An Entertaining Trip Down Memory Lane: Fight, Magic, Items [Review]

By: Mithrandiel

As the new year rapidly approaches, chances are many of you are setting resolutions for the new year. Maybe this is the year you really get serious about hitting the gym, or spending more time in the kitchen learning new recipes.

For me, I’ve made a commitment to do more reading in the coming year. Some fiction, to be sure, but more specifically I’m interested in exploring the broad library of nonfiction titles that cover geeky topics from video games to comic books and beyond.

Having a Master’s degree that is being painfully underutilized, I find an allure in returning to more academia-inspired reading and study. In fact, I was recently made aware of an awesome site called The Video Game Library - which was borne from a passionate collector’s endeavor to digitize his own collection of video game-themed histories and books. The project is being rolled out in phases, beginning with titles, cover art and authors, and will later expand to detail subject matter and topics so that interested geeks can use it to sort through the extensive nonfiction library supporting video games. Make sure to check it out and support the creator if you have the chance!

My commitment to further reading in geek-related topics had already spurred me to gobble up Jason Schreier’s wonderfully-written Blood, Sweat, and Pixels. That is, until a new arrival landed on my doorstep.

Having set my intent on doing more reading a number of weeks ago, I actually had Aidan Moher’s Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West near the top of my Christmas list. So you can imagine my delight when it showed up, alongside Steven Kent’s Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume One.

I pressed the pause button on Schreier’s Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry and began digging into Moher’s work immediately.

Thankfully, I was not disappointed.

While Moher has a few years on me (just a few, mind you), the way that the book chronicles the arrival, and subsequent explosion in popularity of JRPGs in America - it reads as an almost beat-by-beat reproduction of my own childhood in gaming. Beginning with the titanic Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy titles, which laid the foundation for the JRPGs to come, Moher skillfully compiles news articles, previous interviews, and conversations he’s had with contemporary game journalists and creators to breathe life into the history of JRPGs from the 80s until today.

While Moher grounds Fight, Magic, Items in the early days of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy - two massive franchises that he returns to time and time again as the book progresses, he also demonstrates equal parts insane ambition and extreme restraint in how he folds in other key titles throughout the years. While there will no doubt be some games that go unmentioned, Moher does great work in touching on many of the most influential and groundbreaking titles in the span of roughly 285 pages. From Paper Mario to Shin Megami Tensei, Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma and more, a few stones may remain unturned, but you will likely have to look closely to spot them.

There were one or two points where it seemed like the game selections/spotlights were a bit of a shotgun-style approach: lacking the otherwise polished cohesion that the majority of the book displays. However, while there are some bumps in the road, you never fall off the wagon.

I particularly enjoyed the insights into Hironobu Sakaguchi throughout the book. “King Sakaguchi”, as Moher reveals he was called as Final Fantasy began to reach a fever-pitch in America, is characterized as a passionate, trailblazing, if still fallible, creator. As the book covers early on, Sakaguchi never expected to stay in the gaming industry for very long - thus the “Final” part of “Final Fantasy”.

The chronicling of his innovative approach to storytelling while using video games as a “cinematic” medium is among some of the most compelling content in the book. Moher does well to breathe life into dozens of A-list creators throughout the book, but I definitely walked away with a renewed appreciation for all that Mr. Sakaguchi has done to influence the JRPGs we play and enjoy today.

Flashback to 2016’s Final Fantasy XV reveal party - it was an honor to snag a selfie with “King Sakaguchi” himself!

Looking back now, many of us may fondly reflect on the “golden age” of Squaresoft and Nintendo. The wonder we had in playing Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger for the first time. That feeling of exhilaration in stepping out of Midgar in Final Fantasy VII. Moher’s narrative does well in sharing both his personal experiences of these momentous games, while also providing an insightful (and sometimes shocking) view of the industry as a whole. Like a proper HD remaster, Moher expertly adds color and detail to a bygone era of gaming that is growing more and more pixelated every year.

If you, like me, are endeavoring to learn more about the hobbies that you are passionate about, Fight, Magic, Items is a fantastic choice to peer into the rich history of JRPGs. Pick it up today!