Final Fantasy

Created by Hironobu Sakaguchi in the late 1980s, Final Fantasy is an anthology video game series depicting innumerable fantasy and science-fiction worlds, each with their own distinct characters, settings, magic, technology and aesthetic. It is one of the longest-running and most successful video game franchises of all time, and several of its games are counted amongst the greatest ever made.

 

There are sixteen main games, but counting the numerous spin-offs, remakes and sequels, Final Fantasy totals over 130 games! As a result, capturing the essence of these games in a single Lego set was a monumental challenge, but I believe I have done the franchise, in particular its most critically acclaimed entries Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X, justice.

I call this model ‘The Final Fantasy Village’. Instead of being based on one location, or one particular game, it is instead an imagine town consisting of three buildings, each pulled from a different Final Fantasy game.

 

All three buildings join to a central pathway, and can be detached with ease to be stored or displayed separately. In addition, each building comes with its own name plaque and display stand, where the minifigures included in the model that specifically come from that game can be shown.

 

The brightly-coloured building is based on a Rin’s Travel Agency establishment from Final Fantasy X. Through countless re-designs, I perfected the building’s highly unusual shape and colours, and it now accurately represents the ones seen in the 2001 game. The model’s interior features the help desk, as well as several displayed items including swords and shields, as well as chest with loot inside, as is typical of Final Fantasy. Outside, there is shrubbery based on that seen in Final Fantasy X.

The central building with the red roof is based on the Cornelia Item Shop from the original 1987 Final Fantasy. Whilst the notoriety of the original game is eclipsed by the super-popular FFX and FFVII, I thought it was important to include a building from the original two-dimensional era. Inside, the model features the vendor desk with shelves behind, whilst opposite, a helmet and Hi-potion are on display. The brick-built door opens and shuts, whilst a ladder leads up to the tiny roof.

 

The final and biggest building is based on Seventh Heaven, the restaurant owned by popular character Tifa Lockhart, in the more science-fiction orientated Final Fantasy VII. The ground colour is predominantly brown to reflect the dirty world of FFVII, whilst the raised wooden building features the bar area and pinball machine from the game. As I compressed the buildings to feature more varied Final Fantasy content, I couldn’t fit every detail from the ground floor into the model. As the upper floors are never mentioned nor explored, I decided to include the jukebox, darts board and cargo box table on this floor, although all of the features (except the bar) can be removed and placed wherever you want. The topmost floor features Tifa’ bed, as well as the plant that Aerith gives Cloud.

 

The central platform includes an Aethernet shard, which is used to fast travel in Final Fantasy XIV. There is also a mini plant brain enemy, based on the one from Final Fantasy IX, and a balloon, referencing the challenging Chocobo minigame from FFX.

 

The model consists of approximately 2,700 parts, and measures approximately 23W x 23L x 10H in inches. As a result, it sits comfortably within the limits of Lego Ideas.

Alongside the three buildings and the central platform, the model also includes four display stands, one for each separate building and a larger one that can house all eight minifigures. The included figures are pulled from many of the mainline game entries, offering some of the most popular characters from the series:

 

-       The red-haired Warrior, one of the classes from the original Final Fantasy

-       Vivi Ornitier, a Black Mage from FFIX

-       Tifa Lockhart, a party member from FFVII

-       Cloud Strife, the protagonist from FFVII

-       Yuna, a summoner and player character from FFX

-       Tidus, the protagonist of FFX

-       Lightening, one of the main characters in the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy

-       Noctis Lucis Caelum, the protagonist of Final Fantasy XV

Also included are the characters accessories; the Warrior’s Broadsword, Vivi’s staff, Cloud’s Buster Sword, Yuna’s staff, Tidus’ sword Brotherhood, Lightening’s Blazefire Saber, and Noctis’ Engine Blade.

 

In addition to the minifigures, the model also includes one yellow brick-built Chocobo, and the Wind-Up airship toy from Final Fantasy XIV.

Thank you for reading about my project! There are dozens of references to other Final Fantasy games in this model, something that, should the model get approved, I hope the designers take on board. If you are a fan of any Final Fantasy video game, please support this model to make Lego Final Fantasy a reality. If you’re not, then perhaps the eye-catching colours and overlapping ideas of video games, display models, fantasy and science-fiction may interest you.

 

If I have forgotten to mention anything, I'll be sure to add it as an update. I’ll do my best to respond to all feedback left on this project.

 

Please share this with your friends, family and video game enthusiasts, and maybe we can make it an official Lego set!

 

Thank you and have a great day,

 

Beadhoi