I'm assuming that most people on this site are from North America.

Here's the problem with N. Americans criticizing a game series because it "lost its touch".

Final FAntasy is a Japanese game. And in Japan, they keep rating these games better and better every time a new one comes out.

Look at Famitsu's fan-made list of the greatest 100/200 games ever made. Final Fantasy X is #1. #2 is Final Fantasy VII.

There's also the problem when people who played FFVI came out call it the greatest FF. Because they claim to be afficionado's, but in reality, at the time they weren't even aware that half the series existed.

One of my best friends is one of those people. He, too, says that the only thing Square cares about now is Graphics, rather than story, characters, and other elements.

As someone who recently completed all the SNES FF's, I can honestly say, the stories and character development has gotten BETTER with almost every game. When FFVII came out, one reviewer stated that it was the first time when storytelling in videogames actually surpassed that in movies.

If you go back and play VI, the dialogue in the game would never hold up in any RPG today, because the story and character interaction isn't real or logical enough to be implemented into a game. So even if it was to be remade with 3D graphics, it would still seem outdated unless they revamped the entire game.

I think one of the main reasons that this has been a prevailing issue among American fans of FF is because of Final Fantasy VIII. I think Square had an enormous vision for a video game, it just didn't turn out the way they wanted, at least the reception in America wasn't.

I think FF will keep going strong well into the XX's. The games had a huge impact on a generation of SNES gamers in the 90's. Undoubtedly, it won over a new generation with the PS generation of games. And if you look today, there's a new generation of gamers who love FFX and Kingdom Hearts.

I find it ironic that in this post I was criticizing the VI-fans for having a grudge against the newer games for the way they've changed, as now I am unsure whether or not the Gambit system in XII will win me over. It may be too much of a departure, but the American audience can't decide that until it reaches our shores.