The Final Fantasy Poster Guide: VII, X, XII, XIII and XV on a Wall

Thirty-odd years of Final Fantasy have produced some of the most recognisable art in games, and almost none of it looks alike. Yoshitaka Amano's watercolours and Tetsuya Nomura's ink-and-zip designs are barely the same medium, let alone the same series. That matters when you are choosing something to hang: which Final Fantasy you pick changes the room far more than the fact that it is Final Fantasy.

This guide covers the numbered entries we stock. We have written about Final Fantasy XIV separately — it is a big enough catalogue to deserve its own piece.

Final Fantasy VII — the one everyone recognises

FFVII art is built on a single trick: a very small amount of colour against a very dark field. The 1997 original's key art is mostly black, with Cloud and the Buster Sword picked out in cool steel tones and one stab of Mako green. The Remake and Rebirth art keeps that discipline.

On a wall this reads as graphic design rather than illustration, which is why it works in rooms that are not otherwise gaming rooms. It is also the most frame-tolerant art in the series — black, white or natural wood all work.

• FFVII Remake — Official Key Art Print
• FFVII Rebirth — Official Box Art Print
• FFVII Remake — Sephiroth Key Art Print
• FFVII Crisis Core — Key Art Print
• FFVII — Characters Collage Art Print

Best size: 18x24 or 24x36. Dark art with a single focal point needs scale; small it just looks like a dark rectangle.

Final Fantasy X — the warmest palette in the series

FFX went the opposite direction: turquoise water, warm sand, strong sunlight. Spira was designed to feel tropical and it translates directly — an FFX print is the one to choose if you want a wall to feel brighter rather than moodier.

The Yuna sending artwork is the standout. It is one of the few pieces of game art that works as a straight piece of illustration for someone who has never played the game, which makes it unusually easy to live with.

• FFX — Yuna Sending Key Art Print
• FFX — Tidus Key Art Print
• FFX — Key Art Print
• FFX HD Remastered — Official Box Art Print

Best size: 16x24. The palette does the work; you do not need a huge print for it to change a room.

Final Fantasy XII — the one for people who like architecture

Ivalice was drawn by people who clearly enjoyed buildings. FFXII art carries more background detail than anything else in the series — arches, airships, desert cities — and the character work by Akihiko Yoshida has a flatter, more graphic line than Nomura's.

This is the most underrated art in the catalogue. If you want something that rewards being looked at up close, over months, XII is the answer.

• FFXII — The Zodiac Age Box Art Print
• FFXII — Promotion Art Print
• FFXII — Ashe Key Art Print
• FFXII — Vaan Key Art Print
• FFXII — Fran Character Art Print
• FFXII — Penelo Key Art Print

Best size: 24x36. Detail is the whole point — do not shrink it.

Final Fantasy XIII — white space and hard edges

XIII is the cleanest-looking Final Fantasy. Lots of white, chrome, and Lightning's silhouette doing most of the work. It is the closest the series gets to fashion photography.

Practically, that means it hangs well on a white wall in a way that most game art does not — there is no dark border fighting the paint.

• FFXIII — Official Key Art Print (Lightning)
• FFXIII — Key Art Print 01

Final Fantasy XV — road-trip cinematography

XV was art-directed like a film. Wide shots, low horizons, four figures small against a landscape. The Kingsglaive concept art in particular is closer to a movie poster than a game cover.

It is the best choice for a wide wall — the compositions are horizontal in spirit even when the print is portrait, and they suit being hung above a sofa.

• FFXV — The King's Road Box Art Print
• FFXV — Character Collage Art Print
• FFXV — Noctis and Luna Key Art Print
• FFXV Kingsglaive — Concept Art Print
• FFXV — Abbey Studio Art Print

If you cannot choose one game

Dissidia collects the whole cast in a single composition, which solves the problem of loving four entries and having one wall.

• Dissidia — Protagonists Collage Art Print
• Dissidia — Antagonists Collage Art Print
• Dissidia — Key Art Print
• Final Fantasy Tactics Advance — Official Key Art Print

Sizing, briefly

The rule that matters: the print should be about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it, and its centre should sit 57 to 60 inches from the floor.

Poster, stretched canvas, or framed canvas

A poster is the print alone, ready for a frame you choose. A stretched canvas comes wrapped over a wooden frame with no glass — which is the better call for FFVII and FFXV, because dark art behind glass fights every lamp in the room. A framed canvas ships ready to hang.

Everything is printed to order in the USA, with free US shipping and Buy 2 Get 1 Free across the store.

Browse the full collection →

If there is a piece of Final Fantasy art you want and we do not have it, say so. Most of what we add comes from someone asking.

— Pira Boxes