Are the newer releases really getting worse???

[ShinGundam]

I am not sure if I would say that the releases of the Final Fantasy series are getting progressively worse. I want to throw the possibility out there, though, that this could be related to increased turnaround time between each title.

Final Fantasy had three entries for its first few consoles: Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Playstation, and followed it up by creating a massively multiplayer online role-playing game during its Playstation 2 era. That left the only regular titles in the series to be Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XII. Perhaps the latest titles fall under more scrutiny because the online entries are seen as a different type of game and there is less material to spread around? Out of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy IX, someone will surely enjoy at least one of those titles.

it's not the online games that made 12 and 13 worse in the things that made the FF series great, such as narrative, characters and world building. There's no denying that these things were handled very differently in these entries compared to the previous games in the series.

Characters and narrative, maybe even thought i don't agree but what is the point from world building ? In this day and age, i have seen a lot of FF fans who prefer static pre-rendered backgrounds for the future of the Final Fastasy series .

[[.Pearl.]]

No, just FFXIV.
XIII was fantastic.

[Vyk]

i have seen a lot of FF fans who prefer static pre-rendered backgrounds for the future of the Final Fastasy series .

Its never something I usually consider, but I have to agree. And having thought about it, I'd choose to be one of those people. There's just something charming or deeply atmospheric when they do that properly

[kotora]

The way backgrounds have been rendered has absolutely nothing to do with world building. It's about the substance not the style

[silentenigma]

Square admits that they're aiming their games at tweens and young adults, and catering the lowest common denominator. They don't take a lot of artistic risks and the company is run by bureaucrats rather than visionaries.

Yes.. ever since Sakaguchi left, in my opinion. (And now look at that new game he's making... I think that looks much more like art than demographic-targetting)

[Dreddz]

The series had a near flawless track record up until FFXIII where they cocked it all up.

[Rase]

It's been so up and down for me that I could hardly say it's getting better or worse. I can say I haven't cared about a game in a while, but I never did try XII.

[ljkkjlcm9]

I've liked them all so far, though I haven't beaten IX, X, or XII. IX, I never got very far because the battle was SO SLOW, but good otherwise. X just didn't drag me in, in anyway, but it wasn't bad. XII there was just so much to do that I never got around to beating it... lol

Beaten the rest, enjoyed all of them as well. Though I haven't played much of XI, and hopefully after they fix XIV, it will be better too.

Of course, they all had their highs and lows
I - Nothing excels about this game, but nothing falls short either, it was a great starter game to the series and a great RPG to get me hooked on them the rest of my life.
II - Hated the leveling system, pretty good story and characters though
III - Great battle/customization of characters, story was meh
IV - Definitely a story driven game, I hated the fact that your characters were determined for you. It's the first game that had 0 customization of characters/Battle team.
V - Back to tons of customization, and one of the best to date. There's so many possibilities for you characters it was just amazing.
VI - Story driven again. Slight character customization. More focused on party customization. Loved this game
VII - Good Story, pretty good customization, only real difference between characters was Limit Breaks.
VIII - Lots more customizing of characters. Very hard system for some to grasp, but Junctioning is one of my favorite to date. Story was a bit all over the place, but I loved playing it.
IX - Back to set classes for characters and focus on party customization. Better than 4 in that you get to pick your party, not as good as VI in terms of how many. Didn't get far enough to say anything about story, but I definitely want to find time to play through this.
X - Sphere grid and party choice for full customization. Characters were probably the big low in this game.
XI - Online
XII - Full customization again, cool new battle system, amazing grand story. Definitely one of my other favorites in the series.
XIII - Very fast paced battle system. Extra stuff at the end requires you actually pay attention as opposed to auto like everyone complains about. Linear, but lots of stuff to do after you beat it if you enjoyed the battle system, which I did. Customization was moderate of both characters and party.

4 games stand out for me:
V cause of the class system
VI cause of the story/characters
VIII cause of the battle system/junctioning
and XII cause of, well most everything.

THE JACKEL

[VeloZer0]

I'm not going to get into a tit for tat of unsupported statements about which games were good and bad, but I will say that FF9 was the last game that I found to be excellent. I enjoyed FF10, but not on the same extent I had for other titles, and from then onwards installments have been fairly mediocre to me.

So for my tastes the series has certainly gone downhill.

[catfish]

Wow, loads of replies. =O
I appreciate the response and yeah I guess it is pretty much a matter of opinion. I've been kind of scared that maybe Squeenix should quit with the main FF series games since the impression I've been getting is that fewer people are enjoying these newer releases. Plus they have 14 main series games now. I like that it's so huge that they can acheive that kind of figure but at the same time if it continues isn't it going to get a little silly? FFXX??? Will it ever get there? Will it be rubbish? Who knows!?

Personally I've really enjoyed every FF I've played with the exception of XII and that was only because i never got all that far into it because the battle system annoyed me too much. I'm just worried that although in my opinion the games are not getting worse that maybe they will start to and maybe that is because they are gonna start throwing them out left, right and centre. I hope not but I really am concerned.

[Vyk]

Final Fantasy wants to be like the Superbowl or Wrestlemania Final Fantasy XIX

[Lamia]

It irks me when people say the first FF was unremarkable because when I was 9 years old and playing both FF1 and Zelda on the NES I got for Xmas they both seemed EPIC compared to other NES titles such as Mario Bros. Because in fact it was. It was a phenomenal game at the time.

I actually hated Final Fantasy X the first time I played it. I remember being as hurt and confused as many seem to be when it comes to XIII. However, I kept faith and kept playing it, wondering when the game was going to open up and if Tidus was ever going to stop being so damn annoying... But along the way I started to appreciate the battle system, weapon upgrade system, and sphere grid. This game had taken it to the next level... Break HP damage! Finally, Final Fantasy was getting serious about its customization and battle mechanics. Also, there is a ton of end game content.

I was apphrensive about XII because of the battle system but I eventually was impressed by it too. Besides, XII has 150 hours of extra content outside of the story and some of the most amazing fantasy dungeons and areas ever created. I am proud of the FF fans that see how great this is. It seems many FF fans cant appreciate a brilliant, open world RPG game with tons of content but hey...to each their own!

Final Fantasy XIII is a beautiful game but its level design is a flaw.... Much of the levels are corridors, ramps, and trails... However, XIII is otherwise a technical marvel! The graphics make other games this generation look dated and the battle AI is nearly flawless. It takes a grand amount of precision to make a flashy, fast paced battle system such as the paradigm system run so smoothly. However, the decision to leave out towns, and mini games made the games pacing unfavorable for many people.

The last three Final Fantasy games have the best battle systems. The ATB and CT battle system were more "bare bones" versions in the past and have been expanded on in the past 3 offline main series installments.

[Bolivar]

I can't say it's getting worse. XIII was not the generation-defining masterpiece it could have been, far from it, but it's still a good game.

I can't comment on the online entries, but X and XII are two of my favorite games, ever.

[Flying Arrow]

The way backgrounds have been rendered has absolutely nothing to do with world building. It's about the substance not the style

I disagree. The change in perspective and artistic direction has a huge impact on how the player experiences the narrative and gameplay. One may prefer one style over the other, but to say style itself has absolutely nothing to do with world building is probably not right.

Small example: I feel the environments of X, XII and XIII are all gorgeously rendered, but I still think the explorable artwork of VII, VIII and IX was much more compelling. VII's in particular sometimes tells the story better than the dialogue (which, at times, isn't hard).

When it comes down to it, the former is standard adventure-style perspective that almost every game does these days, while the latter is something that Square did very uniquely and very well. They also did 2D graphics very well - so much so that lots of fans frothed irrationally when pre-rendered backgrounds were introduced in VII.

[VeloZer0]

They way the backgrounds are rendered matters very little (to me at lease) but it is the way that you are viewing them that is important. For the majority of FF10-13 you are looking at the backside of your characters and are, from pre PS2 standards, fairly close. I think that this is why despite the games looking terrific when I take time to look at the scenery I wasn't really wowed with the environments over all. In FF13 when the camera position moved out and stopped showing my my ass I usually ended up thinking 'wow, this place looks cool'. With pre-rendered backgrounds the environment was much more prominent than the characters, but there isn't a reason they can't do that with rendered backgrounds.

Playing through PS1 titles again I am reminded how 'tunnel like' most of the dungeons actually are. However because the camera is static you are moving through the dungeon in all directions instead of just pressing forwards the entire way. It makes me wonder if FF13 would have been more palatable to fans if they switched to a static camera and control system like in the PS1 days.