Square Enix's Final Fantasy franchise is one of the most well-known and popular JRPG series in the history of gaming. Over several decades, it has become a booming franchise, spawning several sequels, remakes, spin-offs, adaptations, and even a few MMOs. Many of these games would also become beloved entries in some shape or form, whether it be because of their story, battle mechanics, or music. Final Fantasy even won a Guinness World Record for being one of the most prolific RPG series, thanks to its impressive milestones and the several games released over the years.
Of course, with so many games and related media, it can be rather difficult to comprehend it all, and there's a lot of entries that have gotten more obscure over time. This includes Final Fantasy games that were never localized, which may contain some hidden gems. As such, a fan group known as Final Fantasy Union is attempting to create a comprehensive reference guide for fans, historians, and enthusiasts to better understand the franchise.
This guide is known as The Legacy of the Crystal, and will be covering every entry released thus far. There will be 127 games represented, from the very first game released in 1987, all the way to the upcoming Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier. The book will be separated into four sections, covering Numbered Titles, Spin-Off Titles, Sequels/Prequels, and then Remakes. These will include stories of how each game was developed, covering the design philosophies and themes conveyed in each entry.
Aside from that, however, the book will also cover a wider narrative that details how Final Fantasy became the franchise it is today. This includes how it saved Square after its first success and how the publisher used the franchise to recover from financial ruin. The book is estimated to be around 200-250 pages, with an approxiamte word count of 60,000. There will be a digital PDF, softcover, and hardcover options available as rewards for pledgers.
As noted by the group itself, the kickstarter campaign only launched very recently, and yet this Final Fantasy book has already smashed through its crowdfunding goals. It started with a goal of 8500 Pounds (approximately $11.5K) and it has already been exceeded with a current total of around $45K from over 400 backers, over 400% of its goal. This shows how much fans really love the Final Fantasy franchise, with it continuing to have a long-lasting legacy.
Source: Kickstarter