To both lovers and haters of FF7

[Wolf Kanno]

That and they are still trying to make another VII. Not a remake, but a game that did what VII did for the company back in the day and sadly lightning doesn't strike twice I'm afraid. I usually feel they learn their lesson but then something like XIII comes along and shows me they are still trying.

Was that pun intended, sir?

No, I actually didn't mean too.

Gonna have to ask you to explain yourself on this one. Examples?

I'm speaking about the use of symbolic terms like: Promised Land, SOLDIER, Sephiroth Clones, Reunion, and The Ancients though the last one is an RPG cliche older than dirt and practically an FF tradition in its own right. The terms are used to give the game an air of its own mythology but I feel the actual explanation to how they really work in the game are not nearly as fitting as their romantic terminology but this is simply my own opinion. Some of it works really well like Reunion which will spark a myriad of thoughts and feelings to anyone whose played the game but Promised Land which borrows from real religious terminology and is sadly just as boring in relation, instead its just another way of pointing out the hippie environmental/ Gaia theory nonsense. We get it, its the Planet and the Lifestream, you didn't need to give is a fancy nickname.

I love the in-references. One of the things I loved about XII was the naming scheme for the imperial fleet ships. Not sure why, but I get a kick out of it, especially when the names are used fittingly (Dreadnought Leviathan or Air Fortress Bahamut). It makes it feel very tied into the tradition of FF while still doing things differently. For the same reason, I loved XIII at first for its use of the Esper naming scheme for all the major "functions" of Cocoon.

I enjoy this too, especially in IX and XII. The mark hunts were incredible clever in their referencing most of FFs famous bosses and monsters in the series history, just like reading the propositions in FFTactics awarded the player with references to Falgabird, Setzer's Blackjack, and the "Man in the Black Cape".

My good man, here will we just have to agree to disagree.

That we will, I never said it wasn't clever and original. I just feel its overly convulated for the sake of being convulated and in hindsight I felt they were trying too hard to drag it out.

I really like how Aeris is characterized as just a young girl who likes a guy. It's refreshing. Sure, the plot involves her in a Big Purpose, but up until the end (of her, that is) she seems more interested in stealing Cloud away from Tifa. Another touch I liked was how well Tifa and Aeris got along, despite being rivals. If this detail wasn't handled properly, it might have drastically changed the tone of the game.

It would feel like the later entries that feel it is necessary to throw a love story in the plot and keep it as a major focus of the story even though it really adds nothing except another element to keep track of for the sake of itself. I usually like love stories but I really don't care for many of them in the FF series.

XIII couldn't have gotten everything more wrong if it tried. Not that I see any kind of merit in SE trying to copy VII, but XIII really got everything... wrong. It's like they took the most superficial elements of the other games and thought that alone they would make a good Final Fantasy.

I sometimes feel they either surveyed a 100 people and asked them what their favorite elements were and just went with that and ignored and ouright didn't even ask them what they felt about the elements they didn't list; or this was a case where the team got bad feedback about the towns and mini-games from their previous entry the team worked on (FFX) and just decided to remove them cause they took the criticism as meaning players didn't want them as oppose to what they meant which was they want them done right...

I actually really enjoy the second disc. But who knows. That might be because I've played through the first disc way more times than the second (corrupted memory cards and general busyness).

I have that issue with DDR files... though my third disc of VIII had a scratch that prevented me from every going to the space station for the better part of a decade, thank god I keep my previous playthroughs intact.

At first, yeah, because games were generally only for kids. With VI and VII (hell, even with IV), the series showed attempts as being more than 'just for kids.' VIII looked like it was taking a huge leap in the mature-themed direction, but ultimately they chickened out. I'm even of the belief that VIII was originally intended to be vastly different than it turned out. I bet at some point someone stopped everything and said, 'This is too radical. We need to take it back to basics a bit' - hence monsters on the moon and time compression and all the actual character intrigue being thrown to the side. I'm not sure why Square stopped trying with the mature thing. It's probably just easier for them, in the end.

Actually, Kitase said they have no real intention of putting mature themes in the games just because the fanbase is old, the series is still be targeted towards teens to 20 somethings. To quote him...

“I actually think that it’s a very natural thing for players to grow out of the Final Fantasy series,” he answers. “In terms of the age group we target with each new game, it remains the teens to 20-somethings. That said, you’re right in saying that some of our staff have been working on the series for many years. They are having new experiences and growing and they inevitably do bring those new ideas and perspectives to their work. In Final Fantasy XIII, for example, we have a greater spread of older characters in the story than we have had in the past. Satzu is older, has a family and is not really the kind of character one would normally encounter or play as in the series. But, that said, I think it’s better that we keep the focus on the young generation rather than ageing the series’ appeal. If players choose to stick around and continue playing the games as they grow older then that’s great, but hopefully new generations will find the appeal, grow up with the series and then pass that down to the next generation as they themselves grow older”.

Source: Final Fantasy XIII: The Final Countdown | Edge Magazine

I would also argue the early entries had their fare share of dark themes and maturity to them. As the technology has advanced, its just become easier to express in the games. Still, I wish the series itself would finally just put down the kiddie gloves. X, XII, and XIII could have been so much deeper had they actually just tried to steer away from the PG-13 rating the creators gave them. XIII alone had an excellent premise for a psychological drama centered around morality and the individual versus the majority. Instead it has two deus ex machinas and a rather happy ending with no real point to the story.

Maybe this is true for me, too. But I also get blown away by things that are good, still. If a company came around and really put their effort and care into making an intriguing, engaging RPG again, I'm certain I'd fawn over it. There were a few great RPGs in the PS2 era. My personal favourites are DQVIII and FFXII. Both very good games, but thinking back, I enjoy them for completely different reasons than why I enjoyed the PSOne era of role-playing. XII was great in the way that V is great - solid and fun gameplay. DQVIII I loved because, despite being an excellent game, I saw it as basically what I'd been hoping for for years as a young kid who loved NES/SNES/Genesis adventure games. It's just a perfect 3D rendition of the atmosphere and feel of those old top-down RPGs. Thing is, though, neither game captured my attention because of their stories, which is the reason I was so into RPGs during the SNES/PSOne days. Maybe I'm getting too old to appreciate them, but I think it's more the fact that RPG story-telling was fresher and more enjoyable before everything (action games, FPSs, etc) got all fancy-shmancy with their own stories. Aside from a few exceptions, most RPG stories these days are pretty damned bland and been-there-done-that. Also, voice acting be damned!

There have been some notable great RPGs in the last 10 years but I really feel they are very few and far between, I haven't been too impressed with many of the RPGs of this generation, there are some notable entries but I haven't played a game that felt like a "complete package" since P3/P4, mostly titles with some cool ideas with blah stories and mediocre battle systems. I think its why I took to Mega Ten, cause the series of series, usually do go there. I feel it has engaged me with moral and philosophical thought while also placating my need for a good well structured story and to top it off, most of the series has a good battle system. While playing it, I find myself asking the same questions I asked 10 or 15 years ago with Square RPGs which was simply "Why don't other people make games like these?". I feel other gaming genres have caught up to the RPG and lately the genre itself is having an identity crisis where its trying out new things or going back to basics, but bottom line, its trying to find itself an identity. Its no longer the gaming genre that tells a story like it was in the past. This doesn't mean I'm completely against the genre. I've been finding myself really intrigued with what Xenoblade and The Last Story are doing cause I feel both games actually took some of the better elements from XII. I'm really intrigued and hoping for a worldwide release for both titles.

Vivi

might be the best character in the whole series. As much as I love Cloud and Aeris, Vivi is just awesome and easily the best thing to come out of IX. If it weren't a pre-requisite for FFs by that point to have a male and female lead get together, I'd say Vivi should have been the main character. What better way to pay homage to the whole series than with a main character who is basically the series' most iconic image. Well, maybe a chocobo side-kick... How awesome would it have been for FFIX to be a simple four-and-only-four-party-member game starring Vivi, a chocobo, a runaway princess (Garnet) and Steiner (if only to keep referring to Vivi as 'Master'). Vivi would obviously be the black mage, Garnet would be the healer/supporter in a white robe and hood, Steiner a knight, and the chocobo would be a mix of unarmed and Blue Mage and would provide the player with tips and advice along the adventure using only a series of Warks and Kweehhs that only Vivi can understand for some reason (the Chewbacca to Vivi's Han Solo, if you will). "What's that, Boko? I should use my fire spell on this ice wall?"

Word

But seriously, Vivi rules. I'm just about wrapping up my playthrough of VII. Usually when I play one FF game, I feel compelled to continue the series from that point. I'm kind of interested in playing through VIII... but I'm not sure how long that will last once I get into the thick of it. I might just skip to IX because it's looking pretty damned tempting at the moment.

I just got an 8GB memory stick for my PSP an acquired VII-IX which are now all neatly on one memory stick for multiple portable fun. I still want to finish Xenogears and I'm probably going to lose time playing through Metroid: The other M and Birth By Sleep. Still, it will be nice to play the later entries on the go.