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Who can really resist the siren call ofFinal Fantasy? Anyone who plays video games has probably picked up at least one ofthis enduring, beloved series' entries at some point in their life - whether that be through a friend’s SNES back in the 90s, trying out Final Fantasy 16, or getting drawn into the massive, sprawling online world of Final Fantasy 14.Moogles and chocoboscome for all of us, eventually.
Related:Hardest Final Fantasy Games
Final Fantasy is a series that reinvents itself with every iteration, and it can seem intimidating to anyone who isn’t already familiar with it. Like, do you have to play all the entries to understand what’s going on? That’s why we’re here to answer the burning question on everyone’s mind: are any of the Final Fantasy games connected?
Updated June 13, 2025 by Hilton Webster:Is there anything else quite like Final Fantasy? Who else can boast over 16 mainline entries and countless spin-offs, and claim you need to play just about none of them to understand any of them? It’s an impressive feat, but with the spin-off games included, the legacy of the franchise becomes a bit more important to understand everything presented to you.
The Final Fantasy Games Are Not (Directly) Connected
The mainline Final Fantasy games are all standalone pieces of media that do not overlap. You won’t see Terra joining Cloud Strife in a quest to figure out what’s up with l’Cie - and none of the games exist in the same universe. You are not exploring the same world repeatedly. Besides, that would be the unluckiest hunk of rock orbiting a sun ever, considering the number of planet-ending threats you must overcome with the help of your party.
If you pick up a mainline Final Fantasy game, you are guaranteed a new adventure with a new cast of characters, a new world to explore, and a new story to dive into. If you’re staring at Final Fantasy 16 and worrying about having to catch up on literal decades worth of long RPGs, don’t be. There is no wrong jumping in point, and every Final Fantasy is someone’s formative Final Fantasy.
However, it would be cool if the games were connected, though - it’s kind of tragic that you never get to suplex a train again after Final Fantasy 6.
But There Are Throughlines
All that said, there is a connective tissue between the games, even if they’re not direct continuations of one another. For example, in every Final Fantasy game, you will meet a character named Cid. How important this Cid will be is dependent on the entry, but you will definitely run into one on your journey. It’s not the only name you’ll see repeated throughout the series, but it is the most notable.
Let’s run through a few Cids real quick, to give you an idea of the function he serves in each.
Along with recurring character names, all the Final Fantasy games share at least some ofthe same iconic monsters. From low-stakes enemies like Bombs or Goblins to certified emergencieslike the Tonberryor Behemoths, you’ll definitely run into a few familiar faces - and, hey, you might even recall their attack patterns from previous games. A few recurring bosses - like Ultima - can be anything from bonus fights to story-driven, climatic battles. Oh, and a wise-crackingoctopus called Ultrosshows up every now and again, too.
Sometimes, you have to fight some battles that truly feel impossible - your party is struggling, you feel totally out of your element, when the most wonderful thing happens:you bring in a summon.Summons, a recurring mechanic, were introduced in Final Fantasy 3, and have been a constant ever since.
Whether they’re especially plot-important depends on the game. Sometimes, they’re god-like beings you must directly commune with before they grant you their power. And, sometimes, they seem like they’re just hanging out until you call them into the fray. Regardless, you will see names like Shiva, Bahamut, and Ifrit in almost every entry in the series.
Crystals are almost always a plot-relevant motif in the series- it’s easier to name games that don’t heavily feature crystals than ones that do. If you’re jumping into almost any of the games, just be prepared to hear lines like “the power of the crystal” a lot. Hey, crystals really are a big deal, okay?
Theclasses of characters largely stay the same from game to game, though they may not always be directly named. For example, Cid Highwind fromFinal Fantasy 7would belong to the Dragoon class, known for wielding spears, but FF7 doesn’t tell you that. This works in the series' favor - in the more “grounded” entries, like FF7, outright naming characters' classes can feel silly. It’s cool that Tifa is a Monk and all, but who really needs to know anything more than “she punches real good.”
Oh and, if the game’s time period and lore allow it, you’ll probably get an airship at some point. It’s just as cool as you think.
There Are Some Exceptions
While the mainline Final Fantasy games are not direct sequels to one another, nor do they share the same world or storylines, a few games bend the rules. Three main titles in the series spawned their own sequels or reimaginings: Final Fantasy 7,Final Fantasy 10, and Final Fantasy 13.
Final Fantasy 10 and 13 are pretty straightforward: FF10 got FFX-2, a direct sequel and continuation of Yuna’s storyline in a post-Sin world. Where she’s become a treasure hunter/pop star/gunner - don’t ask. Music does bop, though. Meanwhile, FF13 became the first entry in a trilogy, followed by XIII-2 and brought to a close with Lightning Returns.
While FF10 and FF13 offered continuations of their respective stories, Final Fantasy 7 became a multimedia juggernaut aptly named Compilation. Sequels, prequels, a total multi-part reimagining, and everything in between made FF7 a series unto itself, drawing in new and old fans alike with every entry.
So, while every Final Fantasy game is a separate entity that requires no familiarity or prior knowledge, there are a few exceptions to the rule. Luckily, FF10 and FF13 are often bundled with their sequels now, and while the Compilation offers Final Fantasy 7: Remake and a remaster of the prequel, Crisis Core, most of its older entries are unavailable for everyone but the most determined of modern audiences.
Just to make things a little easier, here’s a handy table listing every mainline game that does have more connected games.
2
7 (more if you count the minigame spin-offs)
2-5 (if counting all of Fabula Nova Crystallis)
5 (more if you count the non-canon ones)
And We Can’t Forget About The Spin-Offs
Final Fantasy is an anthology. Even though the many mainline entries aren’t strictly connected in more than iconography a lot of the time, that doesn’t mean the series doesn’t pull on its own legacy a whole lot. There’s a whole bunch there, after all.
The funny thing with the spin-offs though is that they tend to become franchises in and of themselves, creating their own mythos while picking and choosing fitting elements from mainline games. They’re a bit more meta and absolutely require a bit more general awareness of Final Fantasy as a whole.
Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
The game that started the one that started it all, 35 years after the fact. Being that it’s in the name,Stranger of Paradiseacts as the origin point for the original game, while simultaneously being a celebration of the whole series' 35th anniversary. It’s also a Soulslike, which was far from the expected root for a celebratory game. It’s great though and you should play it.
The thing with Stranger of Paradise is that a bunch of its story works on you knowing approximate details of just about every other Final Fantasy game. The original Final Fantasy is the most obvious of these since it shares the same world, but it stretches much farther. The Mist from FF9, characters from FF2, the general reverence of crystals and more.
It’s a game that doesn’t always strictly share the same continuity of other games in the franchise, yet also directly acknowledges that they exist. Which is a little confusing, but all you really need to know is that Jack wants to find Chaos.
Ivalice Alliance
If you’ve ever been involved in conversations with people about the best Final Fantasy setting, you’ve likely heard of Ivalice. It’s a slightly ironic proposition as Ivalice didn’t even start as a Final Fantasy setting, but with the game Vagrant Story. However, it is also the setting used for the Final Fantasy Tactics games as well as the mainline entry of FF12.
As such, Ivalice tends to run off plenty of its own lore and mythos than the rest of the Final Fantasy series. You won’t actually see the usual summons or spells, but some typical gameplay elements will remain. So in a rather paradoxical manner, awareness of other Ivalice games will help you understand these Final Fantasy games better than having awareness of other Final Fantasy games.
With all of that said though, you don’t actuallyneedto play other Ivalice games either. They all operate in the same world but in dramatically different time periods to the extent that the past is more window dressing than pivotal lore. You want to know what all these summons and symbols represent? Play other Ivalice games. But if you just want to enjoy the unique setting, you can hop in wherever.
Fabula Nova Crystallis
Back in 2006, at a period when Tetsuya Nomura became the lifeblood of Square Enix, both Final Fantasy 13 and Versus XIII were announced. These games were intended to form a new Final Fantasy universe called Fabula Nova Crystallis. It…didn’t quite work out as intended. FF13 became a trilogy, Versus XIII became FF15, and Kingdom Hearts was left to pick up the pieces with Verum Rex.
So what does all that actually mean? Final Fantasy 13 has a rather large mythos that expands with each game in the trilogy, but that same mythos was meant to persist across all the games of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. In the end, it only ended up persisting in Final Fantasy Type-0.
Fun fact: Though the logo of FF15 was originally meant to represent the goddess Etro of Fabula Nova Crystallis, it was retrofitted to be Lunafreya after completing FF15.
The interesting thing with Fabula Nova Crystallis is that the worlds of FF13 and Type-0 aren’t actually shared, nor are meant to be. It was more an attempt to show how these beliefs can manifest in different people from the same stem. So while the L’Cie and Etro exist in both games, neither is quite the same thing. Two sides of the same coin, if you care for the analogy. They’re more complementary than compulsory.
Dissidia
Dissidia is, for all intents and purposes, fan service. Yes, Final Fantasy characters from different games can all be put together in many of the spin-offs, but it’s more of a disconnected meta thing for the actual player. Dissidia decided to instead make it literal. Actually, drag these characters from their own worlds to fight in this new universe.
Represented by the gods Cosmos and Chaos, characters from various games are taken to fight in their worlds. There’s a bunch more going on here, but it ultimately does come down to being a wonderful fan service adventure. So do you need additional knowledge to enjoy Dissidia? Absolutely not. If you have a favourite character then that’s enough, but it’s also nota game you’ll probably have any interest in unless you’ve already played the franchise.
