Game series you feel started to lose their roots?

[Flake]

I wouldn't count public reception as being part of a game's roots. Like I mentioned earlier in the thread, FF is still pretty much doin' what it's always done.

Oh wow, no. No. Final Fantasy is not doing what it's always done. Final Fantasy is a joke now and I have yet to see a positive statement about the most recent games be made without massive caveats.

People used to associate the Final Fantasy name with grand adventure and epic tales. Now when people hear that title they just think of belts, androgyny, more belts, and a corporate focus on graphics over gameplay.

Final Fantasy is a poster child for franchises losing their roots. Well, hell, I guess every single Square franchise shares that distinction these days. We should all be thankful they let the Chrono series die.

[klown_nightmares]

Parasite Eve.

The two episodes on ps1 were awesome survival horror games, but The Third Birthday (aka. Parasite Eve 3) was a third person shooter with no Survival horror elements at all.

[ZeroAX]

Oh wow, no. No. Final Fantasy is not doing what it's always done. Final Fantasy is a joke now and I have yet to see a positive statement about the most recent games be made without massive caveats.

People used to associate the Final Fantasy name with grand adventure and epic tales. Now when people hear that title they just think of belts, androgyny, more belts, and a corporate focus on graphics over gameplay.

Final Fantasy is a poster child for franchises losing their roots. Well, hell, I guess every single Square franchise shares that distinction these days. We should all be thankful they let the Chrono series die.

Yes but my question is when do you feel the series lost its roots? Cause people who liked the series up to 10 complain about 12 and 13, people who liked the series up to 9 (I'm in that category) complain about 10-13 (actually enjoyed 12 and 13, but didn't love them as much as the previous games in the series....10 just sucks in my opinion), people who liked the series up to 6 complain about 7 going all emo and the series sucking ever since then, and I'm pretty sure that some people think that the SNES FF games suck for putting an emphasis on story and not being so hard and grind based.

I mean FF is really a series that keeps evolving so it's not the same thing for everyone. I just believe that people who became fans of the series with 7 (6 personally) are being turned off by the things the latest games have done, but I think there can be people who liked those games. Me among them.

[noiseredux]

Parasite Eve.

The two episodes on ps1 were awesome survival horror games, but The Third Birthday (aka. Parasite Eve 3) was a third person shooter with no Survival horror elements at all.

weren't the first two games pretty different from each other mechanically too, though?

[Flake]

Yes but my question is when do you feel the series lost its roots?

Final Fantasy IX was the end of the series for me. That was the last game that featured the right combination of high adventure, open ended exploration, and a minimalist approach to belts and zippers.

[foxhound1022]

No offense taken. I'm glad someone noticed; it shows me that there are people who actually do care about the series' they love. I think the reasoning behind my love of the N64 CV's are that for me, it was the first time I had played an installment without the presence of the Belmonts, which I thought was most intriguing. See, I never played Bloodlines or SOTN until I started collecting 5 years ago.

I am a Nintendo fanboy, so everytime I upgraded, it was to new Nintendo hardware. CoD and LoI each had decent, respective storylines, but I felt they were rushed on overall production, amd Konami was just like pfft!, here it is. I blame this on the huge popularity of DDR at the time. (I HAAAATE DDR!)

As far as Rondo; I did download it on VC as soon as I heard of its release, and I also have the Dracula X Chronicles for PSP, which has Rondo as an unlockable. But I am one that has to have the tangible copy. The only thing that sucks is I have to shell out the extra $75-$100 bucks for the Super CD Hu-Card, too. (sob!)

I'm just glad to see that there is someone who enjoys the CV saga just as much, if not more than I do. I see it has been waning in the last few years, and I just don't want it to go the route of the Blue Bomber.

[brunoafh]

I see FF X as the end of the line because A) It was the last Squaresoft developed game, and B) It was the last game that actually felt like a Final Fantasy game. If you put any of the games past FF X in someone's hands, references aside (chocobos, spell naming conventions, locales, enemies, etc), they would have no idea they were playing a FF game. That's the main thing that bugged me about FF XII. All in all I wouldn't call it a bad game, but having the Final Fantasy name slapped on it didn't sit well with me. Should have just been it's own thing, or started a new "Ivalice" series or something.

Final Fantasy IX was the end of the series for me. That was the last game that featured the right combination of high adventure, open ended exploration, and a minimalist approach to belts and zippers.

[AppleQueso]

Nomura's reinterpretation of the characters from a game that came out 8 years after FF9 doesn't count when talking about designs.

[brunoafh]

Yeah, very radical redesign.

[AppleQueso]

It went from one belt to like, 4.

RADICAL ENOUGH