The Best Square Enix Games On Mobile

While Square Enix may be most well known for their massive console endeavours in Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, they have quite a large portfolio of games that never reach consoles. In fact, a massive portion of their revenue comes from their mobile games, and there are some real gems in there.

There are quite a few ports of older Square Enix games released on mobile, though there’s a genuinely large amount of games made custom for mobile that take advantage of the platform. Just make sure you love gacha mechanics and RPGs before you invest in them.

10

Before Crisis: Final Fantasy 7

While it wasn’t the beginning of Square Enix’s mobile efforts, it was one of the earliest Final Fantasy games made custom for the platform and the beginning of the greater Compilation of Final Fantasy 7. Before Crisis follows the actions of the Turks in the years leading up to the original game, with you playing as a custom character.

Before Crisis expands the many Turks seen in the original Final Fantasy 7, and offers some limited multiplayer functions in materia trading, or allowing other players to lend help during combat. The game was shut down in 2018, and with no Western release nor digital back-ups, is functionally lost.

9

SinoAlice

Yoko Taro is most well known for his console efforts in the Nier and Drakengard series, though has more recently gotten into mobile, with SinoAlice being the first of his mobile games that really took off. It is a retelling of many fairytales with, well, quite a few creative liberties taken.

In it, characters from these fairytales seek to find their authors to have their own wishes granted, but must first defeat the many monsters threatening to destroy the Library in which they dwell. These characters range from Aladdin to Kaguya, with the gacha mainly focused on new weapons. This game, too, was shut down by the end of 2023.

8

Various Daylife

On top of continuing the wonderful Square Enix tradition of giving certain games the most hilarious prototype-sounding names, Various Daylife was one of the earliest games added to the Apple Arcade service, and as a result, was one of the few Square Enix mobile games not focused on live service and gacha elements.

In Various Daylife, you perform various actions that one would do throughout their daily life. It’s a very simplified version of typical RPGs that is intended to be played much more casually, so don’t expect hours of playtime out of it. Ironically, its UI doesn’t function perfectly on smaller mobile screens, so the game was eventually ported to consoles and PC.

7

Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia

Opera Omnia is another of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy mobile efforts. It’s also the first Dissidia game to be made specifically for mobile, and faces a rather dramatic restructure in just about every regard as a result. No more real-time combat, but a more traditional turn-based system. Realism is traded for a more cutesy rendition of these characters.

Like prior Dissidia games, Opera Omnia acted as a crossover game that continued and complemented the story of other Dissidia entries. While it was rather limited in terms of content at its beginning, it ended with close to 200 characters. As is typical of many of Square Enix’s mobile efforts, it was shut down in February 2024.

6

Dragon Quest Tact

To avoid ever having to make a new Final Fantasy Tactics, Square Enix instead creates countless other grid-based tactics games to fill that hole, and Dragon Quest Tact is one of those games. Beautifully translating the iconic art style of Dragon Quest to mobile, Dragon Quest Tact is a genuinely fun, casual game.

In it, you navigate grid-based maps, using the various monsters you’ve acquired to do battle. There’s a nice degree of strategy here, and different party combinations can really change up how you play. It had a brief stint outside of Japan in North America, though this version shut down in February 2024.

5

Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis

If there’s one thing that is guaranteed to generate more money by merit of its name alone for Square Enix, it’s Ever Crisis. Revealed as a way of exploring the entire Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 in a single package, Ever Crisis has thus far become a means of giving Sephiroth even more backstory. We still don’t know Sephiroth, after all.

While the story segments use a very unique art style, the combat sections instead use the hyperreal models from Final Fantasy 7 Remake and a vastly simplified, turn-based combat system. It’s jarring, to say the least, but at least Cloud has some…enticing outfits you can acquire if you’ve been hoarding enough gems.

4

Nier: Reincarnation

Arguably Yoko Taro’s most successful dive into mobile games so far, Nier Reincarnation functions as a whole new setting for the Nier games. Not exactly an uncommon occurrence for the series, but a welcome change after the deluge of Nier Automata content. In it, you play as The Girl as she navigates The Cage, witnessing the memories of the weapons within.

The story expands over time with you taking control of new characters, though the majority of characters are unlocked by playing their respective missions. Weapons and new outfits were restricted to the gacha system, as well as the deeper aspects of their background. It was unfortunately shut down in April 2024.

3

Kingdom Hearts: Union Cross – Dark Road

The Kingdom Hearts series is already known for being convoluted. Each game must be followed by its chronological release to fully understand the story of subsequent entries, and Union Cross added more beautiful layers to it. While it hasn’t been essential to understanding the current story, the post-credit scene of Kingdom Hearts 3 has already made the expansive lore of Union Cross relevant.

Union Cross takes place in the days of Daybreak Town, in a time when Keyblade Wielders were common and the Master of Masters looked over the world. Until he vanished, leaving behind only his prophecies. Maleficient and Mickey Mouse still appear somehow, too. Dark Road was later released as a dedicated side story that fully finished off Xehanort’s story.

2

Dragon Quest Walk

One of the few Square Enix mobile games that (as of yet) has not been shut down, Dragon Quest Walk is a pretty self-explanatory one. Pulling from the success of other GPS-based games like Pokemon GO, Dragon Quest Walk uses the world around it for the core of its gameplay.

As you walk around in reality, you will encounter various monsters to battle and areas to explore. At times, massive monsters will also appear that up to 12 players can help to defeat. You can even set a custom location as your home, decorating and visiting it whenever you’re in that area. It is, sadly, exclusive to Japan at present.

1

Octopath Traveler: Champions Of The Continent

Octopath Traveler marked the beginning of a new era for Square Enix, and that was the investment in the HD-2D art style. Pioneered by the internal Team Asano, the HD-2D style was first realised with Octopath Traveler. While it was since gotten a sequel, it first got a mobile game spin-off set in the same world, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent.

To the game’s credit, it translates the art style of the console games beautifully for mobile, and keeps the unique actions tied to each character as well. The only downside is that the highlight of the game, the Champions, are almost fully locked behind the egregiously expensive gacha system.