Final Fantasy and Philosophy: The Ultimate Walkthrough (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)

If you are a true fan of final fantasy and square enix as I am. Then you need to get your hands on this book! I was able to get my hand on this book for under ten dollars,and It was the best ten dollars I've spent in a long time.This book delves into several different areas of the final fantasy universe,asking questions and giving very detailed and structured answers along the way.If you have ever had questions about final fantasy the who,what,when,where,and the why are answered in this book.This is a book on philosophy so don't be expecting an adventure themed tale of an unnamed hero,this is a book for the dreamers.

I bought this for my boyfriend, who adores Final Fantasy and often discusses major philosophical issues with me as they come up in my classes. We were both pleasantly surprised how readable it was (compared to many other works that address Nietzsche, Kafka, et cetera) and how well it analyzed the major points of interest in the Final Fantasy series; it's not often you see a deep knowledge of philosophy matched with a deep knowledge of a popular video game. I highly recommend this for anyone with an interest in either of those fields, and I'm excited to read more by this author.

This is an excellent book, but I must insist that this come with a few qualifying asterisks. First off, if you are a hardcore fan of the series, you may be put off by the occasional inaccuracies to the games mentioned in each essay. Likewise, if you are well-versed in philosophy, you may find this book to be a bit too dumbed down or even irreverent. As the cover suggests, this is a more light-hearted romp to casually observe a few philosophical concepts that are touched upon within the series.The book is a collection of essays that are, admittedly, loosely organized and have little connection to each other beyond the use of the Final Fantasy series as a centrepiece of discussion. Additionally, the essay quality varies quite a bit. Aside from one particular essay, most are at least of decent quality but are largely suited for simply introducing those who may be interested in philosophy to the basics as most of these subjects would be covered in an basic college Philosophy course or two. That said, there are at least two or three essays that are almost worth the entire book even for the more educated philosophers, particularly an essay that questions Kefka's (of FF6) madness, and one that addresses and delves deeper into the existential questions of Vivi (FF9) and Kuja which are touched upon within the game itself. Sadly, there is only one (possibly two, depending on how generous you are) essay that talks about an Eastern philosophies, but at least it is one of the better ones.Again, this book will probably fail to satisfy the more avid fans of either philosophy or the Final Fantasy series, but for the rest - particularly those who are just starting out or considering learning about philosophy, it is a great way to start your journey via something familiar.P.S. I generally try to avoid mentioning other reviews in my own, but I must disagree with some that disliked an essay questioning whether we should thank the heroes of Final Fantasy for saving the world. While that premise may be flawed, the goal of the essay was not to convince the reader of that premise, but merely to think about it and not take it for granted. Again, one of the first things taught in a philosophy course (specifically, to not take any commonly held belief for granted), but an excellent point to bring to beginners.

This book is amusing at times. I was annoyed by the condescending attitude of some the chapters. Most of the concepts mentioned in the book are ones commonly held by fans to begin with. The main usefulness of the text was in aiding me to understand some aspects of Hume's and Kant's philosophies better.I can't say how accurate the philosophical information is, being less well-versed on the subject, but accusations of inaccuracy regarding Final Fantasy games is correct. There's one long essay where the authors apparently didn't know that FFVII and FFVIII are different games. Cloud, Seifer, Aeris and Sephrioth are all described together as having come from the same game. I think they're describing Squall when they talk about Cloud but it's hard to tell.I think if you're going to print an essay and receive payment for it you should at least be familiar enough with the work you're discussing to identify the main characters correctly.

I bought this as a gift for my friend, he loved it. Thank you!

It's been a really enjoyable read on some of the Bosses and themes in these games being applied to Philosophies and Philosophers. Particularly reading about Kefka and Kafka was fascinating.

Do not buy this book. It is riddled with inaccurate details and is obvious some of the authors did not play the games. I regret buying this book because I think it is a great injustice to the fans of the series. These pop culture books are often interesting and make some good thinking points, but this is not one of those books. Out of the entire book, there was only one chapter I thought to be well written. I have played every single game in the series including XI and was upset to see one author name Cloud Strife as the main protagonist in Final Fantasy VIII. The facts are constantly wrong and the philosophical ideas are something anyone could think up regardless of what you are talking about. A friend of mine told me not to get this book, but I didn't listen and now I'm out a few bucks and an hour or two of my life. Do yourself a favor and go play a Final Fantasy game and don't waste time reading this garbage.

The writers seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with the philosopher hume. Still an interesting read.

A must have for any fan, this book is a different view on the series. Couldn't put it down!

In den verschiedenen Kapiteln des Buches werden diverse philosophische/mythologische Gedanken aufgegriffen und analysiert.Jedem Fan der Reihe wird bewusst, wie gezielt die Geschichten der einzelnen Teile konstruiert wurden.Das Buch ist für jeden zu empfehlen der:-Sich gerne etwas intensiver mit oben genannten Themen auseinandersetzt.-Gerne einen anderen Blick auf die Geschichte der einzenen Final Fantasy Teile gewinnen möchten.

The reason I bought this book is because I am a MAJOR Final Fantasy fan! Secondly, I've always been interested in Philosophy, but don't know where to start. So here's a book that combines both together! Perfect!....or is it?Personally, I find some of the chapters a bit......too complicated for my brain (and this is coming from someone who didn't study philosophy). However, in general, I'd say this book is a pleasant read :)

Inspiring book. Not very well written but good analyses. I would recommend it to any fans or students doing game studies.

Weird