When I was younger, I was a huge gamer, and no game caught my attention more than Final Fantasy and its many sequels. Final Fantasy is a game that takes place in a large fantasy world that requires strategy and a lot of patience to play and play well. I remember spending hours leveling up my playable characters so that I could fight the villains that became stronger the further into the game I played. It was tedious and sometimes I wanted to give up because leveling up wasn’t a particularly fun element of the game, and yet I kept going for the promise of more fun later on if I was patient enough to wade through the tediousness of it.

Final Fantasy on NES

I started with the original Final Fantasy on the original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. I loved the strategy and problem-solving skills I had to use to play the game. I loved the mystery and the challenge of finding objects throughout the game world. I loved being able to buy weapons, armor, potions, and magical abilities for my characters.

The Story Driven Nature of Final Fantasy

What I love most about Final Fantasy games, however, is the storytelling element of each game. Even the first game had a story to it. Storytelling got serious in the Final Fantasy series, though, with Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation. I’ll never forget playing as Cloud Strife, a mercenary who finds himself caught up in a battle with a powerful soldier named Sephiroth. The world was highly advanced, but swordplay was the dominant way to fight. There was heartbreak as someone Cloud got closed to was murdered by Sephiroth. It was an intense game, and leveling up was worth the wait to see the story played out.

Next was Final Fantasy VIII, and I loved that game as much, but one of the most popular installments in the series was Final Fantasy X. It was the first game to be followed up by its own direct sequel. I spent so much time on that game. Not only was there great storytelling, but Final Fantasy X introduced voice actors into the gameplay.

The series has continued to put out great games, most recently the gritty Final Fantasy Type-0 and the upcoming and highly anticipated Final Fantasy XV.

6 Things I Learned about Storytelling from Playing Final Fantasy

I’ve always loved storytelling, and although I’ve always been a fan of novels and movies, playing Final Fantasy probably inspired my love of storytelling more than anything else. So here are 6 things I learned about storytelling from playing Final Fantasy.

1. World Building

The story world of each Final Fantasy game is vital to the way the game plays out. Final Fantasy X wouldn’t be the same without Spira. Final Fantasy VII wouldn’t be the same game without Gaia. The world building in a Final Fantasy game is complex and highly detailed. When you play the game, you feel like you’re a part of that world. Much of the gameplay in Final Fantasy is exploring the story world for objects and enemies.

Final Fantasy uses advanced world building to create a more immersive experience for the player, and for storytellers, this can be really valuable in getting people to engage with your story.

2. Global Conflict

Conflict is vital to any story, and Final Fantasy usually amps the conflict up as high as it can go. There’s a threat to the protagonist’s life, sure, but what really makes a Final Fantasy game feel intense is the global scale of the conflict. Often the fate of the world is at stake. Global conflict also means that you’ll spend a lot of time exploring the large-scale world the developers have created for the game experience.

3. Flawed Heroes

Cloud Strife in FFVII and Tidus in FFX are two very flawed heroes. They both have a chip on their shoulders and want to get to the bottom of the story problems they face. Any great story requires its protagonist to struggle with their flaws and eventually grow to the point that they can overcome them, and this is often a big part of FF as well.

Readers and audiences loved flawed heroes because they feel like they can relate to them, and it’s inspiring to see a character rise above the internal struggles that most hinder them from living the lives they want.

4. Emotional Journeys

The developers of FF know that emotions play a big part in storytelling, and FF has some of the most gut-wrenching emotional journeys around. Tidus has serious father issues, and these are vital to the story that FFX tells. Cloud experiences the death of Aerith in FFVII, and players experience the emotion of that loss.

If you want to create a more immersive storytelling experience, get readers and audiences to feel what your characters are feeling.

5. Problem Solving

Problem-solving is a primary feature of the gameplay in FF. The games require strategy on the part of the player, which is a healthy skill to develop for anyone. Storytelling at its core is about problem-solving. Protagonists are faced with the story’s primary problem, which usually features a strong oppositional force, and the story is their journey of solving the problem, often by trial and error.

Storytellers would do well to consider the problem-solving nature of stories so that they create story problems that readers genuinely want to solve as they journey with the protagonist from the beginning of the story to the end.

6. An Experience Worth Sticking Around For

Then, of course, is the reason why I’m willing to spend hours leveling up my characters even though that part isn’t particularly interesting. Storytellers need to always think about how to create an experience that readers and audiences find so compelling, they’re willing to stick around for it. Of course, you want to avoid any dry parts in your story, and this works different in other mediums outside of video games, but the lesson applies in that you want to create an experience that people are willing to stay for.

Creating a Brand as Enduring as Final Fantasy

I’d love to create a story that is as loved as Final Fantasy, but until then, I’m happy to apply the things I’ve learned from playing the game.

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Tom Farr is a blogger, storyteller, and screenwriter who teaches English Language Arts to high school students. He loves creating and spending time with his wife and three children. He blogs regularly about writing and storytelling atThe Whisper Project.