Ivalice - Concept and Creation

Concept and Creation

Ivalice has been featured in several Final Fantasy games, as well as in Vagrant Story to a lesser extent. This fictional world was created by Yasumi Matsuno with its own identity; a medieval-like world where magic and machine exist together. The usual elements of Final Fantasy, such as Chocobos, crystals and magic spells, blend into the setting. However, Matsuno stated in 2011 via his Twitter account that he never originally intended for Vagrant Story to take place in Ivalice. As a result, any references he had made of Final Fantasy Tactics in Vagrant Story, as well as Vagrant Story references in Final Fantasy XII, only serve as "fan service".

Final Fantasy Tactics features the kingdom of Ivalice, neighboring the kingdom of Romanda in the northwest, separated by Larner Channel sea, and the kingdom of Ordalia at the east. Only Humans populate the area, and even though magic is prominent, airships have ceased to exist following a mysterious catastrophe. The worldview is similar to medieval England, with the Glabados Church a prominent religious entity.

In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the protagonist lives in a land called St. Ivalice. Following the characters' discovery of the book called the Gran Grimoire, St. Ivalice was transformed into a "mirror" of the "real" kingdom of Ivalice. The races seen in the world of Tactics Advance—Bangaa, Moogle, Viera and Nu Mou—reappear in the game Final Fantasy XII, the setting of which has come to represent the "real" Ivalice. This is apparently explained as Mewt replied that Final Fantasy was his favorite game; with the Races and elements such as Ivalice, one would assume St. Ivalice was based on Final Fantasy XII. The sequel to the game, Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, also takes place in both St. Ivalice and the Ivalice of Final Fantasy XII.

In Final Fantasy XII, Ivalice covers three continents, Ordalia, Valendia and Kerwon. The demography consists of the known races: Humes, Bangaa, Viera, Seeq and Moogles, and other minority races. Civilization is advanced in this world where the use of a magical stone called magicite is extensive in everyday life, airships are a prominent transportation and multi-story buildings cover the cityscape. Ivalice in Final Fantasy XII is designed based on a mixture of cultures. According to the game developers, these designs are inspired from a mixture of medieval Mediterranean countries, Turkish architecture, art-deco from Indian architecture, the cityscape of New York and the Arabic culture found hidden in European countries. As such, many patterns are featured as geometrical and Arabesque in shape. The cityscape is also conceived by Matsuno as being dirty and weather-worn, mirroring the conditions of a medieval landscape. The natural landscape also mirrors Earth's geographical features, including large expanse of deserts and snowy mountains.