Quote Originally Posted by Loony BoB View Post
Ah, you mean dilution as in all the spinoffs. In which case I agree. I love FFTA, so it's hard to see that as a bad thing (I see it as a game that would more appropriately be named FFT2, with FFT being a series in it's own right), but the sheer number of spinoffs such as chocobo racing, dirge of cerberus, X-2, XIII-2, etc... it can be annoying. Still, for the most part I ignore spinoffs and it doesn't bother me. I only invest in spinoffs where I really, really, really liked the original game. Because anything that gives me more lore is something I'm interested in. =] I can't heeeeelp it, I'm an addict.
The compilation and the direct sequels actually annoy me less than something like Crystal Chronicles, Tactics Advance etc, because at least they are related materially to the main entries. Tactics should be its own series, as should Crystal Chronicles. Same with Versus XIII and Agito XIII. If they can't be considered traditional FFs, call them something else. It would be like Kingdom Hearts was actually named : Final Fantasy with Disney Characters.

Quote Originally Posted by Loony BoB
If you go by ratings, the golden era began with FFVI and ended with FFXII - all single player games in this period got metacritic ratings above 90. For me, there is no true golden era, every game is judged on it's own merits.
And XIII wasn't a train wreck; it has a meta-critic rating of 80-plus.