Mobius Final Fantasy

Mobius Final Fantasy

The logo for Mobius Final Fantasy
Developer(s) Square Enix Business Division 1
Publisher(s) Square Enix
Distributor(s) Google Play
Producer(s) Yoshinori Kitase
Artist(s)
Writer(s) Kazushige Nojima
Composer(s) Mitsuto Suzuki
Series Final Fantasy
Engine Unity 5
Platform(s) iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)

iOS, Android

  • JP: June 4, 2015
  • WW: August 3, 2016

Microsoft Windows

  • JP: November 1, 2016
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Mobius Final Fantasy (Japanese: メビウスファイナルファンタジー Hepburn: Mebiusu Fainaru Fantajī) is an episodic role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for iOS, Android, and Microsoft Windows. It was released in Japan in June 2015, and released internationally in August 2016. The player controls Warrior of Light (Wol), a man who wakes with amnesia in the world of Palamecia, and must help conquer the dark forces attacking its people. The game features gameplay elements from previous Final Fantasy titles, including leveling, exploration via standard navigation and fast-travel systems, and turn-based combat tied to a job system. Common themes were also drawn from the original Final Fantasy title, such as "warriors of light" and their fight against chaos and darkness.

The game, which began development in 2013, was developed around the concept of a mobile game on a similar level to a home console game: this goal promoted skepticism from both in-house staff and external sources. While some assets were outsourced, most of the development was done by Square Enix. Multiple staff from previous Final Fantasy titles were involved in development, including producer Yoshinori Kitase; writer Kazushige Nojima; artists Toshiyuki Itahana, Shintaro Takai and Takako Miyake; and composer Mitsuto Suzuki.

The game registered over two million players within the first few weeks of release. Square Enix cited Mobius Final Fantasy as one of the most successful mobile titles they released in 2015, having over three million downloads in Japan before the end of the year. The English version also reached one million downloads within a week, with over three million in under a month. The graphics and gameplay were praised by reviewers, although some called the overall combat experience "simple". The game also received several awards and accolades.

Gameplay

The battle system displaying the player character's health and energy, the ability icons, and Elements accumulating in the bar along the top of the screen. The enemy's health and break meter are displayed above it.

Mobius Final Fantasy is a role-playing game designed for mobile phones. The player controls the game's protagonist Warrior of Light (Wol) while navigating Palamecia.[1] Players can customize settings, graphical quality, and adjust controls for their dominant hand.[2] During local navigation on the field map, the player taps a location on a map and the character travels to that location. In some self-contained areas, the player can directly control the character.[1][3][4] Along with standard navigation, the player can navigate the game world using a fast-travel system, progressively unlocked as the player progresses through the story.[1][4] Many of the features in the game, such as the leveling system and exploration, are similar to those from previous home console Final Fantasy games.[1]

Mobius features a tactics-focused, turn-based battle system, with players able to activate attacks by tapping enemies on screen. Players can use standard melee attacks with close-range weapons such as swords, and magical attacks.[1][3] During combat the player accumulates Elements, which are necessary to activate Abilities, the game's form of summoned monsters. When ready for activation, a tile appears on-screen that the player touches to activate the Ability. Abilities have different attributes: the Shiva Ability unleashes an ice attack, while the Fat Chocobo Ability raises defense for eight turns while automatically healing the player. Elements can also be used by the player to strengthen their resistance to elemental attacks. If an enemy's weakness is struck enough times, their "break gauge" meter will be drained and they will be left weakened, allowing the player to attack freely.[4] A job system and character abilities related to them form a key part of the system.

The player starts off with the Onion Knight job.[1][5][6] Each job can be leveled up using special "seed" items collected in battle to fill in a skill panel. Once the panel is complete, the job will evolve, such as the Onion Knight evolving into the pure Warrior class. As jobs change or evolve, the character's appearance will be altered to a degree.[7] In the Chapter Two content update, Samurai, Assassin, and Red Mage jobs were added.[8] In February 2016, multiplayer functionality was added, enabling up to four players to take on bosses.[9]

Plot

Wol, the main protagonist, awakes stricken with amnesia in the foreign world of Palamecia.[4] He is one of multiple "Blanks", people brought to Palamecia from other worlds and suffering from amnesia. Palamecia is under attack from the armies of "Chaos", and Wol must fulfill a prophecy in Palamecia that one of the Blanks is a "Warrior of Light" who will free the world from its darkness.[4] Wol is aided on his journey by Princess Sarah Lotte Cornelia, the princess of a kingdom of Palamecia, and Mog, a moogle who volunteers to help in Wol's quest.[4]

Chapter 2, entitled "Prediction and Hope", includes Wol and Mog adventuring through the Ishtar desert and Rune Temple.[8] A side quest was also included, entitled "El Dorado of the Oblivion", which is set in the ruins of "Gold Volost of El Dorado".[8] In chapter 3, Wol is traveling to see Princess Sarah, who is waiting at her castle when she is attacked and held captive by the armies of chaos.[10] Wol is then tasked with saving the princess and fighting against the overwhelming power of the Chaos giants.[10]

In the chapter 4 prologue, Wol and Sarah begin an adventure to find the "Rune of Earth" to keep it out of the hands of chaos, and later in chapter 4 the story continues through new lands.[11][12] In chapter 5, Wol journeys to find the source of the light that may give him the strength to conquer chaos.[13] The sixth chapter will shift focus onto a different character, the heretic sorceress Meia.[14]

Development

The concept behind Mobius was for a mobile experience comparable with console games.[15] Though it was possible to make a smartphone game equivalent to console games, it had yet to be done, so game producer Yoshinori Kitase sought to fill this perceived gap in the market. It was called the first Final Fantasy mobile game of this scale. While creation of some artwork and graphics was outsourced, most of the concept work and development was done in-house by Square Enix.[1] Instead of a new development team dedicated to mobiles, the production team was largely made up of veterans from the console Final Fantasy titles. The staff included scenario writer Kazushige Nojima and producer Yoshinori Kitase.[15][16] The story is connected to the original Final Fantasy only thematically through its focus on "warriors of light" fighting against chaos and darkness: it is not a remake or directly related to the plot of the original.[5] It is also considered by the team behind the game as a full entry in the series rather than a spin-off.[17] Speaking after the game's initial release, Nojima stated that he felt his scenario was too bulky for a mobile experience.[18]

Development began in 2013, and prompted skepticism from both Square Enix staff and its prospective platform managers, who were more used to the dominant 2D-based mobile games. One of the problems cited by project leader Naoki Hamaguchi was creating realistic facial expressions equivalent to those used in the 2013 film Frozen.[19] For development, the team used the Unity game engine. After Unity Technologies updated the engine in 2015 to the Unity 5 version, the game was also updated to run on the improved software. The team needed to take differences between different phone models into account to allow high performance. To help with development and overcome potential difficulties handling the Unity engine, a special development environment and structure was created.[16] The team used physically based rendering to create realistic lighting and environmental effects.[7] The budget was far lower than graphically equivalent console titles, so the team were reluctant to buy in helping tools and had restrictions on staff numbers: one person was working on all the game's backgrounds, while three were in charge of character designs. Using experience from the development of Final Fantasy XIII, the team were able to create high-end graphics within mobile restrictions.[20]

The characters were designed by Toshiyuki Itahana. In common with his typical drawing style for characters, Itahana created Wol to be a heroic fantasy character that both fitted within and did not conform to earlier Final Fantasy titles. He and other designers created the multiple job outfits to further convey the fantasy setting.[21] After its reveal, some changes were made to the character's initial costume: due to negative player feedback about the amount of skin shown, the Onion Swordsman outfit was adjusted to be more covering.[7] The game's environments were designed by Takako Miyake, who had previously worked on console Final Fantasy titles. She did not change her working style for Mobius Final Fantasy: all the assets were designed in high definition, and only adjusted slightly when they were brought into the mobile environment.[22] The visual effects were handled by company veteran Shintaro Takai, whose main preoccupation was to make sure the game did not slow down during the flashier visual combat effects due to hardware constraints. The cutscenes were not affected by these issues.[23]

Music

The music for Mobius Final Fantasy was composed by Mitsuto Suzuki, whose previous work includes The 3rd Birthday, Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. When he was first asked to compose for the title, his impression was of a whole new setting that retained nostalgic elements from earlier games in the series, which he sought to incorporate into the score: a piece that encompassed this was his reorchestration of "Prelude". As part of writing for the game, he needed to create new tracks for game updates, which put added pressure on him to create music that would appeal to players. A concept present from an early stage was changing the battle music depending on what job was equipped by the player: Suzuki created an initial battle theme that acted as a base for other themes, then added elements like electronic elements and vocal work to give derivative tracks variety. The majority of the game's choral work, such as with the game's main theme, was done using synthesizers. Suzuki also needed to do remixes of earlier Final Fantasy music, such as the "Chocobo" theme, and pieces from other Final Fantasy games that would appear in special in-game events. Suzuki estimated that he created between 40-50 songs for the game.[24] The music was recorded at the Red Bull Studios in Tokyo.[25]

An official 2-CD soundtrack album for the game, Mobius Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack, was released through Square Enix's music label on February 26, 2015 under the catalog number SQEX-10534-5.[26] The music on the album covers Chapters 1 to 3. According to Suzuki, this was due to the music feeling like it had reached a natural transition point by that stage of the game.[24]

Release

A trademark for its original title, "Mevius Final Fantasy", was filed by Square Enix in October 2014.[27] The game was officially announced in Famitsu two months later under the same name.[5] Two days later, a teaser site was opened in both English and Japanese with a message from Kitase about the team's vision for the game.[28] Its final name was announced during a livestream by the company dedicated to the game.[6] Both titles, along with the logo artwork, took inspiration from the concept of the Möbius strip. Because of its origin, the title was changed from Mevius to Mobius.[7] It was also apparently done in preparation for an international release.[16] Pre-registration for Mobius opened on April 27, 2015, with a special weapon and item available to those who registered.[29] In late 2015, no localization had been officially announced, though Kitase revealed through the dedicated Final Fantasy mobile app that it was under consideration.[30] In a later post on the app during first anniversary celebrations for the game, Kitase confirmed that a localized version was in development.[31] Its international release was confirmed in July for August 3.

Chapter Release date
Chapter 1: Blank Slate (第1章 空白の運命 Dai Isshō: Kūhaku no Unmei, lit. "Chapter 1: Fate of the Blank")
Chapter 2: Prophecy and Hope (第2章 予言と希望 Dai Nishō: Yogen to Kibō)
Chapter 3: Princess of the Battlefield (第3章 戦場の王女 Dai Sanshō: Senjō no Ōjo) Part I
  • JP: August 1, 2015[34]
  • WW: October 5, 2016
Part II
Chapter 4 Prologue: A New Radiance (第4章プロローグ 新たなる輝き Dai Yonshō Purorōgu: Aratanaru Kagayaki)
Chapter 4: Illusion and Doubt (第4章 幻想と疑問 Dai Yonshō: Gensō to Gimon) Part IPart II
Chapter 5: Warrior of the Beginning (第5章 はじまりの戦士 Dai Goshō: Hajimari no Senshi) Part IPart II
Chapter 6 (第6章 Dai Rokushō) 2016[14]

Reception

During its pre-registration period, the game received 200,000 registered users.[41] By July 12, just over a week after release, the game had one million registered players in Japan.[42] This number had expanded to over two million by the following month.[43] Speaking after release, Kitase said that Square Enix considered the game a success as it introduced the mobile community to AAA-style graphics.[20] In Square Enix's 2015 annual report, Mobius was noted as one of their successful mobile titles for the year, stating that the higher production values when compared to other mobile games on the market had contributed to its popularity.[44] In addition, Mobius was among the finalists for the 2015 Unity Awards for mobile games in the "Best 3D Visual Experience" category, and was named among Japan's "iTune's Best of 2015" by Apple Inc..[19][45]

Dengeki Mobile, in a pre-release review, praised the gameplay and strategy present in early random encounters and boss battles, although the reviewer had minor reservations about the quality of the entire game as they were not able to play through all of it. They also stated that players might encounter difficulties during some boss battles. The reviewer summed up the experience as "simple, yet engaging".[41] Famitsu, in a similar feature, praised the gameplay and presentation, echoing many of Dengeki's compliments. One thing they noted was that the performance needed to be adjusted for different mobiles as running the game rapidly drained the phones batteries when on its highest settings. The reviewer also recommended tablets over mobile phones as a means of playing the game.[46] Western reviews were similarly mixed, with Touch Arcade praising the games visuals but calling the user interface an "overly busy nightmare".[47] Kotaku examined the game in July 2015 and called the gameplay "monotonous" and lacking in plot, though it noted that many chapters were still to be released.[48]

For the Western release of Mobius, the pre-registration exceeded 125,000 registered users.[49]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 『FF』の血統. Famitsu Weekly (in Japanese). Enterbrain (1362): 4–11. 17 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 Sahdev, Ishaan (26 May 2015). "Mobius Final Fantasy Hits Japan On June 4th". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 Chihiro (27 February 2015). スマホ向けRPG「MEVIUS FINAL FANTASY」，イベントとバトルにフォーカスした最新スクリーンショットが公開。ジョブシステムの採用も明らかに (in Japanese). 4Gamer.net. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Romano, Sal (27 March 2015). "Mevius Final Fantasy is free-to-play; story, characters, and abilities detailed". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Romano, Sal (16 December 2014). "Mevius Final Fantasy announced for smartphones [Update]". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  6. 1 2 Romano, Sal (2 April 2015). "Mevius Final Fantasy name changed to Mobius Final Fantasy, 25 minutes of footage". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 待望の実機映像も初公開！　『メビウスFF』生放送まとめ (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 Sato (2015-07-01). "Mobius Final Fantasy Update Adds Samurai, Assassin, And Red Mage". Siliconera. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  9. ↑ 「MOBIUS FF」にマルチプレイ機能が実装。「FF レコードキーパー」コラボもスタート (in Japanese). 4Gamer.net. 1 February 2016. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  10. 1 2 "「MOBIUS FINAL FANTASY」メインシナリオ第3章の後編が配信開始". 4gamer. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  11. ↑ "MOBIUS FF」ストーリー第4章前編が配信に。光と闇，2つの新属性も登場". 4gamer. 2015-11-30. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  12. ↑ "『メビウス ファイナルファンタジー』第4章後編配信＆お年玉キャンペーンが開催". Famitsu. 2015-12-28. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  13. ↑ "第5章前編「はじまりの戦士」配信開始!". Square Enix. 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  14. 1 2 いよいよ女性主人公“メイア”がパーティーに！ゲストにM・A・Oを迎えた『メビウスFF』生放送まとめ【TGS 2016】 (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2016-09-18. Archived from the original on 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  15. 1 2 Musgrave, Shaun (18 December 2014). "Square Enix Announces 'Mevius Final Fantasy'". Touch Arcade. Archived from the original on 30 October 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  16. 1 2 3 『メビウスFF』とユニティちゃんがコラボ！ Unityでの大規模開発の効率を高める心得も公開 (in Japanese). Dengeki Online. 19 April 2015. Archived from the original on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  17. ↑ Sato (16 December 2014). "Mevius Final Fantasy Is An Upcoming Smartphone Game By Yoshinori Kitase". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 17 August 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "K. Nojima (FFVII) : "J'apprends à concevoir des scénarios pour les jeux mobiles"" (in French). JeuxVideo. 22 September 2015. Archived from the original on 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  19. 1 2 スマホの常識を変えるリッチさが魅力「MOBIUS FINAL FANTASY」開発秘話 (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  20. 1 2 ハイエンドを行く者たち - 北瀬 佳範. Famitsu Weekly (in Japanese). Enterbrain (1362): 136–140. 27 August 2015.
  21. ↑ Square Enix (2016-09-26). MOBIUS FINAL FANTASY Creators Exclusive - TOSHIYUKI ITAHANA (Video). YouTube.
  22. ↑ Square Enix (2016-08-15). MOBIUS FINAL FANTASY creators exclusive-Takako Miyake (Video). YouTube.
  23. ↑ Square Enix (2016-09-05). MOBIUS FINAL FANTASY creators exclusive-SHITARO TAKAI (Video). YouTube.
  24. 1 2 『メビウス ファイナルファンタジー』サントラ発売記念！　コンポーザー鈴木光人氏インタビュー (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  25. ↑ Suzuki, Mitsuto (12 June 2015). 鈴木週報 Native Instruments　Native Sessions 登壇情報 (in Japanese). Square Enix Music Blog. Archived from the original on 29 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  26. ↑ 『メビウス ファイナルファンタジー』のサントラがスクウェア・エニックス公式ショップ限定販売商品として2月26日発売決定！ (in Japanese). Famitsu. 26 January 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  27. ↑ Sahdev, Ishaan (6 October 2014). "Square Enix Trademarks Mevius Final Fantasy". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  28. ↑ Romano, Sal (17 December 2014). "Mevius Final Fantasy teaser site opened". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  29. ↑ Priestman, Chris (27 April 2015). "Pre-registrations for Mobius Final Fantasy open up in Japan, offers Tidus's Brotherhood sword early". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  30. ↑ Galvao, Bruno (9 November 2015). "Mobius Final Fantasy pode chegar ao Ocidente" (in Portuguese). Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  31. ↑ "A Daily Dose of Final Fantasy - June 4". Final Fantasy Portal. 4 June 2016. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  32. ↑ Orry, James (2016-07-14). "Mobius Final Fantasy launching August 3". VideoGamer.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  33. ↑ 『メビウスFF』第2章配信開始で侍や赤魔道士などの新ジョブカードが追加！ (in Japanese). Famitsu. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  34. ↑ 第２章クリア応援/大型アップデート第２弾 (in Japanese). Mobius Final Fantasy Japanese website. 24 July 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  35. ↑ [2015/09]大型アップデート第3弾リリース (in Japanese). Mobius Final Fantasy Japanese website. 31 August 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  36. ↑ [2015/10]大型アップデート第5弾 内容紹介 (in Japanese). Mobius Final Fantasy Japanese website. 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  37. ↑ [2015/11]大型アップデート第６弾のお知らせ (in Japanese). Mobius Final Fantasy Japanese website. 26 November 2015. Archived from the original on 29 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  38. ↑ 『メビウス ファイナルファンタジー』第4章後編配信＆お年玉キャンペーンが開催 (in Japanese). Famitsu. 28 December 2015. Archived from the original on 29 December 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  39. ↑ [2016/04]第5章前編「はじまりの戦士」配信開始！ (in Japanese). Mobius Final Fantasy Japanese website. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  40. ↑ メビウス ファイナルファンタジー公式 - 12:56 - 2016年4月27日. Twitter. 2016-04-27. Archived from the original on 2016-04-29. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  41. 1 2 『メビウスFF』レビュー！ コマンドバトルやカードシステムの遊び応えは？ (in Japanese). Dengeki Mobile Online. 1 June 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  42. ↑ 「メビウス ファイナルファンタジー」登録者数100万人突破のお知らせ (in Japanese). Square Enix. 12 June 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  43. ↑ [2015/08]登録者数222万人突破キャンペーン(8/17 21:55 「8/17」配布分に関して追記) (in Japanese). Square Enix. 17 August 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  44. ↑ Sato (21 October 2015). "Square Enix Plan On Bringing Back Old IPs While Making New Ones For The Future". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 21 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  45. ↑ Chapple, Craig (2 September 2015). "Unity Awards finalists revealed". Develop. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  46. ↑ 『メビウスFF』システム詳細＆濃密プレイインプレッション！ (in Japanese). Famitsu. 1 June 2015. Archived from the original on 3 June 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  47. ↑ Musgrave, Shaun (2015-06-04). "'Mobius Final Fantasy' Preview - Here we go again". Touch Arcade. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  48. ↑ Nakamura, Toshi (2015-07-09). "Mobius Final Fantasy Needs More Plot". Kotaku. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  49. ↑ "Mobius Final Fantasy Pre-Registrations Exceed 125,000". Final Fantasy Union. 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.