Sometimes games can be of interest not only for the gameplay. A collection of essays will be published in Russian, exploring the Final Fantasy series of games from the point of view of classical psychology.
Bombora Publishing House will release in June the book “Psychological Analysis of Final Fantasy. An emotional picture of a gaming franchise.” The work will be included in the “Legendary Computer Games” series and is a collection of essays written by a team of authors, edited by Anthony Bean.
Each essay examines the relationship between various elements in the iconic video game series and classical theoretical psychology. The book contains twelve essays that analyze narrative, music, combat, team building, and emotional connection with characters, among other elements of gameplay through the lens of psychology.
Image source: Bombora
For example, readers will be introduced to a look at Limit Break, a powerful ability from the games in the series, as a way to transform traumatic experiences into productive activity.
The original work was released by the Canadian publishing house Leyline Publishing in 2020 under the title “The Psychology of Final Fantasy: Surpassing The Limit Break”. Amazon users who have managed to get acquainted with the original recommend it to all fans of the series for reading, but note that some of the authors of the essay make factual errors, and also “try to bring “progressive ideals” into what should be called psychoanalysis.”
Based on the introductory fragments of the Russian edition presented on the Internet, it can be said that the factual errors in it have been corrected.
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Cover author: Square Enix Cover source: IGDB