The Downfall of Final Fantasy.

[Richard B Riddick]

Square Enix has the same problem Disney has.

They release a large number of low budget, low quality, products to profit from brand name recognition and established market share.

Disney releases Little Mermaid Part 2, Mulan Part 2 and assorted low quality greed movies to profit from the existing fan base of the originals. Square Enix has a tendency to do exactly the same. :T

What Square should probably do is what Pixar Studios does in terms of creating high quality, artistic, and original works. Pixar has never had a movie that did poorly at the box office. Every thing they've produced has been a hit & they have a very good relationship with their fanbase in terms of being known for putting out nothing but quality work.

 

[Tmoo]

Despite liking all of the games I've played, It's easy to see that the FF name doesn't carry as much weight as it used to. The series' ever-changing nature means that the severed fanbase will never get along, though they aren't the only problems the series is facing.

 

[Shu]

What Square should probably do is what Pixar Studios does in terms of creating high quality, artistic, and original works. Pixar has never had a movie that did poorly at the box office. Every thing they've produced has been a hit & they have a very good relationship with their fanbase in terms of being known for putting out nothing but quality work.

I think you are relating movies to game development way too much here. Making a picture with a story line is one thing, but making it game play worthy is another. FFF sort has become an interactive movie now a days, with the exception of a few things.

Back in 1990's FF used to have full customization of party/spell usage/combat types/weapon specs/stats. What they also had was key algorithms in which calculated the percentage of damage one class + weapon could do. The ability of trying to get the best weapon of the game was no longer just a side quest, but occasionally the main quest due to how hard it was.

I remember dying 20,000 times when I first started FF I. Though in FFXIII I physically never died (I think). I did the repeated leveling up scheme, and boom I was max.

The ability to create stories should be number 1 when it comes to a ROLE PLAYING GAME. Without a story, it is just an action game. At this point, it might as well be gauntlet. (which is fun, but only in moderation).

Square Enix has really taken that away from alot of the gaming industry these days. Square Enix and Activision sort of are like the parasites at this very point. I mean just look at how they marketed Kingdom Hearts. The hooked the kiddos in early with the ability to meet disney characters in game and etc, though it didn't market so well to the more mature community. So instead they just started trying spin-offs of FFX + FFVII + FFVI combined.

I mean how many renaissance-es story lines do I have to play? How many games do I have to play with the same "crystals" story line. We can we say that we are ceasing to be original. The big difference between VI and VII was the story line. It totally revamped it's image, that's why I think you have a line divided right at FFVII.

Now we have the online gaming era for FF. No offense, I loved the crap out of FFXI, due to it's in depth party system. That if you did not know how to play your character that would be immediately be kicked. You couldn't power level your way through the game like a mad man, and hit max level in a week.

Though from what I heard FFXIV was utter shite compared to it. I haven't really read into it, but I imagine it had the same type of recycled story line as FFXI had. FFXI at least were pretty original with the story line within the MMO itself. From starting in Windurst/San'Doria/Bastok it was always something for people to take down a dragon at lvl 15. To do the limit quests that allowed your character to reach a higher level at the end game sequence. To have key link shells in order to take down HNM's. The game had a lot of draw.. and the ability to communicate pretty efficiently with other continent players using the translate function.

Either way.. SE needs help. If they go down the same route, they will maybe create a "nicer" rpg maybe once a 5-10 years. As the kind folks said before, too many projects means the budget was spread thin, the expenses were not spared where they needed to be, and creative story lines were scrapped for dumbed down game play.

 

[Linnaete]

The two threads being similar, are merged.

Keep doing like what they did for FFXIV (rushing it out the door, knowing full well that people will flock to buy it because it has "Final Fantasy" stamped on the cover and then having to post an online apology for rushing that abomination out) and yes, they'll do more than tarnish the game. They'll just drag it into the cesspool almost completely.

Square Enix needs to look at what Monolith Soft has done and ask themselves why their game has received so much deserved praise whereas their FFXIII for example is so damn divisive where half the internet seems convinced that it's total crap. Monolith sidelined pretty drop-dead gorgeous visuals for gameplay and a world so meaty and expansive that it's pretty much one of the best instances of value for money (though I suppose you can argue back and point out that since Monolith is a Nintendo developer now, they had no choice but to sideline visuals for Wii development anyway). What did Square do in comparison? They spent absolutely ages making gorgeous visuals yes, but then in the gameplay department it's stripped to its bones. In a sense, it's hardly an RPG anymore, just stripped of its meat that much it may as well be a kind of western action and a movie in one. Take a good long look at Monolith, Square. You will find that stunning graphics and CGI don't exactly a good game make. At the same time, stop being so half-assed with some projects lately (hello, FFXIV) and stop taking what looks like a blatant quantity over quality route. People are already sick of Activision for this, and they will get/have long been sick of you for the same thing.

There's ought to me more I wanted to say, but I'm not 100% at the moment to think that much.

 

[Ohri-Jin]

So, we're going to avoid the adamantoise in the room that is FFXIII, i.e. the REAL reason why the FF franchise is royally fucked beyond all salvation?

...works for me. I'd love to be able to forget that interactive movie ever came into existence anyway. Shifting the blame to FFXIV is a smart tactic though, since the slightly smaller adamantoise that is FFXIII-2 is just on the horizon, and I suppose the last thing they want to do is draw attention to how little justification its release has. But still, between the two of them, FFXIII is the far bigger culprit: FFXIV can be fixed with patches and upgrades, whereas FFXIII will stay as bullshit as it ever was.

Another part of the damage might actually be due to the fact that Square Enix love announcing games so much that they actually forget to make anything but trailers for them. There is also the issue of duplicating their characters over and over again, as well as this ridiculous "we must appeal to the West!" mentality that has robbed them of all cultural identity and originality. It isn't just the franchise that's been damaged, it's the entire bloody company.

THIS.

SE focuses too much on the West, they should stick to their own formula imo..
FFXIII is action rpg without towns,shops and the tiny aspects we loved in older ff titles.

FFXIV had a crazy exp limit & uninspired copy paste terrains which made it essentially halfbaked.

FFXIII-2 is IMO the reason that Versus got stalled. FFXIII was the reason, but FFXIII-2 as well as SE only recently began full production for Versus. I was more interested in Versus from the beginning.

I dont like the style of FFXIII-2 cause it seems so kiddy..probably without summons and only 3 playable chars....catch fiends like pokemon and they would probably disappear after the match...

LAME LAME LAME ... time travel in this game so you can play in minor altered levels...I am not buying copy pasted games..

FF is not dying but it will be if it continues this path of doom & gloom....

Versus will decide for me. Agree or disagree...

Most people that liked FFXIII or are looking forward to the sequal never played FF7 when it came out day one or FF8.. and these people will never truly understand what impact FF7 or FF8 made back in those days. In this era we living people people listen to lady gaga..nuff said. Mindset is way different of this generation. I must add I never played titles before FF7 , but I played ff7 in chinese before it came out in europe.

FFXIII is like lady gaga..hate it or love it....

 

[Richard B Riddick]

I think you are relating movies to game development way too much here. Making a picture with a story line is one thing, but making it game play worthy is another.

There's very little perceivable difference between a movie studio using a rapid development, profit & revenue centric, low quality, recycled approach to movie making and a game production establishment utilizing the same corporate devised rapid development cycle. :T

It stems from an overbearing application of corporate "quality control" over final products which stifles artistic creativity, uniqueness, and artistic expression.

This is typically what happens when corporate bean counters whose main concern are shareholders and profits, with an over reliance upon 'metrics', get involved in the creative process. They kill it with fire.

They attempt to find a reproducible & consistent means of creating a "hit" and wind up recycling previous elements of previous games because they don't understand the need for uniqueness or freshness of approach. Its the same thing plaguing current era movie making.

Lack of originality and artistic expression. Yes, you can say that the gameplay and such hasn't evolved in a long time. Well, neither has hollywoods storylines, authorship, or character development in general. The corporate powers that be mistakenly believe that they can devise a formula which guarantees a successful release.

Thus we see rehashing of their "fomula" game after game.

Just as hollywood rehashes their formula movie after movie.

There's little originality or creativity as corporate governance doesn't understand the need for such things. :T

 

[VirginBlack]

I very much agree with the OP, Final Fantasy has gone down the drain and the latest ones (XIII and XIII-2) are downright depressing. The new clip from XIII-2 is a sad case of style over substance. Lots of time making great graphics/animations but the whole story/gameplay feels...well...bland.

In my case, the main reason why I lost interest in FF is the fact that the series has failed to become something grand and immersive. The characters and story lines are simplistic and childlike, the gameplay feels too linear and scripted for an RPG. Your companions don't really feel like actual people nor do your actions make much of a difference for them or the whole story for that matter. The characters are designed to just look all cool and "anime" like (with lots of time spent in cool haircuts and wacky outfits), as opposed to having substance and personality.

Despite the capabilities of modern consoles, the series has opted for making things simpler and more limited, basically eliminating the sense of wonder and exploration that is and should be a crucial part of an RPG.

I don't know, maybe after I began playing games like Baldur's Gate, IceWind Dale and Neverwinter Nights it was inevitable that I would lose interest in FF. They may not have the pretty graphics/animations that FF has but they offer a gameplay/storyline and characters of a higher quality and these days games like Dragon Age Origins and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are the RPGs setting the bar high, not FF. As sad as it is to say it, FF XIII feels like a kids RPG next to those.

And yes, I am a FF fan, I have loved the series for more than a decade but alas, I just don't get the same thrills that I used to get from it back then and the new FF games don't really grab me like the other games mentioned above do.

 

[Castella]

In my opinion, I'm kinda getting tired of the whole "let's make a lot of side games and take forever on the main games". Even though this is a topic about FF but they do the same thing with KH. We're still waiting for KHIII, and we're still waiting/dying for FFVSXIII. Some of the FF games haven't been a complete bust. I've played FF games since the first one came out and enjoyed the gameplay and battle systems on those and up. But I think, after X was released and finished---it just went down hill for me. X-2 wasn't terrible but it could've used some more work. It seemed like they just rushed through it just to make us be stupid enough to buy it and the complain about it. XII was a huge bust because they have boss enemies in there that shouldn't even be there in the first place. Like you really want me to fight a level 13 Alpha Wolf and I'm only level 5? Plus, to top that off, the game didn't have much of a story to me. Let alone the battle system just let the characters fight on their own and you didnt have to put in any commands...which I didn't like.
I don't wanna diss FF cuz I've been a fan(along with everyone else) since it was released. I don't have a problem with XIII(though Hope can get on my nerves at times), and I haven't played XIII-2 or XIV yet to give my opinion, but not all is bad.
I liked Agito XIII(kinda because the battle system was more like CC)

 

[Guernsey]

Square Enix has the same problem Disney has.

They release a large number of low budget, low quality, products to profit from brand name recognition and established market share.

Disney releases Little Mermaid Part 2, Mulan Part 2 and assorted low quality greed movies to profit from the existing fan base of the originals. Square Enix has a tendency to do exactly the same. :T

What Square should probably do is what Pixar Studios does in terms of creating high quality, artistic, and original works. Pixar has never had a movie that did poorly at the box office. Every thing they've produced has been a hit & they have a very good relationship with their fanbase in terms of being known for putting out nothing but quality work.

I enjoy Disney movies but sequels notsomuch. Although the same can be said about any Dinsey fan or hater, I am especially this as Disney has not done anything that deserves my money. What happen to orginality? what to fun? No, its all about making sequels that do purpose but to milk the franchise. Pixar makes awesome movies, they use advanced graphics and technology but it is mostly a tool to create a good story, fun characters and huge worlds. Final Fantasy is similar but FFXIII just felt utterly devoid of the magic and story that made the seires so awesome to begin with. Square Enix should go back to making good stories again.

I very much agree with the OP, Final Fantasy has gone down the drain and the latest ones (XIII and XIII-2) are downright depressing. The new clip from XIII-2 is a sad case of style over substance. Lots of time making great graphics/animations but the whole story/gameplay feels...well...bland.

In my case, the main reason why I lost interest in FF is the fact that the series has failed to become something grand and immersive. The characters and story lines are simplistic and childlike, the gameplay feels too linear and scripted for an RPG. Your companions don't really feel like actual people nor do your actions make much of a difference for them or the whole story for that matter. The characters are designed to just look all cool and "anime" like (with lots of time spent in cool haircuts and wacky outfits), as opposed to having substance and personality.

Despite the capabilities of modern consoles, the series has opted for making things simpler and more limited, basically eliminating the sense of wonder and exploration that is and should be a crucial part of an RPG.

I don't know, maybe after I began playing games like Baldur's Gate, IceWind Dale and Neverwinter Nights it was inevitable that I would lose interest in FF. They may not have the pretty graphics/animations that FF has but they offer a gameplay/storyline and characters of a higher quality and these days games like Dragon Age Origins and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are the RPGs setting the bar high, not FF. As sad as it is to say it, FF XIII feels like a kids RPG next to those.

And yes, I am a FF fan, I have loved the series for more than a decade but alas, I just don't get the same thrills that I used to get from it back then and the new FF games don't really grab me like the other games mentioned above do.

I hadn't played those RPGs yet but anything is better than FFXIII at this point. I cannot comment on those.

 

[cool-wings]

The Final Fantasy series has had a down fall ever since Final Fantasy X but the Final Fantasy series has been a really big game so I don't think the new Final Fantasy games are horrible they are just not as good as the old Final Fantasy's. I also agree that a big reason that the new Final Fantasy's are good is because of the graphics but there are other reasons like the story. Square Enix shouldn't of made a Final Fantasy MMORPG but I just choose to ignore them. Im not against remakes I really want SE to remake FFVII for better graphics

 

[Nocturne]

Haha, wow this thread is pretty laughable.

The reasons some of you are giving are either ridiculous or downright wrong.

Some of you say the FF series is doomed because of FFXIII. Its ONE game in a huge series. One bad game isnt going to kill it (if you even consider it bad, which no matter what, it sold a ton and made alot of money). There are worse games in the series such as FF3 (which to the thread starter, quit bitching about how you are so great at the games yet havent played three because you havent found a ROM that is good of it and buy the damn game on the DS) and FF5 which had a weak storyline, terrible characters, and a reused battle system. Did those games kill the series? Absolutely not. This is point one that shows that FF fans have become whiny, stingy, and have unrealistic expectations.

I also love those bashing the compilation of FF7 saying it has what, 18 projects within it. Maybe if you count each individual story. Plus its laughable to use a number to try to prove something is bad. Just because there is an expanded world doesnt mean that its bad just because there are multiple projects. Same type of people who say a sequel is bad just because it's a sequel.

Also saying the game world has become steadily smaller as the games go on isnt true either. FFX was smaller than FFXII and more linear. FFXII was huge and I love when people say the characters were crap in it when everyone only ever mentions Vaan and mainly because of his vest and not his actual personality. There have been MUCH more bland and uninteresting FF characters than Vaan. I myself was horribly put off by FFXII in the beginning because of the battle system but when I spent more time with it, it won me over. Part 2 of why FF fans have become whiny and unsatisfiable. Remembering things wrong and stating as fact or just flat out lying to try to justify themselves.

I can also guarantee if the graphics werent top quality the bitching would never end and people would say SE dropped the ball. FFXIII was NOT hard to understand. If you had trouble understanding it then you were too busy to read the background information that was provided IN GAME. In fact, it has a huge backstory that has tons of potential. It wasnt my favorite FF, but to call it the worst is a huge stretch.

This whole, why make spinoffs and hating them for it doesnt make you look cool. It makes you look close minded for not giving them a chance, for a series you supposedly love. A game company is there to make money first and foremost. And the BS about saying all the good people left the company is also pretentious and ignorant. Yeah they all suck, screw all the OTHER people who actually work to develop the game, slave and work tons of over time to bring you a game that you sit in your comfortable houses so you can enjoy it. Last I heard, there were HUNDREDS of people working on a SE game, not just the main creators of the series. And at least they make a game thats finished and isnt buggy as hell like the Oblivion games. At least SE charges you $60 for a game that doesnt have massive slowdown, freeze constantly, or completely crash on you and have to release 17 patches to make it playable after the fact. Part 3 of why FF fans are now whiny and unrealistic, ignorance and lack of appreciation for game creation.

Im willing to bet a few people say this post if fanboyish, but then again what can I expect for a fanbase that only praises negative comments anymore.

 

[HolyDragoon]

Actually I would call XIII and XIV, 2 bad games released back to back. (Assuming you go by general reactions). Personally I really enjoy XIII. XIV though is a lot harder to enjoy, and requires a certain frame of mind. (not counting the drastic changes made to the game post-launch).

Looking back, when FFVIII was released, it was commonly referred to as an atrocity to the series. It looked pretty, but the systems were outrageous. No MP? "Draw" "Junctioning," What the hell was all this junk? Yet now it is considered one of the more unique systems for pushing the genre forward and trying new things in a positive light.

Has the series stumbled into a bit of a rut? While most can certainly say yes (FFXIV Launch for example), I am positively looking towards its future. I've seen great things on the horizon. You are not alone Nocturne, I too have faith in the future of the series. You certainly make a valid point, when "Game of the Year" is a game that consists of glitchy backwards flying dragons... something is skewed.

If you want to appreciate the series as a whole, maybe it is time to stop looking at it with Nostalgia glasses. Look at each game with a fresh perspective and stop comparing it to the previous FF, then enjoy whatever old touches creep into the new games.

No I'm not a "new school" FF player. My first FF was Final Fantasy I when I was about only 8, my friend's older brother had it, and eventually I traded a Golden Legend of Zelda cartridge for it. Best trade I ever made

 

[chrono trigger]

I think the series has been going downhill for some time sadly but i still think the problems can be fixed. All they need to do is

1. give us back complete control over the party in battle rather than just play as the one character.

2. create villians of the same caliber you used too like sephiroth and kefka, i mean vayne was one the most boring baddies FF has ever done.

3. i also think FF12 and FF13 lacked a gripping romance between the lead two characters which has been a tradition in final fantasy.

4. give us the choice to turn the awful voice acting off and read the story with subtitles instead as im from england and the voice acting we get is bad.

5. never repeat the mistake of no towns and villages again as most players like the chance to explore a town and take a break from fighting.

6. bring back earning gil after you win a fight as it is more fun and simple that way.

 

[Shaissa]

I think the series has been going downhill for some time sadly but i still think the problems can be fixed. All they need to do is

1. give us back complete control over the party in battle rather than just play as the one character.

2. create villians of the same caliber you used too like sephiroth and kefka, i mean vayne was one the most boring baddies FF has ever done.

3. i also think FF12 and FF13 lacked a gripping romance between the lead two characters which has been a tradition in final fantasy.

4. give us the choice to turn the awful voice acting off and read the story with subtitles instead as im from england and the voice acting we get is bad.

5. never repeat the mistake of no towns and villages again as most players like the chance to explore a town and take a break from fighting.

6. bring back earning gil after you win a fight as it is more fun and simple that way.

1. I will agree with but realize that XIII is more of what people want sadly, Name how many RPG's that have become big hits on the PS3 or XBOX 360 you have full control over anyone? Mass effect games...nope... Dragon age games...nope... So you can argue this.

2.Vayne was one of the most interesting villains in my opinion, honestly Sephiroth was poorly done, and Kefka was just crazy with no real back story...

3.Romances are sometimes too much in RPGs yes they help..but sometimes I think they go to Far... FFVIII is a good example of this. now don't get me wrong I like FFVIII, but the whole romance got a little annoying somewhere in disk 2.

4. Very few games have the option of this, so really cant say I would give that option.

5. A couple games have tried this... mostly sandbox games, with no real towns, and they sold very well...

6. I can go either way on this, FFXII had a good system of selling goods from stuff enemies drop.


Just remember guys once again... I feel like I'm going run this statement into the ground...

Final Fantasy is a test dummy if you well.. They try new things with each FF title (whether it be a spin-off, a sequel, or another number in the series) They will never make things exactly the same way twice. Just remember that before you go and buy another FF game hoping it will be exactly like VII or VI or X or whatever number you want.

 

[Grimer]

I dont think it's going downhill, I think they are just experimenting around. XIII wasnt terrible in my opinion, I liked it better than a few of the other ones. I havnt listened to the whole soundtrack of the game so i cant judge that yet. i hate to use this line, but i think it is relevant to the thread.


"Want my old shit? Buy my old album"-Jay-Z

which in this case it would be "Want the old shit? Buy the old games"

 

[Cedron]

What has happened...?

What is about to follow has been building up inside of me for a while and I decided it’s time to let it all out. This is focused only on FF series don't bring up any crap about the other games they've been making because this rant isn't about them.

First, let me start by saying this: I love Final Fantasy, as a kid it captivated me and immersed me in completely different worlds. Worlds like Gaia and Terra (the world not the character) have a special place in my heart and so do the adventures of Cloud, Terra, Zidane and all the others. I wasn't able to play FFVII in its glory days, unfortunately, (worst day of my life when I came home to play and realized that disk 2 of the series was missing, never to be found again.) Only recently, a year or two ago, did I finally get to play it all the way through and saw why it was hailed as the 'god' of RPGS. I will be honest however, it does not hold as strong of a place in my heart as all the others, but I still loved that game. The mediocre, by today's standards, graphics were made up for by the story, and even though it had its flaws, it was beautiful.

Also you should know, before everyone that loves what I am about to critique flames me, I have not played every Final Fantasy game! I have played FFVI, FFVII, FVIII, FFIX, FFX and FFXII. I have never felt urged to play any FF games after the 12th installment because of how terrible that game was. Now I know what you are thinking: “That game was the best RPG of the year and it made me want to be a better person and the storyline was awesome and if you don’t like that game then you hate America) First off practically every decent game is in line for an RPG of the year award, secondly the storyline was far from awesome, it may have been good, but it is no contest next to the older ones, Third the game was made in Japan so by disliking it technically…) The gambit system was O.K., but they never did enough with it to make it anything special. The one-dimensional characters, the focus on graphics over substance, the subpar storyline, lack of good side quests, to mention a few, completely turned me away from the series.( That and work… mostly work though… haha) From what I've heard I have not missed much.

Now with that said I will start my rant!

I, like I'm sure a great number of others, couldn't wait to see what the creation of Square Enix would bring to the Final Fantasy series. Grandiose, incredible characters and unforgettable plot are just some of what I expected.

My expectations were miles away from what we were given. The greatness of Final Fantasy games ended when the series transitioned to the PS2. (Yes I know that FFX was made by squaresoft) FFX was good, but it was missing something that FFIX and FFVII and FFVI and all the rest had! Don't get me wrong that ending with Tidus and Yuna had me crying like a baby, but the journey was a lot less endearing and engrossing. Sin wasn't exactly an ever-present and diabolical villain; to me it seemed like an enormous fish that just ate everything in the sea. Even with the twist of Sin being Tidus' father (I totally called that before I got more than 2 hours into the game.) I didn't feel as interested in the game as I did with the others, even with my replays of FFIX and FFVII I still loved them much more than FFX. FFX was good, but again, it was missing something, and don't even bring up FFX-2...

The truth is Square Enix is taking Final Fantasy in the wrong direction. It's like the company is a child too afraid to take a chance and explore an avenue they aren't sure about and when they do try to play it safe they don’t even recreate what MADE the series, correctly... (and please all you super uber fans that love the FF series and Square Enix too much to face reality and admit that they have actually messed up, don't come in here with all your well-thought out rebuttals of how great SE is and how I don't know shit...)

Who wouldn't like to see a couple of multiple endings to a Final Fantasy, I mean sure you couldn't make a movie or even sequels about what happened after (Yes I am talking about Advent Children and X-2!) but it would make the game a lot more personal and increase the replay value by so much! I would love to have a choice between good and evil or neutral even. OR if that’s too much at least throw in some unlock able alternate endings that are really good.


I for one would love to alternate costumes to characters!

Who didn't love walking around on the world map, being the pilot behind your very own ship, submarine, or airship and explore the open world?
Who didn’t love the sidequests of the previous Final Fantasys? Especially those in FFVII, I could waste hours doing sidequests and the like?

Who didn't love Moogles and Chocobos??
Who didn’t love the summons/eidolons/whatever they are called and how incredible they looked? (Summons like in VII and IX because summons in X were hardly cool at all..)

Who didn't love Final Fantasy when it was all about storyline, sidequests, enjoyable characters and all the rest??
I would also love for Final Fantasy to go somewhere besides the sci-fi stuff, maybe something like FFIX or FFVI or anything that isn’t practically a sci-fi game with fantasy elements…
Who didn’t love the originality the Final Fantasy series had for a, seemingly, all too short time..?

SCREW LOOKS WE WANT SUBSTANCE!!!!!!

If I could offer one piece of advice to Square Enix it would be to stop screwing themselves over with the piece of shit Final Fantasy games they have been making and just remake the good ones that MADE THE SERIES! And keep doing it, until they can get their act together and make a Final Fantasy that is original and that will bring back all the people that the new style of Final Fantasy has pushed away!!!! I, for one, would love to play through FFVI and FFVII and FFIX and shit even FFVIII if they were all brought up to today's standard's graphically and had a couple of bonuses tossed in there. I would have no problem waiting 5 years for them because I know they are good games, worth my money. The newer FF games… ehhh not so much... (The 10 remake is completely stupid….. Half the gaming world practically wanted a remake of VII and IX and they choose 10… Why? Because they are lazy… They do not want to have to remake the entire game from scratch…)

It seems like Square Enix is so focused on making sure the game has good graphics it has no time to get a decent story or characters together too. Well here is some news: Final Fantasy has never been about graphics or revolutionary gameplay. It has always been about the story and characters and the little things that other games didn't do that Final Fantasy did!
If I want to play a game with a real action battle system I go play Mass Effect or something.
If I want to play a game with great graphics I will go play Uncharted because those are nearly mind-boggling…
If I want to play a game with a great story and great characters and great everything and fun… it used to be Final Fantasy...
Let the flaming begin…

 

[fenixreaver]

I mostly agree with you. If I want to have amazing gameplay, I'll go play Call of Duty, or go pvp in WoW or something but that isn't what FF is about. To me final fantasy is all about characters and story. And it holds a dear place in my heart.

The newer final fantasies seem to have shifted away from both character development and story to focus on good gameplay (which to be honest XIII had by far the best gameplay of any of the FFs to date). Though I'm not a fan of this transition, you have to look at the trend of western gaming. It's all about gameplay nowadays and I believe Square Enix is just trying to keep up with the horse.

Where I differ from your statement is that I loved X. I thought it had the best storyline with the exception of VII and I truthfully can't wait for the remake. I mean the HUGE twist in the game when you found out Yuna was going to die and you were witness to Tidus' reaction is in my top 5 favorite video game scenes ever.Though I personally thought X was a successful and acceptable addition to the series, it is just an opinion.

XII was just a complete mess. Forgettable characters and I have dreams with better storylines. XIII was a step in the right direction but not near what FF used to be ... I do sincerely hope that SE listens to the fans and makes character development and storyline be their top priority.

Even though there are games more fun than final fantasy, no other game has grasped me, sucked me in and made me fall in love with the story and characters like this series. Other games you know it's a character and you're playing a video game. Final Fantasy used to be like a good book where you get sucked in and you almost forget you're reading.

No other game has made me feel real emotion towards them. I can think of at least four times that I teared up (yes I'll admit it) playing FF and 0 times in any other game. In case you're wondering it's:
FF7 - Aeris' death (I mean who didn't cry like a little school girl when this happened)
FF8 - Squall blindly jumping into space to save Rinoa
FF9 - The best ending ever!
FFX - The ending when Yuna was saying goodbye.

Anyway, now I feel like I'm ranting, just wanted to say I feel your pain, but I have hope, because I do believe XIII was a step in the right direction back where the series needs to be. It was a decent story and I did really like Lightning and Vanille (everyone else was meh). But until this time comes, I'm filling myself with the older FF's I never played (IV, V, and VI). Figure now is a perfect time.

 

[Lirael]

A lot of people here would agree that the newer FFs are very sub-standard. Personally, I love XIII - I love the story, the characters, and the mythology which inspired the world. However, I do feel that the story isn't as complex as the stories seen in games IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X. Nevertheless, I don't think this means XIII is a bad game; it's better than XII and is currently my 3rd or 4th favourite Final Fantasy, behind X, VIII and (possibly) VI. When it comes to XII... neither the story nor the characters thrilled me, but the gameplay and world was good enough to keep me involved until the end (as was the everlasting hope that the story MIGHT pick up eventually, which, sadly, it did not.)

Returning to XIII... Although the game in and of itself lacks the complexity of the stories in VI - X, when you consider XIII-2, and then the other XIII titles which are set in the same Universe, the whole XIII story is rather interesting. I admire Square for trying something a bit different, for showing us snippets of a Universe and the people in it. (However, I am pretty much on my own in hoping that Versus has a few clever links to XIII beyond the mythology! I am also one of few who feel excited about XIII/XIII-2 related novels and DLC).

I am very much looking forward to a remake of X, but I don't feel Square should focus on remakes, particularly remakes of VII, VIII and IX, which aren't toobad graphically. If the were to remake any FF, I'd rather they remade VI. I do love the sprites on the PSP, but I feel I'd become a little more involved in the story were I able to play it on a console.

When it comes to future FF titles, I would quite like to see something a little medieval again too. A world that's similar to the worlds in VI and IX would be glorious on current gen consoles. Perhaps they have deviated away from this because they feel it's been done... It would be very difficult to create something original and people may accuse them of copying past titles. Others would be thrilled.

 

[Squalllionheart]

To be honest I think they lost it when Squaresoft became SquareEnix, although 10 made it into my top 5 FF's 12 wasn't brilliant, I can tell this because I haven't bothered to finish it, whereas if I picked up 7,8,9, or 10 again I know I could dedicate 90+ hours any one of them again.

13 is pretty good in all respects but still lacks that raw charm of earlier FF's.

I think Square need to go back to their roots, try the materia system again, even if they made a remake of 7 through to 10 rather than digitally remastering JUST 10 or making up new characters and story surely they would still sell millions of copies.

I don't personally know a single FF fan that wouldn't want to see 7 or 9 redone and untouched with upgraded graphics.

Unfortunately this won't happen as Square probably don't think it would make them enough money or maybe they somehow don't own the rights to do pre 10 games because of the buyout?

When I was young I was proud to say that Square were my favourite game developers, whereas now I would have to say Bioware, which isn't a bad thing, but it's always sad when the people who use to make the best RPG's in the world, just don't cut it any more

 

[fenixreaver]

I just can't get into modern RPG's these days like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, or Dragon Age. They lack what final fantasy has. And that's a deep plot with interesting and memorable characters. I don't want to customize my character, I don't want to be able to change the story. The best final fantasies are like playable books: static, unchanging and focuses on characters and story. And I wish it would stay that way.