Long synonymous with the PlayStation brand ever since the series made the jump from Nintendo’s home consoles to Sony’s PS1, Final Fantasy is a sweeping JRPG series that ranks among my favourite of all time thanks to a number of brilliant entries that mix epic storytelling, brilliant turn-based combat, beautiful soundtracks and compelling characters. It’s no wonder the franchise found the success it has, which is continuing to this day with new entries like Final Fantasy XV.

Unsurprisingly, when PSP was announced it received an influx of Final Fantasy titles due to the audience match, many of which went on to successful sales despite just being moderate remakes. This continued on to the Vita although Sony’s newest handheld didn’t quite receive the volume of output it perhaps should have done, saved by the fact that backwards-compatibility with the PS1 & PSP entries meant you’d always have something to play.

So in this article I’ll be looking back at a history of the franchise on Sony’s handhelds from its origins on the PSP right through the latest release on Vita, with an emphasis on the quality of the ports to the handhelds as well as any sales figures that are available; alongside a conclusion of how well the franchise has done on the console.

A muted debut

Despite its pedigree on Sony consoles throughout the PS1 and PS2 era, Final Fantasy’s Sony handheld debut was a quieter affair focusing on remakes and spinoffs that was somewhat of a precursor for what was to come, but certainly didn’t paint the whole picture.

Oddly, Square-Enix’s very first PSP title which contained Final Fantasy elements was Itadaki Street Portable – the latest in the long-running line of board game and business sim crossovers which had obtained moderate success in Japan but rarely found their way overseas (things were no different here, as Portable released only in Japan in 2006). This entry featured a number of crossover characters from Square-Enix’s two most popular franchises – Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, but this wasn’t enough to save it from sales obscurity at just 110k domestically (far less than it was selling on DS).

It would take a further year for the company’s true assault on the handheld to begin, with a remake of the very first Final Fantasy game in a new ‘Anniversary’ edition celebrating 20 years since its original release. This was followed a few months later with a remake of Final Fantasy II (also subtitled ‘Anniversary Edition’), with both games reaching western shores in 2007 – making them the first entries in the series available on western PSP’s.

Both were significantly reworked from their NES originals thanks to effort from developer TOSE. The 2D graphics and FMV sequences had been overhauled while the soundtrack was remixed, a new script was used and bonus dungeons were added, all of which made them much more complete packages than the originals. Reviews were mixed – citing them as the best way to play such classic titles in the modern era, but noting some outdated random encounter rates and the new additions not amounting to much of a change.

These certainly weren’t the only remakes Square-Enix had planned during this period, although the next had a significantly more modern basis to build on. This was Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, an expanded remake of the company’s cult classic PS1 tactical RPG. Incorporating new story elements, a fresh translation, voice acting, cutscenes and characters it became the definitive way to play the game, although criticism was levelled at slowdown during some of its combat sequences (which didn’t stop it scoring a stonking 88 on Metacritic, making it one of the best-reviewed games on the platform).

These remakes were seeing moderate success on Sony’s handheld – Tactics sold 300k in Japan by the end of 2007 and 100k in its first month in the USA, for example, but it’s easy to wonder if more was expected given the series’ pedigree. Thankfully, Square-Enix soon invested some proper resources in more significant Final Fantasy titles which saw much bigger success.

Big budget, portable Final Fantasy

By the end of 2008 – four years after PSP launched – Square-Enix finally committed some significant resources to the handheld and produced new Final Fantasy entries that made full use of the console’s power. It was a brilliant show of faith that they saw the machine as a viable market going forward, rather than an afterthought.

Their biggest title by far was Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, a prequel to perhaps the most beloved mainline entry of all time starring SOLDIER Zack Fair and the events that led up to that game. Shifting the gameplay from turn-based battles to faster action-based combat (with an interesting slot mechanic) won solid reviews, although additions to the story and new characters that complicated an already convoluted element of the plot were less well received – despite this, it still achieved a solid 83 aggregate of reviews on Metacritic.

What’s most notable about Crisis Core is its sales – across all regions it shifted 3.1m copies, placing it among the ten best selling games on the platform and although a shadow of the amount Final Fantasy VII sold, still an impressive amount for a handheld prequel. Some of this was undoubted down to the gorgeous limited edition PSP console which was sold alongside it, but it still went to show that Square-Enix could be rewarded with solid sales when they put the effort in.

On exactly the same day in 2008, the company also released Dissidia: Final Fantasy, a fighting game spinoff bringing all of the famous faces the series was known for into one brilliant crossover. Rather than going for the easy 2D option, the title had gorgeous 3D graphics (a first for some of the cast) alongside a unique system based on bravery points which must be built up in order to cause HP damage to your foe, as well as fully destructible environments based on famous franchise locations. It wasn’t universally beloved, but certainly made for an interesting change from genre norms.

Dissidia was an instant success, eventually selling more than 1.8m worldwide, of which it shifted more than 900k in Japan and was the best selling PSP game of 2009 in the USA. With a winning formula on their hands, Square-Enix expanded on this with the sequel/prequel Dissidia 012 in 2011 which was significantly less successful (likely due to PSP’s rampant piracy at the time), but was still a brilliant time (and miles better than the ill-conceived PS4 reboot).

Capping off their trilogy of big-budget PSP support was Final Fantasy Type-0 – the troubled spin-off that started life as a mobile game before ending up as the handheld’s most epic and sweeping RPG. Following a class of students as they adapt to the realities of war, it introduced new ideas to the series such as RTS sections and time management, as well as an action battle system evolved from 2008’s Crisis Core. It released in Japan in October of 2011 and sold 750k by the end of the year, making it another certified success.

Plans did seem to be in place to bring the game west but these appeared to fall through, likely owing to the aforementioned piracy which had ravaged sales of things like Dissidia 012 and The 3rd Birthday. As Type-0 was designed specifically for handhelds, fans naturally assumed it would make its way to Vita and it seemed their prayers were answered in 2014, but this turned out to be a PR blunder and the title instead came to home consoles, where it received a muted reception and western handheld gamers were left without a way to play it in English.

Emulation, ports and remakes as far as the eye can see

During this period where Square-Enix were investing more heavily in the PSP, they didn’t drop their original mindset of having the machine be a place for ports and remakes of older titles. It eventually made PSP into the ultimate portable Final Fantasy machine able to access nearly every title ever made, at least until the handheld’s successor came along.

Most notable here is the implementation of PS1 Classics – Sony’s initiative to provide digital versions of classic titles for both PS3 and PSP through emulation. Square-Enix embraced this fully, including seminal entries like Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX, as well as a number of games from the Anthology and Origins collections. Oddly, in North America you could also get the original Tactics game despite its PSP-native remake being available.

One title that was conspicuously missing from PS1 Classics was Final Fantasy IV, but it quickly became apparent this was receiving more special treatment. The ‘Complete Collection’ was revealed for a worldwide 2011 release which included a remade version of the original game as well as its sequel The After Years, plus as a bonus chapter bridging them both. It made the PSP entry the most complete version of a title which is often regarded as the best of the early-era series.

By now, just one mainline entry was really missing in PSP’s lineup – Final Fantasy III, a game which had received a fully 3D remake for the handheld’s competitor Nintendo DS. Not content to let this omission sit, Square-Enix ported the DS remake over to the PSP in 2012 where it sold a moderate 100k in Japan and gav it a digital-only release in the west -which meant that owners of Sony’s handheld would be able to play every one of the first 9 mainline entries in one portable place.

It was a brilliant claim to fame and would be something that spilt over onto the console’s successor, but sadly Square-Enix’s mindset towards the franchise on handhelds took a negative turn which meant Vita wouldn’t quite be the Final Fantasy home it should have been.

Vita and disappointment

Considering Square-Enix had gone in so strongly on PSP, it was easy to believe that they’d do the same for Vita but this sadly wasn’t the case, as the company began a shift away from handheld development in general for a number of years (3DS also suffered from massively contracted support).

Still, it didn’t seem like that in the early years. Aside from the rumours circulating about Type-0, Square-Enix announced early that they would be remastering both Final Fantasy X and its sequel X-2 for Vita at its 2011 reveal event, showing off early footage at a Vita Heaven event that sadly wasn’t a precursor to an early release date – the games eventually landed in December 2013 in Japan and March 2014 in the west (where X-2 was only available via download voucher, although an Asian-English physical copy allowing importers to circumvent this).

The ports were praised for being faithful to the original as well as looking beautiful and running well on the handheld – holding up well compared to the PS3 versions. Consumers rewarded this effort with sales – in Japan all versions shifted more than 340k combined on Vita alone (alongside a gorgeous limited edition console) and while western sales are unknown, chart placements suggest it did well enough on Sony’s struggling handheld.

It would be a long wait until any more Final Fantasy would be available on Vita though – 2016 in fact when World of Final Fantasy released, another crossover title that went for more traditional JRPG gameplay among a host of adorable chibi characters. It was at least a higher-effort game than most, being designed from the ground up for the hardware (alongside a PS4 up-port), but thanks to its slower pace and sometime monotonous gameplay it received more mixed reviews than the franchise was known for and this was reflected in sales – less than 100k for the Vita version in Japan, with western numbers unknown.

Other than these three titles, you’d be out of luck for new Final Fantasy content on Vita with newer remakes such as Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age opting for PS4 and PC as target platforms. Of course all the PSP and PS1 games are backwards-compatible with the console but nothing else new was made – worlds apart from their support of Sony’s previous handheld. It’s also slightly amusing that there are more new Dragon Quest games available for Vita (a franchise which was virtually absent on PSP) than their are Final Fantasy titles, showing just how lost with the franchise Square-Enix have been in recent years.

Future Final Fantasy games on Vita

There is one last entry I’ve neglected to mention – the currently Japan-only Itadaki Street 30th Anniversary Edition, which released in 2017 and again provided a fun dose of board game mixed with business sim gameplay featuring Final Fantasy characters. It seems this will be the last in the franchise on Vita, with the series now focusing on DLC for the latest mainline entry XV as well as various mobile spinoffs which run the gambit from relatively successful to flat-out disaster.

It’s perhaps fitting that the very first Final Fantasy sub-series to land on PlayStation handhelds (Itadaki Street) is going to be the very last too, although disappointing considering the missed opportunities along the way.

Conclusion

The brand synergy between Final Fantasy and PlayStation is incredibly strong and Square-Enix obviously capitalised on this with PSP, cashing in on people’s nostalgia with a tonne of successful remakes and some even more successful bespoke titles that truly pushed the boundaries of what handheld gaming was capable of. It seems PSP offered a new avenue of development that suited the franchise perfectly, allowing games tailored to handheld play and rebirths of old classics.

Thanks to this legacy of support on PSP combined with Vita’s strong digital backwards-compatibility, Sony’s newest handheld is perhaps the best portable Final Fantasy machine ever – capable of playing all the best mainline entries as well as a variety of spinoff and experiments. The PSP itself isn’t a disappointment either, with many of the titles having the advantage of being available physically, but missing Final Fantasy X puts a big hole in its library.

It’s a shame that their handheld support tapered off during Vita’s life with precious few titles and none to the calibre of PSP’s best like Crisis Core and Type-0 – it would have been interesting to see what impact a big-budget Final Fantasy would’ve had on the console’s fortunes. Still, it’s hard to deny what a huge impact the series has had on Sony’s handheld line and the stellar experiences provided along the way – making the games perfect for this series of articles and even more perfect for keeping on your PSP or Vita’s memory cards at all times.