Thinking about videogame sequels and how little they often have to do with each other, my mind couldn't help but wander to the Final Fantasy series and its long history, and whether the name still has much meaning.

The stories are entirely unconnected from each other, apart from easter eggs and spin-offs. The original creators are all gone. It's been fantasy, it's been sci-fi, it's been everywhere in between. It's been offline and online. It's been proper turn-based, it had active-time battle, and the next one will be full on real time battles.

Contrast that to the Shin Megami Tensei series and its spin-offs. The main series feels completely different from the Persona spin-off series, which in turn feels completely different from the Devil Survivor series, etc; when one of them gets a sequel you know what you're in for.

Final Fantasy on the other hand, does the name really mean anything for a game other than "you'll have moogles, someone named Cid, and we're putting a lot of money behind it"?

That's not a bad thing necessarily, I'm excited for FF15, just wondering what makes it a Final Fantasy game exactly, or any of the others for that matter, or if they couldn't just have had their own names and been a new IP instead.

Final Fantasy is just a brand and nothing more, these days.

I've never played one. Since this thread is here, can anyone explain to me the majesty of them or, as king_mosiah put it, the brand?

After the switch from 2D to 3D Final Fantasy lost most of what might have given it an identity as a series... Whereas the first six games tended to share quite a few features (apart from the already mentioned things, the class systems and appearance of the classes, the graphical style in general, certain elements in the stories) but the 3D games (and VI too I suppose) ditched a lot of these elements and there's not really much to bind them together any more beyond the name and the random easter egg like nods (Chocobos, moogles, Cid etc.).
Most games do still include a 'Blue Mage' type character who can steal enemies attacks, and the general concept of Black and White magic exists in many (but not all) of them too but there really isn't much that makes FF a series in the way many other games are...
Ironically, it's the spin offs (Tactics, Bravely Default [which is FF in all but name] and others) that tend to have more of the features that might make them recognisably FF...

I would argue that a Final Fantasy is determined by its traditional setting type (fantasy with a bit of ancient technology). In particular, I would argue that FF6 and onward aren't really Final Fantasy games, because they don't *feel* like Final Fantasy.

There's also the fact that I consider the traditional classes, like White and Black Mages, to be a defining aspect of the series, and you don't see that in FF6 onward (except FF9 and the online games). (FF2 gets a pass here because of all the NPCs with sprites that look like traditional classes, as well as the fact that the first temporary character is a white mage.)

Each game takes place inside the mind of a person condemned to death and standing on the gallows with the noose around their neck. The game is the "final fantasy" before the trapdoor drops.

Each game is a different fantasy, of course. VII is the most popular, because it is an erotic fantasy. But I prefer IX, because it is an intricate political fantasy involving an alternate reality where Nixon did not resign.

Try one, they're great!

"Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

Battling evil.
Worlds gonna end.
Chocobo.
Antagonist is almost godlike.
Have a conflict/internal struggle which leads to some sort of rebellion.
Similar weapon / element / items name through out the series.
Series Logo.

edit : a damn good music scores.

Being mind-numbingly grindy and boring? :)

You forgot one:

Characters named "Cid"

Aha! and that too..
I love FF series.
Last FF game i played was FF X-2, havent touched any after that.
Wondering if it is still as good. Never played?
Cmon now, you know thats a lie.

I have never played a FF game.

Spikey hair and an oversized sword?

Havent got a chance to play or not interested?

chocobos!