Final Fantasy needs to go back to how it was

[Robbiedbee]

I hated 12, for a lot of reasons. All of the (fundamental) changes that were made to the battle system is one of the things that put me off. To be honest though, I genuinely think i could have lived with it, if only the characters were deep and likable, and if only the story was engaging, I could have lived with it.

While it FF games may be constantly evolving, they will always be true to the roots if they provide a good plot and characters in my opinion.

 

[bitteroldman]

I completely agree with you bitteroldman, I know nowadays they have to adapt, new technology and what not. I think i'd enjoy the newer FF games more if they definitely had an overworld and airship you can actually fly around place to place again, chocobo's have been in every game and am sure it will continue, I'm really hoping FFXIII will have a victory theme after battles or bosses (I'm sure it will).

What do you think about FFXIV and i think FFXV being made to play online like XI? I'm not too sure i like the idea myself.

YES! Please, bring back the useful, visible, free-roaming airship! But at least chocobos were useful in XII, unlike some of the titles.
Which game had the horribly slow-moving airship? Can't remember... Geez, I preferred walking to that hunk-o-junk.
I also found that the games were more upbeat when you had a depressing main character (VI, VII, VIII), and have been almost overly-somber when you had a light-hearted main character (X, XII). IX of course was a great balance of the two (like the old days).
What do I think of the upcoming online game(s)? I didn't get to play XI, because I'm just now getting the parameters to carry it, but I'm not pleased. Playing FF was always like reading a novel; you didn't wrap yourself in a character, you got wrapped up in the characters. You got involved in their personal lives and struggles... How can a MMORPG get past the 2-D level, story-wise? It sounds more suited to Chrono Trigger with the silent protagonist than FF, where the characters always had a set personality, and with twists that you won't really feel this way.

 

[Zerokku]

I disagree with what some of the poster's here are saying. Final Fantasy has changed small bits here and there, but still follows a rather generic formula. That kind of formula is the reason why JRPG's are becoming an increasingly niche genre. Take a look and note that you will never see a Million-seller JRPG outside of FF, DQ, and Pokemon. (And DQ will sadly never be a million seller outside of Japan at that). JRPG's need to somehow adapt if they don't want to go the way of Adventure Games.

That being said, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Final Fantasy has not been the same since Sakaguchi and crew left. I can let XII slide because it was a Matsuno game, and it was only ever going to be as "Final Fantasy" as the original Tactics was, and not much more then that. Not to mention that production was shot to hell in the middle with squeenix overriding his decisions and his eventual leaving of the company. But anyways... A lot of the decisions since Sakaguchi's leaving just don't bode well for the company in my opinion.

 

[IBurningStar]

I think the series has become extremely full of itself. I know things have always been a bit melodramatic, but the trailer for XIII was laughably serious. XII was all style and no substance. I think SE is trying to be too unique and different. Some say XII was innovative, I thought it wasn't Final Fantasy. I liked the semi turn based ATB system. I like RPGs because they are more strategy focused and require planning, multitasking, and micro/macro management. The genre is more cerebral and that is why I like it. XII had a more action oriented approach which didn't sit well with me.

I think they should focus more on what's going on in the story, and less on how the story is presented. Take the combat system back to be more turn based, but don't take it back too much. Keep random battles out. They are a relic of the past that needs to be left behind. Have character designs that make sense. No one can explain how Lulu's dress made of belts actually works. Or how you can take it off without two hours worth of work. Then there are characters like Vaan.... Last thing, villains. They are just as important to the story as the good guys, and should be given an equal amount of screen time. Seymour had no personality, and all we ever learned about Vayne was that he existed.

 

[Summoner Yuna]

Oh, wow. People are complaining about everything from airships to story to character design. People say that the series needs to evolve, but when it does, they don't like it.

Personally, I loved FFX's and FFXII's stories. I thought they were a step up from the usual storytelling of FF. They brought new themes to the table and did it well enough. I might partially agree that FFXII's story was a bit more impersonal, however I couldn't help but feel immersed in it. The whole world of Ivalice was so captivating, the political dynamics were interesting and the characters were good enough (love Balthier, but that might not comr as surprise, lol).

And really, the battle system in XII was very enjoyable. Setting gambits, using the right equipment for different situations. The only "action" thing the game had was that the battles took place on the same field as exploration, but otherwise you sometimes needed to give commands to your characters and adjust gambits on the fly.

As for the overworld, I really can't understand why people miss it so much. Sure, it's nice, but no one can deny that locations of FFX and FFXII weren't amazing and much more detailed, and for me it's all about the detail and the atmosphere.

I'd actually be more worried if Final Fantasy returned to the awful dialogue of yore and overly dramatic characters. FFXIII looks good so far. The only thing that I don't like so much is that the city is way too somber. But, it might be an amazing place to explore.

 

[bonecrackerjoe]

i agree the story is not as rich an deep as it once was, i think the franchise was just tryin to grab a new audience rather than be true with the original fans

 

[CHIP]

Personally, I prefer the combat-systems of the older games, like FFVII's and VII's. My main gripe with FFXII's combat-system was the lack of involvement. I mean, you could effectively beat every boss and monster in the game without pressing a single button, and instead let the AI do all the work for you. It catered too much to the casual gamer, and the challenge of the game was weak compared to the older games. Also, the stories in FF games seem to be getting worse rather than better. The older games, I thought were just more emotionally evolving, immersive, and personal. FFX's was alright, although, FFXII's story and characters just lacked substance or meaning. FFXII's cast of characters were easily the least interesting and memorable in any FF I've ever played. I'm not saying FFXII is a poor game, more of a poor relation. If anything needs to go back to the way it was (in my opinion) then it's the story and challenge of the games.

 

[Ashe B'nargin]

for the overworld, I really can't understand why people miss it so much. Sure, it's nice, but no one can deny that locations of FFX and FFXII weren't amazing and much more detailed, and for me it's all about the detail and the atmosphere.

You didn't miss going around the world in Cid's or Setzer's airships ? Driving in full-force speeding and driving around towns and pretending to travel the world in a flash ?
You didn't miss pretending to make rough and cut turns and going around in circle's several times around Kefka's or Sephiroth's cave so many times that you felt dizzy and your PlayStation started to begin to hate you for it ??..

You didn't miss that..?

I did..

 

[Sir Kenneth]

Oh, wow. People are complaining about everything from airships to story to character design. People say that the series needs to evolve, but when it does, they don't like it.

Personally, I loved FFX's and FFXII's stories. I thought they were a step up from the usual storytelling of FF. They brought new themes to the table and did it well enough. I might partially agree that FFXII's story was a bit more impersonal, however I couldn't help but feel immersed in it. The whole world of Ivalice was so captivating, the political dynamics were interesting and the characters were good enough (love Balthier, but that might not comr as surprise, lol).

And really, the battle system in XII was very enjoyable. Setting gambits, using the right equipment for different situations. The only "action" thing the game had was that the battles took place on the same field as exploration, but otherwise you sometimes needed to give commands to your characters and adjust gambits on the fly.

As for the overworld, I really can't understand why people miss it so much. Sure, it's nice, but no one can deny that locations of FFX and FFXII weren't amazing and much more detailed, and for me it's all about the detail and the atmosphere.

I'd actually be more worried if Final Fantasy returned to the awful dialogue of yore and overly dramatic characters. FFXIII looks good so far. The only thing that I don't like so much is that the city is way too somber. But, it might be an amazing place to explore.

I don't mind the series evolving. I just don't think FFX or FF XII had much going on for them as far as progression of the series goes. Final Fantasy X was the first game in the series with voice acting, but that's really where the innovation stops. In fact I'd claim that as far as the progression of the series goes, both FF X and FF XII took a couple of steps back.

Final Fantasy X is easily the most linear game in the series, seriously limiting player movement in the game's world compared to earlier games in the franchise.

Final Fantasy XII had a very fragmented storytelling element compared to earlier games, and I found it very hard to get into. Especially because I had to go through hours of very old school dungeon crawling before I was fed the next tidbit of storyline.

The battle system of FF XII wasn't really a throwback, but I wouldn't say that it was an improvement either. It followed very much in the footsteps of Vagrant Story and FF XI, yet still seemed rather unpolished. The licence board just had too many options, and the AI was more or less braindead. There was also too few gambit slots for you to be able to really set up a character to fend for themselves.

 

[ultimate..vaan..]

yea i think that they will go back to the game they had before ffix. i think that they killed ff12 because u cant fight manually but one good thing when u fight tiazmat he has like about 50 mill so that is one gud thing

 

[King Sean]

The series is not going down a bad road, so why should it go back. the new games that

have come out arent bad. they have beautiful, engrossing story lines that keep you

entertained, and the character designs are awesome. the class thing that the older

games had was so predetermined. the newer ones give you more freedom in how you

want your character abilities to be, which is a good thing. i think that it should just

stay the way it is, but the mmorpg FF should just stop dead. they are ruining the

series. also the older games all seemed repetitive after a while.

 

[Gaige]

Yeah, sure the older Final Fantasies were great. They were original, innovative, complex and unique, but so are the newer Final Fantasies.
The point is that the series needs to evolve and change with time, try out new things and get rid or make better some of the old things.
I do miss free roaming on the airship and the real time combat of FFVII sometimes, but I think the gambit system is really intelligent and I do think it involves the player.
Sometimes the enemy would change it's tactics when close to death and you would need to change your gambits accordingly or you would die.

Also, I really enjoyed the huge, open-world exploration of the world in FFXII without the shifting to a battle screen. The FMV's were few and far between, but they were great.

FFX, too was fantastic. It introduced Seymour, a very creepy and hateable villain. The whole story behind Sin and the beautiful FMV's really lived up to the earlier final fantasies.
The stories are still great, the graphics and music are still great. If we kept things the same all the time, Final Fantasy wouldn't be the huge series it is today.