9 Video Game Titles Which Lied To You

2. Final Fantasy II

FFIV title
Square Enix

The deceit of 'Final' Fantasy, exacerbated with each fresh numbered entry into the series almost four decades after it lamented its own ephemerality, is well-established and well-lampooned. The common myth is that, making one last stab at producing a hit for Squaresoft, creator Hironobu Sakaguchi gave his Dragon Quest-aping RPG a name bearing finality. Irony intervened; the game was a smash hit.

That tale is apocryphal. In actuality, Sakaguchi just wanted a cool name which could be abbreviated to 'FF' in romaji, and he got one, despite how gibberish it is. Even more gibberish is sequel Final Fantasy II, a name which defies linguistic logic - and reality, if you picked the game up in North America.

That's because the Final Fantasy II released in the USA was in fact the fourth game in the series, Squaresoft not arsed about shipping the Famicom's actual, experimental sequel to the west, nor the oft-overlooked third game. It was a similar story when, having deemed FFV 'too hard' for America, Square rechristened the Final Fantasy VI as 'Final Fantasy III'. Imagine the confusion when three years later, Final Fantasy VII landed on the PlayStation...

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.