Quote Originally Posted by Roto13 View Post

I don't think people moan enough when games are too much like the last one. Take a look at games like Grand Theft Auto and Halo, neither of which have really changed since the beginning of the last generation. That doesn't stop them from selling retarded numbers of copies.
Ah, but the Final Fantasy fans are a rare breed. They *demand* innovation and revolution from TEH GRATEST SERIES EVAR, but then they run straight to the internet to complain about how those WHORES at Square-Enix have sodomised their beloved childhood memories of Final Fantasy PERFECTSHION by, I don't know, making Active Time Battles a little more Active than before.

People whined that Final Fantasy was going downhill because they were basically churning the same plot and characters, with the same combat system, and only minor cosmetic changes. A fair criticism, too, sometimes - but not when every new angle, new feature or new gameplay element subsequently cops the same flak.

People got sick of having an angsty teenage male lead who dwells on his feeeelings too much, so then with FFXII they piss bile about how the game doesn't focus on the characters' feeeelings enough. They bitched about ATB being old and boring, but then the new system trialled in FFXII is JUST NOT FF. "Waaah, summons are too cheap and overpowered" became "waaah, summons are too complicated and weak and they expect me to think."

It's something of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario for the developers - how to keep the franchise fresh and innovative while respecting what's tried and true. And tiptoeing around the "fans" who get most of their kicks out of being bitter and twisted about every nitpicky detail and start online petitions to have Lightning taken out of FFXIII because playing as a woman in a Final Fantasy is liek teh totaly gayz0rz.