Toriyama is a Japanese game director and scenario writer who has been working for Square Enix since 1994. He initially worked on cutscenes in Bahamut Lagoon and Final Fantasy VII before serving as one of the three directors on Final Fantasy X under Yoshinori Kitase where he was in charge of events.
Final Fantasy Type-0 is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Released in Japan on October 27, 2011, Type-0 is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries, a set of games sharing a common mythos which includes Final Fantasy XIII and XV. The gameplay, similar to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, has the player taking control of characters in real-time combat during missions across Orience. The player also engages in large-scale strategy-based battles on the world map, and has access to a multiplayer option during story missions and side quests.
Dissidia Final Fantasy is a fighting game with action RPG elements developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the campaign for the Final Fantasy series' 20th anniversary. It was released in Japan on December 18, 2008, in North America on August 25, 2009, and in Australia and Europe in September. It was then re-released in Japan, based on the North American version, as Dissidia Final Fantasy: Universal Tuning, on November 1, 2009.
Isamu Kamikokuryo is a Japanese video game artist who worked at Square Enix until his resignation on March 31, 2017. He is known for his work on the company's role-playing video game series Final Fantasy, for which he designed locations and characters. Among others, he was involved in the Ivalice Alliance and Fabula Nova Crystallis franchises.
Daisuke Watanabe is a Japanese video game writer employed by Square Enix. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and the action RPG series Kingdom Hearts.
Jun Akiyama is a Japanese video game event director and scenario writer who works at Square Enix. He joined the predecessor company Square in 1995. In his role as event planner for Final Fantasy VII, Akiyama was responsible for the story elements and cutscenes involving the characters Red XIII and Yuffie Kisaragi, respectively. During his work as the event director of Vagrant Story, he intended to make the transitions between gameplay and event scenes as smooth as possible. The fully polygonal graphics of the game entailed precise camera movements, character animations and the usage of different lens effects.
Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director working for Square Enix. He designed characters for the Final Fantasy series, debuting with Final Fantasy VI and continuing with various later installments. Additionally, Nomura co-created and has led the development of the Kingdom Hearts series since its inception in 2002 and was the director of the 2005 film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.