Has Final Fantasy jumped the shark?

[nickfil]

I haven't played many final fantasy games since 8. Mainly because I've been so disappointed in square. It seems like everything they do lately is bogged down in a 5 hour tutorial and a "33 hours and the game gets good" kinda thing. I don't know if I've just lost my patience or if they literally have more hours in the japanese day or what... but it just gets harder and harder to struggle through it.

I'm trying to give X a fair shot right now. So far it has all been pretty boring. About 6 hours in.

I'm about 4 hours into kingdom hearts 365/2 on ds and it is starting to feel like square is bogging that series down too. I'm a big fan of the first game. Just can't get into this one.

I also think that a certain amount of mannerisms and speech get mangled in the translation. They would probably be better games if i was japanese, and playing it in japanese. I'd get more out of them. Sadly, i'm not that weird mirror world nickfil.

I always concidered myself a fan of Final Fantasy. But i haven't really LOVED one of their games (tactics aside) since 1994. I would love for them to return to form. 13 isn't that.

[nickfil]

http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/04/ana ... _aging.php

a pretty good article. He quickly touched on something that i think is worth noting or rephrasing for emphasis.

Part of the reason why retro or "sprite gaming" is so great is that we naturally fill in a lot of the story and art with our mind. It isn't something we do on purpose, just happens. The more detailed a character the more the character also has to feel real when the story unfolds for us to relate to it.

In comics, you have a range of art. When cartoony guys draw stuff, it is easier for a lot of people to relate to and get excited for because people can see themselves in them. Think of a smiley face vs a Renaissance portrait. If i asked you who you look like more- you'd go for the smiley face because the portrait is EXACTLY one person.

I feel like Final Fantasy has increased their graphical complexity, but hasn't kept the same pace with the writing. It kind of makes it fall apart. I'm sure that if i could play FFXIII on an SNES cart with no changes to the story, i would love it a whole lot more.

[aaron]

no, we don't think so. not at all.

sincerely,

[Gamerforlife]

You know, if we are to discuss FF possibly jumping the shark, we definitely have to discuss Kingdom Hearts more. As the way Square WHORED OUT their FF characters to that series is embarrassing.

You look at the original KH and the FF characters weren't even true to the source material. And frankly, a game made by Square using the Disney license would have been a huge hit already. I never understood the point of having Final Fantasy characters in it.

I don't hate the KH series, but I've always found its use of FF characters as questionable and a sign that Square was losing some respect for its bread and butter franchise

[dlmvii]

You know, if we are to discuss FF possibly jumping the shark, we definitely have to discuss Kingdom Hearts more. As the way Square WHORED OUT their FF characters to that series is embarrassing.

You look at the original KH and the FF characters weren't even true to the source material. And frankly, a game made by Square using the Disney license would have been a huge hit already. I never understood the point of having Final Fantasy characters in it.

I don't hate the KH series, but I've always found its use of FF characters as questionable and a sign that Square was losing some respect for its bread and butter franchise

I think the problem with Kingdom Hearts was that the first one was a fairly light-hearted, simple adventure. Then they made tons of unnecessary sequels, and turned into an overly complex plot that still tried to poorly work in disney characters.

[nickfil]

I think the problem with Kingdom Hearts was that the first one was a fairly light-hearted, simple adventure. Then they made tons of unnecessary sequels, and turned into an overly complex plot that still tried to poorly work in disney characters.

a-fucking-men. Love that first one.

The second game i didn't know what was going on, and then they filled the gap with between the games with chain of memories which only kind of started to make sense, but it had been a while since i played 2 so I chalked it up to forgetting the details over time. Now i'm playing 365/2 on the ds and i have no idea what the fuck is going on. The explinations of the other games were so weirdly abstract where people were dreams of things and losing memories but making more? So... i don't know what anyone is thinking now. I'm fucking Roxas and I don't even get to play with the disney characters. Square has totally just assumed you know all of kingdom hearts backwards and forwards. A quick refresher is needed to understand whatever the fuck is happening. I have no idea if like... sora i guess is in the egg thing at this point? But i thought that was covered in chain of memories? SO... maybe this happens at the same time? or..... wait... but i played as roxas in 2 and he didn't do any of this shit before... so...

Or you know- stay true to the first game and make a simple lighthearted adventure THAT I CAN FUCKING WRAP MY MIND AROUND. GOD FUCKING DAMNIT

[Veno]

Wait, aside from Final Fantasy characters, anyone else think they also messed up on the Disney worlds?
I really, really hate what they did to Agrabah. I love Aladdin and all, and I was expecting something like Traverse Town, where there were townspeople in the market, and you could talk to different people. That's what interacting with worlds should be all about. But no, I get an empty world with nothing to do but fight, and frankly, it's one of my most hated worlds.

The magic carpet sequences weren't that great in my opinion, but anyone else thought they should put a lot more time into making more interactive Disney worlds?

[nickfil]

I love Aladdin and all, and I was expecting something like Traverse Town, where there were townspeople in the market, and you could talk to different people. That's what interacting with worlds should be all about. But no, I get an empty world with nothing to do but fight, and frankly, it's one of my most hated worlds

in all fairness- that could've been the limitations of the ps2. It could never really handle big towns full of people and every game feels kind of ghost towny.

[AppleQueso]

If the series jumped the shark at all, really I think I would say it was with the Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie.

[the7k]

I'll definitely say that it jumped the shark as soon as the Sak-Man left the building. Sure, there were more than a few Final Fantasy entries that disappointed me greatly (FF8 & X), but that's just to be expected. You can't please everybody all of the time.

But as soon as Sak left, the series went into Activision-style milking mode, with FFX-2, FFXI, Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core, Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts 2 and on, etc. Final Fantasy XII would have been a bright spot, had the characters not been so incredibly flat and undeveloped. God damn, how the mighty have fallen.

Wish I could say where FFXIII stands in all of this, but honestly - I don't plan to ever play it. Ever. Fool me eight times, shame on you. Fool me nine or more times, shame on me.