The End Is Nigh: Why Final Fantasy cannot last forever

[NashX]

It has long been feared that Square Enix, the kingpins of the traditional RPG, are soon going to be bereft of fresh new ideas for their Final Fantasy Games. Their award winning series originated with fresh ideas and stories, never before conceived. The SNES phenomenon was backed by such great games as these. We loved Final Fantasy VI for its great storyline, one of the best in the series, and great graphics, pushing the SNES to its limit. We loved Final Fantasy VII for its simarlarly great story, captivating 3D graphics and smooth story. We loved Final Fantasy VIII for its rewarding experience and for further pushing the Squaresoft benchmark in graphical quality. We loved Final Fantasy IX for its old-skool RPG content, bringing back what was great about the older games in a brand new PSone package. We loved Final Fantasy X for its stupendous benchmark in both sound and graphics on the next-gen console PS2. We loved Final Fantasy X-2 for its user-friendly, playful approach to the FF world, and for being the first true Final Fantasy sequel of all time. We loved Final Fantasy XI for being online, letting players shape their own destinies, fulfilling Auron's famous saying from Final Fantasy X, "This is your story."

However, Square is starting to take the bite and realise that Final Fantasy cannot go on forever. They are slowly starting to spin-off the series in efforts to prolong its lifespan. This has been apparent all the way back in 1998, when Final Fantasy Tactics was released, a tactical game as the title suggests, and quite different from the average FF title. 2001 saw the release of another Final Fantasy spin-off. This was a whole new approach, and Square's first real indirect admittance that it was running out of ideas. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, however, did not flop at the box-office, and was met with mixed comments, some positive, like "the reason to see this movie is simply, gloriously, to look at it" from the Chicago Sun Times; and some negative, like "what makes (it) a final failure is a predictable, nonsensical plot, laughably lame dialogue, and a surfeit of cloying environmentalist piety" from the New York Post. 3 November 2003 saw Square's return to Nintendo, clawing out an action orientated title called Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Yet another distraction. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, was a version of FF Tactics on the PSone, for the Gameboy Advance on 8 September 2003, with new plots and systems. Square also released various other RPGs over the years, like Chrono Cross, Xenogears and, more recently, Kingdom Hearts, a children friendly collaboration with Disney.

Final Fantasy XII is probably going to be Square's last great story. Soon, graphical quality is going to overshadow the actual content of the game, and more and more spin-offs, on different consoles are imminent. Square's interest in the next Xbox console is a hint, along with the forthcoming movie sequel to Final Fantasy VII, which is of course, Advent Children. A revolution is needed within those offices of the developers we love and trust. New ideas and fresh concepts need to be considered. The Final Fantasy series has been going on for around 14 years now, and it is still the best loved RPG series of all time. Surely something this great will one day fizzle out of the big leagues? Either Square open a secret chest filled to bursting with new ideas and stories, or Final Fantasy, the reason that I play videogames, why the Eyes On FF forum exists and why I am writing my opinion here today, dies a slow, painful death.

What do you think?

[Rusty]

I think your way to analytical

[NashX]

I think your way to analytical

Well, that's the way the truth has gotta be, y'know.

[Flying Mullet]

I don't know, it depends upon the gamers. I agree that fresh ideas for RPG's are harder to come by these days, but more and more gamers today are happy with a game that has lots of eye-candy. As long as Square keeps pushing the limits of hardware in terms of graphics and attaches somewhat decent gamplay and a story to it I think that they'll be okay for a while still.

[Rusty]

I reckon there's still quite a few new FF's out there.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

The Spirits Within definitely was a flop, and that's an awfully gentle choice of terms. It cost $137 million to produce and only made $32 million worldwide. Still, you seem to be confusing "running out of ideas" with just having a bad idea.

And how is the fact that they're making non-FF titles evidence of the decline of the series? They've been doing that throughout their entire company history.

[The Captain]

I'd agree that it seems the process of new games has slowed, but all that is really needed is an influx of new game creators, people with fresh ideas for stories and the like. There are more and more people goin into comupter programming and game creating fields as a career. So perhaps, who knows, one of us may eventually create a an entirely new, unique Final Fantasy! Hopefully, video games, and especially RPG's don't go the way of Summer Movies, all action, no story.

Take care all.

[DJZen]

I'm confused as to how FFT was non-FF. That's beside the point though.

FF is P. Diddy. Whenever the name is mentioned, hype is automatically generated. People jump all over it. They want to see what this new product is like and either praise or bash it. If FF is dying, why does every gaming magazine have to have a 5 page feature every time a new FF game comes out? Why does it still get featured on so many covers? Why is it ALWAYS occupying spaces on every top 50 list? Why does EVERY SINGLE LITTLE RUMOR about a new game get its own special? Seriously, think about it. There's a difference between a series dying and you not liking the direction a series is going in.

[Big D]

There have been twenty James Bond movies over the last forty years. These twenty movies have a total of approximately 3.7 "new ideas" between them, and yet they've always been highly successful.

The FF series, with a whole new world and core cast for nearly every title, is home to far more diversity, and a similar mixture of high and low opinions when compared to the Bond flicks.

Of course, the series is going to end some day. It simply cannot endure forever, and may well have ceased production within the decade.
However, it's got life in it yet... not to mention a strong heritage and a discerning following of fans.

[Ouch!]

You used we far too broadly. This is your opinion, not ours, keep it that way.

Spin-offs have nothing to do with the downfall of the series. There is no evidence that the series is going to end anytime soon. The only reason that Final Fantasy can't last forever is because, it, like all other games, will eventually be overshadowed by newer, better games and series. As stated, Final Fantasy is still one of the most popular series out there, so it's going to stay in the spotlight for a bit while longer.

By the way, Kingdom Hearts wasn't "child friendly." I used to babysit a 5th grader who had the game, he couldn't beat the Alice in Wonderland, but he could go through and beat Lord of the Rings: Two Towers.

[Mo-Nercy]

You speak of FFT as if it's a bad game. You also say that it was at this point that Square began to "run out of ideas." I don't think Square would be running out of ideas when they push aside the RPG and try something else. Just because Square shows it's best colours in RPGs doesn't mean all other genres they attempt are terrible.

You go on to say FF:TSW wasn't a flop. It was. Didn't make much profit. It did score decent reviews but heaps of people didn't bother to see the movie.

What's next? Oh. You then said that it was obvious that Square was running out of ideas because they started making non-FF games. The examples you gave were Chrono Cross, Kingdom Hearts and Xenogears. I find it funny that you picked probably some of the best Square games ever made to support this argument. Not to mention that the prequel to Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, is considered by many to be on par with FF6 and 7, perhaps even better. Also Square has been making non-FF games long before FFVI (which is far back as your timeline seems to go) I especially have many fond memories of Super Mario RPG among other Square old-school greats. This was mentioned before but Kingdom Hearts is anything but a game for children. True, they can enjoy the cute little Disney characters but let's see if my 8 year old cousin can beat Sephiroth. Nup.

Of course, Square has got to die sooner or later. It might be in a few years time. It might be after humans slowly fill up the atmosphere with greenhouse gases and global warming kills us all. Can Square really run out of ideas? I mean, society and peoples views will change over time. Thus Square would have to adapt to the constantly changing environment in both the gaming industry and the world in general to satisfy the needs of the consumer. In other words, if Square gets enough demand for one thing, they'll make it. e.g. People wanted FF to go back to its roots after FF8 because it was a bit...shall we say, "out there." Then Square came back with FF9.

[DJZen]

Wait.... hang on...... I just realized something..... NashX, you contradicted yourself in there.....

On the one hand, you're criticizing Square for trying new things with the spin-offs such as Tactics and Crystal Chronicles. On the other hand, you're saying Square needs to give us fresh new ideas.

Ummmmm.... Okay.....

[Az Lionheart]

i cry when i hear this topic

[K-chan]

Its a sad topic, but inevitable...
But I think they're starting to run outta ideas (just thinking, with all the sequals and prequals their making.) but ya never know, do ya?

[Cz]

Final Fantasy will go on, simply because people will buy it for the name, regardless of what the game is like. Whether they change the formula or not, they're still very good games, and well worth buying.