Final Fantasy borrowed many gameplay elements from its primary rival, the Dragon Quest franchise. As such, Final Fantasy uses a menu-driven, turn-based battle system. Most games in the series utilize a experience level system for character advancement (although Final Fantasy II did not), and a point-based system for casting magical spells (though Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy VIII all featured different approaches). Most games in the series (post-Final Fantasy III) feature a variety of special commands, over and beyond the traditional Attack, Defend, Cast Magic, and Run battle commands, such as the ability to steal items from enemies, or perfoming a leap attack.

Around the same time, Lauryn Galindo, the Hawaii-based adoption facilitator whose services Jolie had used to adopt Maddox, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to visa fraud and money laundering charges. She had been falsifying records of children to be adopted in visa applications to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and several of the children she placed had not been abandoned at all but were enticed away or bought from their birth families. It does not appear that Maddox was among them, although the investigation is continuing.

Biggs and Wedge: minor characters in the game. Their names are a reference to minor characters in the original Star Wars movie who assist Luke Skywalker in the final assault on the Death Star. They appear in Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy X. They also make a guest appearance in Square's Chrono Trigger, looking as they did in Final Fantasy VI.