16-shirt lineup is part of Final Fantasy’s 35th anniversary celebration.

Final Fantasy was released for Nintendo’s Famicom in 1987, and needless to say, it ended up being far from the final installment in the franchise (though really, people tend to read too much into the name anyway). 2022 marks the 35th anniversary for Square Enix’s flagship RPG series, and to celebrate, Uniqlo is bringing out a line of Final Fantasy T-shirts, one for each of the numbered mainline installments.

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Starting at the very beginning, the first Final Fantasy didn’t have pre-set characters, but out of the selectable classes, the Black Mage’s design has proven the most enduring as the series has gone on, so he appears on the chest, above the text that shows at the game’s dramatically delayed title screen as the heroes cross the bridge that leads them to the lands beyond the starting kingdom.

Final Fantasy II gets a two-sided design, with the battle screen and story setup on the front and the game’s stylish logo on the back.

Fina Fantasy III introduced the job system, allowing the player greater freedom to customize characters’ skills and appearance. The back of its shirt is dedicated to several adventurous occupations, while the front features a crystal.

Final Fantasy IV’s shirt design is deceptively simple. The front seems to be just a color-graduated roman numeral IV, but the transition works as a metaphor for life-changing enlightenment main character Cecil goes through as he casts off the armor of a Dark Knight and becomes a Paladin, something also referenced on the shirt’s back.

Final Fantasy V wasn’t the first game in the series to feature Chocobos, but the companion/steed of main character Bartz was the first of the species to make it onto a Final Fantasy’s box art.

Final Fantasy VI has an amazingly grand scope, with over a dozen heroes all with their own backstories and character arcs. Everything starts on the snowy outskirts of the town of Narshe, in one of the most memorable video game openings ever, and that’s what’s recreated on its shirt.

With the jump to the CD format for Final Fantasy VII, the series had the opportunity for its first lavish CG cutscenes, and several of those appear here.

Final Fantasy VIII had no shortage of cutscenes either, but its shirt goes with the less-is-more approach, giving you main character Squall on the back and the Balamb Garden crest on the front.

Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi is on record as saying Final Fantasy IX is his favorite in the series, and if you share that opinion, some of the game’s otherworldly geography and eclectic cast are waiting for you on its shirt.

The Final Fantasy X shirt is appropriately black…not because of the dark subjects the game explores, but because it’s got the most bittersweet ending in the franchise, so you’ll be happy that the fabric’s color won’t noticeably change after you use it to wipe away your tears.

Final Fantasy XI, the first MMORPG for the series, was perhaps a bit ahead of its time, and is easily the most glossed over in discussions of the franchise’s history. If you were an early adopter, though, you’ll recognize these silhouettes.

For Final Fantasy XII, we have a congregation of Judges on the front, the insignia of the Imperial Archadian Ministry of Law on the back, and color that brings to mind the sandy terrain of desert kingdom Dalmasca.

Final Fantasy XIII ended up as a trilogy of games, but it’s central character Lightning who bears their standard on the back of this shirt.

Though it’s the second-most-recently released title in the series, MMORPF Final Fantasy XIV is actually the current franchise focus, having just received its final major expansion, Endwalker, in December.

Final Fantasy XV’s shirt follows the philosophy of the one for VI, focusing on its iconic opening scene.

And last, in a pleasant surprise, Uniqlo even has a T-shirt for Final Fantasy XVI. First announced back in 2020, developer Square Enix has yet to mention any sort of release window, but it’s inclusion in the Uniqlo lineup could be a sign that the game is on its way sooner rather than later.

The entire lineup goes on sale April 29 and can be ordered thrugh the Uniqlo online store here.

Source: Uniqlo
Top image: Uniqlo
Insert images: Uniqlo (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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