who else thinks the square needs to lay off the GRAFIX ENHANCER button?

[reinward]

go back to making GOOD games like FFIX

[ShinGundam]

Terrible logic is terrible .

[VeloZer0]

Though I do favor gameplay over graphics you should remember that it was the ability for SE to showcase then aw inspiring graphics on the PS1 that got them to being an industry powerhouse.

[Mirage]

Are you implying S-E didn't do their best to make FF9 look the best it could?

I don't know what to say.

-edit-
actually, I do.
I don't think you have a very good understanding of how games are made.

[Shin Gouken]

True that since FFVII SE put probabley too much emphasis on graphics. Don't get me wrong, the graphics need to be there in order to build a game like FFXII, but XII also proved that they could make a game with great graphics without it hindering the gameplay. I think what the OP is getting at is that FFXIII suffered because of the amount of time spent on graphics and those graphics in turn leading to the the decision to scrap towns and other bits.

A little less focus on graphics and a little more on gameplay is definitley the way they need to go. I for one wont be wasting my time with another flashy graphics fest like XIII

[Mirage]

No, see, this didn't start with FF7. Do you think it's just a coincidence that FF6 and Chrono Trigger are one of the best looking games on the SNES?

S-E scrapped proper towns in FF13 because they are horrible retards and apparently also insecure about their own design choices, (if not, they wouldn't try to defend it with stupid reasons), not because they weren't able to. "Too hard to make" is just a poor excuse.

The bad/unrealistic/inhuman characters in the cast aren't a result of too few resources put into character development, but more that the persons responsible for the writing wrote themselves into a corner and had to save their plot from tearing itself apart.

That being said, there was a fair share of fail in FF7 too. It's just that most of us were too young to notice, and now we're tainted by nostalgia and can't accept that what we thought was super turbo mega awesome actually isn't *that* great.

[Bolivar]

I agree wit what the OP is saying, put more resources into design than graphics.

While this is true:

No, see, this didn't start with FF7. Do you think it's just a coincidence that FF6 and Chrono Trigger are one of the best looking games on the SNES?

S-E scrapped proper towns in FF13 because they are horrible retards and apparently also insecure about their own design choices, (if not, they wouldn't try to defend it with stupid reasons), not because they weren't able to. "Too hard to make" is just a poor excuse.

you have to admit it's partially because the game was rushed. By the time they finalized the engine, the game had been announced for 2 years, and right after that was announced for the XBox 360. They needed results and the game was obviously rushed.

One solution is better development schedules. Like Gran Turismo 5, they can take all the time they want for all I care, just make it an incredible game.

Also, I think the next few games will be better, they'll have more time because they already have an engine. Everyone has stumbled in this HD-era. The only games that haven't so much are traditional PC genres - WRPG's and FPS because those games have been in HD long before this "generation" started.

Lastly, FFIX had crazy effort put into its graphics. The opening cinematic was jaw-droppingly beautiful and looked like it was directed by Stephen Spielberg.

[Skyblade]

you have to admit it's partially because the game was rushed. By the time they finalized the engine, the game had been announced for 2 years, and right after that was announced for the XBox 360. They needed results and the game was obviously rushed.

Yeah, they need to either learn not to not announce games so early in development, or to realize that games are going to take a while to make and not rush them so much.

They can work on graphics if they want, but the better graphics get, the longer they are going to take to develop. If they don't understand this, the game quality is going to get worse and worse as they move more and more resources to graphics in an attempt to make the games in the same timeframe as past entries.

[Mirage]

I'm not sure if it was rushed or not, really. I think it's more a case of bad judgement. I can tell that they really wanted to give us a very different experience, both in terms of the story they told, and in terms of gameplay. I love that they try this, but I won't hesitate to voice my opinion when the new combo they tried just wasn't all that great. After all, how would games get better if the developers didn't get feedback on what they failed at?

[ShinGundam]

you have to admit it's partially because the game was rushed. By the time they finalized the engine, the game had been announced for 2 years, and right after that was announced for the XBox 360. They needed results and the game was obviously rushed.

Yeah, they need to either learn not to not announce games so early in development, or to realize that games are going to take a while to make and not rush them so much.

They can work on graphics if they want, but the better graphics get, the longer they are going to take to develop. If they don't understand this, the game quality is going to get worse and worse as they move more and more resources to graphics in an attempt to make the games in the same timeframe as past entries.

There was a complete alpha build done by June 2008.