Final Fantasy type graphics - What software is used?

[Mike Bailey]

If you would like to get your feet wet without spending a fortune there is plenty of free stuff out there.

Give Daz studio a spin for starters.
http://www.daz3d.com/program/studio/1_0index.php

[gidgit]

and for the modeling part, a terrific freebie box modeling tool is Wings3D

really, this little, free, but mighty app is as good as it gets for free, and when it comes to box modeling, it allows for pretty much any manip/op to be found in any other app, even the big apps, and Wings3D sports a great modeling workflow when hotkeys are used... for char modeling this be da goods, as Wings3D virtual mirror is second to none...

As suggested earlier, most decent 3D apps have the modeling tools these days, thing is none of them are really any better for box modeling than wings3D, when it comes to chars, and Wings3D is free... really cool