For years, the Final Fantasy series ran hand in hand with Sony’s PlayStation, as they were practically considered synonymous. If a new installment of this franchise were about to be released, it would by default be available on the PlayStation consoles. No more! Square Enix’s popular JRPG has found a new home on Microsoft’s Xbox consoles.
With the unveiling of Final Fantasy XVI’s launch trailer at Xbox Games Showcase, it is pretty evident that Xbox is now the right place to enjoy Final Fantasy in its entirety. That said, it’s time for this game to reach a new set of players, who are more than eager to embrace the adventures of Cloud Strife, Clive Rosfield, Terra Branford, and more.
Almost every Final Fantasy game is now available on Xbox
From the late 90s to the early 20s, PlayStation had a monopoly on the release of Final Fantasy titles. All the classic games, including some famous ones like Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X, and XII, launched exclusively on the PlayStation first. The reason behind this is that Sony invested heavily and strengthened its relationship with Japanese creators. Hence, it eventually earned them a short-term exclusivity deal with the JRPG.
Over the period of years, the said exclusivity deal with the PlayStation faded away, allowing platforms like Switch and Xbox to get their hands on this game. Microsoft did the heavy work by enhancing its Game Pass, making it possible to feature almost every game from this franchise.
At this point, Xbox’s library is stacked with Final Fantasy games, except for one title from the series: Final Fantasy XI. This game was originally released for platforms like PC and PlayStation 2 in 2002. Later, it was released on Xbox 360 in 2006 with online support like other platforms.
Unfortunately, its last active server was on PlayStation 2, after which its tenure ultimately came to an end in 2016. Final Fantasy XI is the only game in the series that is not available on current-gen consoles.
All Final Fantasy games that are available on Xbox but not on PlayStation
When we said that Xbox is the ultimate Final Fantasy machine, we meant it. This is because the current-gen Xbox has every title from the franchise, but PlayStation doesn’t. Despite being an exclusive for years, there is one title that’s missing from the PS library, but is available on the Xbox Store. Any guesses?
Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy, comprising of titles like Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, is currently the only title that’s not available on current-gen PlayStation consoles. This game was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 back in the day.
While the Xbox Series S and X have this game through backward compatibility, we can not say the same for PS4 and PS5. That being said, if you want to beat the toughest bosses in arguably the best JRPG of all time, Xbox is where you must start your journey.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
