What if FF as a series ended?

[chionos]

Eyes on RPGs or Eyes on Gaming would become a serious possibility.

EoFF isn't about FF like it used to be anyway. It's more like Eyes on Everything in all but name already. Which is good. And losing the potential for new FF does not mean EoFF's purpose fails. Hell, half the regulars these days don't even play FF regularly, perhaps haven't played one in years. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but you've got to admit, FF just isn't what it used to be, and even (honest) FF fans like us know it.

It's not about one game or even two games not being up to par. It's about what is Square doing lately. What have they done in the last 5 years, the last 10 years, compared to what they accomplished in the years previous?

It's not even about effort. I think it's clear that they're trying. They're just failing. They don't have the right minds in charge right now, they've lost a lot of their true artists. FFXIII wasn't a 7. If it didn't have the name Final Fantasy, it would have at the very best a 5. And I personally think it's lower than that. Terrible game. Terrible series, and for anyone not interested in MMOs, that's all there's been for YEARS.

A tree can't abandon its roots, even to innovate. It can stretch its branches, it can bend, it can split in two. It can change colors, grow parasitic vines, it can hold tree houses and squirrel nests, it can have broken limbs and dead leaves and still be itself. But without its roots, without being able to sustain itself, it'll die, and that's what's happened to FF. They don't remember the roots. FFXIII was far enough from everything they'd done before it didn't deserve the name. Yes, the series was all about making a new game each time. That's doesn't mean, however, that anything they do is "innovative" just because it's new or different.

Square has lost its identity (as far as FF goes). Or rather, it's taken on a new one, and most of us don't like it. MAYBE they'll turn it around with FFXV, but I honestly don't think so.

I guess, for me anyway, as long as they keep putting games in these pseudo-modern settings, I'll be looking elsewhere to fill my gaming needs, and if all they're going to make is shiny, flashy "Final Fantasies" then the series is already dead to me. They've lost their grit, and that was half the beauty of the games prior to FFX. That's what sucked me into the series. And that's what kept me coming back, and that's gone.

tl;dr: I think it would be a mercy to let the series die in peace as things stand currently.