What the hell happened?
 

Forgive me if this has already been asked. If it has please let me know so I can whatever I can to take it down(i.e. :bmage: HADOKEN this thread)

What happened to final fantasy?

I have played Final Fantasy my entire life. I'm in the middle of V(J) and I've beaten every other that was released in the US plus II (J). I couldn't bring myself to play X-2 after watching my brother play it. X-2 is quite possibly the worst game and recieved any attention and is without a doubt the biggest disgrace to a series of games in history. Barbie Monoploy would be less of a disgrace. My theory is that the recent games (X-2, X, and to some degree IX) have lost the HUMOR. Theres nothing (intentionally) funny about them. X-2 isn't even fun to laugh at b/c it just gets painful after a while. Oh, I also haven't played XI because FF cannot be an online game. The game play, FMVs, and story are still good in X, but it needs humor.

I don't know.

Let me know what you thing

What has happened is that time has moved on. In order for a franchise like Final Fantasy to continue to exist it must evolve and expand. It must appeal not only to the old-school gamer such as yourself, but to the newer generation of gamers whose attention spans could be measured in nanoseconds. If newer FF titles bring in a larger audience, then future and past titles are sure to sell quite well.

And, be honest now, would you truly be happy if all FF titles were simply clones of 1, 6, and 7? Just because you don't particularly like some of the newer games doesn't mean they suck - they happen to appeal to a different demographic.

Actually, it can be an online game. It is an online game. Just ask me or any of the other bajillion players across the globe who have made it a rather successful online game.

Would you care to please explain to the class why FF cannot be an online game?

What happened is you're one of the tousands of people who doesn't like the way games are now vs. how they use to be.

And you think X-2 is the biggest disgrace to a game series in history? Wow...you MUST only play FF games.

He's right.
 

Very well said, Solid Shadow, I couldn't have done better myself. Don't worry, FFXII ought to be better, and I don't think it's online. Also, were you even reading the text in FFIX? It's hilarious. Yeah FFX can be pretty weak sometimes, and FFX-2 even worse, but to deny the awesomeness that is FFIX is blasfimous. As far as FFXI goes, it's not that bad. Now granted, certain people have different tastes, but they tried to make it so they could appeal to almost all gamers. You have to applaud SquareEnix on that. It's our job as gamers to let them know what we think of what they produce for us, but we must also show appreaciation for their efforts at the same time. FF isn't the only game series going down hill. Look at MegaMan X, after X4 it essentially died (Especially X6 & 7). But then they eventually made Command Mission which was what gamers like me had been waiting for. If you're not satisfied with the newer FFs, play Dawn of Souls instead. Have you even tried playing it? If you're really a die-hard FF fan, you'll like it. :fighter:

I actually had the same attitude towards the game before I played it. While the story and presentation of the game are pretty crap-tacular, the gameplay is actually pretty fun. Keep in mind that while it is possibly the worst Final Fantasy, it's still a Final Fantasy.

And I would like to echo Solid Shadow's comment on FFXI. Why can't an FF be online?

As to the big question of what's happened to Final Fantasy, I'm not sure. While I agree that intentional humor seems to have disappeared, that can't be the only thing standing between the decent FFs of today and the classics of yesteryear. At the risk of sounding like some old codger who can't or won't keep up with the times, I'd say that they need to invest more time on gameplay and story and less time on flashy graphics and FMVs. And more concentration on the stories behind the individual characters would be nice. That, for me, was the perhaps the biggest draw of FF6. It would also explain why I played Fire Emblem over and over just to get the supports.

heh...
 

Once again, I'm with them. *FFI Ending theme starts playing.* VVR has a great point, but there's also one flaw with that. In FFI and FFIII, you create your character. You form their personality as they fight with your friends in your party. You are them, you share their hardships, pain, and their happiness. "For you are the Warrior who crossed time." :fighter:

BTW, did I get a little too preachy? Sorry, if I did. I was going for a Kratos thing, but it didn't work out too well. Gomen-ne! :fighter:

BTW2: Viktor Von Russia, did you ever get Hector and Farina to marry? :fighter:

OMG the supports actually mean something in Fire Emblem!!!!!!!

anyways i do like it better when you self create your characters in some of the earlier FFs like in FFIII/FFVI you got to choose which spells they learn and in in which order...and now in FFV you get to choose what job they have and how they level up in each job and what skills to combine. in FFVIII it was equiping the GFs to them so they learn skills or recieve HP bonus's at level ups. thats pretty much all the FFs ive played but i was very please with the humor. it gave some relief you know.

I blame the Japanese, they are more interested in changing things for the sake of changing them than leaving in what was good to expand on it. This is symptomatic of japanese culture in general and gives the constant preception of shallowness but.. whatever.

As soon as Final Fantasy made it's way unto the PlayStation they tried numerous things with it - be it the materia system - the card system - and then a throw back to FF I - II with 9. Fans of the series usually have one system in which they enjoy and then are annoyed when it is changed - which is directed back to my first point, they just do it because the concept of keeping what was great is irrelevent.

Script writing is shallow because they are trying to appeal to different audiences especially in FFX-2, and are leaving out what made games like FF-6 so interesting.

It's also the reason why so many anime series are becoming more basic and idiotic even though they are looking better and better.

Yes. Yes I have. I think the only ones I'm missing are the Hector's Story specific ones.

As to the character customization, I think FFX might have been the high point for that. Of course, it was a pain to find a way to the right place on the sphere grid, but you could eventually get Rikku as strong as Auron.

So... wait...

Am I the only one who sees the MASSIVE leap in anything resembling logic here?

FFX-2 was one great big orgy of making fun of itself and other things. They opened up IMMEDIATELY with a Charlie's Angel's spoof. The villains were humorous boobs. Brother was one big joke after another.

Just because you didn't like the humor doesn't mean it wasn't intentionally funny. They may have failed because of culture boundries... but I know I was laughing at "Y. R. P. In position."

And then in FFX there were some humor moments, mostly involving a few seconds of randomness here and there (particularily with Rikku), but, no, there weren't a lot. Why? A lot of humor would have detracted from the story. They were writing a romantic tragedy about star crossed lovers, not an abbot and costello.

FFIX, however, had a lot of comedy parts. "Rusty", the entire Lindblum Pickle incident, Cinna's doll, damn near anything Steiner said that wasn't blatantly annoying, Zidane grabbing Garnet's ass, etc. etc. and a few more etc. just for good measure.

The gameplay in FFX-2 was outstanding. You said so yourself.

And the story in FFX was one of the most fleshed out and novel-istic (yes, I just made that word up) that we've seen out of an FF. Why? Because of the graphics and FMVs. You don't get the emotions across with a sprite striking its hands out with big eyes as you do with 3D rendered characters with facial expressions. It allowed you to better connect and allowed the story to be told more fluidly. With FF6, you had a sprite actually DETRACTING from the following of emotion. We weren't sure if Celes was scared or surprised or what when she did that, or to what degree. We weren't sure how to inflect her speech. We weren't sure what her body language was like. With shitty graphics and no narration to provide us with those details we are left in the dark as to what the writers intended. In the newer games they can actually TELL A STORY, instead of just ALLUDING to it.

Not to mention that you admitted that FFX also has the best character customization to date, which is a big part of gameplay as well. The battle system was pretty nice as well, with every action taking a different amount of 'speed', or whatever, and you being able to see how it would affect turn order. "Would casting haste on Yuna allow her to move before this bastard allowing her to use that crucial white magic, or should I burn a potion..."

Mostly, I attribute it to a combination between people having a hard time getting behind an effeminate guy who actually has feelings, or "OMGZORZ! TIDUS IS TEH GAY!" syndrome, and nostalgia that keeps people from recognizing this.