Will this Phoenix Down the FF franchise?

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I'd get pumped for a Bushido Blade 4, Einhander 2, or a real sequel to Parasite Eve.


This? eh....

[Madame Adequate]

I'd get pumped for a Bushido Blade 4

Son

I am proud.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I'm proud of you too, kiddo.

[Spooniest]

I seem to have gotten lost in the shuffle here, I guess it's all the excitement.

I said:

"The first question on my mind is 'what's the script like?'"

...Or words to that effect.

Now, you might think it wouldn't matter, since it's a video game, but you'd be rather crucially ignoring what's actually a very valid, and some might say, all-important issue.

Final Fantasy has, for better or worse, always been presented to us as a kind of bas-relief in the video game medium when it comes to storytelling. A small child, or an illiterate person, or someone who doesn't know the language the game is being presented in, was always immediately locked out of being able to play the game to any considerable level of enjoyment.

Consider that the moment you power on Final Fantasy (the NES game), you're given nothing but a blue screen with words materializing for you to read. The implication is entirely clear: illiterates need not apply. This was a game that was asking a very simple question of you right away: "Can you read?"

Everyone is talking about the gameplay mechanics or the long development cycle, but ignoring the core issue: "Is the story any good?"

Even if it is fantasy, that's not much of a differentiation from the world of fiction at large. You're still gonna need characters, a setting, a conflict, dramatic events, an antagonist, etc.

So I ask again, and putting an even finer point on it, "Is the story any good?" Because if it's not, if I don't believe them, if I'm not fooled into thinking that this is a real world with real problems and real heroes providing the solutions to those problems, then I could give a tinker's damn how it plays.

If the story is boring, or comes off as an afterthought, then no matter how fun the gameplay is, it's going to feel like a chore.

In a nutshell, the point is, if the story is good (read a lot better than what they've done in the past), it'll be a sure-fire Phoenix Down with a Curaga thrown in.

[Lionblade]

I seem to have gotten lost in the shuffle here, I guess it's all the excitement.

Everyone is talking about the gameplay mechanics or the long development cycle, but ignoring the core issue: "Is the story any good?"

This is the point a lot of people seem to be missing. It's been the largest problem with the franchise for years (arguably since X-2), but with each new iteration, gamers still ooh and ah over Square Enix's pretty graphics while their storylines continue to suck hardcore. You don't need industry-leading graphics to make a great game. We all understand their importance, considering what home entertainment systems can do these days...but we're not here to watch movies.

Square Enix really can't afford to be all show, no go with this. With Western RPGs like Mass Effect being as good as they are...we need a reason to go back to Final Fantasy.

And for the love of god, HIRE GOOD ENGLISH VOICE ACTORS.​ I wanted to strangle Vanille.

[Formalhaut]

And for the love of god, HIRE GOOD ENGLISH VOICE ACTORS.​ I wanted to strangle Vanille.

I came to begrudgingly accept her voice. While there are moments that are certainly intolerable, it was... alright. I did like that both her and Fang at Australian accents to differentiate them as Pulsian.

[charliepanayi]

Get John DiMaggio back to voice someone.

[Skyblade]

I seem to have gotten lost in the shuffle here, I guess it's all the excitement.

Everyone is talking about the gameplay mechanics or the long development cycle, but ignoring the core issue: "Is the story any good?"

This is the point a lot of people seem to be missing. It's been the largest problem with the franchise for years (arguably since X-2), but with each new iteration, gamers still ooh and ah over Square Enix's pretty graphics while their storylines continue to suck hardcore. You don't need industry-leading graphics to make a great game. We all understand their importance, considering what home entertainment systems can do these days...but we're not here to watch movies.

Square Enix really can't afford to be all show, no go with this. With Western RPGs like Mass Effect being as good as they are...we need a reason to go back to Final Fantasy.

And for the love of god, HIRE GOOD ENGLISH VOICE ACTORS.​ I wanted to strangle Vanille.

Story never really troubled me. What's been lacking in Square games lately have been immersive and engaging worlds. This is why mechanics are pretty important. The ability to wander towns and talk to random NPCs helps to give a connection to the society, and thus the world, that the game takes place in. This leads to investment and engagement.

If we get another empty world like XIII, all the story in the world won't help because I just won't give a damn about it.

[Jinx]

People actually talk to the NPCs?

[Skyblade]

People actually talk to the NPCs?

Remove every NPC that is not mission critical from FFVII. Further, don't allow you to talk to them outside of scripted story events (so no Turk bar scenes, for example). Then imagine playing through the game that way.

[Jinx]

People actually talk to the NPCs?

Remove every NPC that is not mission critical from FFVII. Further, don't allow you to talk to them outside of scripted story events (so no Turk bar scenes, for example). Then imagine playing through the game that way.

For me, it'd be exactly the same. xD

[Formalhaut]

People actually talk to the NPCs?

I talk to NPCs! Every new town I visit, I make sure to talk to everyone I can. I love it.

[Skyblade]

People actually talk to the NPCs?

Remove every NPC that is not mission critical from FFVII. Further, don't allow you to talk to them outside of scripted story events (so no Turk bar scenes, for example). Then imagine playing through the game that way.

For me, it'd be exactly the same. xD

This explains so much.

[Del Murder]

I think you're in the minority here, Boobs. I definitely missed the lack of NPCs in the last installment.

[Pumpkin]

That's like rule number two to playing an RPG.


TALK TO EVERYONE

You know who was an NPC?

Hippaul
Grandma Potpourri
Blitzball Kid
Mary
Strippers in early Final Fantasys.