The latest English translation in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Ultimania book series is now available. Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Material Ultimania Plus, a visual encyclopedia centered on Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, released November 19. Amazon is offering a big launch discount that drops the price of the $40 hardcover to only $31. If you prefer digital books, a Kindle edition will release on December 24 and is available to preorder for $25.
The new book is a sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake Ultimania–same title without “Plus”–which focused on the original version of FF7 Remake for PS4. Ultimania Plus is centered on the PS5 and PC version of FF7 Remake, including the Intermission story expansion. The book is filled with commentary, art, and maps, as well as new insights on the base game.
$31 (was $40)
If you’ve never picked up one of the Material Ultimania books, these are essentially dedicated Final Fantasy Wikis but in print form. Each one focuses on Final Fantasy games, typically compiling several into a single volume, but Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a special case due to the sheer size of the game.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Material Ultimania Plus goes behind the scenes on the production of the game, and includes a wealth of additional content like cutscene storyboards, game scripts, and other planning materials, all accompanied by extensive commentary from the development staff. The 224-page hardcover also has gameplay walkthroughs with maps for Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Episode Intermission.
If you’re looking to complete the set, you can pick up the first Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Material Ultimania for $25.49 (was $40) at Amazon. This 336-page hardcover includes a comprehensive collection of production art and CG art assets. Everything from character models, illustrations, locations, backgrounds, accessories, weapons, enemies, and more are covered in this encyclopedia.
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Final Fantasy Ultimania Archives
Square Enix’s Ultimania Archives series is worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of the classic era of Final Fantasy. The first archive examines the NES and SNES eras of the franchise (Final Fantasy 1-6), the second volume shines a light on the PS1 era of games (Final Fantasy 7-9), and the third volume looks at the modern era (Final Fantasy 10-14). These deluxe hardcover books are 300-plus pages each and are filled with commentary and art that you won’t find anywhere else.
Square Enix’s Ultimania books originally release in Japan before being translated to English for Western audiences. Not every book in the Ultimania series has received a translation, though. For instance, there’s a Chrono Trigger Ultimania that sadly is only available in Japanese. Final Fantasy fans may also want to check out Kingdom Hearts Ultimania, which collects art and commentary on the series prior to Kingdom Hearts 3. This one is available in English, and Amazon has it for $25 (was $45) right now.
Final Fantasy 7 Novels
If you want to spend even more time in Final Fantasy 7’s world, there are a few official novels with new stories featuring the main cast. Traces of Two Pasts explores the backstories of Tifa and Aerith.
FF Dot: The Pixel Art of Final Fantasy
If you’re particularly interested in the Ultimania books surrounding classic Final Fantasy games, you should also check out FF Dot. This tome features detailed sprite sheets that showcase the pixel composition of Final Fantasy’s characters, as well as the maps of the classic series, a look at the tools used to build them, and a special interview with Kazuko Shibuya, the character pixel artist for the Final Fantasy series.
Speaking of pixel art, Final Fantasy I-VI Collection Anniversary Edition released last month. A reprint of the hard-to-find collection of Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters, the Anniversary Edition is on sale for a substantial discount on PlayStation at Amazon. This wonderful compilation of the first six Final Fantasy games is also available for Nintendo Switch, though it’s only a few bucks off.
Final Fantasy fans should also check out Amazon’s deals on The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy Box Set and Yoshitaka Amano: The Illustrated Biography. Both of these collector’s sets revolve around the now-iconic art created by Final Fantasy’s original designer.