I was just thinking about what people define as "hardcore" gaming: stats maxing, getting ultimate weapons, breeding the ultimate chocobo, beating all the optional bosses in monster arenas and the like, and winning/dominating various minigames. Then there's a whole new level of hardcore, the No Sphere Grid people, the Character X Only (usually a mage) people, the "with both hands tied behind my back" handicap people.

While I occasionally have an OCD fit and simply must collect every mark, or all the celestial weapons, or play the extra missions in Dirge, I've only ever had the Completist Urge on FFX, because I've played the game so thoroughly that's all that's left to do. And I like the game.

What really draws me to the Final Fantasy games are the stories and characters. I love the little secrets that unfold. The personal moments, the friction, the angst, the humor. I love the games that seem to have developed a complex world, have politics and religions and a story-plausible magic system. Games where the summons are not game-mechanics, but part of the story. Quirky scenes like Cloud in Wall Town, or Laguna the Moron. Friendships like Lulu and Yuna, Ward and Kiros. Great secondary and minor characters like the Turks in FFVII, the extra summoners and Crusaders and maesters in FFX.

If I like the story so much, why don't I just watch movies?

Because movies are linear. Gameplay, while somewhat linear, is more a process of exploration, of discovery, of finding out, of experiencing these characters and their world. In a word, roleplay, although having started on D&D when it first came out, "roleplay" is still, to me, creating and playing your own characters instead of someone else's.

Anyway. I was just curious how many people play and love Final Fantasy games for the gameplay challenges -- monster slaying, accumulating goodies and prizes, unlockables and rare items and insanely hard bosses -- and how many are really playing primarily for the fantasy, the adventure of the imagination?