Full motion videos, or FMVs, are used in the Final Fantasy games from Final Fantasy VII onwards (although Pseudo-FMVs appeared earlier), and in the remakes of earlier games for PlayStation, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS. These tend to be much longer than normal cutscenes, often involving entirely different models for the characters. FMVs are always used for the beginning and ending of a Final Fantasy game but are also used at important points in the games such as the climax.
FMVs were first used in Final Fantasy VII as part of an attempt to eliminate loading times between areas. Many smaller sequences, sometimes only a few seconds, were thus integrated into the game when moving from one area to another. Other scenes were much longer in length, and depicted scenes that would have been more difficult to show with lower-resolution renders.
In Final Fantasy VIII, FMVs were more common, and were also integrated directly into the background, allowing players to move their characters directly through FMV-quality backgrounds. An example of this is when Squall and Rinoa run through the foreground while SeeDs fight Galbadian soldiers in an FMV in the background.
In later titles made for high-definition consoles, the distinction between FMVs and normal cutscenes is often less noticeable, but still may be reflected by changed character models and somewhat crisper graphics. In titles where cutscenes may be skipped, FMVs may often not be, though this functionality has in some cases been added in remasters. Even in such cases, FMVs often cannot be paused like normal cutscenes.
An FMV in Final Fantasy VII in which the Weapons first come out of the North Crater.
Appearances[]
- Final Fantasy (PS, PSP)
- Final Fantasy II (PS, PSP)
- Final Fantasy III (DS)
- Final Fantasy IV (PS, DS, PSP, PC)
- Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (PSP)
- Final Fantasy V (PS)
- Final Fantasy VI (PS)
- Final Fantasy VII
- Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
- Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
- Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Final Fantasy VIII
- Final Fantasy IX
- Final Fantasy X
- Final Fantasy X-2
- Final Fantasy XI
- Final Fantasy XII
- Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
- Final Fantasy XIII
- Final Fantasy XIII-2
- Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Final Fantasy XV
- Final Fantasy Type-0
- Final Fantasy Origins
- Final Fantasy Chronicles
- Final Fantasy Anthology
- Final Fantasy Tactics
- Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
- Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
- Dissidia Final Fantasy
- Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
- Dissidia Final Fantasy NT
- World of Final Fantasy