I guess we'll have to disagree, for me, saving the world is a cliche and has been done to death. Course I use to play RPGs really hardcore so I've saved the world a billion times and after awhile (especially since the worlds are cookie cutter developed) it just feels silly. Most villains who try to destroy the world never have a good reason for it (I'm insane in the membrane! or as we like to call it "Kefka syndrome" :rolleyes2) or its some natural force in the cosmos, its just old... I just feel that the world doesn't always have to be in peril in order to make an epic story.

Dragon Quarter is an exellent example of a game where your goal isn't to save the world but its story is still quite epic. The main character fights the totalterian(sp?) government but his only goal is to reach the surface so he can save Nina, despite the fact his powers are slowly killing him. It was beyond epic and we didn't have some villain opt to destroy the world or anything. In fact the main villain fought to maintain the status quo and preseneted a new way to look at villains. I guess I feel its just as epic cause as I get older I realize how more of an impact smaller incedents have on the world. I don't really feel XII was just about saving Dalmasca but rather it was about the party fighting for the thing that means the world to them. Overall, I found the victory in XII to be more satisfying than most of the other FFs; cause I felt, through the characters, that more was at stake than in previous games.

I enjoy an occasional "save the world" story; hell, my last favorite RPG to come out was Persona 3 and despite going against all the rules I stipulated above, I still feel its the best RPG to come out in almost ten years. Despite this, the market is saturated with this concept and I feel its time to make a change. Its starting to feel childish and has been a cliche for years. I don't mean for it to be a permanent change but it would be nice to mix it up a little more. Only 2 of the 12 main numbered FFs don't have stories involving the world not being saved from imminent doom. For a series that has always been innovative in its design and storytelling, I think SE should step up and show us something epic without falling back on old cliches or at least create a better spin on it. Like how about a party that contemplates why they should save the world. Why is it there problem? Why are they the only ones doing anything? What do they get out of it?

I guess I want more gray and less black and white. You can get black and white anywhere, gray is hard to find in the genre.