The Final Fantasy series has had unforgettable box art over the last few decades. And every main entry has seen multiple releases, allowing for the possibility that something beautiful will adorn these intricate games. Much of the time, American adaptations of the games will follow a pattern of lazy cover designs with only the title and logo. Most of these will be entirely ignored (especially the Super ꦡNintendo releases we were graced with). Instead, prepare for nostalgia mixed with beautiful images you never realized were meant to be 🐲on the cover of your favorite games.
For this list, we'll be ranking the BEST artwork for every main entry in the Final Fantasy series.
Naturally, sentiment plays an unintentional part in any person's determination of these pieces of art, but it's often quite clear how iconic or forgettable a game's cover was. Too often, there are simple conditions required for a game's box art to be 'good' that just aren't met. This isn't limited to being judged solely on how pretty the games are; it should also be composed in a manner that accurately presents the 🤡characters, the setting, and the themes. Even the subtext in a character's stance or eyes plays a huge part in determining the quality of cover art.
Realistically, none of these games have a perfect cover (though that might not be the case for their Japanese releases). Even some of the most memorable Final Fantasy video game cases were hastily improvised by a localization team or arranged by simply copy pasting some of the concept art onto the game, and yet this doesn't always lead to poorly executed cover designs. Sometimes absolute gems are produced, that only further develop within the fanbase. Read on for the worst and best box art for Final Fantasy games.
15 ♌ Final Fantasy XIII
The cover for Final Fantasy XIII isn't just the worst among the Final Fantasy games, but possibly the worst box art of all modern games. Lightning stands at the forefront of nothing, holding her unoriginal blade. Lightning really could have ൩been posed more dynamically. Some versions of portray her riding atop h𓃲er steed, Odin, while wielding the Zantetsuken blades. But for American shores, it just looks like she's revealing her thigh to hitchhike, not readying for a fight.
This reveals the protagonist, her weapon, and too much upskirt. That's all. The listless stare is uncharacteristic; but perhaps because her usual scowl wouldn't have shown enough of her pretty eyes. It seems like the reason FFXIII is presented this way is purely to showcase graphical advancements. But that would still greatly benefit with anything from the game behind the main character. The white background doesn't come off as clean or classy, it comes off as plain. At the very least, FFXIII's box art is an accurate representation of how the game feels through;✤🙈 a lot of pretty graphics without much substance.
14 🍎 Final Fantasy II
'Yoshitaka Amano's artwork is amazing.' Well, this is true... but too little information is being given to the audience. If this face weren't the official interpretation of Firion's appearance, I'd have sooner believed this was Leila (a female pirate that temporarily joins the party) as there were no versions of Final Fantasy II that portrayed Firion this way in-game or in cutscenes for the first twenty years since its first release.. As they shouldnไ't: an orphan rebelling against the Empire probably wouldn't wear all these grand adornments.
In the foreground, Firion presents the infamous Blood Sword. Ignore the Warrior of Light fighting a behemoth in the background. The scene is there only because Final Fantasy Origins is a remastered PlayStation bundle of FFI and FFII; the original Japanese Famicom release for FFII only showed this image of Firion. If Final Fantasy II had anything from the game in i🐈ts background, it would have ranked n༒otably higher on this list.
13 Final Fantasy IX 🦂 🌌
Beginning with Final Fantasy VII, the Japanese releases for many games in the series showed only the title. As such, American localization teams had to improvise. Most of the main cast are placed in the foreground, in front of Lindblum. This wa﷽sn't originally a group picture; these are their character profiles mashꩲed together (they don't even look sized correctly). They weren't even chosen based on their relevance to the plot. If they had, Eiko would probably have been there instead of Amarant.
It also isn't clear why Lindblum was used. There are several other locations just as central to the plot. And if FFIX intended to showcase any of its beautiful locale designs, this scenery is barely visible or recognizable. Perhaps a backdrop presenting a villain or an eidolon might better salvage this retouched nightmare. In FFIX's defense though, this box art is probably the only nega﷽tive opinion I have from the entire game.
12 🐭 Finℱal Fantasy V
This is a beautiful illustration. Bartz, Faris, Lenna, and Krile sit at the helm of an airship. As they sail across the skies, various flying beasts glide in the background. There r🌺eally isn't much more to be said about this though. Not much of the pꦫlot is represented here. Perhaps it was only meant to show the spirit of adventure?
This artwork was featured as the box art for the PAL region's release of Final Fantasy Anthology, but for America's release, it was only in the instruction booklet. At the very least, this choice is a huge improvement from Super Famicom Japanese release of the game, a rarity which has only ever been the case with FFIV and FFV.
11 Final Fantasy I 🧸
For the aforementioned Final Fantasy Origins bundle, the PAL region was presented with a different cover art that instead depicted the Warrior of Light. This is the same artwork that appeared on Japan's original Famicom release for the first Final Fantasy. This may be absolutely stunning artwork, but this character also looks nothing like his character in-game (though at least he bears resemblance to the Warrior shown in🌺 the opening cutscene).
This image does give us a little more information. The Warrior of Light brandishes his sword, Braveheart. In the background, we see the visage of Princess Sarah, the series' first damsel-in-distress for the heroes to rescue. Non-aggressive dragons are peppered into the scene, perhaps this is in reference to the race of dragons in the Cardia Islands, the king of these dragons being instrumental in advancing the heroes' classes. All in all, this is a classic image from which every cover art from a Final Fantasy game might have stemmed from.
10 ⛎ Final Fantasy III
American shores didn't see Final Fantasy III for a long time, so it's probably the least recognizable game of all the main entries to the FF brand. The of the protagonist has since become its logo. All four of the main cast have been reimagined with their own personalities an🍌d distinct features, when before they were practically identical.
The party ventures through a land shrouded in dark mist. It's majestic and mysterious, but another thing to note about this particular box art was that it was only used for the European and Japanese releases of the DS remake. For North America, all we actually got was 🎐the title and logo centered over white space. Perhaps this placement in the rankings isn't fair. If I'd stayed true to either the original cover or America's DS remake, this would have been dead last.
9 📖🦂 Final Fantasy VIII
This is a perfectly average cover design. It has t𝓀he bare minimum of acceptable features. The game's early love triangle between the protagonist, the rival, and the heroine in the middle can be inferred. Their expressions are fair representations of their (limited) personalities in-game. In the background, a major antagonist spreads her arms wide. Edea looks ominous but listless, as she's not in control of her mind.
Here, Final Fantasy VIII's localization team correctly accomplishes what Final Fantasy IX did wrong. It is just as much of a mashup of images as FFIX's box art, but uncomplicated and simple while retaining all of its beauty. Nobody is here that shoul🃏dn't be, and nobody that should be here is missing.
8 Final Fantasy XII ꧋
This was originally much higher on the list, but no matter how pretty the graphics are, it's hard to ignore the weaknesses this meaningless box art. Though perhaps if they had pဣresented only the plot-relevant characters, Vaan the protagonist might be omitted from the cover altogether.
Perhaps the best feature of this cover art are the airships flying across Kingdom of Dalmasca. Although airships are a staple for most Final Fantasy games, here it's central to the plot and the game's theme of freedom. It's the artwork on that takes the cake (and probably would have gotten to the top 3). With an expected release in mid-July this year, this remastered FFXII for the PlayStation 4 kee꧑ps its beautiful artwork on the inside of itsℱ reversible cover or on the Limited Steelbook Edition.
7 🌠 ♏ Final Fantasy XI
As Final Fantasy XI is an MMORPG, it's difficult to pick which artwork to represent the game among all the bundles and expansions. Half of FFXI's cover designs are sparse, with little more than a title, and most of the rest are . Don't get me wrong, his works are better illustrated. His poetic drawing style hearkens back to Renaissance❀ ideals of beauty. It's flowery and elegant, like a painting. But illustrations so ineffable and highly stylized leaves too much to interpretation.
Here, all I was hoping for was an image that best communicates facets of the actual game, not just whatever concept art was pretty. It's not amazing, but it's a good middle-ground, averaging out FFXI's mass of different box arts. Most importantly, it's clear. A party of adventurers showcases different jobs, races, places, and monsters. These are the things that Final Fantasy XI is all about.
6 Final Fantasy X ꧙
Tidus holds the Brotherhood and looks off into the distance with cavalier eyes. Due to the upgrade in graphics seen in Final Fantasy X, this cover design is well-loꦛved. It has its charms; along the Besaid sho🌟re, ruins can be seen in the background, touching on both the aquatic and fantasy dystopia themes of the game. Pyreflies that float around Tidus, the game's spirits of the dead.
Although this is a classic box art, it just doesn't do justice to one of the best Final Fantasy games of all time. The shows Tidus and Yuna at the beginning of the infamous kissing scene in Macalania Woods. As this is probably the🌜 most emotional ဣscene in the game (or series as a whole), and its graphics are better rendered, it's an excellent choice, much better than the image used for .