5 Best Final Fantasy Games of All Time Ranked by Sales

The sales of Final Fantasy games have always been quite high, especially for the newer generation of games. The reason is simple, Final Fantasy is one of the oldest franchises and it has a plethora of entries, many of which have become games of the year in their own right. And yes, most of these games sold millions of copies, but the question is, which ones are actually

Below we will rank the top 5 games in the franchise in terms of overall sales. Some of the titles in the top 5 may surprise you!

1. Final Fantasy VII (13,258,000 copies)

In first place is no surprise to any fan of the franchise.

Why did this game manage to sell so many copies? Each one of us might have a different perspective, but there’s no denying that Final Fantasy VII was the most innovative game in the series for a long time. not only did it manage to bring in a lot of new characters, but the story was extraordinary as well. On top of that, they also integrated pre-rendered video as well.

All of these technologies really managed to stand out, since they brought in a lot of clever innovations to the series, while also pushing the boundaries of what tech could do at that time. Granted, the game did have its development difficulties, but it’s safe to say that it managed to surpass all expectations and quickly became one of the staple games of the modern world.

It’s important to note that the game was also quite expensive to produce too. It cost around $80 million to produce and market, which was extremely high for 1997. But it seems that their gamble paid off, since Final Fantasy sold 13+ million copies and it even got ported to mobile platforms too.

2. Final Fantasy XV (10,903,000 copies)

It’s not surprising that one of the latest entries in the series, named Final Fantasy XV is also one of the best sellers in the series too. The game has a massive open world and an improved battle system. Not only that, but they added all kinds of things like elemental magic, switching weapons even quicker, and the story itself is very innovative.

At the same time, being able to play using a larger character pool certainly added to the gameplay and the overall experience provided here. There’s also a lot of heart here, with the game focusing a lot on emotion, visuals and creating a story that you really care for. On top of that, the game also had a feature film and anime series, so it did manage to surpass the videogame world, while offering access to even more lore.

3. Final Fantasy XIV (10,571,400 copies)

Final Fantasy XIV is an MMO, so it can be hard to track sales, but it’s still one of the best Final Fantasy games, even if the launch was not exactly spectacular. Yet what really matters is that the developers managed to turn things around. They listened to the audience and in the end results were amazing, since it really allowed the creation of a massive game world with lots of clever things to do, new places to explore and a very immersive gameplay experience.

On top of that, Final Fantasy XIV received multiple updates and expansions, and it’s still being worked on quite a bit. So it’s safe to say that this might be getting the most Final Fantasy games sales for the time being, just because it’s the game that had the latest expansion and work being done on it. Overall, it’s great to see that Final Fantasy XIV continues to expand, and the player pool has only managed to grow since then. Which is amazing, since all of us want to play such a game and immerse into an incredibly large and distinctive game world like this game has.

4. Final Fantasy X (10,177,600 copies)

Final Fantasy X also contributed a lot to the game world and the overall lore. It’s one of the nicest entries in the series, and also one that took quite a lot of risks. The game story is focused on finding and eliminating a very powerful monster, but a lot of things happen along the way. Yet the reason why a lot of people enjoy Final Fantasy X is because it did manage to bring in a lot of changes to the series.

For example, Final Fantasy X manages to replace the active time battle system, which a lot of people considered to be very old. They replace it with the conditional turn based battle system, and it also uses the Sphere Grid leveling system. While these might seem like small contributions to some, they do manage to bring in an extraordinary gameplay experience. This innovation made it one of the best Final Fantasy games, and it’s also why it generated so many sales.

5. Final Fantasy VIII (9,650,000 copies)

This game also brings in quite a large number when it comes to Final Fantasy games sales. Final Fantasy VIII builds upon the predecessor, and it also has pre-rendered backgrounds and 3D graphics. It steps away from some of the traditions in the Final Fantasy series, but that’s for the better. Final Fantasy VIII also has its fair share of innovations too.

This is the first game where you have characters which are realistically proportioned. It forgoes the use of magic potions when it comes to casting spells. This was also the first game that had a theme music with a vocal piece. Generally, the game managed to become a commercial success, and like many other Final Fantasy games, it was also ported to various platforms.

Conclusion

It’s amazing to see the Final Fantasy games sales, and we soon realize that this is by far one of the most successful Square Enix releases. The fact that many of these games sold millions upon millions of copies speaks volumes when it comes to the quality of the game, but also the great stories and moments these developers were able to bring to the table. One thing is certain, with Final Fantasy games you always have new entries and more enticing stories to check out, all you have to do is to give them a try!

Sources

1. https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Best_selling_Square-Enix_games
2. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1247835/final-fantasy-lifetime-unit-sales/