FFXV Survey: Veterans vs. First Timers

[Skyblade]

@Skyblade

Considering Kitase said himself that he wants Final Fantasy to appeal to new fans and is not really concerned with older fans who he feels should bequeath the series to a new generation, that's largely why Squenix would probably be more interested in what new fans felt than old fans they know they can't please anymore. BD is still considered a fluke by SE, I feel the fact that Tokyo RPG Factory's I am Setsuna met with only the most modest of sales and a rather "blah" reception didn't really help SE feel like "old school" is still relevant. They may change their mind whenever Lost Sphear comes out, but we'll see. If old school fans want SE to feel like classic elements are still relevant, you've got to put your money where your mouth is.

Fair enough.

Though I think that the relative lack of advertising, it being a new IP, and being done by an entirely new studio hurt I Am Setsuna far more than anything else.

But, indeed, their new design may be more successful, and have greater appeal, than their old school RPGs.

That doesn't mean that traditional RPGs are failures (see Persona 5), or that their fans should be pleased that they're discarding everything that the series used to be.

Personally, I'm not against Squenix experimenting with the core design, they've always tweaked and prodded with it, and the series not so subtle transition to emphasizing speed and "action" style gameplay meant an Action-RPG or two was inevitable. Still, they're not going to know what people want unless we tell them one way or the other, so I still feel it's interesting to do these survey style questions. I found it interesting that both newbies and veterans agreed on most points concerning what they liked and disliked about the game, with only the difference being the not too surprising satisfaction level.

And now they're transitioning away from the series even being an action-RPG. WTF even is Final Fantasy now? It's barely an RPG at all. From what I can tell, Square is just looking at everything popular, shoving it all in a blender, and tossing it out, while weakening the RPG aspects that are the core of the series the entire way. "Oh, Forza is a popular franchise, let's shove a car into it and make it a driving game." "Oh, people love open world games, let's make it open world." "Oh, people like VR, let's make a...uh, VR fishing game!" And, of course, the most recent "oh, people love multiplayer, let's add in multiplayer options".

They're not "experimenting" with the core design. They've discarded it. This isn't Final Fantasy anymore. I don't know WTF it is. I don't think SQUARE knows WTF it is. They're just sitting there with their dartboard of popular ideas, hoping to find the one that will work.