My Top 50 Final Fantasy Locations: #10 to #1

Here we are then. The Top 10 Final Fantasy Locations, at least in my eyes anyway. There's been a huge variety of areas we've covered so far already, across all the games. It's been fun. If you've missed them click here for #20 to #11, here for #30 to #21, here for #40 to #31 and here for #50 to #41.

So what are my favourite 10 locations of my favourite video game series ever? Let's count them down.

Please note: This list will talk about spoilers. If you have not played the game that each location represents I'd avoid that entry.

#10: Deling City
Game? Final Fantasy VIII
When do you go? Not far into the game as Laguna in a flashback, and a bit later on in modern time
Revisitable? Yes, until time compression occurs
Description: A very cool cosmopolitan city, the capital of Galbadia, it's dark for most of the year due to the climate and has a Presidential Residence, a grand hotel and many luxurious streets.

Ah, Deling City. What a place. Apparently this place was inspired by Paris in France in its design and it's hard not to see why. It just looks so cool. So cool. And of course, this is another choice that's definitely inspired by its amazing music. That's the icing on the cake of cool. I'd love to come to Deling City if it existed in real life. I suppose I better go to Paris then, it's the best I'm going to get really. The story that happens here is naturally important, and it's a big swerve in the events as well, as it serves as the place where Ultimecia, in Edea's form, starts to try and take over the world. Of course when you're here you don't know that and think Edea is the main antagonist. Either way Deling City is amazing.

#9: Wall Market
Game? Final Fantasy VII
When do you go? Very early on
Revisitable? Yes, but only much later in the game onwards
Description: A shopping centre of sorts, it's one of the most bustling places in Midgar. As well as having its own clothes shop and gym, it also has its own adult club. It's called Wall Market as there's a huge wall here that is actually used to climb above the Midgar plate and straight to Shinra Headquarters.

I've often said during the course of this listing that some places are chosen because of its sheer beautify and not because of storyline events. But this place, Wall Market, is chosen for exactly that reason. What happens in Wall Market... stays in Wall Market. Poor Cloud, poor poor Cloud! The dressing up as a woman scene is one of the funniest moments in the entire series of Final Fantasy. Especially if Don Corneo actually chooses him as his 'bride', then it gets even more funny! And of course, the Honey Bee Inn is classic. It's times like the Honey Bee Inn when Squaresoft completely justifies its 15+ rating on the game. It's just so wrong, some of the things that can happen there. Wall Market is an awesome time in the game, it stays long in the memory, what happens here.

#8: Lindblum
Game? Final Fantasy IX
When do you go? Quite early on, and a little later after that
Revisitable? Yes
Description: Actually the biggest city in Final Fantasy IX, although it's nothing on other places in other games. A decent sized city with the bet technology in the game, the city is seperated into different Districts. It has its own Regent and force, a force that's considered the strongest in the game until Queen Brahne starts producing Black Mages which shakes the forces of the world of Gaia during the course of the game.

Another cool city in Final Fantasy is Lindblum. It's a different cool to Deling City though, it's just such a nice place. It has a good castle, and the streets have lots of markets and the people just seem really happy for the most part. Tantalus, the crew that Zidane is from, reside here, as does the amazing Regent Cid, one of my favourite Cid's in the Final Fantasy series. A lot of story progression occurs here, and it's a base in parts for your party for some spells of the game. Lindblum is just such a lovely, welcoming city, one that I absolutely adore.

#7: Figaro Castle
Game? Final Fantasy VI
When do you go? Very early on, a little later, and towards the end of the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: On the surface, Edgar's castle is just that, a castle. But Edgar being the huge technological wizard that he is, has given his castle a few perks, the main one being able to travel underground to another continent.

There is one main reason why I love Figaro Castle, and that's because the man, the legend himself, Edgar resides here. The man is a legendary Final Fantasy character, by far the best womaniser in the series. And some of the best moments in the story of Final Fantasy VI are in this castle; when he flirts with Terra and even better, when you come here following a suspicious man who calls himself Gerad (Edgar in bad disguise). The castle itself and its awesome theme are cool of course; the castle being able to move underground is pretty funky and a bit of a surprise when you see it happen for the first time. Figaro Castle is just one of the best places in Final Fantasy history in my eyes.

Figaro Castle is the fifth and last entry from Final Fantasy VI in this list.

#6: Black Mage Village
Game? Final Fantasy IX
When do you go? Half way through the game, a little later, and towards the end of the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A magically hidden village where the Black Mages who were once puppets of war, have retreated to live the rest of their short lives in peace. Later on the Genomes, who have had a similar experience in terms of being used by a master of sorts, also take home here.

The Black Mage Village gets this high on my list because as a place it's cool and also the storyline progression here is amazing. You learn so much here, about the Black Mages, about Vivi and the Genomes come here later on. It's just a true place of Gaia that you feel is completely safe that has a calm atmosphere, and the music helps to that again of course. The Black Mages are terribly scared that Zidane and company have found their secret hideout but soon learn their motives. Mr 288 (all the Black Mages are numbered) is a leader of sorts in the village, and he discusses life philosophy heavily in this village. His words and views on life are really cool if not sad, and really make you think about real life. Things like that make this place so memorable. And of course, the birth of Bobby Corwen is awesome too! Best chocobo name ever!

#5: Balamb Garden
Game? Final Fantasy VIII
When do you go? Right at the beginning and many times throughout the game
Revisitable? Yes, until time compression occurs
Description: A large school of sorts, students learn and train how to fight here with the hope of once becoming SeeD, mercenaries who help settle global unrest. Later on it's discovered that it's also a mobile ship and is used as one.

There is absolutely no dispute about Balamb Garden being one of the Final Fantasy series most recognisable landmarks. Probably no place in Final Fantasy VIII is as easily memorable as this place. You start the game here, you come back here many times throughout the game and it's your base for pretty much the whole game. A lot of storyline progression naturally occurs here, and it's just a really cool place. I wish I went to school here. The music is so peaceful as well of course. Man I love Balamb Garden.

#4: Alexandria
Game? Final Fantasy IX
When do you go? Right in the beginning of the game, towards the middle of the game and later again
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A city and nation ruled by a monarchy; Queen Brahne on the throne until Princess Garnet, or Dagger, claims it. The story starts here. A bustling city with a large castle, Alexandria is one of the main places in the game.

I love Alexandria. It's another one of those places that I'd love to live in. Everything is cute or gorgeous, depending on where you go. I love the castle, it's absolutely stunning, and the town centre itself is pretty damn cool too. Vivi's little journey here early on is just great, you can't help but love him there and then right from the off. Of course the scenes with Zidane and Steiner also make it brilliant. And of course, who can forget Beatrix, she can serve me any day... Alexandria, another staple landmark of the Final Fantasy series is also one of my favourite places, and I place it at number four.

#3: Nibelheim
Game? Final Fantasy VII
When do you go? In flashbacks quite early on, in modern time towards the middle of the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A small village next to a mountain, some of the most important events in the history of the game happen here. Cloud and Tifa's hometime, it's burnt down by Sephiroth when he goes crazy on a murderous rampage. The Shinra Manor, one of the creepiest looking places in the Final Fantasy series, also resides here.

I don't know how naive any of you were on your first visit to Nibelheim, but remember I was very young when I played this game. After hearing Cloud's amazing story, I totally expected this place to be a big pile of burnt ashes. When you stumble across Nibelheim in game, and you see everything completely put back together, like nothing ever happened, I was just so shocked. And confused. Squaresoft really pulled a fantastic plot twist here when they made it seem like nothing had ever changed, but of course, it was Shinra, trying to hide their flaws and failures, who rebuilt the village back to the way it was, and got decent actors to make people believe that no fire ever occured there.

And then you have the Shinra Manor. Man that place is just so creepy, the music, the things that happen there, the experiments, everything. It's an amazing yet horrible place, haunted by the past. I love it. Nibelheim is a truly mindblowing little place, its history and distinct appearance will forever be engraved in my head.

Nibelheim is the seventh and last entry from Final Fantasy VII in this list.

#2: Treno
Game? Final Fantasy IX
When do you go? Towards the middle of the game and a little later on
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A  town in permanent night time, separated by excessively rich nobles and bones dry poor peasants. It hosts its own auction, card tournament amongst other things. Doctor Tot resides here.

Now if I were to try and narrow down one place I'd love to live in a Final Fantasy game, it probably would be Treno. As a noble obviously. You've got the gorgeous night light, an awesome auction and card tournament, Doctor Tot to rely upon if you need help with something, if you were feeling adventurous you could take on the master's pet and you could kick peasants for entertainment. Okay I'm exaggerating a little here but Treno is just such a cool place. Sure the contrast of the economy isn't nice, but that aside it's a brilliant place. One of my favourite moments in the entire game happen here, when Baku keeps on getting Doctor Tot's name wrong. Such a funny moment in the game. I just can't help but love Treno, I love coming here it's just brilliant.

Treno is the tenth and last entry from Final Fantasy IX in this list.

Okay, we're at the end now. Let's just recap from #50 to #2:

• #50 - Pandaemonium (II)
• #49 - Faultwarrens (XIII)
• #48 - World of Darkness (III)
• #47 - Giza Plains (XII)
• #46 - Chaos Shrine (I)
• #45 - Macalania Forest (X)
• #44 - Lunar Subterrane (IV)
• #43 - Orphan's Cradle (XIII)
• #42 - Edea's Orphanage (VIII)
• #41 - Archylte Steppe (XIII)
• #40 - Northern Cave (VII)
• #39 - South Figaro (VI)
• #38 - Rabanastre (XII)
• #37 - Forgotten Capital (VII)
• #36 - Magitek Research Facility (VI)
• #35 - Moonflow (X)
• #34 - Lake Bresha (XIII)
• #33 - Iifa Tree (IX)
• #32 - Shumi Village (VIII)
• #31 - Gold Saucer (VII)
• #30 - Nautilus (XIII)
• #29 - Besaid (X)
• #28 - Daguerreo (IX)
• #27 - Shinra Headquarters (VII)
• #26 - Ship Graveyard (V)
• #25 - Zanarkand (X)
• #24 - Sulyya Springs (XIII)
• #23 - Bhujerba (XII)
• #22 - Bran Bal (IX)
• #21 - Bodhum (XIII)
• #20 - Giruvegan (XII)
• #19 - Dali (IX)
• #18 - Esthar (VIII)
• #17 - Calm Lands (X)
• #16 - Memoria (IX)
• #15 - Narshe (VI)
• #14 - Cosmo Canyon (VII)
• #13 - Oerba (XIII)
• #12 - Zozo (VI)
• #11 - Conde Petie (IX)
• #10 - Deling City (VIII)
• #9 - Wall Market (VII)
• #8 - Lindblum (IX)
• #7 - Figaro Castle (VI)
• #6 - Black Mage Village (IX)
• #5 - Balamb Garden (VIII)
• #4 - Alexandria (IX)
• #3 - Nibelheim (VII)
• #2 - Treno (IX)

Here we are then. My favourite Final Fantasy location of all time is...

#1: Ultimecia's Castle
Game? Final Fantasy VIII
When do you go? The final dungeon in the game
Revisitable? No
Description: An exceedingly grand, chilling, maze-like castle. Ultimecia lives here, as do all of her minions, who have your powers. Some of the locations in this castle are the grand hall with a huge chandelier, a wine cellar, a courtyard, a treasure room, an art gallery, a prison, an armoury, a chapel, a waterway, and a clock tower. Ultimecia, lurks deep in the final area, the master room.

What a place Ultimecia's Castle is. Ultimecia as a villain doesn't deserve such an amazing place to hide in. This is more suited to say, Kefka, or Sephiroth. Regardless of my feelings for Ultimecia this castle is my favourite place in the series. Everything about it is perfect. I love the grand staircase when you arrive, the cobwebs dripping from the banisters and ornaments. The art gallery is creepy and the pictures are cool. Getting trapped in the prison gives you an 'oh crap' moment. The clock tower is excellent. I just love this castle. I wish it was mine. It's just feels like Squaresoft pulled all the stops to make it the biggest, grandest castle ever imagined when they came up with it. Everything about it reeks of class and terror. You can't help but wonder how many people or things Ultimecia and her minions may have murdered in cold blood in this place, and in different parts of the castle. It's terrifying. But I love it and it's my favourite place in the Final Fantasy series.

Ultimecia's Castle is the sixth and last entry from Final Fantasy VIII in this list.

And that's the end. Thanks for joining me count down my favourite 50 Final Fantasy Locations. It's been a blast. I love this series so much, I'm sure you noticed. While it's highly debated that the Final Fantasy series is not getting any better, one thing for me that keeps the series together are its amazing locations. Proof of that is the splendid places made in Final Fantasy XII and XIII. Some have critised one or both games, I'm one of those people. But regardless of the game and its flaws, the locations, man, they're just beautiful. You can't deny that. Thanks once again for joining me. There's one more thing I want to do, and that's to point you to My Top 50 Final Fantasy Characters listing that I did nearly two years ago, if you haven't seen it. Have a good night.

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My Top 50 Final Fantasy Locations: #30 to #21

Hey there, thanks for joining me bang in the middle of My Top 50 Final Fantasy Locations list. Today I count from #30 to #21 in my list, yesterday I did #40 to #31 and the day before I did #50 to #41 if you missed them. No more talk let's continue!

Please note: This list will talk about spoilers. If you have not played the game that each location represents I'd avoid that entry.

#30: Nautilus
Game? Final Fantasy XIII
When do you go? Towards the middle of the game
Revisitable? No
Description: Also called "The City of Dreams", Nautilus is the best place on the world of Cocoon for entertainment; it has an amusement park, nice green walks and most impressively, the Pompa Sancta parade which is a true dramatic 3D battle sequence of the War of Transgression.

So much happens at Nautilus. Two of my favourite FF13 characters, Sazh and Vanille, come here to try and hide from all the chaos surrounding them being branded l'Cie yet some of the most climatic and tense scenes in the entire game happen here. Before all of that, the beautiful Pompa Sancta parade occurs and it's mind blowing how gorgeous it looks, kudos to Square Enix for that. Then, Vanille comes clean about being responsible for Dajh, Sazh's son, being branded l'Cie, just after Dajh turns into crystal right in front of his fathers eyes. It's truly a sad scene, really sad, and the idea that Sazh was going to commit suicide there and then is horrifying as well. All of this, in The City of Dreams. It's an amazing place with a fantastic shift in the story.

#29: Besaid
Game? Final Fantasy X
When do you go? Very early on
Revisitable? Yes
Description: An island, the official starting point of the pilgrimage; to bring Yuna to Zanarkand to defeat Sin. Yuna, Kimahri, Wakka and Lulu live on the island, which has a gorgeous beach, a river and a village with a temple.

Ah, Besaid. It's such a beautiful place, so calm, so tranquil. It's probably in my Top 5 places I'd love to live if I lived in a Final Fantasy world. Your true journey starts here, after the Dream Zanarkand sequence, the dangers at Baaj Temple and running into the Al Bhed crew. The pilgrimage starts here, as does meeting most of the characters of the game. It's just such a nice place, and it all really starts here.

#28: Daguerreo
Game? Final Fantasy IX
When do you go? Completely optional, from half way through the game onwards
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A very large library of sorts, flooded by the natural location of the waterfalls above it.

Daguerrero, like Shumi Village in FF8 before it, is completely optional but that's not to say no care or thoughts have been put into its location, Daguerrero is just such a cute little place you can't easily dislike it. It's a bizarre concept; a gigantic indoor library... flooded by waterfalls being directly above it. It doesn't make sense? Yet Squresoft make it work so well. You can get some really strong equipment for your characters here, and this is the last time you see Gilgamesh, although you have to work really hard throughout the game for him to reveal his true identity. It's just a lovely little place with nice, comforting music to boot.

#27: Shinra Headquarters
Game? Final Fantasy VII
When do you go? Quite early on
Revisitable? Yes, but only once and it's optional
Description: The headquarters of the Shinra company, the tallest location in all of Midgar, high above the plate that separates Midgar into eight sectors. Seventy floors tall, President Shinra's personal office is at the top.

I was debating whether or not to make Midgar one entire entry in this list or separate parts of it and put those parts in my list. I went with the latter. That being said there's only two parts of Midgar that make the list, this one and... you'll find out won't you? Anyway, the attack on Shina Headquarters is still pretty epic, and the layout of the building is pretty cool. I love the dialogue between Cloud, Tifa and Barret if you decide to take the side entrance, it had me in stitches the first time I saw the scene. And of course, Jenova's journey to Northern Crater to reunite with Sephiroth starts here too. When you play this game for the first time, as a very young kid, I remember thinking that this was close to the end of the game, that we were going to destroy Shinra and the credits would roll. In reality of course, this is just the beginning, and the real story truly unfolds here.

#26: Ship Graveyard
Game? Final Fantasy V
When do you go? Quite early in the game
Revisitable? No
Description: A load of ships completely destroyed by large sea attacks, that is full of ghosts and other beasties, hoping to take your party down with them.

If you've been paying attention you may have noticed that there was no entry so far in the list from Final Fantasy V, a game in the series that while isn't bad by any stretch, isn't really that impressive either. But I absolutely love the Ship Graveyard, and that's why it's so high in my list. I just think that part of the story when Syldra gets sucked into a maelstrom and you barely survive the journey, only to find yourself on a haunted ship full of ghosts and other deadly beings pretty cool. I like the map of the place where you go through the ships full of water, having to hop on nearby stones to get from one ship to another in some parts is great. And of course, at the end, when you finally find land, to have to take on the deadly Siren, who was possessing all the undead all along, was is a good payoff.

Ship Graveyard is the first and only entry from Final Fantasy V in this list.

#25: Zanarkand
Game? Final Fantasy X
When do you go? Right at the beginning and very close to the end
Revisitable? Yes
Description: In actuality, there are two Zanarkands, one was a huge city with many buildings, a huge night scene and lots and lots of blitzball and other high technological activities. After being destroyed by Sin, Zanarkand is a huge shell of its former self, crumbling and decaying, and serves as the final point in Yuna's pilgramage. The other Zanarkand, is the huge city explained above, yet it's only a dream, and does not actually exist. Tidus is part of this dream location

While there are two Zanarkands in FF10, let's get something straight, Dream Zanarkand is an incarnation of the real Zanarkand that did exist a thousand years before the game's plot. So for me, I'm treating it as one location. The contrasts between Zanarkand one thousand years ago and the current Zanarkand is astronomical. Zanarkand of old looked like such an awesome place to live, all the glitz and glamour, all the blitzball you could ever want yet the current Zanarkand is just one of the most depressing places in Final Fantasy history. So much death, so much decay, so much rubble it can make you feel really sad going to the current state of Zanarkand. And for people like me, I was always intrigued to know what Zanarkand you would see at the end of the pilgrimage. Of course, it was never in doubt what you would see at the end of the journey, but you did hope of course, that it wouldn't be the case. Zanarkand is one of Final Fantasy's most amazing locations, there's no doubt about that.

#24: Sulyya Springs
Game? Final Fantasy XIII
When do you go? Quite late in the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A large natural spring that is protected by the fal'Cie Bismarck and is a natural habitat for lots of overgrown frogs. The location is a short bridge between Mah'habara Subterra and Taejin's Tower.

This is one of the areas in the series that's in this list because of its location rather than any plot or story that occurs here. I absolutely love the design of the Sulyya Springs. It's such a gorgeous place and that music is just so beautiful and suits the mood perfectly. It looks so good that you can almost feel the warmth of the water and climate on your face when playing it. Okay maybe not but you get the idea.

#23: Bhujerba
Game? Final Fantasy XII
When do you go? Quite early on in the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A gorgeous floating city in the sky, the Marquis resides here and tries his best to maintain neutrality in the game's two main nations. It contains its own mine and has a lot of natural greenery, as well as a decent sized city centre.

In terms of the cities of Final Fantasy XII, this is by far the best looking one. Bhujerba is just stunning. The idea of a floating continent, or city, is not a new thing, they've tried a few times to make a floating 'something' in the series. But they really pulled off all the stops with Bhujerba, it's just magnificent to look at. The Lhusu Mines are pretty cool too, but it's just the look of the city, the clouds surrounding the city, the scenery, everything about it, is just mindblowingly cool.

#22: Bran Bal
Game? Final Fantasy IX
When do you go? Quite late in the game
Revisitable? No
Description: The only village on the planet of Terra, the planet trying to take over Gaia in FF9. It's Zidane's true origin of birth, as well as Kuja's, and all of the Genomes race.

Bran Bal, or Terra in general (Bran Bal is about 90% of what's left of Terra) is one of the view places that truly gives me goosebumps when I go there. It's a hard concept to do, making another planet other than your own. And while Terra isn't really much of a planet due to its dying state, you still get a good taste of what life was like through Bran Bal. Life was pretty damn crap don't get me wrong, but as a place it looks amazing. So much blue, so much foreign looking plants and odd shaped houses and vessels, it's a true place of beauty in the universe of Final Fantasy IX. I love it.

#21: Bodhum
Game? Final Fantasy XIII
When do you go? Only through flashbacks, not once do you go to Bodhum in the game
Revisitable? No
Description: The home of Lightning, Serah and Snow, Bodhum is a stunning seaside town that gives an incredible look of the sunset whilst holdig an annual fireworks display to the residents of Cocoon.

It might be considered odd not only to include Bodhum but to place it so high in my favourite places of Final Fantasy but I just think it looks so damn good. It's like an improved Besaid from Final Fantasy X, and seems like the perfect place to chill and hang out. You do get to control Snow here through a particular flashback and from that alone I love the look of this area. Square-Enix did a great job of making this place look as good as it does and it's a shame you don't get to explore it any more than you do.

Three parts down, two to go. What are my favourite 20 locations of the Final Fantasy series? Come back tomorrow when I reveal the first half of them. Take care and have a good one.

Click here for #20 to #11.
Click here for #10 to #1.

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