10 Video Games With Unimaginably Complicated Lore
5. Final Fantasy XII
A quick warning to those not comfortable with Roman numerals: you may wish to skip the next paragraph.
One of the general conceits of the Final Fantasy games is that each of them was self-contained. Until Final Fantasy X-2 (ten-two), a confusingly-named sequel to Final Fantasy X, there hadn't been a continuation of any of the sagas presented in the games. Even now, when the last few numbered titles have had direct sequels and DLC to expand upon the story, the games are mostly self-contained. Final Fantasy XII (twelve, not ten-two) was the one that really changed things up as it was set in a world that had existed in previous titles: Ivalice.
Ivalice is a land of political intrigue, warring factions, and a realistic (if Star Wars inspired) history already lovingly developed across three games in the nine years leading up to Final Fantasy XII's release. With more history to it than any Final Fantasy world up to that point, it continued to be developed by multiple new additions to the so-called Ivalice Alliance of games.
You can safely call Ivalice the most intricate Final Fantasy world.