Gaming The Future of Final Fantasy

[Box Hoy]

What do you think will be in the FF's after the twelfth one.

[Zidargh]

[color=darkblue]There is no specific answer to this question, it all depends on how the games sell.

As you can see, from Final Fantasy VII, the games began to evolve into something competitive with today's market, for example, we now have Final Fantasy X-2 which involves you to do a massage for a side quest.

It seems quite ridiculous. Personally I find that Final Fantasy XI was a dissapointment and perhaps that will change the direction on Final Fantasy XII. In my opinion, I think each game is a beacon to signal how the games should be made, as it all depends on appeal and sales.

Square Enix doesn't make Final Fantasies because they care about their customers, they care about their money, like every other business, therefore if they're not going to make a profit anymore if the sales drop drastically, then I'll presume they'll stop the series.

The only answer I have to your question is, it depends on how other competitive companies in the same market direct their games as it is all about the public, not what the company thinks. Perhaps Enix will create something merged with a Final Fantasy game, who knows? All I can say is that I'm anticipating Final Fantasy XII to satisfy it's gamers, such as myself.[/color]

[James]

[color=#707875]As far as I know, Final Fantasy XIII is in development. Or at least, "preliminary development".

I imagine that Square Enix has plans for games several editions ahead of what is currently available (so they are already well into their planning on XIII and they're probably thinking about the game after that).

It's interesting that Final Fantasy has spread its wings and become more than a singular line of games.

Of course, we've seen spin-off titles appearing on the shelves for years. But we are now seeing some very serious efforts -- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.

All three games are essentially spin-offs of the main series. But all three are quite different -- and quite legitimate -- takes on the central themes and gameplay concepts of the series.

So, I think it's a great thing. It's great that Square Enix is involving other creators in the franchise (like Matsuno) and it's great that they are willing to open the franchise up and inject some new ideas in there.

I think that the future beyond Final Fantasy XII is very bright, [i]especially[/i] if XII is a truly great game.[/color]

[Zidargh]

[color=darkblue]Well yes, more cameo appearances appear to be on the way. For example, moogles were always seen in a majority of the classic games, where as in Final Fantasy Tactics, you could actually interact and recruit Cloud Strife, so perhaps this is a track the Square Enix train is going to follow.

Another cameo that appears to be apparent is the races from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance into Final Fantasy XII so perhaps this will increase the games' popularity as I'm sure many people were dissappointed when their infatuation for the characters in previous games being completely wiped out as the character's would never be seen again. I'm sure this would put off fans.

So perhaps in the future we may see more cameo appearances in the Final Fantasy series.[/color]

[OtakuSennen]

[color=midnightblue]I think that deeper connections between upcoming Final Fantasy games will become more and more common. We've gone this long with individual installments that had very little to do with each other plot-wise, but all of a sudden (With the merging of Squaresoft and Enix) we've seen more spin-off-esque titles- FFX-2 being the most obvious example.

But even Final Fantasy XII, which is shaping up to be a ridiculously anticipated game (but not in a bad way), is taking place in the world of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. It seems that with the birth of Square Enix came a different outline to Final Fantasy. More games are going to be related to each other in several ways, instead of each game being standalone and wouldn't even be considered a relative of a different FF game if it didn't have the franchise's name on it.

Personally I think it's a fairly good ideal, because now we won't be having to go through the pain of seeing strange, uninspired worlds with each game. We'll be getting the same, complex, interesting worlds we've come to know from some of the series' better games.

But, of course, there's a flipside to that. Those same few worlds will eventually get boring and repetitive. Then new locations will have to come into play.

I think that most series get kind of tired after seven games, and Final Fantasy has been able to hold on and remain fresh. XII and XIV are looking extremely promising, and a golden age of FF seems to be on the horizon.[/color]

[Oblivious]

I agree with you OtakuSennen! I believe that a new golden age of the FF series is about to incur. I just hope for two things:

1. that we dont have any more games with a side quest of "massaging" o.O

2. That fans dont get their noses out of joint. What I mean is that FF8 was a very good game. It just didnt live up to fans standards that they got from FF7. Was FF8 a great RPG? DEFINITLEY! Was it up to crack with the rest of Squaresofts line at the time? Possibly not. I just hope people wont bash another semi-good game because it wasnt as good as they expected to be. I'm not saying though that FF X-2 was a good game. It was like a 5 year old's fan service kind of.

[Zidargh]

[color=darkblue] Well perhaps if the fans reacted better to the launch of FFVIII, we'd still have games like FFVII and FFVIII, there's also a chance that FFX and FFX-2 wouldn't be the way they are.

I look back and think that FFVIII was a very good game aswell, but the fact of the matter is, it didn't please because of the drawn out storyline, things were a tad predictable until the end and I assume they stopped playing and gave up on the game, Square Enix would obviously be afraid of this occurring again.

I've yet to get FFX-2, which is arriving next month so I'll give my further opinions on the case at hand.[/color]

[James]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Oblivious [/i]
[B]Was FF8 a great RPG? DEFINITLEY! Was it up to crack with the rest of Squaresofts line at the time? Possibly not. I just hope people wont bash another semi-good game because it wasnt as good as they expected to be. I'm not saying though that FF X-2 was a good game. It was like a 5 year old's fan service kind of. [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=#707875]Well, Final Fantasy VIII was a good game...but it had problems. I think it is almost universally acknowledged that Square hurt the battle system in that game. Perhaps they were trying too hard to create something new, when in fact, they were simply taking what existed and making it more cumbersome.

And what is it with the FFX-2 bashing lately? I don't get it. I haven't played FFX-2, but I get the distinct impression that it's quite a worthy title. Sure, it's a sequel to Final Fantasy X. And sure, it has a slightly less "in-depth" structure to it. But at least it tries to do a few things differently.

I almost want to buy this game just because it's getting such an illogically bad wrap from some Final Fantasy fans. Perhaps that means it's actually a [i]good[/i] game.

It's not that you can't criticize it or anything...but people keep calling it a girly fan service or something. I think that's really a very unfair criticism.[/color]

[Oblivious]

My last atttempt at a reply got deleted because I forgot to log in. So, here goes at trying to redo my last message:

Thats a very fair opinion you have James! I warn you though that FF X-2's battle system is worse than FF8's. The one thing that I do have a problem with that everyone seems to not recognize is the game play length of FF X-2. Im not the best and definitly not the fastest gamer out there. I dont play games as much as my little brother, instead I opt for a good book. Despite all that this game was short. In other rpgs that Ive played youve had to level up, solve puzzles, find your way, strategize, and most importantly THINK! And even after Ive beaten a game once and use codes to just watch the story line, it seems longer than this! It usually takes me on the average of several months (and an all time high of an accumulated game play time) to beat your average rpg. FF X-2 took me a week and the shortest ever for me to beat it ! It was just soooo short! Along with being a bit of a girly fan-service, FF X-2 was for me just too short!

[James]

[color=#707875]I don't know. I still don't think that this is necessarily an entirely fair criticism.

Final Fantasy X-2 is a bit like Crystal Chronicles, in the sense that it's more of a spinoff title. People who go in and play FFX-2 expecting a "traditional" Final Fantasy are going to be disappointed, no doubt.

I also seriously doubt that FFX-2's battle system is worse than that in FFVIII. Obviously, it's a matter of opinion -- but the FFVIII system was almost universally slammed as being inadequate, while FFX-2 seems to be a more action-oriented spin on the traditional FFX style (which was great).

So, I just think there has to be some perspective. The girly fan service label is still something that I view as unfair, particularly because I think it degrades the amount of effort that went into developing FFX-2.[/color]

[Purple Haze]

I got FFX-2 and its a great game. And for the people who say its short. Well it is if you don't try to get 100%. The whole game is really based around missions so if you don't do the and go straight to the "hotspots" then you will beat the game in a shot amout of time. But I'm in Chapter 3 and I've been playin for like a month and have like 46% complete. I actually like the AYB battle system better than FFX's hit wait for a minute, then get hit and repeat the process. It just makes the game more fun.


And for future FF I just hope they take out all the love stuff. I mean its kind getting old. They used it in a lot of FF's and need to think of something new. That was the main problem ( to me) with FFX. It just seem so soft and quiet because of the awkaward love between Yuna and Tidus.

[inti]

I personally can't wait for FFX-2 to hit Aussie shores. I won't even get to look at the blurb of the back cover until bloody March. I know it's only a month away, but it's too long to wait.
As for the FFVIII battle system? It was retarded (or is it retarted? Who cares. I know what I mean).
The storyline was good though. I just hated having to save up one kind of magic and then junctioning it. Then you can barely use the magic without a decrease in your stats! I mean, come on!
The FFX battle system was good, as it was the traditional style (I think it was). No-one bashes FFX, but Alastor has a point about the "hit, wait for a minute, get hit then repeat the process" thing.
It gets boring in long battles. Or short ones where the enemy has like a billion health and you do like 10 damage per turn. Not to mention the fact that usually these enemies are 50 thousand times faster than your characters (if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm pissed about not being able to defeat all the dark aeons).
I think that if FF7: Advent Children is a success, SquareEnix should (and probably [b]will[/b]) make more FF movies based on the unclear endings of one or two of the games. I'm unsure as yet to which ones, but I'll figure it out soon enough.

Alastor's view on the future FF games is basically the same as mine. Take out all the lovey-dovey stuff. But then, in the end, my mind contradicts itself in saying "That's basically the basis for a lot of those kinds of games these days"
Since this is the case, they should just tone it down a little instead of delving deeper into the secrets of the "undying" Final Fantasy love.

[Oblivious]

I do like the whole side love story. Yes, after a while, it can seem redundant, but I think that the characters would be weird if theres a guy and he goes across the world, saves a girl several times, and gets saved in turn a few times and doesnt end up at least questioning his feelings toward her. Granted, I dont think they always need to end up together, but questioning it just makes them seem less two dimensional.

One more thing is that I have to commend you all on such widely spoken view points brought together here, and still we act mature and dont get offended by ones opinionand go into rants. which tends to happen in other message board like sites. Thank you all.

[Box Hoy]

I sure wish Final Fantasy could be played non online. It sucks. Anyway who here agree's. I'm about to beat Final Fantasy 10 and I've seen parts of 10-2. I don't understand it.

[Sandy]

Huh? "I sure wish Final Fantasy could be played non online"? Final Fantasies are played non-online, aka offline. Unless you just meant FFXI, and I'm just being all overparticular about it... :rolleyes:

Anyways, I don't agree with you: FFXI would be a very dull game to play offline - the whole point of it is that it's an online game - or to be more accurate, Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. There's no detailed plot in the game, everybody just does whatever they want. If it were an offline game, it would just be a Final Fantasy version of the Sims (gawd I'm so fed up with the Sims!!!).