2016 Geek-A-Long: Final Fantasy

During my Sophomore and Junior year of high school, my friend and I hung out at this guy’s house a lot. We watched Toonami with him and his brothers or we’d take turns playing video games. At one point, they went through a heavy Final Fantasy phase. My friend and I never really got into the game. We always ended up gossiping or doing our homework, but we’d occasionally look up, comment on the ridiculous swords, and admire the graphics before getting back to what we were doing.

Fast forward way too many years later, my husband likes to tell me that I’d love Final Fantasy if I just gave it a try, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Hey, there are a lot of great games out there and I still have to eat, knit, and dye yarn too. So, without further ado, here is my husband to fanboy about the franchise.

My first and favorite Final Fantasy is number seven. I remember renting it from Blockbuster and returning it thinking it was the worst. I grew up on platformers like Sonic and Mario. The deepest RPG I ever played was Pokémon, and Final Fantasy was too hard and too slow for 9-year-old me. I couldn’t even beat the first boss. Turned out, you needed to use potions to heal yourself – Who could’ve known? A year or so later, I was a little older and a little smarter. My friends always raved about FFVII, so I tried it out again. I was in love with the genre from there on.

It’s amazing how much time you have on your hands when you’re young. It works great with RPG games that you can sink hundreds of hours into. FFVII was a gateway for me into the genre. I went back and played the older SNES and NES games alongside new (to me) franchises like Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, and even Super Mario RPG. I love these types of games, but I have to pick and choose what games I get since my time is so limited now. With Final Fantasy XV coming out in November, I know exactly which game is going to use up some of my vacation days.

Even if every game in the series isn’t a star, I’ll always go back to play the new ones. It’s the fact that every game is different, with a new story, characters, and mechanics, but many of the same elements follow through each iteration. The one that comes to mind immediately for me is the Chocobo. I’m always excited to see what the new Chocobos looks like and to hear the new song. To me, that combination of familiarity with originality is why Final Fantasy always keeps me coming back.

Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Final Fantasy Chocobo pattern here. Instructions for both knit and crochet are listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to tweet or instagram your squares at me @jac_attacking or Megan-Anne @Doctor_Llama with the hashtag #geekalong!

If you’re having trouble with double-sided knitting, we have a how-to video here and a tutorial on crochet here. Want to hang out with other people making the blanket? You can find moral support in the Geek-A-Long group on Ravelry here.

~ Jac
Can they really call it FINAL Fantasy if there are 15 of them?

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If you enjoyed this post, please consider making a donation to Child’s Play Charity. Here is a direct link to our donation page benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year! No contribution is too small. Wanna make your donation go even further? Louet Yarn is donating 50 cents for every skein of Louet Gems Worsted purchased this year to make a Geek-A-Long blanket. You can get Gems at your Local Yarn Store or through Louet’s website. Just remember to mention the GAL at check out.