Final Fantasy keeps letting me down...

Hot Ice Hunter:

1. Square doesn't need to worry about losing fanbase, any more than Nintendo needs to worry if their latest Zelda or Mario game will sell well.

2. While profit motive drives what companies do, it doesn't make it a good thing for us. Come on. Everyone has a motive. I challege you to name one action undergone by any person that does not have a motive perfectly reasonable to the same person at the time.

3. What game thrust Square into the forefront of the game world? FFVII. What game had the most media attention of any PS2 release? FFX. Do you see any need to introduce "innovations" that nobody really wanted? Remember the Virtual Boy? Remember all the hoopla about GCN:GBA connectivity? Remember how big The Sims Online was going to be?

4. I acknowledged that Square is doing this entirely for profit. However, this doesn't help me at all. Therefore, since I have my best interests at heart, and not Square's, I will complain about the situation.

5. Finally, and most importantly, all of the above are not really related to my original point, which was "Final Fantasy XI should not be a numbered Final Fantasy game, but should instead be called Final Fantasy Online. Even then, I don't think the game will be amazingly successful. There's a glut of MMORPGs out there. This one has nothing to recommend itself about other than the title.

While I currently do not have much to say that would contribute to the thread. I agree that FFXI should not have been given a number.
It seems that FF is taking a Downward turn with whatever direction SquarEnix is taking it... I hope that Final Fantasy 12 turns out ok, because it's really the only thing I'm looking forward to at this point.

I'm reminded of a quote that describes this debate pretty well.

"Opinions are like asses. Everyone has one."

That said, which FF games are good and which are bad is all really subjective. Other than sheer graphical quality, it's difficult to say that one thing is absolutely better than another. Hell, even counting sheer graphical quality, some people prefer the look of the earlier sprite based games. It's pretty damn hard to objectively judge a plot, characters, or music. Sure, there's certain aspects that can be objectively looked at... but when it comes down to it, whether or not you like it is just an opinion.

Oh yeah, and KhanFusion, if you don't like the "anyone can do anything" philosophy, you should try playing FFIX. All the characters in that game have pretty strict roles in the party that you can't change. I think that FFX hit a decent happy medium. It's easiest to keep people on the normal default path of their role, but if you really want, you can work to make everyone do everything. I was always far too lazy to do anything of the sort, but it's there for those that like it.

Originally Posted by KhanFusion

An example of square TRYING to do this, yet failing miserably, is Chrono Cross. A ridiculous number of characters, yet you take out the ones that are exactly like others, and that number reduces to a handful. And to make matters worse, even THOSE characters aren't particularly interesting. To make matters EVEN WORSE, the chrono trigger series is basically over, ruined by a crappy PS game.

Ok, we are getting into a touchy subject here. I had to defent Chrono Cross to a bunch of my friends.

Chrono Cross is story based. I agree, I think 44 characters is WAY to many for a game like that. Chrono Trigger had what 7, right? And it was amazing!
Some of the characters were really cool. I mean, Mojo. He was the greatest character ever developed. Sure, it is a big joke, but its funny.
Many of the characters are useless, but many of the other characters, like the Viper family, and some of the Dragoons and Divas are cool to get to control.

I think being able to control them adds a level to the game. I also think there are too many characters that are completly useless to the storyline (no matter how cool Mojo is, he fits very nicely into this category).

Overall, the game is excellently designed. It has one of the best atmospheres in a video game. It is a tight game. Final Fantasy has a different atmosphere, because it takes place in a whole world. Chrono Cross takes palce in a section of the world. The music, art and everything adds to that.

Now, the element system is inventive, because magic is like that. Everyone should be able to learn everything. And each character has a different element grid (more or less, like Guile). it makes the battle system tighter, allowing for diversity in teh battle, not the characters. And that makes the game easier and more enjoyable to play.
One of the things that bothers me about Final Fantasy is choosing a character you like, but not being able to get through a particular part in the game because you made the wrong decision (Granted, that doesn't happen as much in the later games). This way, you can like a character, and play them, the only restriction is their Innate colour, and their stats. it allows for more customization (and not power gaming thanks to the star level).

Chrono Cross is an excellent game.

[LilWhiteMage]

I particularly didn't like FFII... It got a bit too complicated at times. I loved FFI, I can remember playing it as a little kid on the old NES ^-^ Hmm.... I actually still have that... >_> ~goes to dig through moving boxes to find her NES and FF game~

On a whim, I bought Final Fantasy Chronicles, partly because of my love of 8-Bit. Unfortunately, I could not get into either game at all.

I had experienced both FFIV and Secret of Mana (a series just as worthy as Chrono Trigger) beforehand, but I fell in love with FFVI. There's just something about it that makes me feel all warm inside.

I wanted to like FF7, I really did. But it's hard when your copy breaks down right before the end of the first disc...

FF8 doesn't need to be spoken of.

I liked FFIX, probably because it reminded me of Six. There was a good story, some humor, some tragedy, etc. Creepy villian.

And FFV gets an honourable mention. I enjoy the Job System but I always want everyone to learn everything...right now.

Oh well.

Oh man, FF6 is probably one of my top games ever. Seriously, that Opera scene makes me feel all fuzzy inside. AHHHHHH.

would you consider kingdom hearts a "final fantasy game"? if you do, then i would have to say that that square has not let me down in the ff dept. i'm looking forward to the ff7 revamp, then well see if square enix lets me down.

Originally Posted by ElseaAskew

would you consider kingdom hearts a "final fantasy game"? if you do, then i would have to say that that square has not let me down in the ff dept. i'm looking forward to the ff7 revamp, then well see if square enix lets me down.

I didn't know they were making a revamp, thats one thing i shouldn't probably let elude me.. I do know about FF7 Advent Children... Looks to be an excellent movie, the trailer was great to watch as well.

That Opera scene rocked... It was probably my most favorite part in the whole game!