Final Fantasy Record Keeper

Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Poster art for Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Developer(s)	DeNA (Mobage)
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Series	Final Fantasy
Platform(s)	iOS, Android
Release date(s)	iOS JP September 24, 2014 WW March 26, 2015 Android JP September 24, 2014 WW March 26, 2015
Genre(s)	roleplaying game
Mode(s)	Single-player
Distribution	Digital distribution

Final Fantasy Record Keeper (Japanese: ファイナルファンタジーレコードキーパー, Hepburn: Fainaru Fantajī Rekōdo Kīpā) is a free to play roleplaying game developed by DeNA and published by Square Enix for the iOS and Android platforms. The game features characters, scenarios and battles from the mainline Final Fantasy series.^[1]

It was released in Japan on September 24, 2014 and worldwide on March 26, 2015.^[2]

Story

In a glorious kingdom that thrives on the harmony between magic and art, epic tales of valor and hope have been passed from one generation to the next. The records of these great chronicles uphold the peace and prosperity of all civilization. The kingdom sealed these records inside paintings, to safeguard the balance of the world. That is until, without warning, the records within the paintings began to fade away... Darkness fell upon the world, bringing catastrophe and ruin. The time has come for you to save the kingdom's future.

Gameplay

The player assembles a party of up to five members consisting of the main character Tyro as well as various named and generic Final Fantasy characters.^[1] With their party, the player visits the various worlds of the non-MMO members of the main Final Fantasy series, and progresses through the game by clearing Record Realms recreated from the game world that they are set in. While in a dungeon, the player may not change party members, equipment, or set abilities. Each dungeon consists of one or more locations, which have one or more Active Time Battles. These battles use pixel art sprites against a 2D background, with sprites being taken from the 2D games in the series, reused from Final Fantasy All the Bravest, or being created fresh in a retro style for the game. Uniquely for the sideline game, Final Fantasy Record Keeper has animated enemy and summon sprites.

The battles in a location are fought consecutively, with Status Effects from each battle carrying over to the next. Once all battles in a location are clear, the player is given a score for that location—"Novice", "Expert", or "Champion" (in Japanese: "Normal", "Good", or "Excellent")—based on time taken, damage received, player characters dead, and Special Score for any bosses that were fought.

Each location has a Stamina cost to challenge it. The player's Stamina score starts out at 20 points with a maximum of 20 possible. Used Stamina points regenerate at a rate of three minutes per point. Maximum Stamina can be increased by collecting Stamina Fragments, with each of the five fragments increasing maximum Stamina by one point.

Damage taken, abilities used, and special move gauge all carry over from each location to the next. Once all locations within a dungeon have been cleared, the player's overall performance based on their scores from each location is used to determine if the player has not just cleared a dungeon, but mastered it. Special First Time Rewards are given for clears and masteries, which can include Stamina Shards, Mythril, equipment, abilities, orbs, new party members, and unlocking further worlds and dungeons. In addition, clearing a dungeon has a Gil reward given each time.

Players may revisit previously cleared dungeons at any time and clear them again and again, paying the associated Stamina cost each time, in order to level grind and farm items. Furthermore, mastering a dungeon unlocks a higher level version of the same dungeon known as an Elite Dungeon. Force Dungeons have much higher Stamina costs, but they yield higher level orbs and have their own separate clear and mastery rewards.

In addition to the normal realms that are always available, the game also has Events (イベント, Ibento) which are only available for a limited time. Events usually reward players with characters unavailable by other means. Previous events have been re-run months later, providing another opportunity to acquire those characters. There is also a different daily event for each day of the week. There is a limit on how often events may be challenged.

While the game is free to play, there is a real money cash shop where yen may be exchanged for Mog Coins (モグコイン, mogu koin). Mog Coins may in turn be used to pay for anything that Mythril can be used for at a rate of 97 Mog Coins per piece of Mythril. Mythril may be used for the following:

• Resting in a realm between locations, restoring HP, status, and used abilities.
• Continuing in a realm when the party has been wiped out. This restores the party to full strength as resting does, gives them a random temporary stat bonus, and returns them to the beginning of the location to try again.
• Instantly regaining all Stamina.
• Equipment Summons (装備召喚, Soubi Shoukan), a lottery that awards equipment of varying power and rarity.
• Increasing the inventory limit for equipment and the inventory limit for abilities, both of which start at 100.

Rarity

Abilities, orbs, Growth Eggs, refining items, weapons, armor, and accessories are rated from one star ☆ to five stars ☆☆☆☆☆. This functions as a power rating of sorts; Thunder is ☆ while Thundaga is ☆☆☆, for example. Abilities require orbs of the same rarity to synthesize. Growth Eggs bestow more XP when used the more stars they have. Equipment of higher rarity has higher stats than equipment of lower rarity. Naturally, the higher rarity items drop less frequently than lower rarity items off monsters of the same level.

Equipment Upgrades

Each character may equip one weapon, one piece of armor, and one accessory at a time. Weapons and armor may be leveled up via a refinement process carried out by Cid. This costs gil and requires the sacrifice of another piece of equipment. Once the item's level gauge is filled, it levels up and its stats improve. Filling the gauge requires more raw material the higher the level is to be achieved. The item's level limit is based on its rarity, with ☆ equipment having a maximum level of three and ☆☆☆☆☆ equipment having a maximum level of twenty. In addition to using up other pieces of equipment, players may also use Adamantite or Scarletite. Adamantite is better for leveling up armor and scarletite is better for leveling up weapons. Higher rarity refining materials add more to the item's leveling gauge.

Weapons and armor at their maximum levels may be upgraded, gaining a star and a "+" after its name. Thus for example a Battleaxe (☆) may be upgraded to a Battleaxe+ (☆☆). This costs gil and an additional copy of the item to be upgraded. Thus, the player can be faced with a dilemma when an additional piece of hard-to-get equipment is acquired: use it to upgrade their original piece, or use it as equipment? Any given weapon or armor may be upgraded twice.

Ability Synthesis and Upgrades

Each character has slots to equip up to two abilities at a time. Orbs オーブ dropped off monsters are used to synthesize abilities. This synthesis is carried out by Cid for a fee in gil. Abilities have a limited number of uses per dungeon, which may be increased up to four times by Cid at a cost in orbs and gil. In order to synthesize Summoning Magic abilities, Summoning Orbs (召喚のオーブ, Shoukan no ōbu) are required, which are only obtained through events.

Setting

Tyro is tasked by Dr. Mog to stop the darkness from corrupting the stories and memories sealed within magical paintings.^[1]

Characters

List of characters released in the Japanese version as of April 24, 2015:

Original characters

• Tyro (Japanese: Deci): Dr. Mog's best student who is tasked with diving into magic paintings and see stories and memories of different worlds.^[1]
• Dr. Mog:^[1] A Moogle professor.
• Cid

Guest characters

Development

On July 15, 2014, a teaser site appeared with a timer counting time for the game's actual reveal.^[3]

External links

• Official Japanese site
• Official English site
• FINAL FANTASY Record Keeper Official Strategy Site

References