True Series Progress?

[Wolf Kanno]

Well hot damn, someone remembered for the Compilation. That's news to me but I have not seen AC Complete.

See it. It's such a great improvement from the original - almost felt like a different movie.

I may have to. I didn't care for AC as a sequel but I'm willing to give it another go if they made progress in telling an improved story.

Regarding CT and VII, VII's ending was open-ended, but even then it was given further conclusion.

My problem is that I never saw it that way. I never felt it was treated like an open ended commentary. I felt the "deep" elements were all done in the first disc and even then, in the first 20 hours only and the rest of the game sorta felt like the typical RPG stuff I'm used to. I never felt it was written that way, it had an open ended ending but for me and many, I don't feel it was really the philosophy it tried to convey that was important by the end rather than the characters themselves...

If we are giving credit to VII for having some form of social commentary whether its complete or not; I feel its only fair to give credit to games that pre-date VII that did the same thing.

Ok... you are going to have to tell me how Xenogears uses kiddie gloves. This I would like to hear

Kiddie gloves is your term... all I'm saying is that while arguably more extreme than its contemporaries, Xenogears still looks like a Disney movie compared to the Three Penny Opera or Baal.

Well, its not exactly fair to compare Xenogears to Theatrical playwrights. They have been doing this game longer... I doubt I could come up with too many films that could equal to some of the greater Off Broadway plays.

Then I'll ask you to indulge me a bit more and please explain how you feel CT, VII, and Xenogears are not as great of a dramatic departure from each other in terms of social commentary.

[Trumpet Thief]

I'm actually really stoked for this game. From watching the trailers, it seems like they're setting up a world that is really "Xenosaga-ish". I'm not really interested in the main character, but Hope, Vanille, and the afro dude seem like promising additions.

[Madame Adequate]

All I will say is that Snow has the most atrocious character design I can recall. Ever. I want to punch him. A lot. With a baseball bat. 90% of it is fine but it's just that smurfING HAIR that riles me

I disagree with the original proposition that FFXIII is less anime-esque than the others. However it would be no surprise if they are trying to make it appealing across a broader international audience; Japan's videogame industry as a whole is feeling quite threatened by others right now.

[Croyles]

I have always thought that people on Eizon are way too tough to please when it comes to FF. Theres hardly any gaming discussion going on in this forum as it is. Ive been a member since 2003 but was browsing for years before that and I still remember everyone disliking the look of every Final Fantasy that was coming out at the time.

For a website thats dedicated to the series, one that has always been about trying something new each time, this forum is remarkably reluctant when it comes to change, and probaly the one that talks the LEAST about Final Fantasy, even compared to general gaming forums.

Say what you want about Nomura, I think the characters looks intriguing and fantastic, and the game looks pretty neat so far too.

Now everyone can go ahead and flame me.

[Wolf Kanno]

Well to be fair Croyles, FF is a bit different from other game series cause each entry is practically a stand alone title in its own right. Due to this, FF probably has the largest and most diverse amount of fans cause there is most likely a game here you are going to like. On the flip-side, you will probably see some things you don't want to see either. Due to its popularity you get a wonderful assortment of fanboys, trolls, and fanboy-trolls.

For these reasons I don't really get the fuss about people voicing a complaint and not jumping up for joy for every little thing with FF in the title. Though it would be good to hear more positive comments but it just seems like people are indifferent or are unwilling to express their proper feelings.

As for Nomura, he's too "pop" for my taste and I generally prefer his more anime style over his realistic looks. I think the last game he did I really enjoyed was TWEWY cause for once his designs actually fit in and didn't look out of place in context of the world.

[Vyk]

I have always thought that people on Eizon are way too tough to please when it comes to FF. Theres hardly any gaming discussion going on in this forum as it is. Ive been a member since 2003 but was browsing for years before that and I still remember everyone disliking the look of every Final Fantasy that was coming out at the time.

For a website thats dedicated to the series, one that has always been about trying something new each time, this forum is remarkably reluctant when it comes to change, and probaly the one that talks the LEAST about Final Fantasy, even compared to general gaming forums.

Say what you want about Nomura, I think the characters looks intriguing and fantastic, and the game looks pretty neat so far too.

Now everyone can go ahead and flame me.

I dunno. I was a member of a forum for one of my other favorite RPG series: Shining Force. Though there were plenty more Shiny games than just the Force ones. And long ago they were really good. And as Sega is typical to do, they had to ruin that by changing the series. Phantasy Star went through a ruining too. And don't even have to mention Sonic. But that's just Sega's ways. And Square isn't nearly as bad as Sega. But I think its healthy for fans to voice a dislike. Nintendo's changed Mario a lot over the years. But they respect that some people enjoyed old Mario and have taken to giving those people simpler more respectable games along with their revamping

I haven't liked the roads Final Fantasy has been going in recent years. I never finished 10 and barely even go into 12. Had to force myself to beat 8 and 9. Seemed like chores. Though I'm certainly no fanboy. It had nothing to do with "oh this is nothing like FF##, it doesn't feel Final Fantasy enough". Because I didn't really like Final Fantasy 5 either xD or 2 or 3 for that matter... I just couldn't get into the directions they're going lately. But then again. I don't think I'm the type of person you're talking about anyway :]

[Madame Adequate]

As for Nomura, he's too "pop" for my taste and I generally prefer his more anime style over his realistic looks. I think the last game he did I really enjoyed was TWEWY cause for once his designs actually fit in and didn't look out of place in context of the world.

When it comes to art (as opposed to character design) I certainly prefer Nomura over Amano, but then I would prefer feces smeared on solidifed plates of feces to Amano.

[Vyk]

As for Nomura, he's too "pop" for my taste and I generally prefer his more anime style over his realistic looks. I think the last game he did I really enjoyed was TWEWY cause for once his designs actually fit in and didn't look out of place in context of the world.

When it comes to art (as opposed to character design) I certainly prefer Nomura over Amano, but then I would prefer feces smeared on solidifed plates of feces to Amano.

...you don't like everyone looking like anorexic porcelain dolls?!

[Croyles]

As for Nomura, he's too "pop" for my taste and I generally prefer his more anime style over his realistic looks. I think the last game he did I really enjoyed was TWEWY cause for once his designs actually fit in and didn't look out of place in context of the world.

When it comes to art (as opposed to character design) I certainly prefer Nomura over Amano, but then I would prefer feces smeared on solidifed plates of feces to Amano.

...you don't like everyone looking like anorexic porcelain dolls?!

Lol, so I guess its a choice between anorexic porcelain dolls and androgynous emo kids.

[The Space Pope]

[Crimson]

Old news.

[Vyk]

Plus if I remember correctly, he was told to make a female Cloud, so its no surprise she ended up that way

[Bolivar]

I have always thought that people on Eizon are way too tough to please when it comes to FF. Theres hardly any gaming discussion going on in this forum as it is. Ive been a member since 2003 but was browsing for years before that and I still remember everyone disliking the look of every Final Fantasy that was coming out at the time.

For a website thats dedicated to the series, one that has always been about trying something new each time, this forum is remarkably reluctant when it comes to change, and probaly the one that talks the LEAST about Final Fantasy, even compared to general gaming forums.

Say what you want about Nomura, I think the characters looks intriguing and fantastic, and the game looks pretty neat so far too.

Now everyone can go ahead and flame me.

I think you hit the nail on the head, given the nature of Final Fantasy it's pretty odd that complainers (i'm guilty of this) have chosen this as a series to discuss on a forum. Also, judging a game before its release is more preposterous than ever this generation. Any 360/PS3/HD PC Gamer (recent) can attest that cut scenes are no longer better looking than actual gameplay. Seeing everything in motion and reacting to you in real time gameplay means you can't possibly know what a game's exactly like until the controllers in your hand. And now we have games like inFAMOUS, where watching gameplay videos themselves don't cut it either, you have to see how smooth the gameplay and animations are for yourself to appreciate just how good it really is.

I dunno. I was a member of a forum for one of my other favorite RPG series: Shining Force.

I can relate 100% to that, but there's a stark difference to what Sega did with Shining Force and Square has done with FF. The original series is no more, after Camelot left it was open season on branding every RPG they made with the title "Shining Force" with no continuity (which it had) or adherence to the genres it helped pioneer. With Final Fantasy, you can expect 3-4 member parties, some variation of turn based combat, with all the monster archetypes you love, and some kind of apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic struggle for the life force of a planet. A lot of people who worked on the original games are still involved, and I guess all I can say is I'm sorry you didn't like any of the games since VII apparently.

But like Croyle's said, this is Final Fantasy, you gotta be prepared to see something different each time. Whether or not you actually like it, all bets are off.