The Psychology of Final Fantasy: Surpassing The Limit Break

by Anthony M. Bean

"No matter how dark the night, morning always comes, and our journey begins anew." - Lulu, Final Fantasy X.

From its initial release in 1987, Final Fantasy has gone on to become one of the most beloved series of role-playing games in history. With narratives revolving around grandiose stories of good versus evil, Final Fantasy has allowed us, as players, to witness heroic battles, experience hard-won victories, and create treasured friendships for almost 40 years.

The Psychology of Final Fantasy guides gamers on a real-world quest of self-discovery so that they can surpass their own limit break. And, as part of this examination, psychologists, clinicians, video game researchers, professors, and enthusiasts who love this franchise ask:

How does the storyline in Final Fantasy grab and keep our attention for so many hours of gameplay?
Why do the symbols in the game, such as crystals, magic, and weapons, hold meaning about our own psychological inner workings?
What are the feminine warrior and archetypes found in the game and how are they living in all of our everyday lives?
How does playing Final Fantasy connect us with a larger sense of spiritual guidance as to who we are?
Why is it that, by creating a group, we become whole more than we do when playing as individuals?
How do the musical interludes affect our psyche and push us to become better versions of ourselves?
Think you know Final Fantasy? The Psychology of Final Fantasy explores how the game resonates with a player's psychological drive toward an emotional sense of wholeness, bonding, and completion as they take part in this epic quest.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Video Games, Gaming, Pop Culture, Philosophy, Game Design

256 pages, Paperback

Published August 31, 2020

About the author

I am a Licensed Clinical Depth Psychologist, video game researcher, and the Executive Director at The Telos Project, a thriving nonprofit mental health clinic in Fort Worth, Texas which focuses on video gamers and their families. I have been consulted as an expert for CNN, Inverse, Polygon, and internationally for Gehirn & Geist, while also appearing on Radio, Podcasts, and being a sought after Keynote Speaker and conference speaker in the United States, Canada, and Russia. I hold a Doctorate in Philosophy in Clinical Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and specialize in the therapeutic implications of video games and gaming, working with children and adolescents, and the use of video game character identification as a therapeutic technique. I have also authored multiple academic articles, book chapters, and the two books Working with Video Gamers and Games in Therapy: A Clinician's Guide (Routledge, 2018) and The Psychology of Zelda: Linking Our World to the Legend of Zelda Series (Ben Bella, 2019) while being active on twitter with a following of around 2300 individuals (@VideoGameDoc).

Reviews

[Lully Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Spoilers for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XV.]

I had been looking forward to reading this, as the Final Fantasy series is very near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, I quickly became more and more disappointed with the contents; the essays felt either under-developed, rambly, or otherwise filled with misinformation about the games being discussed. While some essays were more interesting than others, overall I found myself feeling frustrated.

One essay regarding gender roles in Final Fantasy was especially frustrating. By the end of it, I was sure this person (or persons) hadn't actually played the games themselves. To say that Final Fantasy XV failed to depict men showing affection toward one another or any signs of domesticity is just factually incorrect; one of the most beloved scenes from that game is a tearful and heartfelt goodbye between the chocobros, and you can barely get through a random encounter without Ignis ready to break out the pots and pans with a new recipe.

Furthermore, this same essay claimed Aerith was a warm but incompetent woman by virtue of her death merely because Phoenix Downs and the Life spell exist within the game. First, Phoenix Downs revive from K.O., not Death, and despite her death, Aerith is solely to thank for saving Gaia from imminent doom. To call her incompetent in a game whose themes are Life and Loss is a gross misunderstanding of the text.

There is so much to discuss regarding gender roles in Final Fantasy, so it is especially disappointing to see it done so poorly.

I suspect that the production of this collection of essays was rushed, as there are also a surprisingly large amount of typos and grammatical errors, misspellings of names, and characters attributed to the wrong game (at one point, Seifer Almasy is listed as a character from Final Fantasy IX instead of VIII).

Overall, this book had a lot of potential but really missed the mark. Truly unfortunate.

[Janna M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays was page after page of nostalgia! Full confession: I didn't actually grow up with Final Fantasy. (We didn't have video games in our house!) I got into video games in college, and FFXIII was one of the first I got to experience. I remember being enthralled by Sazh's chocobo chick, and Lightning's epic battles. Years later, when I met my husband, he introduced me to FFVI...and then FFVII...and then FFX...and eventually FFXIV...which we still play today! We even have a cat named Kain. So, the series holds a special place in my heart, even though I'm relatively new (is ten years new?) to it.

I gave the whole book a score of 4/5; some essays were easily a 5/5 and some fell a bit short, but they averaged out well. The entire chapter about music turned my brain into a jukebox, leaping from tune to tune with every one that was mentioned. The in-depth discussions of Cloud and Vivi broke my heart all over again. I felt most of the authors were deeply connected to the material, and jotted down several recommendations for further reading based on their notes or sources.

If you find yourself firing up your old PS2 every few years to replay the classics, this book absolutely needs to be on your bookshelf. If you ever wondered why so many Final Fantasy characters suffer from amnesia (and if you want to be amazed at how accurately it was depicted), get yourself a copy. If you ever took a psychology class in college and managed to make your final paper about Blade Runner (hey, I got a B on it!), you will adore diving into this book.

Thank you so much to Goodreads and Leylines Publishing - I won this book in my first ever giveaway!

[Michael Barros · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really think this book would hit #1 on Amazon if they put right on the cover:

“Like Vivi? Curious how he relates to the thought of an Auschwitz survivor? Buy this book!”

Great stuff!

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

refreshing to read essays reflecting on video games as vehicles for storytelling—made me appreciate tidus and cloud as characters even more, especially in those last two essays about memory, identity development, and trauma. enjoyed the essay about vivi, too—gave me . prompto from ffxv and pascal/the robos from nier vibes.

at times the essays were repetitive (both across and within essays), seemingly put together with a little less care than i was hoping, and somewhat poorly researched? i took umbrage with one essay’s claims about ffxv that were so insufficient they were blatant lies. is it problematic that the main cast of playable heroes were exclusively men, save for a few episode/chapters? maybe (????? not sure how strongly i feel on that front), but to say there was no nurturing care or creation of a space where noctis could grapple w his trauma among the guys was demonstrably false.

while i’m glad this collection of work exists at all, this book could have benefited from an additional proofreading sweepthrough to make it that bit more professional, e.g. the same essay referring to ffvii’s zack as both zack and zach, sometimes on the same page. i also did not feel like i walked away with anything that groundbreaking or novel. happy there is a space to think about these things—a solid 2.5. (so niche, kind of hard to recommend to others unless it was actually jaw-dropping on multiple fronts.)

[Arya FrouzaanFar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting, absolutely riveting!

That is, if you have played at least one Final Fantasy game. From the Acknowledgments section of the book (and I have added the bold formatting):

I truly believe in order to understand the virtual worlds, expansive universes, and reasons we play video games, we need to step into the arena and personally experience virtual worlds. If an academic or therapist is going to talk about, research, or conduct therapy with individuals who play video games, they should at least be familiar with the topic free of the addiction pandemic bias so prevalently found in our society today. Many other authors and researchers who talk about video games view them as a means for addiction, violent extremism, and antisocial behavior. This bias is far from the truth. This book imparts great insight into the video game worlds, the players, and the inter-workings of the video game world of Final Fantasy . We did not approach this topic from just the outside, but the inside of the video gamer world as well as we all have played the games we loved talking about in this book.

That is to say, if you haven't played at least one Final Fantasy game or you aren't familiar with at least one of the stories, you will probably be reading the book from the outside. (And thus, you would probably appreciate it less than a Final Fantasy fan like myself would.) So if you do decide to read, keep this in mind, and maybe don't rate! (Same goes for recommendations; I personally didn't recommend this to any readers I know as they weren't Final Fantasy players.)

This book does impart great insight on many of the nuances of the stories. Besides, you may take many of these insights and apply them to ordinary, day-to-day life. Identity development, coping with trauma, stereotypes, etc. (This is real human psychology after all.)

Do expect spoilers (mostly minor, but with some seriously major ones mixed in) and do expect your love of the games rekindled! You might even find yourself looking for explanations and backstories all over the place. (Which, I personally evaluate as a good thing!)

[Ikayuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm so conflicted about this book.

On one hand, several of the essays were absolutely enthralling, and were full of interesting information I hadn't really thought about before.

On the other hand, this book is an editor's worst nightmare. There's a lot of missing punctuation, misspellings, and plain misinformation. Some examples;

• Seifer Almasy's game of origin is incorrect twice. It is first stated that he's from FFIX, and then again from FFVII. These are both wrong; he's Squall's rival character from FFVIII. Come on, he's in the opening cinematic.
• 'Al Bhed' is incorrectly spelled as 'Al Behd' for the entirety of an essay.
• In the last essay about Cloud and Trauma, the authors continuously spell Zack's name as 'Zach'.

There's also a lot of misinformation from the games themselves and what feel like biased opinions being passed as fact.

• In the essays about gender stereotypes, the boys from XV are incorrectly portrayed as unfeeling and uncaring towards one another. This is blatantly untrue and easy to disprove to anyone who actually played the game itself.
• In the same essay, the girls from X-2 are said to be weak and only have power / strength from changing clothes. Did you all just conveniently forget all of the character growth Yuna (and Rikku) went through in X? They didn't change their clothes there. Paine's strength and backstory are explained through the crimson spheres found in the game. Just say you didn't play either and just read Kotaku review for both XV and X-2.
• Passing Seifer off as an 'incompetent male' just to fit your narrative is another case of "tell me you didn't play the game". Seifer loses EVERYTHING to main character and scrambles to make something of his life with whatever he has left. He's also only 18 and has gone through incredibly traumatic things- the entire cast of FFVIII has, but that's completely glossed over.

This book heavily favors popular titles and glosses over the others. I would say the best essays in here are the ones on Music, Vivi, and the Genocidal Religion that is Yevon from X. Everything else just isn't worth the read from misrepresentation and misinformation.

[Ryo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this collection of essays about Final Fantasy, but it was very disappointing. I appreciated all of the nostalgia, with mentions of basically every game in the series, including the very first one that I remember playing back in 1990. And certainly, they examine these video games from angles that are not typical when talking about video games, including trauma, Gestalt psychology, and finding meaning in life. Unfortunately, the fact that these essays are centered around a video game series I've enjoyed for most of my life is really about the only thing going for this collection. The book is filled with spelling and grammar issues, to the point that it was distracting, in pretty much every essay. Some simple proofreading was sorely needed and would have helped this feel a lot more polished. There's also blatant factual errors that some simple fact-checking would have caught. I didn't take detailed notes as I was reading, but I remember one essay mentioning that Vivi was non-binary, despite another essay about Vivi consistently referring to him as male, and also the game consistently referring to him as a boy. Quina is the character from the same game whose gender is usually considered indeterminate, and yet the essay failed to mention that. Another essay mentions that Final Fantasy XV's all-male cast doesn't express themselves emotionally, and yet that's just blatantly false for anyone who's actually played the game. It's like the author was just assuming that a stereotype about men applied to this group of men in particular and concluded that it was problematic to have four men as the cast of a video game, without doing the research. I was happy to see a collection of essays about video games, and Final Fantasy in particular, but this one had a lot of problems. I hope that a future essay collection can do the series justice.

[Jamie Cruise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is packed with some great ideas and nuanced ways of assessing much-loved Final Fantasy titles and characters. The chapters are perfectly bite-sized and leave you rethinking what you thought you knew about the series.

Highlights were certainly the cases made of Final Fantasy VII and X - applying concepts of cognitive dissonance and assessing the potency of memory on identity being fasinating examples.

As much as I enjoyed the book and have been given a lot to think about, it could have done with a little more attention in the editing process. There are a number of small mistakes, mostly typos or questionable grammar/tenses, inconsistent spelling of names (Zach/Zack), and in one particular section Seifer is cited to be from FFVII, FFVIII AND FFIX.

As a writer and someone intimate with many of Final Fantasy's titles, this created some turbulence for me that I realise probably won't be as much of a problem for others. However, as some chapters reference many different games (and seem to expect the reader to have the same experience with the mentioned games, given the spoilers included) I would expect a little more accuracy to the references.

Having said this, any fan of the series, particuarly those that have played many/most numbered titles, should not sleep on this book. The ideas within will doubtlessly call for a re-read in the future, and I imagine that I will enjoy it just as much as I did the first time.

[Anh · Rating 4 out of 5]

After listening to the “fanthropology” episode on the “Ologies” podcast, I proceeded to read this book. I enjoyed the anthropological and psychological analysis and incision into the epic storytelling, gameplay elements, and interpretation of the common attributes that appear in the game.

First off, I recommended this mainly to people who are veterans of the Final Fantasy Series, because there is a lot of jargon. Though there are footnotes that elucidate these elements, but readers might still be confused when they have not truly immersed in the high fantasy worlds from these installments. Most the examples in the book are drawn from Final Fantasy VI- X. The book also includes plot spoilers from the games.

I don’t agree with all of the content discussed, such as it’s praise for having more female characters, and less sexualization of women in the games. What about Lulu’s victory pose? Or the need to rescue Rinoa? Most of the main leads are males as well as dominant party members. There was an essay that later does describe how audiences have responded to gender roles in the game and how they were used, which was an ideal counter.

Overall, I enjoyed the explanation that made the characters compelling.

[Brentin · Rating 3 out of 5]

*NOTE: I listened to this on Audible*.
This book is a collection of essays that examines different aapects of Psychology/Sociology and how they apply within the stories of the Final Fantasy games. There does not seem to be any sort of flow or organization to how the essays are compiled. Further, they seem to rely heavily on certain titles (namely 6, 7, 10 and 13). While theee are certainly the more popular titles (and to be fair the first three FF games don't have the same depth of character development), it would have been nice to see some variety. Two chapters about trauma and amnesia are nearly identical. Also it should probably go without saying but it's full of spoilers so if you have only played one or two titles definitely avoid this.
The editing is also a bit weak. There are pauses which seem like they don't belong and occasional background static and swallowing (which may just be a personal pet peeve). There are a couple of references to charts/tables, which clearly doesn't work on Audible (other authors have included a PDF or a website that can be referenced).
Still I did enjoy looking at some of my favorite games in a new light and I am looking forward to playing them with fresh insights.

[Brian Schulz · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a huge fan of this entire franchise, these games, going back to my childhood, have been a way to confront, ponder, and wrestle with events and questions in life that many would simply miss due to them being video games. However, what one quickly learns in playing these games is that they are great novels brought to motion on a screen. They reflect and explore lessons that are experienced and needed in our real lives. This book, a collection of pieces from multiple authors, dives into the worlds of Final Fantasy in order to see how and why they have affected fans the way they do. These games serve as a mirror to the many experiences we have and give us a way to see them played out from an outside perspective. These themes include the meaning of life, the acceptance of death, the push and pull of pleasure/pain and light/dark. What it means love in all facets and versions of that action, and how the greatest tasks in life are not always conquered alone. Any fan of the series will find the insights enjoyable and fascinating to explore all of the things you realized while playing the games, but never put into words.

[Dean Guadagno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kishotenketsu storytelling. Gestalt psychology. Heidegger and Dasein. Apotheosis...

Admittedly a few new additions to the ol' vocabulary after reading this book, but words and concepts that have gifted me an entirely new flavor of analysis to some of my favorite games of all time (and beyond).

I loved every single chapter of the Psychology of Final Fantasy. From an eye-opening analysis of the franchise's female archetypes, to a dive into the concepts of memory loss and trauma in FF7. I can speak to the "wholeness" of my own personal FF7 party, and Dr. Rachel Kowert's chapter on Bottom Up storytelling is truly brilliant.

I promise you don't have to have a PhD to love this book. It's wonderfully engaging and enlightening for any fans of the franchise, and one of my favorite "GameStudies" books I've read.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This to me served more as a nod to veteran fans of the series, and perhaps some newcomers as well, than as a serious academic text for psychology. However, the usage of themes and character stories from the franchise did make for an easy to interpret contextualization of concepts such as trauma and social archetypes.

While it would have been an exhaustive work to include every game in the franchise, I would have appreciated a wider net cast of characters and concepts, but that comes down to the subjective likes of both the reader and the authors, i.e. having favorite games/characters.

Still felt it was definitely worth the read, and perhaps worth a replaying of the games with the book's concepts in mind.

[Nick Savino · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-put together collection of essays both discussing the psychology of video game players in relation to parts of their games, and using the Final Fantasy cast as case studies with which to examine real issues. The book succeeds at everything it sets out to do and provides a sound introduction to several psychological concepts and areas of study. While other games are relevant at times, it heavily focuses on Final Fantasy 6, 7, 10, and 13. Being a collection of essays by different psychiatrists, marketers, and musicologists, you get a varied set of perspectives throughout. Has a few more noticeable typos than I was happy with, but is otherwise quite good.

[Mj · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays here range from the fantastic (a treatise on music composition and the way it has wormed into all of our hearts) to the abysmal (a misguided attempt at thinking the men from Final Fantasy XV are somehow toxic or how Aerith in VII is weak and disposable because you can’t use a phoenix down on her???). It’s clear which authors played the games and which ones had a thesis paper they just needed to graft Cloud Strife onto for a paycheck.

The book is a net win, however and leagues above the Final Fantasy and Philosophy book from a few years before this came out. Just accept that some of the essays will be for educational purposes and some will actually relate to the series we love.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graciously received a free copy through good reads.

I've never played a final fantasy game.

This book made me realize how complicated the game sounds and makes me not want to try it. I also realize how many people it must take to make these games, so kudos to the game creators for creating something so complicated.

I wasn't interested in the game aspect of this book, but learned some psychology stuff that I found quite interesting.

[Stephen Born · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a psych minor and have always been interested in the field of psychology.
I’ve also always enjoyed the final fantasy series since I was a kid. Being able to see how the two go together was really interesting. There are case studies on Cloud, Vivi, and Lightning that are really cool to dive into.
Recommend if you are a psych nerd and a final fantasy nerd for sure!

[sirkyleofduhaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a pretty darn good book, and offered more than I was expecting, and I listened to it via audiobook in one morning/afternoon of working on my lawn. If you've played some of the games, I would say it's worth your time.

[Osvaldo Jimenez Ornelas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was amazing, it explains all the concepts and makes some great analogies with the franchise. I loved every second of it. If you're a fan of Final Fantasy and also have an interest in feminism and mental health, this book is for you.

[Tyler McCutchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great way to start the new year in books! For fans of the series or new fans, this book really dives deep into the psychology used in the story telling of the final fantasy games. My boyfriend got me into final fantasy and I’m extremely happy to have found this book! Great work!

[Juan Rivas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for those familiar with the Final Fantasy series. I enjoyed revisiting aspects of the game series with a psychological lens. Nostalgic and worth the read.

[John Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors get a few facts about the games wrong, but it's still a good read.

[Jackson Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Adrian Jimenez · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some essays that are really good just the same as there are ones that are not.

[Quixotic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. I would give most chapter also a 3/5 as I liked them. Dueling Drives: Life and Death by Anthony M Bean was my favorite chapter.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some essays were better than others. Eventually it became a little repetitive with different authors making similar points with similar characters

[Brook · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some interesting concepts in this collection of essays, but I wasn't particularly blown away by any of them. I'm also not as big a Final Fantasy fan as other people may be, so it didn't resonate as much. I liked the ones about identity and trauma, though--it seemed good ways to explain that to a lay person.

[r · Rating 4 out of 5]

"While the Limit Break is an important feature of gameplay for the series, it also speaks to something deeper about human psychology, for it is only by taking damage that you can unlock a character's full abilities."

[Christine Craft · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Final Fantasy fan, this was an incredible and intriguing read. I greatly enjoyed revisiting the series through psychology concepts and theories. I loved reading the essays and the few lists within tables because they were informative, insightful, and expanded my understanding of the series. I thought the selection of characters the authors selected to discuss in each chapter was a good amount, just know that not every single game, or character, gets examined like others do in this book.

Overall, this is a fantastic read and I highly suggest it if you’re a fan of Final Fantasy, enjoy psychology, or like both!