Whoa! It's already been half a year since the release of the Final Fantasy Magic: The Gathering set now, if you can believe it! That also means it's been quite a long time since I've had the opportunity to talk about Final Fantasy lore!

You might be wondering why I haven't written about some of the games' lore with Lore Tidbits pieces just yet. After all, I've yet to cover Final Fantasy VIII, IX, XIII, XIV, XV, and XVI. Why is that? Simply put: I haven't finished the games yet! Or in the case of XIV, I haven't played it enough to provide a good breakdown of the lore for that title just yet.

I promise these are still coming as soon as I get the time to get through a bunch more of them. I'm almost done with IX so expect that soon. However, we're here now and it just so happens that there is, in fact, more Final Fantasy lore to discuss!

On December 5th, we saw a special batch of Final Fantasy releases coming out ahead of the holidays. This included a Chocobo Bundle, four Scene Boxes, a Game Edition Commander Deck, and even a new promo! As a result, there's suddenly a whole bunch of stuff to talk about regarding Final Fantasy lore once again!

I'm going to cover the Scene Boxes in full, as well as the fancy promos. As for the Chocobo Bundle, there are some lands, a new chocobo Birds of Paradise, and several new arts for cards in the original release. While I'm not going to cover most of the cards from the main Final Fantasy release getting new treatments, I am going to check out the Final Fantasy Commander cards. As I covered the decks with full beat-by-beat breakdowns, I couldn't offer nuanced explanations for some of the characters, which I'd like to remedy here.

This still leaves us a good chunk of stuff to talk about so it's once again time for me to gush about my favorite video game franchise of all time! Let's start off with the promos first since there's only two of them!

First up is this Yuna, Grand Summoner promo. Players can get copies by attending special Commander Box League events while supplies last. This version of Final Fantasy X's Yuna depicts her in a wedding gown.

Partway through the game, you end up getting separated from Yuna. As it happens, she was stolen away by the Yevonites to the city of Bevelle. There, she is to marry the unsent murderous Human-Guado Maester Seymour, whom she agreed to marry early on to get closer to him. The party barges into the wedding and fights toward Seymour. They capture the group, but not before Yuna flies to the city's temple and gains the power to bring forth the mighty aeon, Summon: Bahamut.

The next one is a bit simpler, and comes with the Game Edition of the Limit Break Commander deck. What makes this version of the deck so special is that it comes with a PC download copy of the game and this fancy Cloud card. The art isn't just any piece of art, though - it's the cover art for the original PS1 copy of Final Fantasy VII. This special piece shows Cloud facing the Shinra tower where he seeks to go and save his friend, Aerith. It's an awesome nod for longtime fans everywhere - even those who might not be hardcore series fans but those who only know VII.

Oh, and while I'm talking about Cloud, I think it's worth mentioning that the version of this same card in the Chocobo bundles is a fun nod all its own! The art references a famous piece of concept art from the original game which depicts Cloud happily riding atop a chocobo. It's a pretty one-to-one reference, which is awesome!

That makes a great transition into the Chocobo Bundle itself!

The Chocobo Bundle features all kinds of special art in it! There's chocobo track foils with multiple basic lands, reprints of cards from the Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy Commander release, and a bit more! I won't be covering every card, however I definitely want to talk about a number of the cards and characters included in this bundle!

Let's start off with the basic lands!

The first of these lands is a Plains that, funny enough, depicts a Chocobo Forest. Would it maybe be better as a Forest? Perhaps. I think I'd have liked to see it be something like the Calm Lands from Final Fantasy X myself - the one place you can ride chocobos in that game - but that's just me.

The Chocobo Forests in FFVIII are largely quest-focused. It's a notable departure from most other games that came previously where you'd simply find chocobos to ride rather than engage with sidequests. These provide you with a bunch of different items - including some with rather potent uses!

Just about anyone who has played Final Fantasy VII will be familiar with this one! This is an isolated, forested island in the distant corner of the map. Because of this, you're unable to walk to it and you can't land your airship on it. Instead, you have to do the chocobo breeding sidequest (look it up, it's way too much to explain here) and obtain the Golden Chocobo.

This elusive chocobo allows you to traverse the oceans, providing you a means to reach this lone island. Your prize for reaching this location? The mighty Summon: Knights of Round! This mighty summoning materia deals thirteen mighty blows to any opponent and is well worth the grind so you can take on the game's endgame boss battles.

This is where my lack of playing some of the later titles in the series comes in. I haven't played enough of Final Fantasy XV to know exactly where this is taking place. However, your journey generally involves your party of four members traveling the world (more on that later). As such, there are times when you can ride on chocobos to get around, and this is a fun example of that happening.

This is probably my favorite card in this whole article! Throughout my various Final Fantasy lore pieces, I've often talked about how Final Fantasy XI in particular holds a special place in my heart. In fact, I've been spending a lot of the past week or so replaying the game's story thanks to a free login campaign going on right now and having a blast!

What makes this Mountain so special, though, is that it depicts my home nation of Bastok! We previously saw a San d'Oria Forest (Ronfaure) as well as Windurst, Federation Capital getting its own land card. However, the third starting nation of FFXI was left out...until now! This depicts a particular waterfall most players of the game will be familiar with, residing in North Gustaberg, one of the starting areas outside of Bastok.

I personally have spent far too much time around this particular location and have ridden my share of chocobos through the spot. As such, it really feels that much more special - at least to me!

The last of these basics depicts the hidden Black Mage Village in Final Fantasy IX. Following the discovery of black mages dealing with dwarves at Conde Petie, the group seeks out the black mages. They come to this hidden village and discover a group of unusually self-aware black mage residents, who - while distrustful of the group - accept them and provide guidance to Vivi. As Vivi is struggling with his own existence, he comes to understand the concept of death and that he too will likely die.

Chocobos play a notable role around the village, helping things run smoothly. When Kuja steals away most of the black mages, a few stay behind to tend to a chocobo egg. This later hatches and becomes the adorable Bobby Corwen, who is likely the chocobo depicted in this Forest. This fills the black mages with joy - something that proves they are more than simply hollow beings.

Now let's have a look at a bunch of the character cards! I know I mentioned I'd be skipping Aerith earlier, but I'm also gonna be skipping most of the FFXIV cards because I haven't gotten too deep into the game yet. There is one I have met and can talk about, though! We'll start with the FFVI cards, which I can talk about together:

I've already talked about Locke as a character a bit. Somehow, though, I didn't talk about Moogles' Valor - and these two cards happen to play perfectly into it! Early in the game, Locke jumps into save Terra from the residents of Narshe who are looking to attack her in revenge, not understanding that she was being controlled. Locke doesn't think he can take them all, but is aided by a bunch of moogles who inhabit the mines Terra falls into. They help Locke to take a stand, and later on one of them - Mog - joins the party properly during the World of Ruin section of the game.

I've had the chance to talk a little bit about Barret before. As his name implies, he's the leader of Avalanche - an eco-terrorist group fighting back against the Shinra Electric Company's tyrannical rule. He's from the mining town of Corel which, following a backstabbing by Shinra, he and his friend Dyne are gravely injured and replace their bad arms with gun grafts.

What's worth noting about this particular version of the card is the inclusion of a little girl on Barret's shoulder. That's Marlene, the daughter of Dyne. It was believed that Dyne fell to his death, and so Barret adopted Marlene as his own. When he and Dyne meet once more and fight, he swears to Dyne he will protect Marlene and raise her well (though she's kidnapped and held hostage by Shinra in the back half of the game).

In my lore breakdown of the Commander deck, I mentioned Yuffie very briefly, since she's a secret optional character you can miss entirely. She doesn't have a lot of bearing on the game as a result, except for one particular sidequest. The mysterious ninja girl is, as her name implies, a materia hunter, seeking to obtain lots of materia to help restore her home country of Wutai following a great war. Should you go to Wutai with her in your party, she'll steal all your materia and you'll have to chase her down, leading to a confrontation with the dastardly Don Corneo in the process.

This version of Yuffie specifically plays into her design for the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. In the Intermission DLC for Remake - as well as the first part of Rebirth - she goes around with a Moogle cloak over her to act as a disguise. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention her adorable chocobo song she likes to sing when you ride around on chocobos in Rebirth. It's quite charming.

These two go pretty hand in hand with one another! Both are among the original guardians of Yuna in Final Fantasy X and are among the first characters you meet overall. When Tidus washes ashore onto Besaid Island, he quickly runs into Wakka - the leader of the Besaid Aurochs, a Blitzball team - and shows him a thing or two about Blitzball. This leads Wakka to bring Tidus on as a player and later a guardian.

Lulu is the group's black mage, and carries around a bunch of dolls themed around iconic creatures, as well as the iconic Onion Knight. She was originally engaged to Wakka's brother, Chappu, and chastises Wakka for viewing Tidus like Chappu due to their similar appearance. She is somewhat brash and prickly, but always aids the party in their success. She eventually forms a relationship with Wakka in the game's sequel.

Both are devoted followers of Yevon's teachings. In the case of Wakka, it's almost fanatical, to the point of harboring a deep hatred of the Al Bhed for their use of forbidden machina. A big part of his character arc is coming to terms with the faults of the religion. Lulu's following comes through much more subtly, guiding Tidus in understanding the traditions of the faith, with it coming to a head during the late game confrontation with Lady Yunalesca.

Rikku is an Al Bhed who aids Tidus when he first ends up in Spira. As mentioned regarding Wakka, the Al Bhed are treated horribly due to their perceived heresy, with the followers of Yevon ultimately decimating their Home. Despite this, Rikku - who is Yuna's cousin - joins the group after an attempt to steal Yuna away to safety. While she's first and foremost a thief, she has the special Overdrive ability "Mix" which allows her to combine two items together for a powerful effect, which is depicted in this version's artwork.

Oh, and while I mostly want to focus on the Commander reprints for the bundle, I did want to specifically call out this version of Yuna, Hope of Spira. The reason for the inclusion here is subtle and might get lost on some people.

In order to gain access to numerous endgame items and a special aeon (summon) for Yuna, the group must go to Remiem Temple. To do so, you need to use a chocobo in the Calm Lands and identify a spot where chocobos have been so you can cross it. This takes you to the temple where you can do chocobo racing for special prizes or fight against the unsent summoner Belgemine. This image is likely meant to depict Yuna inside Remiem Temple summoning an aeon to battle against Belgemine. Her flavor text, however, comes from the pivotal battle against Lady Yunalesca at the end of Yuna's pilgrimage.

While I don't want to touch on most of the Final Fantasy XIV cards due to a lack of knowledge regarding the game and its expansions, I am familiar with this one! You can simply play through the game's free mode of A Realm Reborn and encounter her after a few hours of gameplay, which I have. A major part of the game's story the Scions of the Seventh Dawn group, and she acts as the group's receptionist, welcoming you into your visits there with a bright smile and cheery disposition!

One fun fact about her as well is that her name is a fun callback to Final Fantasy XI. While all of the original races for XIV are based on the ones in XI, they all use different names in XIV. The Lalafell in Final Fantasy XIV were originally known as Tarutaru in XI. As such, Tataru Taru's name is a callback to that original term.

That's all of the cards I'm looking to cover from the Chocobo Bundle, so let's look at the last thing: the four scene boxes. Each of these takes several cards with borderless art the combines to form a larger image when placed beside one another. Each covers a different game, so there's plenty to go over. I'm not going to cover each individual card, but rather talk about what's going on in the scene as a whole.

Let's get into these starting with the very first Final Fantasy title!

Of all the scene boxes here, this is the one I've covered the most already. The original Final Fantasy game isn't known for having the level of depth the later games would bring to the table. As a result, Magic: The Gathering's interpretation of the series didn't focus too heavily on the game's story beats with one major exception: Garland and the six starting jobs (classes). I already covered all of that in my previous article discussing the lore of Final Fantasy I, but here's a brief recap for this article:

Garland is a fallen knight of Cornelia who has stolen the kingdom's Princess Sarah and taken her to the Chaos Shrine. The party of four Warriors of Light are tasked with retrieving her, which results in them battling - and defeating - Garland at the Chaos Shrine itself. The four default jobs are represented in this scene box: Warrior, Thief, White Mage, and Black Mage. This kicks off the story, which ends with the party battling Garland once again at the Chaos Shrine at the end of the game.

As I mentioned earlier in this piece, I've actually yet to finish Final Fantasy VIII! I've always struggled with the game's mechanics and as such have never completed it. Despite this, I'm acutely familiar with what this scene box is depicting: the game's intro cutscene! I used to watch this all the time as a kid and even though I was left disappointed by the game itself, this cutscene continues to wow me to this day.

It's a beautiful sequence that opens the game with an incredibly stylish set of images that set the stage for what's to come. You see flashes of Rinona Heartily and the possessed sorceress Edea juxtaposed against a duel between SeeD rivals Squall and Seifer. The bolt of lightning represents a storm that kicks off the duel, and the fireball is an attack used to knock Squall to the ground. This leads to both being slashed and giving each their iconic facial scars.

It's a ton conveyed in such a simple art piece, but it manages to do this sequence justice perfectly and damn if I don't love it!

The first time I played Final Fantasy IX, I got through the whole first disc and then got pulled into something else instead. As a result, I just never came back and couldn't recall where I left off or what was going on, so I just dropped it. However, I loved the game and its characters and have been chomping at the bit to finish it. Over the past few months I've gotten the chance to sit down with the game some more to do just that and, funny enough, this just happens to be where I'm at in the game!

At the end of the second disc, Kuja turns traitor to Queen Brahne, the queen of the kingdom of Alexandria who acts as the villain for the game's first half. Brahne attempts to summon Bahamut to stop him, but Kuja manages to take control of Bahamut and wipe out Brahne and her forces instead. With Brahne dead, disc three opens with Garnet, Princess of Alexandria taking over as Queen. As she prepares to take on this new role, the others decide to take a breather by visiting Treno, Dark City to participate in a card game tournament, where they run into Cid, the ruler of Lindblum, at the tournament's end.

At this point, the party is alerted to disaster overtaking Alexandria as Kuja appears with Bahamut to lay waste to the city. The party comes on Cid's airship, the Hilda 2, to get there with Eiko jumping down to meet with Garnet (aka Dagger). Eiko helps her summon Alexander, the mighty angelic castle eidolon (summon) that stops Bahamut and protects the city. However, Kuja attempts to steal it with the Invincible, but is thwarted by the evil Garland (different from the one in Final Fantasy I). However, Garland still lays waste to Alexandria, decimating the city and its population.

This marks a major turning point for the game's story, with new foes being revealed leading to all kinds of new twists and turns.

It's somewhat funny that the majority of the scene boxes I haven't finished the games for. Despite this, I can still manage to tell you about every one of them! After all, it doesn't take you long to get the picture for what's going on in this scene!

Final Fantasy XV is all about a group of four guys - including Noctis, the crown prince to the Kingdom of Lucis - going on a road trip. It's an open world game and along the way, you make frequent stops at camps, where you can rest and engage in various activities. These include Ignis Scientia making delicious meals ("I've come up with a new recipe!") or Prompto Argentum showing you the pictures he took during the day. In some spots, you can even fish as Noctis to have more food for Ignis' meals. You can also train with Gladiolus Amicitia if you'd like to improve your skills.

It's a simple scene that tells you a ton about the game with just a few cards. This aspect of the game's mechanics makes up the backbone of what FFXV is all about, and it's a fun ride to go on. It's definitely one I'm itching to finish (and subsequently write a full lore piece on).

That wraps things up for this lengthy lore piece! I always love getting to do these, especially for a series I love as dearly as Final Fantasy. As you can probably tell from this article, I'm still working my way through various games in the series and am eager to cover even more lore in the future via Lore Tidbits. Hopefully you enjoyed these and that you'll enjoy more when they come out in the new year!

In the meantime, make sure you pick up your Final Fantasy holiday items today where possible! There's a ton of awesome stuff across all of the releases, and it's a must for any diehard Final Fantasy fan. Take my word for it. After all, if anyone should know, it's me, the person who has definitely picked up some of all of these!

Paige Smith

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