America Is Fed Up With Final Fantasy Sequels

For 18 years, Square Enix had steadily released Final Fantasy titles, each with unrelated stories and characters, more so sticking to the Final Fantasy name in at least a story line sense, while obviously ignoring it when referring to their own titles. In 2003 this ended, as for the first time in the series long tenure, Square Enix developed a sequel, and we study in the impact of this decision.

[CRIMS0N_W0LF]

who gives a toss about america when it comes to JRPG

[BeaArthur]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say American's do...oh yeah and those game developers that sell hundreds of thousands or millions of copies in the U.S. Idiot.

[solidt12]

Im excited about FFXIII, FFXIII Versus and Crisis Core. Now on the other hand im tired of all the DS remakes. The only one they really need to remake is FFVII for the PS3.

[JsonHenry]

The ONLY JRPG that I have ever liked and actually finished was XenoGears for the PS1. Not those Xeno-Saga knock offs, but the real deal.

[pharmd]

this article is erroneous on all counts!!!!

[iiprotocolii]

Amen to Xenogears. Best rpg I've ever played hands down.

[gaffyh]

I don't see the problem with having many Final Fantasy games. At the end of the day it's just a name, the only Final Fantasy game that was actually a sequel was FFX-2, every other game is different, has different characters, different stories (a little similar), different gameplay, better graphics etc. The name is a franchise, they could easily call the game something else and it would not sell as much.

The same can't be said about other milked franchises that have same characters, and very similar stories everytime like Mario, Sonic (please die already, every game after Sonic 2 has been crap).

EDIT: Befores someones says it, FF7 Crisis Core is a prequel

[Armyless]

Cya

[MADGameR]

And I NEVER get tired of Final Fantasy sequals! Infact, I still play FFVIII on my PSXe. As long as the sequals don't suck like FF12, then its all good.

Edit-This article is just an attack on SONY from 360 fanboys who are too prideful of their own country. They would perfer Halo and Gears because its American games. SO closed minded...

[IIamback]

Let me guess. Gamers are bored of FF sequel because FF13 and FF13VS are PS3 exclusive?
If it was other way around, 360 exclusive, that i am sure it would be "most wanted game ever", for some magical reason.
Fanboys.

[mephman]

The article talks about dwindling sales ratios between Japan and America. It doesn't mention FFXIII, FFvsXIII, the XBox 360 or the PS3. Not everything is about those 4 topics.

[IIamback]

Thats not the point, point is why raise this question now? Give me a brake. I am fed up of journalist and sites that pretend to be neutral but actually are 360 fanboys. It is so transparent and obvious.

[mephman]

The question is raised now because Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core (on the PSP) was released just over a month ago. The article analyses its sales incomparison to other sequels. How does that have anything to do with the XBox 360?

[IIamback]

It has to do with attack on playstation brand, so it leads eventually to fanboyism(360).
You dont have to be rocket scientist to know that software on PSP does not sell that good, actually compared to other platforms it sells poorly.All of this because of numerous reasons, biggest being extremely easy to download and play pirate games. So easy to mod PSP. So to use PSP and Crisis Core as an example is low blow it doesnt mean anything, really it doesnt. Just typical fanboyism attempt to undermine importance of FF games, like saying stuff "Gamers are tired of sequels". Really what sequels? Sure there are some sequels like FF X-2, but or example FF 8 has nothing to do with FF9, or 9 has nothing to do with 10, etc.
This guy (and you) are fanboys or are using some drugs.

[fredy]

what a goon. fanboys are too much these days.

always a conspiracy theory against the sony gods.

[Pacifist]

Most of the final fantasy games were on sony's console anyways. if they weren't complaining about sequels in the past why would they start now?

[KingME]

Man, everytime you reply you sound more and more like the "FANBOY" that you are trying to renounce. You sound like someone with paranoid schizophrenia. "OH MY GOD, THE FANBOYS ARE OUT TO GET US!"

Also note how you are directly relating the "FANBOY" brand to the XBOX360 and not the wii. In case you were wonder, I believe it's because, for some reason, this is the console that you fear most.

Why is that?

Take a chill pill man, I promise you, no "FANBOY" is going to do you any personal harm. However, if you lose your mind from worrying about it, you only have yourself to blame.

@CRIMS0N_W0LF (above) - Right...Thinking out loud again huh?

[JD_Shadow]

...because I agree with the people that are saying that this has nothing to do with any system war. Remember that Final Fantasy XI is out for the 360, and that both Nintendo and Sony both are main consoles for the FF brand.

I disagree with this article's assessment, but llamback, I think the GTA4 war with everything about this DLC (EVERYTHING imaginable when it comes to that is being argued left and right, with TONS of attacks) is getting to you and making you think this will be the same with ALL game articles.

Not ALL articles on here are going to get as downright ridiculous as it has with GTA4's DLC argument (to those who don't know what I'm talking about, go look at http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-... and see it for yourself. The lunatic 360 fringe there tries to continuously drive home things that aren't true, and then blasts you if you disagree with then even in the tiniest bit).

EDIT: Now that I think about it, if those idiots that are now spewing crap about the 360 "exclusivity" to all GTA4 DLC and how the 360 version of that game is a ton better than the PS3 version (it isn't) come here, then llamback will be proven right. N4User and Tordavis, I speak to people like you when I talk about the 360 idiots.

[GutZ31]

Crisis core was alright, but not the kind of final fantasy game play mechanics most fans have come to enjoy, not to mention the small screen that makes the cinematic's pretty much worthless to a gorgeous game.

[Lionsguard]

A VII remake will restore faith. Actually XIII and V.S. should restore it.

[SL1M DADDY]

Ok... So since when did CC determin the fan favor level of the entire series when it came to these two regions? The PSP sells like crazy in Japan and there is a greater love for JRPG's there. This is nothing new. I for one think that this article is a bit of PS bashing but that is just how I see it. The FF series is loved world wide and that is something you can see imediately when you glance at the worldwide sales. As for the title... Each "final fantasy" is just that, a final fantasy of that particular group of individuals int he story. We all will have a final chapter written in our lives, each very different from one anothers. In each of the FF's, they too had their own stories and thus the title, Final Fantasy.

[RecSpec]

Guess what? America is also sick of ANY kind of sequel, minus a few exceptions.

[P4KY B]

Turn based fighting by numbers was ok 10 years ago.

In the same way the old Lucas Arts adventure games were the biggest games of their time. But give one to a young gamer now and they would ignore it.

Day of the Tentacle FTW.

[Lucreto]

Ah Day of the Tentacle great game.

Sam and Max was good as well. Monkey Island and Kings Quest were all great games.

[Delive]

Not sure about the Lucas Arts titles as I didn't play them much, so I can't really comment there. But as for turn based RPG's, I have to disagree. When I look at my 2 pre-teen sons playing Pokemon (A turn based RPG) and their friends coming over to play with them, and talking about the next title that has not even been announced yet, I don't think the turn based RPG is past it's days, yet. It's more based on the subject matter.

[sloth4urluv]

I loved those indiana jones games.
Lol, remember back in the day when copy protection was in the form of books or paper wheels...
What a pain.
Everytime I wanted to play a game "Enter the sixth word of the second paragraph on page 7 to continue."

[Lucreto]

Looking at the list they are just picking spin offs of the main series. Yes they are going down but they should be comparing FFVII to FFVIII to FFIX to FFX. People are more likely to buy the main series than the spinoff. I predict Halo wars won't sell as well of any of the Halos.

[Lionsguard]

There should be some type of Final Fantasy + Elder Scrolls super fusion! but for gods sake don't let the fusion keep the Elder Scrolls' character animations!!

[gEnKiE]

LOL, what? Ok, if we are fed up with them then why are we buying them?

[games4fun]

i'm an American and i want ff13 and to act otherwise is stupid, but oh wait i dont like FF because its not on my console/i dont like it and act like nobody else does either so ill disagree with you

cmon he said he is tired of waiting for the game and wants it and 11 people at the moment disagree with him that is some hardcore anti-FF team going on there

Here is a lesson for everyone thinking nobody wants them why do they sell so well? i mean the site has proof right its just not making up numbers right and it picks Dirge of Cerebrus and a PSP game good job i mean a shooter spinoof and a psp game really represent FF series... moron

also from the site "Crisis Core (1st Month)" that is right it uses the first month sales lol tell me that is not yell journalism and it uses the statistic from the first month to prove something is wrong with the ratio even though they seem quite even except for the 1 month ratio i mean cmon are people really that dumb/jelous on this site to think people are tired of FF?

why doesnt he post ff 12 sales? but know it of course picks the well known staple from each sequeal doesn't it?

Final Fantasy X-2
Advent Children
Crisis Core (1st Month)
Dirge of Cerebus

these are the games it chose for "Facts" HAHAHAHA lol i repeat sensationalism is up for everyone to see

[Glad to be a gamer]

Played thought the whole of ff7 and then since then have played though each ff less and less. FF 12 was great the way it brought in free combat but i still didn't get to far with it.

I think its the fact that european rpgs are now for me leading the way with innovation,immersion levels,story and pretty much everything in that genre imo.

I am really enjoying Eternal sonata and the fighting mechanic for that game is innovative and brilliant but i still much prefer Oblivion and mass effect as a whole. Eternal Sonata though does has a new/innventive story which helps. With ff i can't help feeling ive been there before.

For me Fall out 2/fable2 will be the big rpg/adventure games this year.Hope FF 13 brings the franchise back to the glory days of old. Since ff7 its never been the same for me.

Fall out 2 you start of as a kid and grow up in game learning things that equip you to function in the game(brilliant.) The graphics and the setting and the story.

Fable 2 you can have a wife/kids a dog that stays with you as a companion on your quests. The people ingame react to how you go about your tasks(ie evil,good) Online coop, gambling in xbl games against others to earn more ingame money.

Europe are leading the way.

[kewlkat007]

Nice Post I didn't see yours but I echoed some of the same...in mine

really the rise of Western RPGs..and other things

[Captain Tuttle]

But it's Fallout 3. Fallout 1 & 2 are amazing games though and I encourage you to hunt them down and play them. They've never been equaled imo.

[Denzelio]

Headline should read:

America Is Fed Up With Waiting for Final Fantasy Sequels

[Robearboy]

Wow this is a topic which will bring discussions and flaming, particularly with ff13 been one the ps3 strongest exclusives, i think to re invent jrpg's the turn base things needs to go, i have just completed lost oddysey and although it was a good game the turn base part does sometimes get tedious when grinding, i would have the turn base for the bosses and for the grinding have it more like mass effect, which for me is by far the best rpg this generation to date.
Trusty bell/eternal sonata gave the rpg a new look and a different direction to the turn base, pity the game itself was boring

[MrBii]

Did that xbot just base his troll attempt at how well FF CC did?

Who the hell buys PSP games anyway. PSP is not called BEST HANDHELD ever created for a reason.

A regular FF CC torrent shows 4,9 million seeders and 5,2 million peers.

I guess the xbot just got OWNED.

[kewlkat007]

I'm still not done with FF12 on the PS2.

Let's be real here, there has not been a Final fantasy game that did it for everyone since Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy X was also good, I think. Currently playing Lost Odyssey and that's as close as it has come to the term "old-school" (turn-based) Final Fantasy game, until XIII comes out.

Action-based seems to be in until Square says other-wise. FFXII is action-based and I'm sure FFXIII will be as well. I'm an old-school RPG lover and will always love Turn-based. For what FVII did world-wide, we have not seen that type of RPG yet, maybe XIII will be it, who knows. I'm more interested in the Game play Mechanics. Some of the best FF's which sold very, well were not Action-Based. I believe "turn-based" is what it is, there is nothing old about it.

Also Western RPG's have been growing and are becoming more polished. I think that has taken away from the sales of Jrpgs, where back in the day, there wasn't much WRPGs available, well maybe on the PC. New gen gamers never played much of the old "turn-based" Jrpgs.

So I think a lot of this has to do with the Rise of Western Franchises, in the past 10 years. Some of the major 3rd-party franchises have belonged to Japan and especially the FF series. As well as some are on their last legs. Too many rehashes, remakes and spin-offs from Square. I think we may has seen the last MGS. Basically there are more of a selection these days from western devs.

Surprisingly FF games still sell well on Name but I didn't like FF12, that much, and do not play only FF JRPG franchises like some.

Still waiting for Last Remenant, Infinite Undiscovery, Fallout 3, Fable 2, White Knight Story, this year. Back in the day, this list would of been all Jrpgs.

[Glad to be a gamer]

Don't get me wrong i love a good jrpg its just that as we both said since the rise of the wrpg and the constant recycling in the jrpg they dont do it for me like they used to.

FF13 looks incredible but so did GT5p which i was closed to getting a ps3 for to play though. I then played it at a friends and realised that ai was still poor, the online and penalty system were broken and cheating was rife in online and time trials.

Im just out of uni and working to pay off my student loan so £300(price of a ps3) is a fair bit to me. I also have a wii/360 so for me to purchase a ps3 aswell its gonna have to be something amazing and not available on any other console.

Mgs4 and FF13 could be the reasons but im waiting till the marks are in before i spend my cash.

[solidt12]

I never played Final Fantasy VII but I want too. (preferable a remake if they ever get to it). I have played FFXII and I like it alot. I am sure that FFXIII and Versus will satisfy all the FF fans.

[Britjadg]

i agree with a lot of ur comments but there have been some great FF's since 7. ff8 was pretty intriguing and fun and ff10 was nothing short of awesome. (sequel to it though was sh1te.) i also gotta give kudos to ff12 for having the courage to get rid of the old style battle system. story was a bit hit & miss, hell some it was painful but actual gameplay was good fun.

i really do think there is a market for a ff7 rehash though. if they used "next" gen graphics to revamp the story i think it would be a massive selling title. particularly when u consider the tech demo they did for it a while back. hell i'd finance the project if i had the money!

on subject of article: i think most of its nonsense. i would also hasten to point out the square-enix hasn't been doing anything for 18 years, as squareSOFT was responsible for a lot of the FF franchise. wasn't until they released Spirits within that Enix bought them out.

[Glad to be a gamer]

The most ive played a FF since completing 7. 12 the mechanics were good but the story was imo all over the place and not compelling.

P.S if you like traditional jrpgs i thoughly reccomend Lost odyessy old school but a great game and the story (especially the dreams)is compelling.

Eternal sonata is also good. Cutsy but the fighting is brilliant, fast,strategic and hands on controlling blocking, fighting and range. Story is innovative but cliche at the same time. Making the game a dream in chopin(famous pianist) mind was genius imo. It also gives you history of the great man him self and the music is heavenly of course.

[Britjadg]

isn't LO a 360 game the one about the dude whos lived for a 1000 years? would have loved to give it a go though, sounds like a great game and i'm all for that kind of thing.

unfortunately unless they port it over to ps3 or pc, my hands are fairly tied on playing it!!! appreciate the recommendation though

[pdarth]

I for one, am burnt out on anime art, and all of the weirdness associated with it.

[Horny Melon]

FF series. The only one I enjoyed was FF VII and I know why

I can't identify with 90% of the characters....I am not and have no interest pretending that I am a androgynous preteen. The spunky little kid and its bouncing around and loudness is like finger nails on a chalk board

The story lines are very linear. This problem is compounded by what has become cliche japanese plot lines. Everything is about love, parental/sibling hatred coming of age, etc

Poor titles and stories...take Folklore for example. One would think that it is the name of a fantasy story....similar to the title Fable..nope not in JRPG land it is a physical item.

retarded character/monster/boss/equipme nt designs......the pistol sword instantly turned me off to FF VIII. Or the monster with 40 eyes, 10 tentacles and a wheel for legs.

Unneedly high stats.....strength of 15,000, hit points of 7,897 (and that's low)....stat/special ability interfaces that require decoding..I think this was another FF8 turn off.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head but I know there's more.

[Lucreto]

You didn't like the Gunblade. It is one of my favorite weapons in a FF game. I plan to get a full sized version when I get the money.

I enjoyed Folklore it gave pieces of the story out slowly and kept me hooked to the end.

[kewlkat007]

the Gameplay design was weak. Being knocked down every hit gets old. Like most RPG games, I felt like the story presented very well, sort a like comic book.

I felt the game easily could of been a PS2 game. Of course the early game son the PS3 are not going to be polished given the degree of learning curve.

[DJ]

It actually was a PS2 game. But then they ported it over to the PS3 with higher-res content and whatnot.

[f4t41_ph4nt0m]

I'm a fan of JRPGs and am anticipating FFXIII ans FFvzXII very much. I'm also waiting for Whit Knight Chronicles as well. But considering that America hypes games like Halo, Gears of War, Call of Duty, and Unreal Tournament (basically shooters)one should understand why America is "fed" up. The majority of American gamers focus on shooters. A shooter can be no different then the last one that released but it still gains attention. So basically, because we focus on FPS then developer's strive to make their shooter live up to our expectations. If we were to focus more on RPGs then maybe more consideration will be put into them. FFXIII and FFvsXIII seem to be heading in the right direction.

PS: Western RPGs may have a load of character customization and gameplay ideas, but the stories and styles of combat are not as epic as most JRPGs ;)

[ktchong]

You obviously have not played Baldur's Gate II, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect.

Not only are the stories in those games EPIC, their stories actually MAKE SENSE.

[kewlkat007]

the only thing wrong with that comment is that Japan never really embraced "shooters" in the first place.

Shooters really started on the PC. If your gonna draw a parallel with "Jrpg's" you should know Jrpgs have been on consoles for a long @ss time.

NA, Europe, and Japan have been playing Jrpgs for years. I can't say the same for "Shooters" which was popular on the PC platform first, only to have games like, Golden-eye/Halo/Cod make it popular on the Console.

Some of the same Developers that have been mainly developing for PCs, are now working on both or just consoles, which have really opened things. EPIC to name 1.

[yanikins111]

Stop sending us sh!tty consoles and we'll stop the Japanese sending you games.

[sumfood4u]

All i know is I can never get sick of Final Fantasy, If U Don't like it, than Don't buy it! Besides Mario has the most games over any other series even tho Final Fantasy is 2nd, its still Awesome Series!

[Somnus]

Ugggh. This is an awful article using statistics which mean nothing to back it up.

[ktchong]

or just JRPG in general.

I hit you first.
Then I let you hit me.
Then I hit you again.
Then I let you hit me again.
Then you wait so I can hit you again
...

Um, say no to silly combat...

And say no to over-the-top melodramatic Asian soap opera with emo male characters who are really closet gay and wear women's panties, and ridiculous plots that do not make any freaking sense to Western audience.

[midgard229]

how many rpgs do that now a days? ever play crisis core? star ocean? valkyrie profile? tales of symphonia? kingdom hearts? baraqoe? eternal sonata? learn about the genre or try it before u speak of it.

there are several different type of jrpgs, realtime, action, turnbased, and strategy. ur obviously only speaking of turn based. and sorry the story lines are usually great, they actually have effort, not standing around looking at some ugly guy yap away about something u dont care about. theres never an event in a western rpg.

not saying western rpgs are bad cuz oblivion and fable are great, but their story telling isnt. imo atleast. u cant beat the action sequences of xenosaga, kingdom hearts or crisis core, compared to lets say oblivion u walk in and everyone is just fighting with its funny looking battle system. its just different.

if j rpgs are soap opera's western rpgs are dull, ghost like narratives with no story board. and if ur to dense to understand the storylines then ur obviously an idiot who cant understand deep story lines and plot twist.

[ktchong]

If you say Western RPG does not have good story, then you obviously have not played Baldur's Gate II, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect.

Or, Planescape: Torment, which is generally recognized as having the BEST story in ANY RPG. Period.

[TheKungFool]

I respect your point of view and can appreciate what you're trying to say, but I'd have to disagree with the examples you used, and point out the following.

1) Its silly to gripe about Final Fantasy's battle style and then use the games you did as examples; "Balder's Gate" was a repetative and simplistic hack'n'slash and "Knight of the Old Republic" had a battle system in which much of the fighting is automatically done for you, which might not be everyone's cup of tea either.

2) Compare the combat style of "Knights of the Old Republic" with the semi turn based and somewhat free-raoming style of "Final Fantasy 12" and you'll see many similarities.

3) Final Fantasy has at least tried a variety of combat styles to try and keep things different. They've used standard turn based (FFVII), Shooter style (FF:DoC), Tactics style (FFTactics), Semi-turn Free raoming (FFXII) and hack'n'slash (Crystal Chronicles).

4) Some people just prefer a fantasy storyline. Granted, "Knights of the Old Republic" and "Mass Effect" had great stories, but "Baldur's Gate", "Oblivion" and "Morrowind" etc really didn't. I play games like "Oblivion" for the open-ended nature and the gameplay, but I play Final Fantasy games often times for the story.

PS: VAGRANT STORY FTW!

[liquidsnake]

As long as those beautiful games keep coming to EU I'm happy.