Hey, Remember When People Used to Care About Final Fantasy?

Final Fantasy was once a hugely popular franchise with millions of fans, who were all extremely vocal. Now, apathy has tragically set in.

[pedrof93]

They only need to get two things right with the game:

To get the old Battle mechanics back in the game.

To give an open world style like FF7,8,10 etc.

[Abash]

I care about Final Fantasy XV, only because it's being made by SE's golden boy, Tetsuya Nomura.

If he can't make Final Fantasy relevant again, then I dont know who could

[MightyNoX]

Well said.

[Reibooi]

I agree and to be honest people still care about Final Fantasy, They would not be so pissed off at the direction of the games if they didn't.

They complain and get angry at SE because they loved the older games and wants SE to capture that magic again and if no one gave a crap about the franchise anymore no one would react that way they would just let the newest game come and go and not give a damn.

I think if SE is letting Nomura-san have reign over XV and he does what he has said he wanted to for a long time fans with love it and if that happens it might finally knock some sense into SE and see that they need to go back to their roots. Bravely Default was a good example of this btw.

[badz149]

FF used to be a "thing" in gaming but XIII really has hurt the image of the franchise and SE as a company last gen. it's hard to imagine if XV can bring the series back to its former glory.

[Eyeco]

"only because it's being made by SE's golden boy, Tetsuya Nomura. "

Im glad you said that, I now have faith.

[TheDivine]

I'd rather have him making character designs NOT making the game. KH games are great but convoluted and far to action based for FF. They need to bring back Sakaguchi and Uematsu for FF to be what it once was. Enough time has passed. Pull an Apple and bring back the guy who was the soul of the company. He would right the ship and restore faith in the company. It would cause massive hype and people would forget the post FFX square instantly.

I did love 14 and Lightning Returns was prob the freshest rpg in a long time IMO (although bogged down by the ties to 13, should've been a new ip). Still, without Sakaguchi its not the same. Lost Odyssey and The Last Story are the only RPGs as good as classic FF games IMO. 15 does look amazing so far though.

[kayoss]

I dont think Final fantasy 10 was open world. the story was pretty linear until you get the airship. Which was near the end of the game. But I agree with the rest of your statements.

Besides Crisis core, i dont like the live battle system. For some reasons i love the turn base system.

[Pozzle]

That's true. FFX might not have had a large world map like previous games, but Spira was a fully-realized world that felt varied and organic. That's something that has been missing from recent FF games imo. FFXIII in particulat just kind of....shoved you into the world and expected you to understand the culture and conflicts before you'd even gotten to know the characters.

[LordMaim]

@Pozzle: Well said, sir. Final Fantasy X was the last game that really grabbed me in the series. Compared with the Final Fantasy entries that followed (including Final Fantasy X-2, sadly) the world and character building has been massively underwhelming.

[slyleo2001]

I also didn't like how you couldn't see the airship fly around like in ff7,8,9

I was disappointed PS2 was suppose to be more powerful i was expecting grand open worlds from RPG's. I hope they can capture my vision with FFXV from what i have seen it looks good.

[christian hour]

FFX-2 is where things definitely started to get worrysome on my end. FFXII's world of airships and floating things was just a huge disappointment too, the concept art seemed so ambitious, and for years we saw very little of the game, I envisioned a return to an open world airship world map type format. Nope. And even though FFX did not have a world map, it still felt massive, sprawling and alive with history and character.

This has not been a staple in the series since FFX and it's one of the things that drew in people so much. FFXV is the last redeeming chance they have with me, and I've been holding on to that hope since 2006-7 when they announced versusXIII... it's seeming less and less likely as the years go by that we'll ever see a true final fantasy game full of depth again.

[christian hour]

Exactly, all thats needed is

Open world/overworld map
Towns
Airships/boats/car

And of course a solid turn based battle system, a cid character, chocobos and the usual summons.

Most of these key pillars have been heavily absent form the latest FF titles... oh and what else was missing... em... oh yeah. A damn good story. I think FFX was the last good FF for me, I had no itnerest in FFXII's characters. FFIX was probably the last great one I played in tersm of the aesthetics/world and story

The original Crystal Chronicles gets an honorable mention too I think.

[Ricegum]

Don't forget a Biggs and a Wedge. Where would Final Fantasy be without these two badasses.

[russellmorris52]

i dont agree aout the battle mechanics im fine with them not staying with the same thing every game. Not to mention they probably want to try new things themselves there are plenty of games that keep the old school FF battle style alive. What they need to do is tighten up the plots and characters and make the world less static and more exlporable to the player. More fully voiced side stories too Gameplay mechanics should evolve with time and not everyone gonna like every iteration but the stories and chracters ahve gotten weaker since X though (XII was still good)

[johny5]

Interesting you don't mention FF12 because it was the biggest open world Final Fantasy to date!

[GordonKnight]

FF12 was one of my favorites in the series.

[Back-to-Back]

If they need an example of a great recent JRPG, Ni No Kuni is the model to follow. That game was awesome.

[jambola]

You mean the now??
yeah, i remember right now

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

I still care right now.

[LordMaim]

I care right now, because of the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD release. Before that, it's been a sad decade.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

I more recently got into FF. whenever FFIII on DS came out. Got I/II Dawn of souls. Got V and VI on GBA. Borrowed VII which I think is overrated. Bought VIII from PSN. I have not played IX. FFX I rlly don't like Tidus but, I might give that another chance. I don't like XII's combat to me it's unplayable. XIII and XIII-2 I was fine with. Lighting Returns while combat is fun story is such garbage I stopped midway.

For 360/PS3 gen I enjoyed the Tales of series a lot more. Every Tales game imo is good.

[ritsuka666]

FF games are not supposed to be medicore...oh, how the mighty have fallen.'''

I really want Square Soft back. =(

[LordMaim]

Heck, even Enix used to make good RPGs back in the day. You remember Dragon Warrior VIII?

It's like the two companies merged and cancelled each other out.

[KinjoTakemura]

Square Enix lost sight of what SquareSoft used to do whe making RPGs. Now Square Enix seems hell bent on catering to casual gamers. They still aren't buying the games so when will Square Enix get the hint?

[DiscoKid]

That's the mistake people are making. They ARE selling, moreso in Japan which is the crowd SE caters to the most. As far as I know, they adore Lightning. SE just throws us Western players Tomb Raider, Hitman, and Deus Ex.

SE will always take the path that makes them the most money, and appealing to new gen players is the way to do it.

[LordMaim]

God. Lightning is just so... oatmeal. Pablum. Pasteboard.

I can't even think of an adjective that is bland and inoffensive enough to describe how much of a character designed by committee, non-entity she was. Where are the strong female characters of the past? Rosa, Rydia, Terra, Celes, Tifa, Rinoa, Quistis. I weep for your legacy.

[KinjoTakemura]

We're talking about RPGs not Tomb Raider, Hitman, or Deus Ex. The RPGs Square Enix has been making have strayed away from story telling and immersion. Instead, Square Enix seems to be preoccupied with creating action RPGs and not very many of these games have seen any real success. Final Fantasy stopped being noteworthy after FF6 in my opinion.

[KakashiHotake]

Squaresoft/ Enix is the prime example of what happens to companies that doesn't listen to their fanbase. Gamers have been on their hands and knees begging for them to do a Final Fantasy 7 remake for over a decade and they just blow it off. Instead they give us a CG movie ( which I actually liked btw ) , Verses, and remakes of the FF games that nobody really cares about. It's even more crazy now when devs are in remaster mode ( Tomb Raider, Halo, TLOU, RE4, etc. )Yeah sure FF7 is a older game now but what they fail to realize is their main fanbase is also older. They've allowed other games like Skyrim, Witcher, Mass Effect, etc. to steal their thunder. While those games aren't true to the turned based combat system of the RPG's of old, they have innovative RPG elements that Square can learn from.

[Muzikguy]

I agree with this completely, SE should know their original fans are at least 30 years old. Which is more important? Growing a new fanbase or keeping the original? I used to love FF games. Thinking I'm in the same boat as the author

[Chrono]

Some old fans stopped caring but there have been many new fans as well.

[Gr1mmyshadows]

FF9 was the last FF i actually enjoyed playing.

[CorndogBurglar]

I've sworn off Final Fantasy games until they go back to the old turn based system.

I get that there is probably a crowd that likes this new real-time system but there's a way to fix that problem. Just switch fighting systems every other game. Make one game turn-based' then the next one real-time. The repeat. That way all the fans get what they want.

The bottom line is FF got so enormously popular based on the turn-based system. It didn't start going downhill and losing fans until they went real-time. So that should speak for itself.

It just blows my mind that Square can't seem to see that.

[Bluebird8]

FF is all about an epic story that isn't afraid to go that extra mile. To me, assassins creed:black flag would have been a ff if they'd countine the mystical part of the story instead of just ending it.

Ye sure i'm taking it a bit far with that example. I remember going to another planet for the first timme in ff9, my mind was blown away, and i ended up killing the f-in god of death! In a mideval themed game!?! (Yes ff9 was my first)

Also, the characters developed in a nice way. The love story between garnet and zidane is unforgettable.

[Jubez187]

Listen, I went and played FF3 on steam (came out last month) and I can assure you that the turn based fighting style has lost its touch. Not to mention the same strats work in every turn based FF. So I disagree with everything about that.

[Zero-One]

You've "assured" wrong moron. You do realize you're harping on one of the first turn-based RPGs right? Have you even played FFIV-X? Or even Chrono Trigger? Cross? Xenogears? The SMT series? Suidoken? Grandia 1 & 2? Breath of Fire? Even the recent Bravely Default? Highly doubt you've even heard of them.

[CorndogBurglar]

Lol FF3? That game came out when? Late 80's, early 90's? Don't sound so surprised that it lost its touch.

Try playing the later games in the series. Things were much different.

Like I said, no fans stopped playing FF games until they changed the fighting system. That isn't speculation, its fact. Its the only thing anyone needs to know when talking about whether or not a turn based fight system should make a return.

[desertpunk86]

stop making the main character look like a girl remember FF12 yea,the SNES FF characters are more awesome than anything after FF7,i don't mind playing with a gay or female character but make up your mind this male to female transformer is freaking weird.

[Man_Marmalade]

Vaan wasn't the main character in FFXII. He merely introduced you to the world of Ivalice. Basch, Asche, and Blathier were the main characters of the game as they had more to do with what was going on in the kingdom. Vaan was just a kid that wanted to be a sky pirate.

[Agent_hitman]

The last good FF that I've played was FF8-FF9 and also FF10

[DevilishSix]

FF is not the cool kid in town and has lost its luster, now that there are so many quality rpg's Witcher series, MAss Effect series, Fallout games, Elder Scrolls. No one I know even plays FF anymore.

[Revengeance]

Yup, the last time they were actually good. Granted I heard FFXIV was good also, but FFVII-FFX and FFXII were its biggest hits. FFXV has to be good, because if it doesn't deliver after almost 10 years of waiting it WILL be the nail in the coffin for the series.

[MysticStrummer]

I never played FF1-6, enjoyed FF7, started FF8, and realized I didn't want to play FF anymore so I traded it in without getting far into it. Never have looked at another one.

[goldwyncq]

What I'd like them to do is explore more potential timelines for future Final Fantasy settings. FFXV being set in the modern times is a step in the right direction.

[Jahbu]

I never stopped caring...

[Jubez187]

FFXIV my favorite FF and i've played every single one, so I mean...

[Tales RPG addict]

A Realm Reborn is definitely worth it. I have it for PS3.

[Jubez187]

Tales is awesome too :D

[Summons75]

A lot of people still care because they aren't whinny brats who live with nostalgia goggles on or put expectations so high for the devs they can't be anything but disappointed. True fans still care.

[DCfan]

Very true.
I played the old school FF games, and still enjoyed FF13 for what it is.

[Zero-One]

True fans appropriate mediocre tripe? Hell no.

[Summons75]

No but true fans know that not EVERY entry will be over the top amazing. Your an idiot if you think that a series doesn't have ups and downs. Was 13 the best? No but it was fun and enjoyed by most fans and still got the attention it deserved.

[Pozzle]

Exactly. It's ridiculous to imply that the only people who are "true fans" are those who blindly love everything that Square Enix spews out, no matter how mediocre it might be.

A person can be a fan of a series without mindlessly enjoying every single entry. (I'm sure nobody would question a Star Wars fan who only likes the original trilogy.)

[christian hour]

True fans don't support mediocre tripe with their wallets, period. Otherwise you're just telling them it's okay to deliver medicore tripe for a while.

FF never had ups or downs for me in the 20 years I'd been playign them, not until FFX-2 and onwards did the series go to crap, and it's just been one major disappointment after the other, FFXV is supposed to make up for all that but I've lost faith in that too, not until I see gameplay with an airship/sometypeofvehicle, a world map and plenty of towns to explore with NPC's littering the streets with lore to spew at you and build an immersive universe, with side quests at every turn and hidden gems, will my faith be restored.

[Tales RPG addict]

Agreed, and besides the FFXIII trilogy isn't the worst out of the Final Fantasy series just remember there are more fans who hate FFXII even more. The series has changed as a whole but that's how Square has been doing things since FF1 on NES back when they were Squaresoft. I'm an FF fan and my only complaint about the FF13 trilogy is how some of the characters in the cast lack depth, other than that the games aren't too bad.

[johny5]

I don't know why FF12 gets a lot of hate? Compared to FF13, it's a master piece!

I admit the game did grow on me over time and has become one of my favorites, plus it's the biggest open world FF game to date, people seem to forget that....

[Man_Marmalade]

Not to mention all of the side-quests that were available. The story was also very well done. The ONLY thing I didn't like about FFXII was that one dungeon with 100+ floors. DX

[Zero-One]

I'd rather to Nippon Ichi instead. Say what you will about their games being too quirky, at least they know their audience, unlike Square-Enix.

[Tales RPG addict]

Same with Bandai Namco they know their fans, and haven't dissapointed them with the Tales games. As a major time Tales fan I don't feel too dissapointed, but just wish they'd bring the other Japan-only titles to NA & EU.

[Inception]

I only wait for XV and after that...i think i should stop my journey with FF series.

I mean, i've waited like 3-4 years for FF XIII and the result is dissapointing. And when i decided to wait for Versus because it looks more promising compare to XIII than here i am. 8-9 years later i still can't play Versus / XV.

But on the other hand SE can make two sequel for XIII. My other self said: "Ok f* this SE. I don't want to wait another 8 years for XVI, another 9 years for XVII, etc. I'm not a f*kin immortal who can live forever". That's why i only wait for XV. This game is my final stop for FF series and i hope it will end like a bang for me.

[chikane]

and i still do. just waiting for 15 to come out.

[Spenok]

Hey.... I still do.

[Nicominoru]

People don't understand that XIII's franchise was loved by most in Japan, while in the West people often complained about it and they often still do when personally I never thought it was bad enough of a game to get all the complaints and all the hate it obtained which was obviously fueled by nostalgia for whatever FF installation people considered to be their favorite one.

Even now you have people saying they want XV to go back to it's old battle style, which is a direct contradiction to what people where saying about Final Fantasy XIII as a whole originally "Same old battle system, Square needs to get with the times" etc etc.

It's gotten to the point where you can't even discuss Final Fantasy lore anymore like you used to be able to without someone bickering about one thing or another or saying "THIS was the best game" or "This was the worse" as though every installment in the franchise is made to compete with the last.

I enjoy the franchise as a whole each game has it's ups and downs and in my opinion a lot of the magic in FF was lost when they started using voice actors and being overly cinematic instead of allowing you to explore the world and unravel it's secrets on your own.

Anyway it's the "Cool Thing" to express your distaste for Final Fantasy now...but yes of course...you're still a "True Fan" despite having nothing, but negative things to say. The FF Community is almost as bad as the Sonic one at this point.

[Inception]

"a lot of the magic in FF was lost when they started using voice actors and being overly cinematic"

Nope, it's nothing to do with putting voice actors or cinematic cutscenes. FF was lost because:

1) SE doesn't knew how to manage their development schedule and focused their very best talent on one big FF project.

2) They lack visionary like Sakaguchi who knew how to make Final Fantasy games. Nomura is good, but imho his not on Sakaguchi level.

Some people blamed FF XIII but for me it all began when Sakaguchi resigned from SE and SE making FF X-2, a sequel for main FF that Sakaguchi always put a big 'NO' because sequel will decreased their creativity. From that time you seen a lot of unnecessary FF project from SE with lesser quality compare to the Squaresoft days. I called those project "milked time". FF XIII or the fabula nova crystallis project is just the accumulation of that error and that's why you can't blamed FF community if they expressed their feeling about how FF can't make them excited again.

[Nicominoru]

This is mostly true, however saying you find it difficult to find excitement in a particular product in the Final Fantasy franchise, but you are still a fan of what the series has accomplished is completely different than the ones mindlessly bashing the most current iteration alongside the company while saying the franchise is dead or that they need to go back to its roots.

The bit about some of the magic being lost after they began to rely so heavily on cinematic storytelling is just a personal opinion of mine and has very little to do with if I enjoy the game or not, I think X was really good and that's when dubbing was introduced.

My intentions where not to blame the FF Community for expressing their feelings about how they feel Final Fantasy has gone down hill that's completely fine, but there is a fine line between sharing your opinions or displeasure about something and just being close minded and needlessly bashing a particular game or the company just to make a certain era of the games appear much more definitive to the point of if they don't return to the glory days All Hope is Gone.

[CertifiedGamer]

I don't know what Japan you are talking about because ff13 did sell 1 million in Japan on its launch and received negative press from Japan soon after. FF13-2 and FF13-3 didn't get any love from Japan and practically ruined any love Japan had for it, so badly that FF14 realm reborn didn't push consoles sales on ps4 in Japan , was not successful in Japan on PS3 or PC either in that region. Japan's currently loves minecraft and Pokemon. FInal fantasy is dead in Japan.

[CertifiedGamer]

Nicominoru in case your wondering what was the game that moved system on the PS4 launch it was BF4, followed by dynasty warriors and assassins creed. Ff14 realm reborns didn't do much of anything to help the PS4 out in anyway in Japan.

If you want to see what's currently popular in Japan go to http://www.vgchartz.com/wee...

[NexusReign]

I'm going to have to disagree with you about FF13 having huge backlash in Japan. I remember in the beginning it was a mixed bag, but I remember reading mostly positive things about 13-2 in comparison with 13 about Square listening to the poor feedback they got from people because of the original game and they tried to improve on the game play aspects of it.

Blaming FFXIII for ARR PS4 sales is also pushing it, they've got nothing to do with one another. PS4 simply isn't selling in the Japanese market because people aren't as interested in the console market anymore mobile gaming is the big thing.

ARR made good sales on PS3 and PC. Meanwhile mobile games like Bravely Default and Final Fantasy Theatrhythm do just fine. It's got nothing to do with Final Fantasy being dead it's the console market that's dying.

Just look at Tales of Xillia's sales numbers and compare them to Lightning Returns. ToX sold 665,046 copies in Japan while LR sold 435,948 those two aren't far off from one another in sales. Now let's take a look at Crisis Core a mobile PSP game and look how many copies it sold in Japan 802,062 and 3.3m worldwide and wasn't a cross platform title while FFXIII's debut sold 2.3mil worldwide.

Final Fantasy isn't dead console gaming just isn't as important to them as it used to be.

[CertifiedGamer]

So when a prequel has good press like the Final Fantasies during the Snes, PS1, and PS2 era the games can be related but when a game gets bad press than the prequel have nothing to do with the sequel. FF13 isn't the only thing that square has done bad, if you want to get down to the nitty gritty they didn't release anything good during the PS3 era besides games Deus Ex and Tomb Raider. Please explain to me how final fantasy bravest heroes did being a mobile only game? Square-enix has lost it's talent, don't be on brand fanboy who avoids looking at the developers themselves. The majority of the square-enix staff that was working for them in the PS2 and PS1 days have long left and started working for other companies. By the way please explain to me why a big number of FF14 arr have stopped being for a subscription? It is because Square-enix doesn't know the difference between a regular RPG and an MMORPG. MMORPGs with subscriptions need to push new content every so often which square fails to have noticed, it doesn't take long to reach the end game and then their is nothing to do but be bored. WOW is how an MMORPG is done, I can name you over 100 free-to-play MMORPGs that put ff14 to shame because they are made from companies that make MMORPGs. Square-enix doesn't justify their subscription like Blizzard does, all they do is wait to see which fans are dumb enough to play for an infinite loop because those fanboys think they are hardcore.

[HollywoodLA]

FF13 could have been amazing. In league with FFX epicenes. But the execution of the story was really poor. Something grand turned into something mundane.

It was very strange what happened with that story, actually. Everything else was great.

[shadowraiserx]

In my opinion to keep your franchise successful you must respect the roots and keep constructing and upgrading ,not changing it to look like another existing franchise examples of it (RE6,Parasite Eve 2,The 3rd birthday,Dawn of mana,FF13) all this games suffer Copycat issues.

Mario still more successful because they respect SMB roots.

[NexusReign]

@CertifiedGamer

Well, I don't know what to tell you man. You seem like one of those people who just want to talk down on Final Fantasy and Square because they aren't doing as well in the market as they used to. You're trying to force your opinion like they are facts saying A Realm reborn is horrible because they don't know what they are doing all this that and the other, then you say I'm being a blind fan to the brand because I don't want to jump on the bandwagon and blame FF XIII for all the companies problems?

Most of my reply had very little to do with the integrity of Final Fantasy titles, but rather the change in the gaming market and how you saying Final Fantasy is dead because it isn't selling like it used to is false. It doesn't make as much money, but console games in general aren't making much money in Japan anyway. I used Tales of Xillia & Lightning Returns sales compared to Bravely Default and Crisis Core sales to show the obvious difference in the interest in the mobile gaming market and somehow I'm being a blind brand fan boy? And furthermore why would you compare Final Fantasy ARR to WoW...do you know how long WoW has been out in comparison to ARR?

Anyway, whatever.

I guess since still finding Final Fantasy entertaining makes me a blind fan boy now I'll just keep enjoying my shit and you can keep complaining about it until you find whatever you're looking for to fill that empty void.

[HanzoHattori]

When the story & exploration were more important than shiny new graphics and hack & slash gameplay.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

When imagination was more important than dollar signs & framerates.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[paul-p1988]

I had kinda fallen out of love with Final Fantasy, my favourite and last one being FFX, 11 was online only during a time that I didn't have a means of accessing it, and 12 and 13 didn't really grab me.
I have however recently bought FF14 and am starting to fall back in love with the franchise (I do, however, understand that the game started off badly, and it's only since Realm Reborn that it's been worth playing). If they can 'bottle that feeling' and put it into FF15 i'm sure they can grab a large section of the dissatisfied fanbase back.