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Until 400 years ago, the world benefited from the governance of the four classical elements (Air, Fire, Earth, and Water) by four glowing crystals. Mankind prospered as civilizations were established on each corner of the earth. The people of Onrac lived in massive palaces in the middle of the ocean, scouring the depths with submarines that enabled its crew to survive underwater. A reclusive nation of scientific-minded individuals lived in the forests of Lufenia, using the nearby desert to build towers that reached to the heavens, castles suspended in the heavens, and teleporters to connect the two, all with the usage of the enigmatic Levistone. The people of Melmond preferred to develop a simple farming society on the broad, lush plains of the west, while a group of respected sages founded the town of Crescent Lake on the lake in the east. The seamen of the world gathered in Pravoka to trade, while a race of elves lived in the forests and marshes of the south. Cornelia was centrally located on a peninsula overlooking the vast inland sea and became one of the most powerful nations in the region. The people of Coneria believed they were descended from men who had, thousands of years before, destroyed a great evil in the now-ruined nearby temple. It was never clear what the origin of the legends were, however, and over time they became the material of fairy tales.

On one day 400 years ago, all of this changed. A tentacled monster, the Kraken, attacked Onrac and sunk its palaces, forcing a handful of survivors to try to adapt to life on land. A dragon, Tiamat, drove the Lufenians out of their Flying Fortress and took control of its systems, which included a virtually indestructible walking tank called WarMech, to defend himself. The Water and Air orbs darkened, causing their natural balance to be upset and causing unpredictable storms and winds across the earth. With sea-based trade at the mercy of the elements, piracy ruled the waves, especially in the great inland sea.

200 years later, the two other orbs went dark. The undead, guided by their leader Lich, took up residence near Melmond as the formerly lush plains turned to rock and marsh, while a powerful eight-armed knight named Marilith took over a volcano near Crescent Lake. With fire on the horizon, the chief sage of Crescent Lake, Lukin, looked to the sky and foretold the coming of four Light Warriors who would bring light to the orbs.

As the story begins, Cornelia is faced with another hardship when its brilliant but erratic knight, Garland, kidnaps Princess Sarah and heads to the abandoned Temple of Chaos. Shortly thereafter, four heroes appeared outside the city walls of Cornelia, each holding a darkened crystal.

[edit] Versions

Due to the popularity of the game, and the series as a whole, Final Fantasy has been released several times on many different systems over the past twenty years. Many of the versions corrected bugs and added new features.

• Final Fantasy I-II: The first rerelease, this was only in Japan for the Wonder Swan Color. Besides new graphics and music, the game corrected a few bugs and bad translations.
• Final Fantasy Origins: The WSC version was ported to the PlayStation and released in the US. In addition to the better graphics a few gameplay changes were made and the game was retranslated. In addition, several encyclopedias and art galleries were added as unlockables and a new "Easy Mode" was created.
• Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls: Dawn of Souls took modernization begun in Origins to a new level. In addition to change the names of spells to the new convention started with Final Fantasy VIII, the game uses the modern magic system and allows saving anywhere. Overall the game is much easier than the original, though the Soul of Chaos, four new dungeons, feature incredibly difficult versions of bosses from later games.
• Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition: The latest version of Final Fantasy is on the PSP, which keeps all of Dawn of Souls changes and has even newer graphics and a new dungeon.

(original) NES	(I-II) WSC	(Origins) PS1	(Dawn of Souls) DS
(Anniversary Edition) PSP