Final Fantasy Gameplay - Magic

Magic

Like many role-playing games, the titles in the Final Fantasy series feature a system of magic. While the first game in the series had eight levels of spells with one to eight uses per level, later games jettisoned this concept for a common pool of magic points that all spells consume. Magic in the series is generally divided into classes, which are usually organized by color. The actual magic classes vary from game to game, but most games include "White Magic", which is focused primarily on spells that help teammates, and "Black Magic", which is focused on harming enemies. A character who is proficient in White or Black magic is often known as a White Mage or Black Mage, respectively. Other games include other types of mages and spells, such as Geomancers, who can cast spells based on the terrain, Blue Mages who can cast spells that are learned from enemies in battle, and Red Mages who can cast both white and black magic. In most games, the most powerful offensive White Magic spell is "Holy", while the most powerful black magic spell is often "Ultima" (a White Magic in Final Fantasy II), "Meteor", or "Meltdown".

How magic is acquired in the series tends to differ radically from game to game. For example, in Final Fantasy VI, magic is obtained from the remnants of a dead "Esper" called magicite; this also allows for the ability to summon the "Esper" during battle when the magicite is equipped. In Final Fantasy VII, materia works similarly to Final Fantasy VI's magicite, but unlike in Final Fantasy VI where magic learned by a character is permanently at their disposal, magic in Final Fantasy VII is attached to the materia and not the character.