Mobius Final Fantasy

Mobius Final Fantasy

The logo for Mobius Final Fantasy
Developer(s) Square Enix
Publisher(s) Square Enix
Director(s) Naoki Hamaguchi
Producer(s) Yoshinori Kitase
Artist(s)
  • Toshitaka Matsuda
  • Toshiyuki Itahana
Writer(s) Kazushige Nojima
Composer(s) Mitsuto Suzuki
Series Final Fantasy
Engine Unity 5
Platform(s) iOS, Android
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s)

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 and Android devices, released in Japan on June 4, 2015. The player controls Wol, a man who wakes with amnesia in the world of Paramitia, and must help conquer the dark forces attacking its people. The game features gameplay elements from previous Final Fantasy, including leveling, exploration via standard navigation and fast travel systems, and turn-based combat tied to a Job system.

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 Toshitaka Matsuda and Toshiyuki Itahana, and composer Mitsuto Suzuki.

Gameplay

The battle system of Mobius Final Fantasy, with the player character's health and energy display, 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 optimized for mobile phones. The player controls the game's protagonist Wol while navigating Paramitia.[2] Players can customize saving settings, graphical quality, and adjust the controls for right or left-handed players.[1] 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.[2][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.[2][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.[2]

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.[2][3] During combat, the player accumulates elemental Elements, 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 Swordsman job.[2][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 Warrior evolving into the pure Warrior class. As Jobs change or evolve, the character's appearance will be altered to a degree.[7] In February 2016, multiplayer functionality was added, enabling up to four players to take on bosses.[8]

Plot

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

Development

The concept behind Mobius was for a mobile experience comparable with console games.[9] Though it was possible to make a smartphone game equivalent to console games, it had yet to be done, so 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.[2] 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.[9][10] The story is connected to the original Final Fantasy, though is not a remake and shares no direct connection. It is also considered by the team behind the game as a full entry in the series rather than a spin-off.[11] The story's theme is "warriors of light".[5] Speaking after the game's initial release, Nojima stated that he felt his scenario was too bulky for a mobile experience.[12]

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 director Naoki Hamaguchi was creating realistic facial expressions equivalent to those used in the 2013 film Frozen.[13] 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.[10] 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.[14] 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]

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.[15] The music was recorded at the Red Bull Studios in Tokyo.[16]

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.[17] 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.[15]

Release

A trademark for its original title, "Mevius Final Fantasy", was filed by Square Enix in October 2014.[18] The game was officially announced in an issue of Famitsu in December of the same year under the title Mevius Final Fantasy.[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.[19] 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.[10] Pre-registration for Mobius opened on April 27, 2015, with a special weapon and item available to those who registered.[20] While no localization has been officially announced, Kitase revealed through the dedicated Final Fantasy mobile app that it was under consideration.[21]

Chapter Release date
Chapter 1: Fate of the Blank (第1章 空白の運命 Dai Isshō: Kūhaku no Unmei)
Chapter 2: Prophecy and Hope (第2章 予言と希望 Dai Nishō: Yogen to Kibō)
Chapter 3: Battlefield of the Princess (第3章 戦場の王女 Dai Sanshō: Senjō no Ōjo) Part IPart 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: Beginning of the Warrior (第5章 はじまりの戦士 Dai Goshō: Gensō to Gimon) Part IPart II

Reception

During its pre-registration period, the game received 200,000 registered users.[30] By July 12, just over a week after release, the game had one million registered players in Japan.[31] This number had expanded to over two million by the following month.[32] Speaking after release, Kitase said that Square Enix considered the game a success as it introduced the mobile community to AAA-style graphics.[14] 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.[33] 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..[13][34]

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".[30] 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.[35]

References

  1. 1 2 3 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.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 『FF』の血統. Famitsu Weekly (in Japanese) (Enterbrain) (1362): 4–11. 17 December 2014.
  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 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. ↑ 「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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ 『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.
  18. ↑ Sahdev, Ishaan (6 October 2014). "Square Enix Trademarks Mevius Final Fantasy". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  19. ↑ Romano, Sal (17 December 2014). "Mevius Final Fantasy teaser site opened". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ 『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.
  23. ↑ 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.
  24. ↑ [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.
  25. ↑ [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.
  26. ↑ [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.
  27. ↑ 『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.
  28. ↑ [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.
  29. ↑ 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.
  30. 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.
  31. ↑ 「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.
  32. ↑ [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.
  33. ↑ 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.
  34. ↑ Chapple, Craig (2 September 2015). "Unity Awards finalists revealed". Develop. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  35. ↑ 『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.

External links

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