Final Fantasy Record Keeper

Final Fantasy Record Keeper is a free-to-play social role-playing game where players participate in memorable battles from the Final Fantasy series. Launched in Japan during December 2014, the game ran for seven-and-a-half years internationally from March 2015 to September 2022 before it was withdrawn. Service for the Japanese version continues as of 2024.

Gameplay[]

The player assembles a party of up to five members consisting of a combination of original characters such as the main character, Tyro (the default name is Tyro, but can be changed at the beginning), and various named and generic Final Fantasy characters. Using their party, the player visits the various worlds of the main Final Fantasy series, and progresses by completing Classic Dungeons re-created from the Record Realm (Final Fantasy game) that they are set in. While in a dungeon, the player cannot change party members, equipment, or set abilities. Each dungeon consists of one or more stages, which have one or more Active Time Battles. These battles use pixel art sprites against a 2D background, with sprites being taken from the 2D games in the series, reused from Final Fantasy All the Bravest, or being created fresh in a retro style. Final Fantasy Record Keeper has animated boss and summon sprites.

The battles in a stage are fought consecutively, with HP, status effects (including: Paralyze, Confuse, Sleep, Poison, Petrify, Silence, and Blind), and abilities used from each battle carrying over to the next. Once all battles in a stage are completed, the player is given a score for that stage—"Novice," "Expert," or "Champion" ("Normal," "Good," or "Excellent" in Japanese)—based on time taken, damage received, player characters dead, and Target Score(s) (スペシャルスコア, Supesharu Sukoa?, lit. Special Score) for any bosses that were fought. If the player receives an Expert score for a stage, they are given 150% of the party's accumulated EXP (resulting in a battle worth 200 EXP being worth 300), while a Champion score for a stage awards a "Champion Bonus!!" of 200% EXP (a battle worth 200 EXP is instead worth 400). Battles can be fought manually or automatically, which can be changed throughout the battle. If auto-battle is being used, characters will only attack, they will not use Soul Break abilities, magic or defend.

Each stage has a Stamina (スタミナ, Sutamina?) cost to challenge it. The player's Stamina gauge starts out at 30/30 points. Used Stamina points regenerate at a rate of one point per three minutes of real time. The player's maximum Stamina can be increased by collecting Stamina Shards (スタミナのかけら, Sutamina no Kakera?), with every five shards increasing the maximum Stamina by one point, and in most cases, also fully restoring Stamina. If the amount of stamina currently used is less than the amount of stamina restored, then the amount of stamina will temporarily be increased above the maximum amount.

Once all stages within a dungeon have been completed, the player receives a rank of Bronze, Silver, or Gold based on the cumulative result of their scores for those stages. If Gold rank is achieved, then that dungeon is considered Mastered (マスター, Masutā?, lit. Master). Special rewards are given on completion of dungeon. Rewards are divided into three categories: Completion Reward, Mastery Reward, and First Time Reward. The Completion Reward, which is usually a differing amount of Gil, is given every time a dungeon is completed and can be obtained multiple times. The Mastery Reward is given if a dungeon has been Mastered and the First Time Reward is given the first time a dungeon is completed. Both of these rewards consist of prizes such as Stamina Shards, Mythril, equipment, abilities, orbs, and new party members. Mastery Rewards and First Time Rewards can only be obtained once. Completing a dungeon also unlocks further realms and dungeons.

Players may revisit previously completed dungeons at any time and complete them again and again, paying the associated Stamina cost each time, in order to level grind and farm items. Furthermore, mastering a dungeon unlocks a higher level version of the same dungeon known as an Elite Dungeon. Elite Dungeons have much higher Stamina costs, but they yield higher level orbs and have their own separate completion and mastery rewards.

In addition to the normal realms that are always available, Events (イベント, Ibento?) which are only available for a limited time also appear. Events usually reward players with characters unavailable by other means. Previous events have been re-run months later, providing another opportunity to acquire those characters. There is also a different daily event for each day of the week.

While the game is free to play, there is an in-game shop where real currency can be exchanged for Gems (モグコイン, Mogu Koin?, lit. Mog Coin). Gems may in turn be used to pay for anything that Mythril can be used for. Conversion rates are as follows: 97 Gems per unit of currency in Japan, 100 Gems per US$0.99 or equivalent in other territories. As of August 30, 2022, the real-money shop for the Global release is closed pending that version's planned exit.

Mythril[]

Mythril can be used for the following:

Resting in a Camp between stages in a dungeon, restoring HP, status, and used abilities.
Continuing in a dungeon when the party has been wiped out. This restores the party to full strength in the same way that as resting does, gives them a random temporary stat bonus, and returns them to the beginning of the battle to try again.
Instantly regaining an amount of stamina equal to the player's max stamina.
Relic Draw (装備召喚, Soubi Shōkan?, lit. Equipment Summon), a lottery that awards equipment of varying power and rarity.
Increasing the inventory limit for equipment and the inventory limit for abilities, both of which start at 100 slots and increase by 5 for each mythril used
Increasing the inventory limit for the vault, which starts at 100 slots and increases by 50 for each mythril used.

Rarity[]

Abilities, orbs, Growth Eggs, refining items, weapons, armor, and accessories are rated from one star ☆ to seven stars ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆. This functions as a power rating of sorts; for example, Thunder is ☆ while Thundaga is ☆☆☆. Abilities require orbs of the same rarity to synthesize. Growth Eggs bestow more EXP when used the more stars they have. Equipment of higher rarity has higher stats than equipment of lower rarity. Naturally, the higher rarity items drop less frequently than lower rarity items off monsters of the same level. The highest-ranked abilities require materials from Ultimate dungeons and the Nightmare Dungeons campaign.

Rarity also affects if an ability can be equipped and used by a character or not. Each character has a unique list of what rarity of each type of abilities they can equip. If an ability's rarity is higher than the rarity of that ability's type that a character is able to equip and use, then the character won't be able to equip and use that ability. For example, if a Combat type ability is 4★ rarity and a character can only use 3★ Combat type abilities, then the character will not be able to equip and use that ability.

Equipment upgrades[]

Each character may equip one weapon, one piece of armor, and one accessory at a time. Weapons and armor may be leveled up via a refinement process carried out by Cid. This costs gil and requires the sacrifice of another piece of equipment. Once the item gains enough experience to fill its level gauge, it levels up and its stats improve. Filling the gauge requires more experience the higher the level to be achieved is. The item's level limit is based on its rarity, with ☆ equipment having a maximum level of three and ☆☆☆☆☆ equipment having a maximum level of twenty. In addition to using up other pieces of equipment, players may also use Adamantite or Scarletite, special refining items that give a lot of experience. Adamantite is better for leveling up armor and Scarletite is better for leveling up weapons. Higher rarity refining materials give more experience.

Weapons and armor at their maximum levels may be combined, gaining a star and a "+" after its name. Thus for example a Battleaxe (★) may be combined to form a Battleaxe+ (★★). This costs gil and an additional copy of the item to be combined. Thus, the player can be faced with a dilemma when an additional piece of hard-to-get equipment is acquired: combine it to improve their original piece, or use it as equipment? Any given weapon or armor may be upgraded twice. Dark Matter of the appropriate rarity can also be used to reforge equipment, raising it to the next rarity level and adding third "+" after its name. Dark Matter ranges from ☆ to ☆☆☆☆☆, meaning that equipment ☆☆☆☆☆☆ and higher cannot be reforged.

Ability honing and upgrades[]

Abilities have a limited number of uses per dungeon, but the number of uses can be increased by Cid through a process called honing. Abilities start out at rank 1, and gain uses as their rank is increased. Each time an ability is honed, its rank increases by 1, to a maximum rank of 5. Many curative abilities start with 4 uses and gain 2 uses per rank for a maximum of 12 uses. Summons start with 2 uses and gain 1 use every rank for a maximum of 6 uses, while all other types of abilities start with 2 uses and gain 2 uses every rank for a maximum of 10 uses. Honing costs orbs (オーブ, ōbu?) and gil, and abilities of a higher rank require more orbs and gil to hone. Orbs can be obtained as drops from monsters or as rewards for completing or mastering dungeons. There also dungeons that rotate daily that give out a large number of orbs.

There are six Rarities of Abilities, with 1★ through 4★ abilities being entry-level strength, while 5★ and 6★ abilities are the most powerful. While 5★ abilities only require orbs to be crafted, 6★ abilities have other requirements that must be met to unlock them. There are two types of prerequisites for 6★ abilities: one type unlocks from the Record Spheres of heroes, and as such may not be crafted from the Create Abilities screen, and the other type requires the Ability Record, a crystal obtained either from The Nightmare or from The Royal Crucible. The Ability Record abilities, such as Meltdown and Voltech, are limited to just one copy, as the Record is consumed once the ability is created, but the abilities obtained through Record Spheres, such as Snowspell Strike and Aegis Strike, may be obtained multiple times.

Soul Breaks[]

Main article: Soul Break

Soul Breaks are Limit Break-like abilities unique to each character that may be used in battle. Soul Breaks consume from one up to a maximum of six units of the Soul Gauge. By default, every party member has only one individual Soul Break. However, some rare weapons and armor contain additional Soul Breaks that can either be used only by specific party members, or are shared by any party member able to wear that piece of equipment. Party members wearing such gear may choose up to four Soul Breaks to use for battle. Heroes used to gain experience points towards mastering a Soul Break when they complete battles while wearing a piece of equipment containing that Soul Break. After an update in early 2020, however, characters automatically master Soul Breaks and do not have to use the relic in battle. This was done so that excess gear may be consumed as upgrade materials for Artifacts.

Record Synergy[]

Characters, weapons, armor, and accessories can be categorized by their series origin (シリーズ, Shirīzu?, lit. Series). This is a roman style numeral denoting their game of origin (for example, "VII" for Final Fantasy VII) or a small crystal icon (the English word "Job" in Japanese) for generic characters and Tyro. Characters battling in their home realm are surrounded by a blue aura of power and receive a substantial boost in stats in battle and earn more EXP. This is called "Record Synergy". Equipment worn in battles in its world of origin also receive Record Synergy, gaining a substantial power up. This is indicated by the item's icon border turn blue.

It is often worthwhile to use equipment that matches the realm the player will be fighting in, even if it would be weaker otherwise. Because new dungeons are released on a regular basis, and new dungeons can be located in any of the worlds, there is an incentive to stockpile a variety of gear in each origin.

Breaking level caps[]

Initially, the level limit for characters is 50, but breaking level caps (限界突破, Genkai Toppa?) may be performed to raise this limit by finding a character's Memory Crystal and using it to break that character's level cap. It should be noted, however, that not all party members may have Memory Crystals available to them. These crystals are usually earned through completing one of the Elite dungeons in the event that the character in question is related to (note that this does not necessarily mean having obtained said character in the same event). Characters who break their initial level cap can rise to a level of 65.

Starting with the October 2015 backend update, many Series Heroes are able to break the second level cap with a Memory Crystal II to reach a third level cap of 80.

Beginning with the Final Fantasy VII event Glimmer of Hope, Tyro and other major heroes became eligible to reach the final level cap of 99 via the use of a Memory Crystal III, which must in turn be obtained from a Memory Crystal III Lode earned in an event's Ultimate + dungeon.

All types of Memory Crystals can only be collected once per character per player ID, such that further attempts to acquire the same level Crystal that is already in the player's possession or has been applied will convert subsequent Crystals into Growth Eggs. If the player wishes, they may also convert a Memory Crystal III into a Growth Egg as of the most recent server-side update.

Record Materia[]

Main article: Record Materia

Characters whose initial level cap has been broken can equip Record Materia. Record Materia grant useful effects in battle for that party member. While many Record Materia are obtained by specific characters under specific conditions, many can also be equipped by all characters whose level caps have been broken. Many bonuses may also overlap or repeat as well.

Nightmare & Magicite Dungeons[]

The Nightmare is a collection of boss battles that is unlocked upon the player obtaining a max stamina of 60 or higher. There are twelve Nightmare dungeons, each with a boss at the end emphasizing team members of a certain job - black mage, white mage, Combat, or Support - and upon completion the player obtains an Ability Record. Ability Records are crystals used to obtain 6⭐ abilities, including Meltdown, Omega Drive, Curada and Quadruple Foul. Completing the Nightmare is mandatory to unlock Magicite Dungeons and Magicite slots.

Once Magicite Dungeons are unlocked, the player can complete them in any order, with the advantage being that clearing Magicite dungeons drops Magicite that will make beating the next boss easier. For example, lightning's boss is weak to earth, and when completed drops lightning magicite which will be effective against the water boss, and so on. The elemental cycle on the dungeon selection screen, clockwise, is fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning, water; with dark and holy appearing in the middle representing that they foil one another.

The 3⭐ and 4⭐ magicite dungeons may present a light to moderate challenge for the player, but the 5⭐bosses require the player to break the damage cap in order to dispel a "Rage Mode" effect. Some of these bosses' defenses weaken when enraged, making it easy to return them to normal, but other bosses' defenses harden, which may be problematic if the player can't make their attack deal enough damage.

Magicite[]

Magicite in Record Keeper are stones dropped from Magicite Dungeon bosses that can be equipped on the party to provide various effects such as elemental damage or resistance boosts (also known as Boons), or boosts to stats like Attack and Magic. They are obtained via the Magicite Dungeons and have 1⭐ through 6⭐ tiers, the higher of them benefitting the player with higher-level Boons. In addition to Magicite, the Magicite Dungeons also drop the Arcana, which are an upgrade material specifically designed to upgrade them. Magicite levelled to level 99 will unlock Inheritance Slots, which may be used to inherit other Boons to magicite to make them more customized and useful.

Missions[]

Main articles: Cid's Missions or Acolyte Archives

Since the February 18, 2016 backend update, a portion of the simpler Quests has been transitioned into Cid's Missions. Cid now carries sets of mission orders from his lab, requiring only that players check his postboard for new missions to complete. When actions performed by the player match assigned mission orders, the mission is flagged "Complete" and the player can go back to the postboard to collect the mission's reward. Cid's Missions were ended and replaced by Acolyte Archives at the end of December 2017 in Japan and the end of May 2018 worldwide.

Roaming Warrior[]

Main article: Roaming Warrior

Players can designate a party member as a Roaming Warrior who can be summoned by friends or other players in battle, where they will appear to unleash a Soul Break. The power of the Soul Break depends on the Roaming Warrior's stats. This allows players limited access to Soul Breaks for characters that they may not normally have access to, as well as open up battles to strategic uses of Roaming Warriors to aid them in battle.

Players may pick from a list of Roaming Warriors of other players whom they follow, or from strangers who happen to be online at the time. Players also receive a nominal stipend of 500 Gysahl Greens for each time their Roaming Warriors are summoned per day.

Setting[]

Tyro is tasked by Dr. Mog to stop the darkness from corrupting the stories and memories sealed within magical paintings.^[2]

Story[]

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. Its glory was measured in magic and art, and above all else, stories. The record keepers preserved these stories, that their example might inspire peace and prosperity. They used powerful magic to bind their records, not in dusty tomes, but in paintings of great beauty. The Royal Archives. Here, the paintings are sorted by the stories their records tell, and kept under constant guard. And so the ages passed in peace. A peace maintained by the watchful keepers and their records. Until, one day, the records within the paintings began to disappear... As the color of memories past faded, a darkness fell upon the world, bringing catastrophe and ruin.

Prologue

Characters[]

Tyro (Deshi in Japanese): Dr. Mog's best student who is tasked with diving into magic paintings and saving stories and memories of different worlds.
Dr. Mog: A moogle professor who sends Tyro off on his quest. He is also an expert in game mechanics.
Cid: An ally to Dr. Mog and the Record Keepers, he runs a lab where players can enhance and combine equipment, as well as create and hone new Abilities.
Elarra: A young girl proficient in magic who was discovered in the Hall of Magicite
Biggs: An Arcanium agent. Biggs can be crude and boorish, but he strives to uphold the values of a noble warrior. He has a weakness for beautiful women.
Wedge: An Arcanium agent. Wedge is shrewd and calculating, but also kind at heart, and he has a fondness for animals. Though not the bravest of agents, he performs his duties with earnest fervor.
Standard characters: Legendary heroes form across the series spectrum, always acquired through normal play, and often made more accessible during event play.
Optional characters: Celebrity characters from across the series spectrum who often played central roles in their stories, and who are almost always acquired via events or quest assignments. Players do not need to acquire these characters to advance the story, but many have unique skillsets not offered by the standard character group.
Non-FINAL FANTASY characters: Characters from other Square Enix properties such as Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest, who appear exclusively in events along with their related banners.
Queued characters: Characters whose inclusion has been confirmed in Japan, and may arrive in a future server-side update for all other regions.

Character Short List

Realm	Standard Characters	Optional Characters	Queued Characters
Core Classes	Tyro Elarra*(unlock in Record Dungeon) Knight Red Mage Black Mage Magus White Mage Devout Summoner Samurai Dragoon Dark Knight Spellblade Viking Berserker Ranger Bard Ninja Gladiator Thief Monk	Warrior Dr. Mog Biggs Wedge	Shadowsmith
Final Fantasy	Warrior of Light Garland Sarah	Matoya Master Echo Wol Meia Thief
Final Fantasy II	Gordon Josef Ricard Maria Leon Firion Guy Minwu	Leila Emperor Scott Hilda
Final Fantasy III	Luneth Arc Refia Ingus Onion Knight	Desch Cloud of Darkness Aria
Final Fantasy IV	Kain Rydia Fusoya Dark Knight Cecil Paladin Cecil Rosa Golbez Edge	Edward Tellah Palom Porom Yang Cid (IV) Ceodore Rubicante Ursula Barbariccia
Final Fantasy V	Galuf Lenna Bartz Gilgamesh Faris Krile	Exdeath Dorgann Gogo (V) Xezat Kelger
Final Fantasy VI	Cyan Strago Gau Terra Locke Celes Edgar Sabin Shadow Relm	Mog Setzer Kefka Leo Gogo (VI) Umaro Ultros
Final Fantasy VII	Cloud Red XIII Cid (VII) Tifa Yuffie Vincent Aerith	Sephiroth Zack Barret Reno Cait Sith Angeal Rufus Shelke Rude Elena Genesis
Final Fantasy VIII	Irvine Zell Rinoa Squall Quistis Selphie	Seifer Laguna Edea Fujin Raijin Kiros Ward Ultimecia
Final Fantasy IX	Vivi Steiner Quina Garnet Zidane Eiko	Amarant Beatrix Freya Kuja Marcus
Final Fantasy X	Wakka Kimahri Tidus Yuna Auron Lulu Rikku	Jecht Braska Paine Seymour
Final Fantasy XI	Shantotto Ayame Curilla Prishe	Lion Zeid Aphmau Lilisette Naja Arciela V Adoulin
Final Fantasy XII	Fran Balthier Ashe Vaan Basch Penelo	Gabranth Larsa Vayne Reks
Final Fantasy XIII	Snow Lightning Vanille Hope Sazh Fang	Serah Cid R. Noel Nabaat
Final Fantasy XIV	Y'shtola Yda Papalymo Alphinaud Haurchefant Estinien	Thancred Minfilia Cid (XIV) Ysayle Alisaie
Final Fantasy XV	Noctis Gladiolus Aranea Prompto Iris Ignis	Cor Leonis Lunafreya Ardyn Ravus
Final Fantasy XVI		Clive Rosfield
Final Fantasy Tactics	Ramza Agrias Delita Ovelia Orlandeau	Mustadio Gaffgarion Rapha Marach Meliadoul Marche Montblanc Alma Orran
Final Fantasy Type-0	Ace Deuce Nine King Cinque Seven	Rem Machina Queen Sice Jack Eight Cater Trey	Kurasame
Beyond: World of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Dimensions II, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius		Reynn Lann Morrow Aemo Wrieg Tama Enna Kros Serafie Rain Fina Lasswell
Kingdom Hearts		Sora Riku Axel Roxas

Development[]

On July 15, 2014, a teaser site appeared with a timer counting time for the game's actual reveal.^[3] It was released in December 2014 for Japanese players, followed in March 2015 by the Global version.

Despite a steady stream of new content and feature improvements including advanced movesets, stats enhancements, and additional modes of play, developers announced in February 2021 the removal of multiplayer from Record Keeper effective April 27, citing that the feature would not deliver a reliable experience going forward on the range of devices used by players.

On or around November 12, 2021, developers posted notice that Record Keeper would be pulling out of the Belgium market effective January 12, 2022. As with other games published by Square Enix, concerns were expressed over the legal status of gacha games and loot boxes under the country's current gaming law.

On June 23, 2022, the Global version's developers posted notice that Record Keeper would be ending service effective September 29, 2022 (PST), with in-app purchases ending August 30. Global team members Ichiro Hazama and Yu Sasaki each posted letters in-game thanking players for their support, but neither clarified why the game was exiting outside of Japan. Service for the Japanese version has continued since 2022 and is ongoing as of 2024.

Credits[]

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Voice cast[]

Characters are not ordinarily voiced, but sometimes in the Japanese version short voice samples are used during certain attacks. These are removed in the English version. These voice actors are not credited in-game.