The Final Fantasy Games With The Best Optional Content

Each Final Fantasy game offers something a little different from the last. One thing is consistent though, there’s always optional content to complete if players want to find the game’s strongest items and fight its hardest bosses.

Prior to Final Fantasy 12, these RPGs didn’t have the now commonplace side quest log or journal keeping track of side activities. However, those earlier entries were just as packed with secrets to uncover and side content to explore.

The more modern franchise entries present their side content front and center, often with map markers and waypoints. That doesn’t necessarily make the optional content less compelling, though. Out of the whole series, these Final Fantasy games have the best secrets that are worth seeking out.

8 Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age

Join The Hunt

Of the side activities in Final Fantasy 12, the one many remember most fondly is joining Montblanc’s Clan Centurio hunting lodge. These optional hunts led to some of the most unique and interesting battles in the game.

Another highlight is the optional Aeons, which present not only some challenging boss fights, but also grant powerful new summons to use. The game’s gambit system lends a strategic challenge to its battles, as players command their companions both directly and with AI commands.

For newcomers and returning players alike, Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age is the edition to pick, due to its alternate leveling system and customization options. Not only that, but it also expands the optional content with Trial Mode, New Game+, and the challenging New Game-Mode.

7 Final Fantasy 6

Magicite Hunting

Out of the 2D era of Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy 6 (A.K.A Final Fantasy 3 in the US) has the most enjoyable side content. There are optional characters to recruit, secret bosses to fight, and a ton of rare and powerful Magicite to collect.

Many players will remember puzzling out the clock tower riddle in Zozo, bidding in the auction house, or tracking down the eight legendary dragons for the Crusader Esper. While it’s really the character stories and the Magicite system that stand out in Final Fantasy 6, the side content is well worth exploring.

6 Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion

Side Missions All The Way Down

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The side content in Crisis Core may lack a little variety, but there certainly is a lot of it. The bite-size nature of the game’s missions means that there are quite literally hundreds of side missions to take on, almost none of which are required to beat the main story.

This is where all the most powerful equipment and materia in the game are found, though. Players who want to dive deep into the combat, master materia fusion, and take on Minerva, will want to get through them all.

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The game is so dedicated to side content that it’s got a permanent tracker for the player’s completion percentage that gives rewards at periodic milestones. The rewards for getting to 100% are some of the best items in the game, meaning there’s always a carrot drawing players forward through the side missions.

5 Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Too Much Optional Content?

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Released

February 29, 2024

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

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While some players have suggested that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s semi-open world lends itself to repetitive side content, there are still some truly excellent mini-games and side missions along the way.

The way the game developed the original’s minor character moments, like the “romance” options, into full-fledged side content is impressive. For those who prefer the challenge of end-game level bosses, there’s also the returning combat simulator from the remake’s first chapter.

Add to that basically every mini-game from the original FF7 reimagined and expanded, plus a host of new ideas, and it’s undeniable that Rebirth has great side content, whether there’s “too much” of it or not.

4 Final Fantasy 10

Dark Aeons

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Released

December 17, 2001

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

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Final Fantasy 10‘s side content ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. Learning the entire Al-Bhed alphabet or dodging lightning bolts might seem like tasks for a masochist, yet Final Fantasy 10 rewards every one of these efforts and throws in some amazing optional boss fights, too.

One of the most interesting things about Final Fantasy 10‘s side content is how much it manages to pack in despite the majority of the game being a linear narrative. There’s only one big opportunity to explore optional content in the mid-game, and most of the content is only easily accessed once the player reaches the game’s final area and can backtrack.

The Dark Aeon fights added in later re-releases of the game are a new level of challenging boss fight, pushing the game’s excellent turn-based combat to its limits. However, many players will remember Blitzball as the main side activity that sucked up their time and attention.

3 Final Fantasy 8

Triple Triad

Final Fantasy 8 can be a divisive entry in the series, but its card-collecting mini-game, Triple Triad, remains a favorite among fans to this day. Of course, it also had optional summons to find, secret areas of the overworld to explore, and side missions to seek out.

Once the player has the Ragnarok late on in the game, the map opens up a lot. There are hidden areas and bosses to find that both expand the content and the story of the game. Shumi Village, the Chocobo forests, and the hidden GF locations are all highlights.

2 Final Fantasy 9

Character Quests

The best quests in Final Fantasy 9 often come from exploring the storylines of party members. Whether it’s Vivi’s origins, Quina’s quest for snacks, or exploring the character of Zidane’s adopted family, these are some of the most engaging narratives in the game.

However, Final Fantasy 9 also goes the extra mile in its other side content, too. The secret town of Daguerro has its own optional puzzles to solve, there’s an expanded version of the prior games’ Chocobo hunts, the Tetra Master card game, the auction house, and the list goes on.

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Also, the secret boss, Ozma, is an amazing, jaw-dropping fight, and a satisfying combat puzzle to work out and defeat. For those who crave those optional fights, there’s the Treno Monster Arena that continuously adds new foes to fight throughout the game.

1 Final Fantasy 7

The Ultimate Weapons

One of the many reasons that Final Fantasy 7 captured gamers’ attention and hearts was its willingness to take risks with mini-games, diversions, and side-content. Few, if any, RPGs before it had dared to fuse in vehicle combat mechanics, tower defense mini-games, or racing games.

Final Fantasy 7 had all of those and more. Many of these mini-games were collected and brought together at the iconic Gold Saucer, but FF7 did a good job of sprinkling optional content along the journey of the game’s 3 discs.

From the game’s complex Chocobo breeding system, which fed into both exploration and the separate Chocobo racing mini-game, to the multiple “Weapon” super bosses, Final Fantasy 7 had something for everyone in its side content.

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