[Poll] How Satisfied are You in the Direction of the Final Fantasy Series in General?

[mikey_boson]

I disagree.

FF games have always ever appealed to a very specific crowd. From what I've seen, it wasn't really until the release of the XBox 360 that a new crowd of gamers flooded in, obsessed with the likes of COD, Gears of War, and other explosive, cinematic and competative games. I don't think it's that people don't want anymore Final Fantasy. All you need to do is look 'round the various FF online communities, anime conventions and even various gaming communities to see there is still a huge demand for Final Fantasy. It's just that with this new wave of gamers, it's probably a case of FF fans taking a minority in the gaming community as a whole.

I, personally, would love for another brilliant fantastic FF to come along but my comment relates to the way gaming is going in general. Almost gone are the days where you'd play on a one-player game and then talk to your friends about where you'd progressed to. Multiplayer consisted of sitting round the tv screen with you and up to 4 of your friends. Now though you can play against millions of real people via online gaming. This is the mass market and mass market means money so this is where developers and producers are going to direct their games.

I don't disagree that a specific group people will always want to play on a game like FF. The problem is it costs a lot of money to produce a game nowadays and producing one just to appeal to a niche-like market won't really work. With the new FF, it's like they're trying to keep us old-guard happy whilst trying to bring on-board new fans (via the linear and fast-paced but shallow action) and it's just not going to work. By trying to satisfy lots of people, SE have ended up in satisfying very few.

Gaming is only going to get more and more social as internet speeds get faster and faster. Children growing up today are so used to immediate and interactive contact with all their friends that I just can't see many of they really wanting to play on single-player games with 40+ hours of gaming. A good percentage of people want MMORPG's, FIFA or CoD purely for the online aspect. Of course there is still going to be many millions of us out there who are FF fans but I imagine that there aren't many new ones being recruited (unfortunately).

I just think it's the way of the world now in that FF doesn't really fit in anymore. Every dog has it's day and I truly believe that the end of Squaresoft was also the end of FF. The franchise should have finished on a high but like so many other series (The Simpsons, Tomb Raider etc.) it's been dragged on to the point where people will only remember it for its mediocrity.

 

[Climhazzard]

Being someone that grew up with VII, VIII & IX - I can't help but feel that "Final Fantasy" ended long ago, and now it's just a game the SE releases every now and again. Fans such as us have a loyalty to Final Fantasy, so much so that we will continue to buy the games SE throw at us. I don't know if other people feel the same as me, but unfortunately I'll continue to purchase these whilst clutching onto the hope that they will revert to type, see sense and go back to the classic era of IV-X.

Alas, I feel the direction of FF is much like XIII - linear. SE will continue to churn out Final Fantasy games with improved graphics, sit back, and watch the cash roll in. It's sad really. Sometimes it feels like the power of today's consoles force developers into a corner. They are so focused on maximising the graphic potential a console has to offer that ultimately creativity and originality suffers.

This is exactly how I feel. Even down to the loyalty to continue buying games that feel nothing like a Final Fantasy (XIII saga). LR: XIII will be the first main line FF I won't have bought since I can remember. Say's it all really.

People like to say that all FF's are different, and whilst that is correct, they all have the traditional FF herbs and spices which makes you able to distinguish between them and still know they're FF. I can't do this at all with today's titles. It seems like graphics matter more than everything now as said herbs and spices no longer exist in the games to question..

It's quite hard for me to come to terms that the XIII saga is actually Final Fantasy. That's how bad I feel about the current path SE is taking down the series I've adored for over 15 YEARS. (And if there's any XIII fans reading this and thinking "My god I hate this guy!!!" I have XIII 100% complete on PS3 and have a shiny platinum to prove it. It's not that I want to hate XIII, I'm just sad it's not the FF I expect) And if Versus XIII doesn't bring back the core signature elements which made an FF game what it is, then the series will never be the same for me.

I do have high hopes for Versus though. Nomura has already confirmed the types of elements I mean such as an traversable world map, airships, towns etc. The characters look far better and more interesting than XIII's sideshow. The plot also seems more interesting, darker and vastly more rich in every other aspect as well as having the reintroduction of the crystals.

I hope this is why the game has been kept in long-term development, to make sure they get it right this time which I have a feeling they will. ...... I hope.

 

[mikey_boson]

It seems like graphics matter more than everything now as said herbs and spices no longer exist in the games to question.

I have this gripe with most games today. I would love to see the budget breakdown of a game because I bet most of it will be being spent on the looks of the game. Just because it looks great doesn't mean it's going to be good but unfortunately a lot of people today judge a game by how 'good' it looks.

I still play on FF7, 8 and 9, I only recently completed Spyro 2 and I will still play on games like Superfrog, Desert Strike and Crash Team Racing (from the PS1). I play on these because they are fun. They may not look that good by today's standards but these games were produced when graphics weren't able to be amazing so developers had to make sure people enjoyed playing on them. I bet a lot of people still love Tetris and that isn't the most visually appealing game, is it?

As the PS2 era developed i got the feeling then that companies were putting more effort into the looks than substance and for us guys who have experienced games like FF7, we want substance in a game even if we sacrifice the looks!