Ultimania - Final Fantasy
The Final Fantasy Ultimania is a series of books that represent a number of guidebooks and artbooks that cover the first twelve entries into the Final Fantasy series and Final Fantasy X-2. This series of role-playing video games is developed and produced by Square Enix. In Japan, the first edition of Ultimania was released for the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy I and was titled Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania. The guide books were released to mark the 20th anniversary of the series and were all released between January and June of 2008. They have since been published digitally. Studio BentStuff was responsible for the writing and editing of the books, while the project was supervised by Square Enix.
Five years later, on the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy, another trilogy of Ultimania books was released. The Japanese versions of the books were released on December 18th, 2012 and were collectively titled Final Fantasy 25th Memorial Ultimania. This trilogy covers the first fourteen entries into the Final Fantasy series (as opposed to its predecessor, which only covered the first twelve) and focused on being more of an artbook, though it still offered plenty of information regarding each game. English versions of the books were later released by Dark Horse Comics, a publishing company that was also responsible for Dawn: The Worlds of Final Fantasy and The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy. Each volume was released on a different date and began with volume one, which released on July 24th, 2018. The trilogy’s title was also changed to Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive for its Western release. English fans were delighted to discover that the Japanese and English versions of Final Fantasy Ultimania were virtually identical, with the exceptions of the Japanese text being translated. These books also contained information that was previously unknown to the English speaking audience. For example, in Final Fantasy II, Emperor Mateus’ mother is never given an official localized name. However, in Final Fantasy Ultimania, she is given the name “Aile”. French and German editions have since been released as well. Each separate volume of Ultimania is over 300 pages. Square Enix and Studio BentStuff have released a number of companion books over the years (a total of 72 so far), most of which cover a single Final Fantasy game or one of its offshoots.
Book Style
The books feature small profiles of significant characters from each game, but could be largely considered to be an artbook overall. These profiles often include an illustration of a given character, their name (in both English and Japanese), personal data such as gender, hometown, and dominant hand, as well as a small summary of their character. The artwork featured in the books had not since appeared in other works. The volumes contain a tremendous amount of detailed information, like basic descriptions of characters and illustrations from various games - even for those designed for the Game Boy Advance. The volumes provide vivid and colorful pieces of art, bringing the imagery of the games to life. The guide books were released in three distinct volumes, with the first covering the six NES and SNES Final Fantasy titles, while the second covered the next three titles released on the PlayStation. The third volume covers the remaining releases.
List of Works
Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 1 - The first feature of the remembrance volumes covers Final Fantasy I through Final Fantasy VI. This volume shows art and information regarding the mentioned titles above and includes things like story synopsis, images taken from various games covered in the volume, character designs, and sketch work from Yoshitaka Amano, a famous artist that contributed to the series. The volume is over 300 pages and includes some stages of the Final Fantasy series, including pieces about Moogles and its iconic Chocobos.
Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 2 - The second volume includes design notes, creator retrospectives, collections of concept art, and various other pieces from the PlayStation releases of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy IX. The volume is over 300 pages and also includes material from the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake, which is currently set to be released in April 2020.
Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 3 - The third volume of the Final Fantasy Ultimania release that covers the games Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XIII, and Final Fantasy XIV. Commentary, artwork, backstory, lore, and much more are all contained within this 300-page hardcover volume. It covers some of the most beautiful pieces of the Final Fantasy series. The book is an authentic translation from the original Japanese source material and gives unparalleled access for a Western audience.