“The Crystals’ Blessing”: Technogaianism and Skepticism in Final Fantasy and Stranger of Paradise

In marketing, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, a collaboration between Square Enix and Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja presented itself as a soulslike remake or prequel to the original Final Fantasy from 1987. In reality, however, it draws on the entirety of the franchise, including thematic elements which stretch from the series’ most well-known title Final Fantasy VII through Final Fantasy XIV and even XVI, especially the consequences of human technological progress on the environment. Following Alenda Chang’s call to examine how video games might intersect with or contribute to environmental consciousness, this chapter argues that both Stranger and its precursor situate themselves as stories of ecological collapse, and the narrative interventions in the newer title specifically call into question technogaianism, a form of “bright green” environmentalism which sees technology as an indispensable tool in remedying environmental harms rather than simply the cause of them. The chapter explains technogaianism, draws attention to relevant comparisons in other ludonarratives, and conducts an analysis of both ludic and narrative elements in each Final Fantasy title under discussion, concluding that the games are ultimately ambivalent about the role technology should play.