was an episodic
role-playing video game
Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
developed and published by
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...
for
iOS
Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
,
Android, and
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. It was released in Japan in June 2015, and internationally in August 2016. The players could control Warrior of Light (Wol), a man who wakes with amnesia in the world of Palamecia, and must help conquer the dark forces attacking its people. The game featured gameplay elements from previous ''
Final Fantasy
is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
'' titles, including leveling, exploration via standard navigation and fast-travel systems, and turn-based combat tied to a job system. Common themes were also drawn from the original ''
Final Fantasy
is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
'' title, such as "warriors of light" and their fight against chaos and darkness.
The game, which began development in early 2014, was developed around the concept of a mobile game on a similar level to a home console game and "a rich gaming experience, anytime, anywhere".
This prompted skepticism from both in-house staff and external sources. While some assets were outsourced, most of the development was done internally by Square Enix's Business Division 1. Multiple staff from previous ''Final Fantasy'' titles were involved in development, including producer
Yoshinori Kitase
is a Japanese game director and producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of ''Final Fantasy VI'', ''Chrono Trigger'', ''Final Fantasy VII'', ''Final Fantasy VIII'' and '' Final Fantasy X'', and the producer of the ''Final ...
; director
Motomu Toriyama
is a Japanese game director and scenario writer who has been working for Square Enix since 1994. He initially worked on cutscenes in ''Bahamut Lagoon'' and ''Final Fantasy VII'' before serving as one of the three directors on ''Final Fantasy X ...
,
project leader Naoki Hamaguchi, character designer Toshiyuki Itahana and composer Mitsuto Suzuki.
The game registered over two million players within the first few weeks of release. Square Enix cited ''Mobius Final Fantasy'' as one of the most successful mobile titles they released in 2015, having over three million downloads in Japan before the end of the year. The English version also reached one million downloads within a week, with over three million in under a month. The graphics and gameplay were praised by reviewers, although some called the overall combat experience "simple". It was awarded as one of the Apple App Store's best games of 2015 in Japan. It was also awarded for being the most beautiful game on the Google Play Store in 19 countries for 2016. ''Mobius'' surpassed 10 million downloads in January 2017 with millions more since. In May 2019, ahead of the Japanese version's 4th anniversary, the game had reached 20 million downloads worldwide.
The game's service ended on March 31, 2020, in Japan and on June 30 worldwide.
Gameplay
''Mobius Final Fantasy'' is a
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
designed for mobile phones. The players could control the game's protagonist Warrior of Light (Wol) while navigating Palamecia.
Players could customize settings, graphical quality, and adjust controls for their dominant hand.
During local navigation on the field map, the players had to tap a location on a map for the character to travel. In some self-contained areas, the players could directly control the character.
Along with standard navigation, the players could navigate the game world using a fast-travel system, progressively unlocked as they progressed through the story.
Many of the features in the game, such as the leveling system and exploration, were similar to those from previous home console ''Final Fantasy'' games.
''Mobius'' featured a tactics-focused, turn-based battle system, in which the players were able to activate attacks by tapping enemies on screen. Players could use standard melee attacks with close-range weapons such as swords, and magical attacks.
During combat the players could accumulate Elements, which were necessary to activate Abilities, the game's form of summoned monsters. When ready for activation, a tile appeared on-screen that the player touched to activate the Ability. Abilities had different attributes: the Shiva Ability unleashed an ice attack, while the Fat Chocobo Ability raised defense for eight turns while automatically healing the player. Elements were used by the player to strengthen their resistance to elemental attacks. If an enemy's weakness was struck enough times, their "break gauge" meter was drained and they were weakened, allowing the player to attack freely.
A job system and character abilities related to them formed a key part of the system.
The players started off with the Onion Knight job.
Each job could be leveled up using special "seed" items collected in battle to fill in a skill panel. Once the panel was completed, the job evolved, such as the Onion Knight evolving into the pure Warrior class. As jobs changed or evolved, the character's appearance was altered to a degree.
In the Chapter Two content update, Samurai, Assassin, and Red Mage jobs were added.
[ In February 2016, multiplayer functionality was added, enabling up to four players to take on bosses.]
Plot
Season 1
Wol, the main protagonist, awakes stricken with amnesia in the foreign world of Palamecia. He is one of multiple "Blanks", people brought to Palamecia from other worlds and suffering from amnesia. Palamecia is under attack from the armies of "Chaos", and Wol must fulfill a prophecy in Palamecia that one of the Blanks is a " Warrior of Light" who will free the world from its darkness. Wol is aided on his journey by Princess Sarah Lotte Cornelia, the princess of a kingdom of Palamecia, and Mog, a moogle
are a fictional species of diminutive, sentient creatures and a recurring element of the ''Final Fantasy'' video game franchise, starting with their initial appearance in '' Final Fantasy III''. They also appear in the ''Mana'' and ''Kingdom H ...
who volunteers to help in Wol's quest.
Chapter 2, entitled "Prediction and Hope", includes Wol and Mog adventuring through the Ishtar desert and Rune Temple. A side quest was also included, entitled "El Dorado of the Oblivion", which is set in the ruins of "Gold Volost of El Dorado".
[
In chapter 3, Wol is traveling to see Princess Sarah, who is waiting at her castle when she is attacked and held captive by the armies of chaos.] Wol is then tasked with saving the princess and fighting against the overwhelming power of the Chaos giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...
s.
In the chapter 4 prologue, Wol and Sarah begin an adventure to find the "Rune of Earth" to keep it out of the hands of Chaos, and later in chapter 4 the story continues through new lands. In chapter 5, Wol journeys to find the source of the light that may give him the strength to conquer Chaos. The sixth chapter shifted focus onto a different character, the heretic sorceress Meia. Wol meets up with Meia, and together, they journey to free Palamecia from its cycle of hope. The seventh chapter involves the two making their way through the final trials to fulfill the prophecy of the Warrior of Light. In Chapter 8, the two, along with Garland and Sarah head off to face Chaos at their final destination, "the Gate of Hope". Once there, they discover that the purpose of the world and the prophecy is to generate and accumulate the "Light of Hope" and transfer it to another faraway world; and this process would continue in an endless cycle, having Chaos resurrect each time, unleashing a flood of darkness that erases everyone's memory, then re-using the first Warrior of Light's journey as a blueprint for the narrative of the prophecy with each loop. Knowing this, Wol chooses to end the cycle by killing Chaos and preventing its resurrection, freeing the inhabitants of the world from its laws. During this, the Gate of Hope opens, and Garland flees from the world. Meanwhile, Wol, Sarah, and Meia are then seen slumbering inside of crystals in an unknown location.
Season 2: Warrior of Despair
Wol, Meia, and Sarah now live in a Palamecia free from its laws, where the entire world's populace has lost their memories of the prior events and begin their lives anew. Sarah, having chosen to lose her memory as well, assumes Wol to be her brother and trains under Meia's supervision. Meanwhile, Wol lives a relatively calm and repetitive life helping out with the everyday problems of the village of Omega, primarily as a fiend hunter.
Elsewhere, two individuals, Sophie and Graff, separately come across strange artifacts. These "runes" show them visions of a grand city, and an ongoing conflict between two factions, the "Free Citizens" and "The Collective". In these visions, they come across each other, referring to one another as siblings. Believing these runic visions and their relationship to be connections to their past, they each journey to seek each other out.
Graff comes across more runes, laid before him by faeries who manipulate the events seen within them. They desire to change his nature to that of cruel and violent one who will bring despair to the world in the absence of Chaos. Sophie's journey finds her coming across the same Echo that traveled with Wol on his previous journey. Along the way, the two encounter Blanks who turn to Sophie for leadership and she in turn inspires them, unaware of the faeries' machinations in trying to make her into a new Warrior of Light.
Development
The concept behind ''Mobius'' was for a mobile experience comparable with console games and "a rich gaming experience, anytime, anywhere". Though it was possible to make a smartphone game equivalent to console games, it had yet to be done, so game producer Yoshinori Kitase
is a Japanese game director and producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of ''Final Fantasy VI'', ''Chrono Trigger'', ''Final Fantasy VII'', ''Final Fantasy VIII'' and '' Final Fantasy X'', and the producer of the ''Final ...
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's Business Division 1. 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 supervisor Kazushige Nojima
is a Japanese video game writer. He is best known for writing several installments of Square Enix's ''Final Fantasy'' franchise—namely ''Final Fantasy VII'' and its spin-offs '' Advent Children'' and '' Crisis Core'', ''Final Fantasy VIII'', ...
and producer Yoshinori Kitase. The story is connected to the original ''Final Fantasy
is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
'' only thematically through its focus on "warriors of light" fighting against chaos and darkness: it is not a remake or directly related to the plot of the original. It is also considered by the team behind the game as a full entry in the series rather than a spin-off. Speaking after the game's initial release, Nojima stated that he felt his scenario was too bulky for a mobile experience.
Development began in early 2014, 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 project leader Naoki Hamaguchi was creating realistic facial expressions equivalent to those used in the 2013 film '' Frozen''. For development, the team used the Unity game engine. The development team built a relationship with the team at Unity Technologies
Unity Software Inc. (doing business as Unity Technologies) is an American video game software development company based in San Francisco. It was founded in Denmark in 2004 as Over the Edge Entertainment and changed its name in 2007. Unity Techn ...
very early in the development of Unity 5 and this allowed them to have their opinions included in the engine. Despite being dependent on the Unity 5 engine, the team also customised the game editor portion themselves. 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. The team used physically based rendering
Physically based rendering (PBR) is a computer graphics approach that seeks to render images in a way that models the lights and surfaces with optics in the real world. It is often referred to as "Physically Based Lighting" or "Physically Based ...
to create realistic lighting and environmental effects. 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
is a 2009 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and later for Windows (in 2014). Released in Japan in December 2009 and international in March 2010, it is the thirteenth titl ...
'', the team were able to create high-end graphics within mobile restrictions.
The team originally wanted to release the global version at the same time as the Japanese version. However, since they also wanted to maintain a direct level of control over the development and operation of the title rather than outsourcing it like Square Enix usually does, the global version was delayed by a year. Direct operation allows them to ensure quality and directly take player feedback and reflect it into the service.
The characters were designed by Toshiyuki Itahana. In common with his typical drawing style for characters, Itahana created Wol to be a heroic fantasy character that both fitted within and did not conform to earlier ''Final Fantasy'' titles. He and other designers created the multiple job outfits to further convey the fantasy setting. 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. The game's environments were designed by Takako Miyake, who had previously worked on console ''Final Fantasy'' titles. She did not change her working style for ''Mobius Final Fantasy'': all the assets were designed in high definition, and only adjusted slightly when they were brought into the mobile environment. The visual effects were handled by company veteran Shintaro Takai, whose main preoccupation was to make sure the game did not slow down during the flashier visual combat effects due to hardware constraints. The cutscenes were not affected by these issues.
Music
The music for ''Mobius Final Fantasy'' was composed by Mitsuto Suzuki, whose previous work includes ''The 3rd Birthday
is a 2010 action role-playing game developed by HexaDrive and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable. It was released in Japan in 2010 and in North America and Europe in 2011. The game is the third entry in the ''Parasite Eve'' vi ...
'', ''Final Fantasy XIII-2
is a 2011 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released in 2011 in Japan and 2012 in North America and PAL regions, and was ported to Windows in 2014. ''XIII-2'' is a direct ...
'' 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. The music was recorded at the Red Bull Studios in Tokyo.
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''. 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.
A second soundtrack album for the game was released on August 2, 2017. It features all of the music from chapters 4 to 8 along with music from the special events.
A third soundtrack album was released digitally on June 30, 2020, the same day as the game's worldwide end-of-service.
Release
A trademark for its original title, "''Mevius Final Fantasy''", was filed by Square Enix in October 2014. The game was officially announced in ''Famitsu
, formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' two months later under the same name. 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. Its final name was announced during a livestream by the company dedicated to the game. Both titles, along with the logo artwork, took inspiration from the concept of the Möbius strip
In mathematics, a Möbius strip, Möbius band, or Möbius loop is a Surface (topology), surface that can be formed by attaching the ends of a strip of paper together with a half-twist. As a mathematical object, it was discovered by Johann Bened ...
. Because of its origin, the title was changed from ''Mevius'' to ''Mobius''. It was also apparently done in preparation for an international release. Pre-registration for ''Mobius'' opened in April 2015, with a special weapon and item available to those who registered. In late 2015, no localization had been officially announced, though Kitase revealed through the ''Final Fantasy'' Portal App that it was under consideration. In a later post on the app during first anniversary celebrations for the game, Kitase confirmed that a global version was in development. The global version was released on August 3, 2016, for iOS and Android in English, Traditional Chinese and Korean. It was later released for Microsoft Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
via Steam
Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
in Japan on November 1, 2016, and worldwide on February 6, 2017, in English, Traditional Chinese and Korean. French and German support was added to the global version via iOS, Android and Steam on February 6.
Collaboration events of varying scale occurred with many other ''Final Fantasy'' titles including new releases, other ongoing titles and ''Mobius''s creators past and future titles. This included ''Final Fantasy Record Keeper
is a free-to-play role-playing gacha game developed and published by DeNA for iOS and Android. The game features original characters and stories interacting with characters, scenarios, and battles from other games in the ''Final Fantasy'' series ...
'', '' Type-0'', '' VII Remake'', '' XII'', '' XIII'', '' XV'', '' VII'', '' XIV'', '' X'', and '' VIII''.
Events with ''Final Fantasy'' series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi
is a Japanese game designer, director, producer, and writer. Originally working for Square (later Square Enix) from 1983 to 2003, he departed the company and founded independent studio Mistwalker in 2004. He is known as the creator of the ''Fi ...
's '' Terra Battle'' and Square Enix's ''Dragon Quest
previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...
of the Stars'' also occurred in the game.
''Final Fantasy VII Remake'', ''XIII'', ''VII'', ''X'' and ''VIII'' have had original stories told alongside their respective games' stories with ''Final Fantasy XIII'' set between '' XIII-2'' and '' Lightning Returns'' and ''Final Fantasy X'' between it and '' X-2''. This was due to the involvement of lead developers from these titles on ''Mobius''.
Reception
During its pre-registration period, the game received 200,000 registered users. By July 12, just over a week after release, the game had one million registered players in Japan. This number had expanded to over two million by the following month. Speaking after release, Kitase said that Square Enix considered the game a success as it introduced the mobile community to AAA-style graphics. 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. 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.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...
''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". ''Famitsu
, formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'', 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. Western reviews were similarly mixed, with ''TouchArcade
''TouchArcade'' (stylized as toucharcade) is a mobile games journalism website. It was launched in 2008 as a sister site of ''MacRumors'' by its founder Arnold Kim and Blake Patterson. ''TouchArcade'' also hosts a forum and a weekly podcast. ...
'' praising the games visuals but calling the user interface an "overly busy nightmare". ''Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History ...
'' examined the game in July 2015 and called the gameplay "monotonous" and lacking in plot, though it noted that many chapters were still to be released. Victoria McNally from MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
.com questioned the developers' earlier decision to change the design of the male protagonist to make it less sexy and noted that numerous female video game characters, including Cindy Aurum
Cindy Aurum, known in Japan as , is a character in the video game ''Final Fantasy XV''. Created by illustrator Roberto Ferrari, she is a mechanic that helps repair and upgrade the protagonist's car. She fills the role as the game's "Cid", a recu ...
from ''Final Fantasy XV
is a 2016 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. The fifteenth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2016, Windows in March 2018, and as a lau ...
'', are still routinely depicted as scantily clad.[
For the Western release of ''Mobius'', the pre-registration exceeded 125,000 registered users.]
References
External links
*
{{Good article
2015 video games
Products and services discontinued in 2020
Android (operating system) games
Episodic video games
Delisted digital-only games
Final Fantasy video games
Role-playing video games
IOS games
Windows games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games about amnesia
Gacha games