Dozens of Square Enix companion books have been produced since 1998, when

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developer

Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...

began to produce books that focused on artwork, developer interviews, and background information on the fictional worlds and characters in its games rather than on gameplay details. The first series of these books was the ''Perfect Works'' series, written and published by Square subsidiary

DigiCube DigiCube Co., Ltd. (株式会社デジキューブ; ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dejikyūbu'') was a Japanese company established as a subsidiary of software developer Square on February 6, 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of Digi ...

. They produced three books between 1998 and 1999 before the line was stopped in favor of the series, a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words This series of books is written by Studio BentStuff, which had previously written

game guide Strategy guides are instruction books that contain hints or complete solutions to specific video games. The line between strategy guides and walkthroughs is somewhat blurred, with the former often containing or being written around the latter. Str ...

s for Square for ''

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation console. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Published in Japan by Square, it was released in other regions by Sony Computer Entertai ...

''. They were published by DigiCube until the company was dissolved in 2003. Square merged with video game publisher

Enix was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975, as . Th ...

on April 1, 2003 to form

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

, which resumed publication of the companion books. Both the ''Perfect Works'' and ''Ultimania'' books have focused primarily on Square and Square Enix's

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

franchises, such as the ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...

'' and ''

Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square (video game company), Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya ...

'' series; over half of the more than 75 books are for games related to the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Sometimes, multiple books have been written per game or revised editions have been published years afterwards. One of the books, ''

Final Fantasy IX is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth game in the main ''Final Fantasy'' series. The plot focuses on a wa ...

Ultimania Online'', was solely published online as part of an experiment by Square Enix with online content delivery; another for ''

Final Fantasy XI also known as ''Final Fantasy XI Online'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), originally developed and published by Squaresoft and then published by Square Enix as the eleventh main installment of the ''Final Fantasy ...

'' was planned, but the idea was abandoned as unsuccessful and all subsequent books have been published traditionally. The books are written and edited by Studio BentStuff. The ''Ultimania'' series had sold over books by July 2007, increasing to over copies sold as of 2017. The highest selling Square Enix companion books are ''Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania'' (over copies) and '' Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania'' (over copies). All of the books have been released solely in Japanese, but in October 2017

Dark Horse Books Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

announced that they would be publishing English translations of the three-volume 2012 ''Final Fantasy 25th Memorial Ultimania'' as ''Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive'', for release starting in June 2018.

''Perfect Works''

''Ultimania''

References

External links

Studio Bent Stuff official Ultimania series list
(2007 archive)

(2020 archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Square Enix companion books Lists of books Series of books Square (video game company) *Companion books Works based on video games