So...long story short, the past year or so has been turbulent w/ my feelings towards S-E. For a good half year or so, I decided I would move on from S-E. Then, just recently, I was like "nah, they coo" and decided they're okay in my book again. But this time "away" from them made me really reflect on how I feel about Final Fantasy.

On the surface, yes, I'm a Final Fantasy fan. But...I began to realize...I haven't liked a new FF game in 15+ years.

I disliked FF13, didn't care for pre-ARR FF14, ultimately disliked FF15 (I did like a lot of parts tho), and haven't played FF7R or SoP:FFO yet. I began to ask myself - am I a fan of Final Fantasy the franchise? Or just specific entries of the series? They're different worlds, different creative teams, different characters, different gameplay systems. The only commonality is their title (and yes, crystals in every other game or so). At least the Mana and SaGa series has had their same respective themes, mechanics, creators, etc, consistent throughout their runs. But they're not getting any new releases anyway, not counting remakes and remasters.

The mobile gacha games (and a game like World of FF) have allowed me to continue to experience adventures w/ the characters I love from various FF games. But w/o the mobile gacha games...where do I get that satisfaction? I likely won't play FF16 (don't have PS) and even though I think FF14ARR is pretty great, MMO's just aren't my thing anymore. So...am I really a fan of Final Fantasy? Or just...a handful of specific ones that are essentially existing in the past only? Does that matter? Can I stan FF4, FF12, etc, and have to specify that? When I'm asked if I like FF, I say yes, then followed up with "excited for FF16?" and I say "no", then...it goes into an explanation.

Anyway, just self-reflecting and self-psychoanalyzing how I feel about the series and my future relationship w/ the series.