Is it the end of Final Fantasy?

Retr0gamer

I'm starting this thread for a few reasons. Ever since Hironobu Sakaguchi was forced to leave Squaresoft the quality of games from the Square teams of Square Enix has been average at best. Also Square Enix seem to be bastardising the FF franchise and churning out half arsed sequels and spin offs. Just have a look at the output on FF games his his departure:

FFX-2: a dreadful RPG and the worst I've ever played
FF Tactics Advance: I tried to like it but it was just very boring and nothing compared to Shining Force, Advance Wars and Fire Emblem and also not a patch on the sublime FF Tactics on the Playstation.
FFXI: Haven't played it but supposed to be inferior to most other MMORPGs.

All the other Square games haven't been great either and only the Enix and their third parties are making anything good.

I do think that FFXII will be a stunning game but will it be Final Fantasy without Hironobu Sakaguchi? The guy filling in Sakaguchis role in the FFXII developement is the creator of Vagrant Storry, a completely different game in terms of story and style to the FF games. He has also said that the new FFXII will be more a follow on of Vagrant Story than the FF universe.

At least Sakaguchi has a new company that is making games for the Xbox 2. Hopefully Square can start producing the quality games we are used to from them because no matter how bad the last few games were and how bad the reviews are I still buy them

ghostchant

Unfortunately I think you might be right.
Recent games by Square-Enix certainly don't have the sparkle of the older ones, but I have to say I enjoyed FF Tactics Advance, although I gave up long before the end was in sight.
And a couple of years ago I would have been foaming at the mouth at the prospect of a FF VII sequel, now I just shudder at the thought of what they might do to it

Tar.Aldarion

looking at ffxii it seems to be quite good but i doubt as good as WoW.
hopefully they will cop on and take a look at what aspects of each game that the fans liked.

Gonzo

Final Fantasy XI is really good, I play it constantly, but like most mmorpg's you need alot of time and patience but it is quite different to other final fantasys coz this is an online game whereas the others are all story based single player adventures.

I wouldnt write off the final fantasy series just yet, the new final fantasy 12 looks great and should be out later this year or 2006.

monkeyfudge

Who was responsible for Unlimited Saga? That was the really, really horrible game in a very nice box...

I liked Final Fantasy Tatics: Advance. But I gave up on the final battle as the dificulty level suddenly shoots through the roof. To beat the game I'd have to go back to a save before the final battle and spend hours and hours just leveling up. It's very poor design as my characters were of a high enough level to get to the final boss with ease.

From what I've seen of FFXII it does seem to have a very different look to any of the other Final Fantasy games. It's seems to be much more serious looking somehow.

Retr0gamer

Well FFXII is a single player game unlike WoW. Vagrant story was an amazing game that was let down by a battle system that wasn't really balanced. However the story was fantastic and the soundtrack exceptional. Vagrant Story was very gothic with horror elements and a good smattering of gore. i'm kind of worried if the FF series is taken in this direction. It could be good or bad but will it be FF? One thing we can be sure of is of a stunning soundtrack. It's being composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. He may not be the much loved Nobuo Sakaguchi but every game soundtrack he has done was stunning. He has done everything from techno futuristic for shooters to orchestrated RPG soundtracks. Gradius V sounded great and he managed to make an orchestrated soundtrack fit a shooter with radiant silvergun. However he is best at making RPG soundtracks. Final Fantasy Tactics (PS version) and Vagrant Story had wonderful soundtracks by Hitoshi Sakimoto.

Tar.Aldarion

Retr0gamer wrote:

Well FFXII is a single player game unlike WoW.

oops mis-key i meant ffxi which is more like Wow

Crucifix

I think FF12 is their last chance as far as I'm concerned. If they fail to win me over with it, I'll have no further interest in the series(not retroactively of course).

Niall - Dahlia

monkeyfudge wrote:

From what I've seen of FFXII it does seem to have a very different look to any of the other Final Fantasy games. It's seems to be much more serious looking somehow.

That's through about it looking more serious, but I don't think it looks very different, I think it still retains the Final Fantasy character about it, certainly from the visuals anyway. One look at a screenshot and you can instantly tell it's a FF game. Whether it plays as such remains to be seen.

I was glad when I heard Yasumi Matsuno had become director of FFXII, I absolutely loved Vagrant Story, second only to FFVII as my favourite PS game. I especially loved the visuals, music and storyline, so if he manages to carry over them traits I know I'll love FFXII. I already think he has done so visually, I see a big resemblence between the main character of FFXII and Ashley Riot (I always hated that name) from Vagrant Story.

Retr0gamer, in your list of culprits that have "bastardised" the Final Fantasy franchise, you forgot to mention in my opinion the worst of them: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Terrible. Went against just about everything the Final Fantasy name stood for. Avoid!

Matsuno also did Final Fantasy Tactics, and I like how he is tying the games together by setting it in the same world, Ivalice. Makes the world instantly recogniseable to anybody who has played Tactics or Tactics Advance.

I was alot more disappointed when I heard Nobuo Uematsu wasn't composing the music. Although he is doing the main theme, so I'm sure that'll be amazing.

Retr0gamer, in your list of culprits that have "bastardisted" the Final Fantasy franchise, you didn't mention what I think is the worst of them: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the GC. Absolutely terrible. Went against just about everything the Final Fanasy name stood for. Avoid!

Niall - Dahlia

Oh and Rertr0gamer you forgot to mention in your list of cultrits to have "bastardised" the Final Fantasy franchise the worst of the lot in my opinion: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Absolutely terrible. Went against just about everything the Final Fantasy name stood for...or at least stood for until about FFX. Avoid!

Retr0gamer

FF:CC is more of a mana game. It's FF in name only. I did forget to mention it. It's an okay game in multiplayer but for got about it after playing it twice. Four Swords was far better.

Gilgamesh

I tihnk what made FF so unique was the detail of the stories, they were allways amazing, it was like reading a book with a battle system built into it, it just bound you to it, they still just about managed it with FFX but X-2 lost it completely.
I don't think the the FF franchise is in danger, for that to happen, Square would really have to mess up.
Sakaguchi gone is sad but there will be a worthy replacement ...... I hope.

FF has an amazing following in Japan and they will buy anything that is branded with final fantasy, just think, in Japan they sell more merchandise of FF than any hollywood movie has over there