The Psychology of Final Fantasy: Surpassing the Limit Break

By: Anthony M Bean PhD - editor

Narrated by: Gabriella Pitchford

"No matter how dark the night, morning always comes, and our journey begins anew." (Lulu, Final Fantasy X)

From its initial release in 1987, Final Fantasy has gone on to become one of the most beloved series of role-playing games in history. With narratives revolving around grandiose stories of good versus evil, Final Fantasy has allowed us, as players, to witness heroic battles, experience hard-won victories, and create treasured friendships for almost 40 years.

The Psychology of Final Fantasy guides gamers on a real-world quest of self-discovery so that they can surpass their own limit break. And, as part of this examination, psychologists, clinicians, video game researchers, professors, and enthusiasts who love this franchise ask:

• How does the storyline in Final Fantasy grab and keep our attention for so many hours of gameplay?
• Why do the symbols in the game, such as crystals, magic, and weapons, hold meaning about our own psychological inner workings?
• What are the feminine warrior and archetypes found in the game and how are they living in all of our everyday lives?
• How does playing Final Fantasy connect us with a larger sense of spiritual guidance as to who we are?
• Why is it that, by creating a group, we become whole more than we do when playing as individuals?
• How do the musical interludes affect our psyche and push us to become better versions of ourselves?

Think you know Final Fantasy? The Psychology of Final Fantasy explores how the game resonates with a player's psychological drive toward an emotional sense of wholeness, bonding, and completion as they take part in this epic quest.

©2020 Leyline Publishing (P)2020 Leyline Publishing

Dive into deep stories in the FF series

Wonderful compendium of the final fantasy series’ stories and a great way to make people understand the depth of video game content

Bad Reading

My expectations were dashed during the fireworks when I heard the of repeated - and long debunked - myth that Final Fantasy saved a young Square from going out of business. However, it only got worse from there.

The narrator frequently stumbles over words and phrases. There are awkward pauses. She gets tongue tied and just keeps going. No edits, no retakes.
The narrator is clearly unfamiliar with pronunciation of Japanese names, which is a prerequisite for talking about these games in particular. She frequently talks about Nobuo "Yoo-matsu" for example.

In addition to this, the narrator is clearly unfamiliar with the source material clearly struggling to correctly pronounce the names of characters and places from the games and even game titles, ie pronouncing Theatrhythm as "Threat Rhythm."

The narrator sometimes struggles with even regular English words, putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable or throwing out such gems as "intrisnic." This gives the impression that the narrator is not a skilled reader. The recording sounds amateur and low effort and while she has a pleasant voice the constant mistakes, fumbles and awkward silencees make it difficult to listen to.

it's embarrassing. I don't think anyone listened to this before publishing it to audible.

Some of the essays are great. For example I learned about Kishotenketsu storytelling, which is cool. These are largely insightful essays about something I love. Some are very informative while others seem to run on endlessly without building on their premise, so it is a mixed bag there. Quite frankly the experience is ruined by the terrible narrator.

Amazing book for RPGamers and Psychology Lovers!

As a fan of The Final Fantasy series and a psychology student, reading this book from cover to cover was an incredible experience! I could relate to a lot of the characters from the series that was used as case studies throughout the book, while simultaneously having a sense of nostalgia and gaining perspective of different characters mindset that I didn’t quite understand while playing through the games when I was younger! I want to thank the author for this wonderful masterpiece and the narrator for presenting it. Definitely adding this to my favorites list!

Kind of all over the place

This book is a collection of essays that examines different aapects of Psychology/Sociology and how they apply within the stories of the Final Fantasy games. There does not seem to be any sort of flow or organization to how the essays are compiled. Further, they seem to rely heavily on certain titles (namely 6, 7, 10 and 13). While theee are certainly the more popular titles (and to be fair the first three FF games don't have the same depth of character development), it would have been nice to see some variety. Two chapters about trauma and amnesia are nearly identical. Also it should probably go without saying but it's full of spoilers so if you have only played one or two titles definitely avoid this.
The editing is also a bit weak. There are pauses which seem like they don't belong and occasional background static and swallowing (which may just be a personal pet peeve).
Still I did enjoy looking at some of my favorite games in a new light and I am looking forward to playing them with fresh insights.

Undergraduate-level Analyses

Good attempt at applying critical and psychological analyses to FF, and video games in general, but the majority of these essays seemed typical of work done in response to prompts given in undergraduate literature or video game course. To their credit, they were clearly earnest and well-intentioned, demonstrating a true passion and appreciation for the games. But frustrating overall in their treatments of the topics at hand, including trauma, signification, and legacy.

A bright spot of the production for me was the narrator, however! Her bright interpretation and energy made the essays far more engaging than the material alone.

felt a tad hamfisted

i feel like this was layered with the centet trying to not nesseccarlay push a message, but it felt like they played the game barebones and didnt do anything outside the game (ff15 anime/movie for example). i felt the pin pointing of some stereotypes were on the ball but others were "judged the book by its cover". good listen but i dont think ill recommend

Hate for what?

I was worried about getting this after reading so many bad reviews on it but after getting and listening to it a few hours in I felt really engaged to it and don't see why this got so much hate. there was times where the narrator had some trouble pronouncing words and some parts were pretty boring but overall this is very enjoyable so far don't let all the bad reviews drive you away from this.

Great story

Felt it could be longer and dwell more into each game. Definitely could definitely be into each iteration of the Final Fantasy series and make great companion studies for games.

I am glad this exists

So it's super academic, which makes sense. I feel bad for the narrator, who at times struggles through some of the names and terminology. this is a collection of essays, some of which contradict others. there are are few mistakes here and there. Overall, I am glad this exists and hope more things come. It was an interesting listen.

"Clerith" fixation

Overall, amazing. But the fixation on Clerith took me out of it. Cloud and Aerith's relationship, as well as Cloud and Tifa's, are misrepresented by this text and present false justification for the points they do in fact support.