Final Fantasy was developed and published by Square for the NES in 1987, created by designer Hironobu Sakaguchi after Square’s leadership, initially hesitant to greenlight an RPG, changed course following the breakout success of Dragon Quest in 1986. Sakaguchi assembled a small team that would go on to define the genre for decades: Hiroyuki Ito worked out the turn-based battle system, Yoshitaka Amano provided the game’s distinctive character and concept art, and Nobuo Uematsu composed a soundtrack that helped establish him as one of gaming’s most recognizable composers. Players create a party of four Light Warriors, choosing from character classes like Fighter, Black Mage, and White Mage, then travel across the overworld by foot, ship, and eventually airship, battling monsters in turn-based encounters, gaining levels and gold, and working through dungeons to restore light to four elemental orbs and defeat the fallen knight Garland and the demon Chaos behind his corruption. Final Fantasy’s blend of open exploration, tactical turn-based combat, and job-based character building proved hugely influential, launching one of the best-selling and longest-running video game franchises in history.