What happened to Final Fantasy?

[dulcheshammie]

When I think about being a kid, and truly my introduction to gaming, I think about SquareEnix. Sure, some other games like Chrono Trigger for SNES and Shining Force II for Genesis are still inscribed in my memory. But it was FF VI and after FF VII that really made me care about gaming because they made me feel like the platform had greater potential than just being fun, but that it could be grounds for artistry and telling beautiful stories. Final Fantasy Tactics was another game that to this day, every year or so, I plug in my old PS just to replay it. Such as awesome story, beautiful 2d drawings and gameplay. SquareEnix used to define RPG.

FF VIII was cool and IX was brilliant. I even liked FF X, but I feel beyond that it's just been down hill. The "MMO" attempts, in my opinion, were pretty terrible. I really wished they would have stuck with the series as a single player game. But I was excited about FFXIII nevertheless, and then utterly disappointed after getting through the whole linear plow in a few days, cringing at the REALLY sappy dialogue that felt more like a japanese soap opera than a game. Gone was the feeling of mystery and exploration. The whole game was too clean, too bright and silly. I compared it to FF VII, the dark, bad ass, awesomeness of FF VII and it made me sad panda. For years I've waited for a proper sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics and never understood why they didn't make one (don't mention that GBA game... ugh). A couple of friends now got FF VIII-2, I asked them how it was and they said, "OK". That's what the serious is down to, OK. I'm not gonna bother, I feel like they've just lost their way : /

[Boxtroll55]

I thought ff13-2 was really good infact my favorite in the series ( i only played 8 and 9 though ><) i enjoyed 13-1 but i understand the complaints with the first one. The first 13 was a hallway lol but in all honesty i believe it comes down to personal prefrence. I just got into the series recently so maybe thats why i enjoyed 13 and 13-2 so much but ive been playing the old ones through and there pretty fun it maybe due to nastalgia for the old ones you played that makes you wish they were more like those

[Deleted]

Merger of Square and Enix, and the complete lack of any creative talent from game makers detached from their costumer base.

[Thelxi]

The awesome producer and creator Hironobu Sakaguchi left Square after FFX-2 came out, and the games never felt the same to me. FFXII was the first real FF to come out after he left, and it wasn't good IMO, but still playable. Everything from there was downhill IMO.

[Aoyi]

The creator of Final Fantasy left Square after Final Fantasy X. Every one that came out since was designed by a different team. They've been in financial trouble after Final Fantasy XIV and have made some unpopular decisions to recoup losses. Final Fantasy XIII-2's story actually didn't end because they are counting on you buying their DLC. I know many games offer DLC that expand on the story, but this one outright stops before there is resolution and says "To be continued."

I've played every true Final Fantasy since the original US release on NES. I haven't play all the spinoffs, but I've played a few of those as well. Final Fantasy X may be my favorite and I can even appreciate some of the story of FFX-2 (minus the Charlie's Angels feel). I'm curious about the story of Final Fantasy XIII Verses, but I don't know if I'll buy it until I hear whether I'll actually get a full game this time. Sorry, buying the collectors edition of XIII-2 only to find out I was expected to buy the rest of my game later really pissed me off.

[shimargh]

Merger of Square and Enix, and the complete lack of any creative talent from game makers detached from their costumer base.

thisle
everything was wonderful before the merge.
when they merged I thought, "NICE! square's awesome games + enix awesome games= doubleultrawinofdeath" but no...just regular games to bad games to nothing new or exciting games...that and alot of the creatives who actually did amazing things are far far away from the company that is now squareenix

the last FF that I played was the XII, it was interesting, the ATB was more ATB than ever, and with part of the FFT team in it the story was interesting aswell, but nothing like the past ones.

7 is overrated, and 10 was just "meh" to me, not mentioning the first sacrilege of a second part.

[Korru]

It has gone downhill after 7.

[Caiada]

Square, like 90% of Japan, decided to write complex and melodramatic plots instead of good ones.

People blaming the merger with Enix are idiots.

[bewbew]

What "happened" to Final Fantasy is what happens to most IPs handled by corporations and not individuals.

As the years passed, the people who wrote the stories that made we like and care were slowly replaced by new individuals, retaining however the name "Final Fantasy". This becomes clear if you get down to it and look at who wrote what, and I don't even mean Directors only. There were great writers in 6, 7, 8 and even 10 that were all but gone after that.

By 10-2, the lead director was the same guy that did Kingdom Hearts, and he took a much more...I don't know, "japanese pop" approach to the game, with overdone melodrama that simply doesn't touch anyone older than 13 y. Guess who wrote 10-2 and 13 and 13-2? Same person. No surprise.

I have this great idea in my mind of playing 6, 7 and 13 and write down what you learn, lore-wise, hour by hour, and relevant quotes, only for comparison of how the narrative goes in each game and what kind of relevant message is delivered, hour-by-hour. I'm just being lazy with it, but I'll definitly eventually do it.

Someone already did something similar, however. This guy in this other site did a write up on ALL Final Fantasies, and he was playing nothing but Final Fantasy, one after the other, and he did a very well written, in-depth analysis of his experiences. You can check it out here.

http://socksmakepeoplesexy.net/index.php?a=patff

It's a long but pretty awesome read if you have the time. Took me like a week to read the whole thing.

[Lagwin]

Unless they pull another FFVII the series will die.
They could also remaster/redo final fantasy 7...it will undoubtedly bring in money if it is done right.
I would love to see 7 redone in HD...i don't mind if they keep the static backdrops for the towns(i would prefer they do) but the map should be rescaled to make the world larger and have more caves and whatnot to explore with additional bosses.
In fact any future game should bring back that free roaming experience rather than the linear string of rooms it has now become.

[KCguy]

I only ever enjoyed FF7. I know a lot of people hated it, but it's still my fav. I think the series has played out and did years ago.

[bewbew]

Unless they pull another FFVII the series will die.
They could also remaster/redo final fantasy 7...it will undoubtedly bring in money if it is done right.
I would love to see 7 redone in HD...i don't mind if they keep the static backdrops for the towns(i would prefer they do) but the map should be rescaled to make the world larger and have more caves and whatnot to explore with additional bosses.
In fact any future game should bring back that free roaming experience rather than the linear string of rooms it has now become.

If Kitase remakes 7, he will do it with overly done melodrama and people who liked it because it was (mostly) kinda subtle storytelling will hate it.

[Buckwald]

4,5,6,7,12 and tactics. I could play those every single day. I wish and hope SE makes a FF that can bring back the feelings I have for those games.

[Digglett]

If Kitase remakes 7, he will do it with overly done melodrama and people who liked it because it was (mostly) kinda subtle storytelling will hate it.

Not to dash hopes, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

http://www.qj.net/ps3/news/no-final-...l-fantasy.html

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/...l-fantasy-vii/

http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/co...asy-vii-remake

[Leonard McCoy]

If Kitase remakes 7, he will do it with overly done melodrama and people who liked it because it was (mostly) kinda subtle storytelling will hate it.

Square doesn't need to remake old games. THey need to make better new games.

[Biggayshammy]

FFXI was anything but terrible. that is still a MMO thats going pretty strong

[bewbew]

Not to dash hopes, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

http://www.qj.net/ps3/news/no-final-...l-fantasy.html

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/...l-fantasy-vii/

http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/co...asy-vii-remake

I never said they will, I just said they would ruin it.

[Jolly Duck]

Please, oh please, stop saying only seven was any good... while I fully accept and encourage the diversity of opinion, every time I hear that it reminds me of "those people" who haven't experienced enough of the series to form a valid opinion or just want to sound like jrpg hipsters. Yes, it was an incredible game. Yes, it has the potential to be the best in the series. But no, it wasn't ground-breakingly different or even that much better than several others sharing the FF prefix.

On topic, I agree 11-13 were pretty meh story and gameplay wise. Didn't find myself very engaged in the single player aspect, and just didn't like the mmo out of personal taste. If someone links the square soft rap I will love you forever.

[Lothaeryn]

Square doesn't need to remake old games. THey need to make better new games.

Fact of the matter is they are Terrible at making new iterations of FF in the series, every plot after X fell through and felt shallow and unfinished to a certain extent.

I understand that they want to make another HIT title in the series that outpasses VII, but that is the key flaw in their thinking to begin with, you cannot force an outstanding title. You can only do what you do best and hope it gets great reviews.

[Korru]

Please, oh please, stop saying only seven was any good... while I fully accept and encourage the diversity of opinion, every time I hear that it reminds me of "those people" who haven't experienced enough of the series to form a valid opinion or just want to sound like jrpg hipsters. Yes, it was an incredible game. Yes, it has the potential to be the best in the series. But no, it wasn't ground-breakingly different or even that much better than several others sharing the FF prefix.

On topic, I agree 11-13 were pretty meh story and gameplay wise. Didn't find myself very engaged in the single player aspect, and just didn't like the mmo out of personal taste. If someone links the square soft rap I will love you forever.

I only said that it went downhill after 7. 3 was my favorite. :3