Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive 1

This is a quick review of the book from darkhorses latest production the Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive. This book coves covers final fantasy 1-6 in various sections. The various sections for all the final fantasy games are listed as follows : 1. Art 2. Final Fantasy (Insert number here) Story 3. Characters 4. World 5. Monsters 6. Extra Content - goes into different sub catagories and varies from final fantasy to final fantasy. 7. Last section is - Final Fantasy (Insert number here) Memories. I have to say I really like this book a lot, but then again It's a dark horse bool publication of course it's going to be good. The pages are THICKKK. When I thought they were glued together or something by accident but nope, these pages are just really that thick. The hardcover is nice, although best to keep it clean since it's mostly all white. My favorite section is probably the character section. Not only does it list which character is conected to who in some way as well as the villians but also it shows Yoshitaka Amano complicated and beautiful artwork bellow each of the characters pixilated forms. It really gives you a perspective in how Amanos art work was translated into these sprites. Even though the section on art is nothing special seeing as I own "The Sky The Art Of Final Fantasy Slipcase Edition" which I recommend btw, It is still no less nice to see his work here too. I do think we get to see more of his monster desgins here though, but also the art covers for each variation of the game like from the Famicon to Android to PlayStation. It also shows the different logos that were in other platforms/handhelds or media devices. Really cool stuff here. The story section is OK, doesn't really go indepth about it though. Nice but overall just an OK section. The world section is pretty cool, showing the entire map of each game. The final fantasy 1 map is super basic, with some green here, dots of green for bushes, some yellow there, etc. Overall a neat little section. The monster section does the same thing with the characters section in the sense that it shows you Yoshitaka Amano fantasic drawings along side the pixel forms they take in the games. Incredibly fascinating if I do say so myself. The extra content section is were you see the technical side of what went to making into these games like the sprite data, the map, color list and so on and so forth. This section varies from final fantasy to final fantasy but it gets really technical about it, really cool. The final section the memories section is just that, memories of the game with random images and quotes of the game. Final Verdict - 10 out of 10 I did check in the back of the book for a final section called creators voices which are short interviews with the grand masters of the final fantasy series itself and how they feel about their work. Really nice. Overall this is a well done book by dark horse books, yet another fantastic release guys. I highly recommend buying this book regardless if your a collector or not. My recommendations? Pre-order Volume 2 of The Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive, it comes out in december but still. As well as Pre-Order any of the upcomimg dark horse books, they are all really good regardless if you played the games or not.

Great for my final fantasy collection!

GeminiGeek's Honest Review! If I had to review this Ultimania Volume 1 with a single word, I'd simply say: "FANTASTIC!". This first volume of the Final Fantasy Ultimania books covers the first six Final Fantasy games, and has an enormous amount of details and content. Each game has it own individual section, complete with images of each character's classic sprites, and even their official Yoshitaka Amano art work as well. Aside from being visually appealing, the book is overflowing with unique story details, character bios, and even an encyclopedia of items and monsters! This volume of the Ultimania series is thick, it is huge, but not to the point of being a pain to carry around or hold. If you enjoy any of the six Final Fantasy games that this volume covers, you'll find something to love in this book, there is just so much information and artwork contained within this tome. This is a must-have for anyone who enjoys the Final Fantasy series, I can't recommend it enough. As a long-time Final Fantasy fan myself, I love this book, and I can't wait for Volume 2 to come out this fall.

This book has a ton of great information for fans of the first 6 Final Fantasy games. It includes artwork, sketches, maps, computer renderings, and more! Check out the video flip through of the book that I added. If you are a fan, you won't be disappointed! Note: many characters, monsters, and locations are shown with Japanese language (Katakana or Hiragana most often - sometimes Kanji) with a Romaji translation (such as Kokaturisu for Cockatrice) and a final English translation. Note that much of this book is based off multiple versions of the games - often the PSP / PS1 versions for 1, 2, 4, 5 and DS for 3. Just a note because translations are different for each version. Also some of the sprites shown in character models are from later releases, not original. But it is certainly forgivable since they often show the sprites for multiple versions. I am just pawing through it non-stop. I feel like a kid when I got the first Final Fantasy and literally wore out the map/monster chart that was included!

My brother in law has played many of the original Final Fantasy games and has always enjoyed the art style. My husband purchased this book for him as a birthday gift and my brother in law has thoroughly enjoyed flipping through this book. The hardback cover is very sturdy and the entire book is beautiful with interesting character facts throughout.

This is a really good quality book both in form and content. Its pretty big both in size and thickness, its actually taller than i thought and is very well made with beautiful print. If you are a fan of Final Fantasy or a fan of videogame artwork its a great item to add to your collection. I'd love to get the other two volumes as well.

The Ultimania is a nice collection of background info and original artwork for the series, and this book details the first six entries that appeared on Nintendo systems between 1987 and 1994. For fans of the 8-bit era, you may be a bit disappointed to find their sections a bit light on content, but they do feature gorgeous artwork from Yoshitaka Amano, Akihiko Yoshida, and other artists who worked on the remakes for the Wonderswan and PSP versions. There is also some neat background info like notes and outlines from the titles early development. The real meat of the book comes from the 16-bit era entries which detail some interesting info not usually seen, such as artwork of the characters by the staff, dungeon design details, and a few minor cut content. If you're a serious fan of the franchise and can't read Japanese making the 20th and 25th anniversary Japanese Ultimania books nothing more than an art book for you, then this is a great buy for super fans.

The book is exactly what I knew it would be: a translated version of the Ultimania books released for the first six Final Fantasy games. These books are heavy on artwork but also contain many factoids about the games. Don't expect the amount of info that was in the Zelda Encyclopedia or Hyrule Historia books from Dark Horse, but significantly more than what was in the Zelda Art and Artifacts book. Lots of art but also a decent amount of info on the first 6 titles in the Final Fantasy series. More distressing was the shipping method of the book. The book was shipped in a cardboard box, non-form fitting so it shook around a lot. Book was shipped by Amazon Warehouse and condition was listed as Very Good. It may have been Very Good when it left the warehouse, but it took a beating on its way here, as shown by the photos on this review. The book is still quite readable, and the damage is not so severe as the book is falling apart, but it definitely took a few hard hits on its way that would have been not nearly as damaging if it had either been shipped in bubble wrap or at least a form fitting box.

This is a high quality book that includes art and designers notes for the first six Final Fantasy games. Each game has content in the following areas: • Art - This includes key artworks made for the game. • Story - This is a very brief summary of the plot of the game. • Characters - This shows portraits and design artworks for the main characters and enemies in the game. • World - This displays the world map for the game. • Monsters - This shows monster designs and artworks for the game. • Extra Content - This includes developers notes and idea, character sprites and other things depending on the game. • Memories - This shows key scenes from the game. The content and artwork is easy to navigate and it feels like there is ample space for each game. Naturally the later games do have a little more content but this is owing to the fact that they generally feature more characters and content than the earlier games. If you are a fan of Final Fantasy and have an interest in the artwork and design of the games then this is a must have item for your collection!

Está increíble, la calidad de todo el producto se nota que las personas involucradas le tienen un respeto a la saga, definitivamente es un must para todo fan de FF. Me sorprendió el tamaño del libro, aún no le encuentro espacio para acomodarlo.

Das Buch ist massiv und sehr schön bearbeitet. Qualitativ top. Der Inhalt wird für Fans der Spiele sehr interessant und lehrreich sein. Die Artworks von Amano sehen unglaublich aus. Dieses Buch kann man nur weiter empfehlen

Superbe ouvrage avec illustrations et détails sur les jeux. Papier de qualité et contenu riche. Un must pour les collectionneurs.

Io ho comprato tutti e tre i volumi, la recensione è unica perché sono strutturati ovviamente in maniera uguale. Storia accennata all'inizio. Se volete sapere cose specifiche della trama non è il libro giusto. Ma se volete vedere i personaggi, i mostri da battere, le armi e tutti gli altri dettagli, questo libro è molto bello.