Final Fantasy Hasn't Been Great in 15 Years…

Final Fantasy is one of the cornerstones of my gaming life. I've played pretty much all of the games with the exception of a few spin-offs, but it only hit me today that most of them have been pretty s***.

[gamingtext2020]

FF 7 remake is excellent, FF 14 & FF 15 are great as well.

Not sure what this author is taking about.

[Snookies12]

Agreed, FF VII Remake and FF XIV are incredible. XV while it does deserve some of the flak it got, is still a great game as well overall. Whoever wrote this is really reaching...

[bouzebbal]

I agree the main episodes have been way below what we got used to until FF12. Went downhill since 13.. but it’s actually 13 Ana all its spin-offs and 15 that suck.

Ff7r is amazing, which is promising for the future of the series

[CS7]

He admits he never played FF7R because he is “waiting on the full version” 😂

He is waiting until “He is able to fight Sephiroth”

This article is a joke

[Army_of_Darkness]

If you remove FF7R from the equation (since its based off an older FF game), I would have to agree with the author somewhat. The last great Final Fantasy game I played was Final Fantasy X.

[Sonic-and-Crash]

FF7 Remake was not great ...was mediocre at least ......the environments , the atmosphere , the visual details were all gone from original Pre rendered art ....also had huge sound desing problems with music , dialogue and effect overlapping eachother....... the last part (after bike chase) with the destroyed Midgar inside Cloud mind was completely off and ridiculous ...probably the worst part of the whole FF7 R ...fidhting red and blue knights and other staff

as for the other FF yes i also agree didnt manage to release a proper good FF since FF12 (was the last good FF)

[PapaBop]

Yeah the writer clearly never played XIV, my favourite FF game since FF8. I can understand why people would overlook it but the story and character development are some of the best in the series and even as an MMORPG, it has all the content you'd expect from the genre.

[Snookies12]

@PapaBop - FF XIV is incredible! Only a few games in my lifetime have gotten me to cry. FF XIV managed to hit me hard in Heavensward. Had to step away mid-cutscene and come back after Ishgard's "The Vault". Realm Reborn was a bit of a slog to get through at times but damn is it paying off big time investing into the story and characters.

[lelo2play]

People throw around the word great like it's perfectly normal. When you claim something is great, it's supposed to be among the best of the best.
Haven't played FF7remake, but I have played FF15. It might be a decent game, but claiming FF15 as great is a bit of a stretch.

Most games only have two words to describe games... They are crap or they are great. There is nothing in between...

[TricksterArrow]

Or maybe they just think it’s great.

[Popsicle]

FF7 Remake is great

[RedDevils]

FF7 remake is good, ff15 is shit.

[eTeknix]

I never said it wasn't excellent, but it's incomplete and locked to a single platform and will likely be years still before it's done...

[Lore]

What do platforms have anything to do with? And incomplete? Sure there could have been more side content but the main path is about 30+ hours of top notch story, combat and excellent character/RPG progression. If you’re referring to the fact that it didn’t tell the entire story of the original final fantasy vii, then are you telling me you wanted them to release a single game worth over 150+ hours of story content (not including side content/100% completion)? That is the trajectory we are headed towards if they continue to flesh out the series into 3-4 titles so that we can receive a more intimate and fleshed out retelling.

[eTeknix]

" then are you telling me you wanted them to release a single game worth over 150+ hours of story content" yup, that's exactly what I'm telling you. It's not like it's never been done before. I like don't know... the original.

[QuarkZ]

" It's not like it's never been done before. I like don't know... the original. "

You clearly don't know what you're talking about. The OG sure doesn't have 150 hrs of story content, and are you seriously comparing the 2 games in terms of scope and technical level?
Also, the OG was for Playstation only, what are you even babbling about, being locked down to a single platform? It's likely it'll come out on PC anyway eventually.

Your comment tells me everything i need to know as to whether I should bother reading that "opinion" article or not.

[CS7]

If you think FF7 could be recreated in its entirety in one release with the quality of visuals of the remake you are insane.

You have no right writing about games if you are so delusional.

There is no game of that scale currently.

*Spoilers*
Additionally, if you played remake you would know that the game is a sequel to original FF7 and the following releases would be telling a different story. We've also fought Sephiroth already in FF7R in an epic AC-style sword fight. Your article is an embarrassment. I recommend you delete it and go play FF7R.

[neutralgamer1992]

In my opinion FF15 isn't great especially the gameplay combat wise is so simple. Haven't played FF7 remake will do so on ps5 down the road but from what I have seen it's a big improvement over FF15 combat

[Michiel1989]

yes mainly the combat (which for me is a huge deal) was very lackluster. The story and how it was told, I also wasnt a big fan of. the movie and maybe also the anime should have been in the game and not seperate from it, it just felt like an incomplete game to me. Im glad the visuals and the music were excellent, thats the reason why i managed to finish the game. And I do have to give props to the ending of 15 though, that was quite well done how it blended into the logo.

[-Foxtrot]

Excellent?

Meh. I don’t know

It’s a fun game to play but after wanting a remake for years this isn’t what I wanted. I just wanted a straight up remake, not a reimagining where they made an entire shitty plot about the “whispers of fate” about how they were changing things, that was some straight up Kingdom Hearts crap writing wise

It was better than 15 and 13 so that was a good start

FF15 was just unfinished and lacklustre

[CS7]

Fox, they clearly wanted to create a sequel. The creators wanted to tell a new story and you need to be fair to them.

These are literally the writers of the original FF7 story (Nojima + Numora).

I think the route of remake with new twists is genius and although I didn't like it at first, I love the feeling of not know what comes next in the FF7 universe.

I'm here for PT2 especially with the ending of Intermission! The possibilities are endless.

With remake they basically announced FF7-2 with a Sephiroth so powerful that death and time itself cannot stop him. It's going to be wild if they succeed! I'm hopeful that they will.

[-Foxtrot]

"Fox, they clearly wanted to create a sequel"

Then create a sequel...you're telling me if they ignored Advent Children, they couldn't think of anything for a sequel? Even if they had new characters and went off the 500 years later bit of the first game.

Even if they just came out and rightly said "This is a reimagining" and they instead put Zac as the main character not Cloud, I'd have liked that

But to use a silly Whispers of Fate plot and use the entire first game just to say "yeah it's a reimagined timeline" was silly. They could have just said so during development and they wouldn't have had to do that.

[djl3485]

Nah, 15 was shit.

[Godmars290]

That SE has had a string of massive projects that in turn had massive issues is the issue. 14, as originally launched, was relaunched at over twice production costs which effected 15, which was FF13 vs around the time. Then there was 15 itself, which needed years of post launch updates to be considered a passable game. Was example of FF13, itself a broken mess not fixed by two sequels. Not that such an opinion is shared.

[eTeknix]

I'd completely forgotten about the Final Fantasy Versus XIII rehash actually

[tombfan]

15th isn't... At all... But the other games are amazing

[Kados]

He isn't counting remakes or MMOs, and XV was junk. XII was the last good one.

[ScootaKuH]

I really didn't like Remake, yet I couldn't resist Intergrade for some reason. I'll reserve judgement until I play it as I've not started it yet.

Really looking forward to FF XVI though, I like the traditional medieval setting

[343_Guilty_Spark]

FF15 is not great at all.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

I see where the guy is coming from, we had hit after hit all the way up to FF12. After that the gaps became huge between releases and we got FF13 which was awful, 2 crappy spin off games for it, FF14 which was awful until they re-did the entire game and that was an MMO, which in essence is not a proper Final Fantasy game anyway. Then we had 15 which I enjoyed for the most part but was blatantly half baked and missing content. Then we had FF7 remake which honestly I enjoyed a ton and reminded me why I love the series albeit that stupid kingdom hearts stuff Nomura stuck in it. Now we have that awful looking Chaos game.....

So yeah, it's been a bumpy ride for the series after FF12. The consistency in quality is all over the place. I want 16 to bring the Fantasy back, bring airships back and huge magical settings and a gripping storyline that feels finished and not reliant on DLC.

Time will tell but as of now the Final Fantasy golden era has been over for years now.
That's just my opinion though and I respect anyone who disagrees with me.

[eTeknix]

You get it! And their latest spin-offs are even more off-track than usual it seems. Shame, as the franchise used to be a real AAA standard for RPGs in general.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

It used to be a huge deal when a Final Fantasy game was announced, they were always the very best in AAA gaming. The graphics, storytelling, characters and the worlds they were in were so exciting and fresh.
I remember being wowed when you first arrive in Lindblum in FFIX, this huge city with airships flying around and it was all ruled by an oglop (bug)! I used to imagine what a Final Fantasy game would look like in the future, imagining the ability to explore a place like that in Realtime instead of the pre rendered backgrounds (still beautiful to this day) unfortunately it definitely didn't turn out the way I had hoped.

JRPG's aren't what they used to be. The popular games are battle royale and live services now...sigh...
Anyway this is just turning into an old man rant XD

[LordoftheCritics]

Exactly my thoughts.

Nothing fresh that knocks it out of the park.

[Miraak82]

Idk gameplay and story wise XIV is top tier, to discredit it as a proper FF is messed up since 2 of the mainline entry’s are mmo , it’s not an isolated entry . It’s like saying ffx isn't a FF because it’s an action rpg and not turned based or saying ffx or ffxiii aren’t Final Fantasies because there linear and have no real world map . At this point FF can be whatever it what’s to be as it’s strayed away from your precieved notion from what a FF for over 20 years now

[Kakashi Hatake]

I can agree. I didn't care for 15 though, it took me 5 years to finish it. It's never taken me that long to finish a Final Fantasy game and I've been playing since 7.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

Even VIII and IX weren't the best reception wise depending on who you ask, which is understandable given how amazing VII is. Also many have said only VI in the new compilation pack for mobile and PC is the only one worth revisiting.

[Kaze88]

Same here mostly. After FFX I have not enjoyed any of the new FF they have produced, admittingly I jumped over all the MMO's, they are not for me. Also I have not tried FF7 Remaster more than the demo, waiting it to drop on PC this year (if the rumours are true). FFXV to me felt like a half baked idea of a game with sloppy combat.

[xPaYDaYx]

Lol image be thinking xiv isn't a proper ff game. Xiv has one of the best if not the best stories out of all the final fantasies. It's quite unfair to even compare any other final fantasy to xiv because xiv has so much material to pull from. It's similar to the star trek vs. star wars scenario. Star trek is way better and it's not even close because it has thousands of hours of content to pull from. Xiv has the best soundtrack, best writing, best characters and everything in between simply because there is so much to it. It's a mainline numbered title for a reason. The quality hasn't dipped over the years and has only gotten better.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

Never said FFXIV wasn't good I said it started off awful which is widely known. What I meant by saying it isn't a proper Final Fantasy game is that
FFI: single player JRPG
FFII: single player JRPG
FFIII: single player JRPG
FFIV: single player JRPG
FFV: single player JRPG
FFVI: single player JRPG
FFVII: single player JRPG
FFVIII: single player JRPG
FFIX: single player JRPG
FFX: single player JRPG
FFXI: MMO
FFXII: single player JRPG
FFXIII: single player JRPG
FFXIV: MMO

Maybe what I should have said is that it is not a traditional Final Fantasy. Also saying the characters, story writing, soundtrack etc is better than any other Final Fantasy is completely subjective. My opinion on the lack of quality consistency is also subjective so chill out. We're all fans of the series in one way or another and want it to do well :) and if what you said above is true then FF16 should be amazing and we'll all be happy.

[il-JumperMT]

FFXIV is the most Final Fantasy out of recent releases wtf

[TheColbertinator]

FFXIV is decent but the last great FF i loved was 12. Good times.

[Thundercat77]

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is the best FF game I have payed for a long time and the Yuffie add on is so great!!!

I desagree with the article.

[--Onilink--]

While I definitely enjoyed it, there were still many half baked things in it, in particular the whole side quest system. The majority of them were incredibly uninspired and boring

[Vx_]

After 10 all single player FFs sucks! While FF7r is great but has an incomplete story which sucks too.

[Thundercat77]

Incomplete story? I think you have incomplete information. It was confirmed from the start that the game will release in 3 episodes.

[enkiduxiv]

Remake is close but I would still like to see a new Final Fantasy with the same feel as the classics. I was not a fan of 15 but I guess it was a step in the right direction. I really hope they hit their stride again with 16.

[DragonWarrior19]

Speak for yourself, I myself have had a blast with all the recent Final Fantasy's (X was the last one I was ho-hum about but still enjoyed). I know a huge amount of a FF fanbase loves the series. I'm looking forward to FF16, honestly surprised they didn't show it at all at E3.

[jznrpg]

So you want turned based I’d guess? I wouldn’t mind a turned based game but I like the current combat systems as well

[DragonWarrior19]

I wouldn't mind a return to turn based but they have been doing great with their action focus of the recent games.

[justadelusion]

FF15 > FF7

[Highrevz]

Full agree. I haven’t enjoyed one since 12 but even that wasn’t as good as 10,9,8,7 it’s hard for me to get excited about the series these days.

The Soundtracks are one of my favourite parts about the games but the newer ones are very forgettable. I’m not going to be feeling nostalgic about them in 15 years time I can say that much.

[CrimsonWing69]

What!?

Have you played FF7 Remake? It’s incredible and FF15 had some high highs… with some low lows, but still a fairly enjoyable game compared to a lot of JRPGs on the market. FF 14 is heralded as one of the best MMOs… so, uh, barring FF13, I think it’s safe to say they’ve all been pretty good.

[CS7]

The author literally says he didn’t play it because “he doesn’t think its a full game”.

He even asks how long he would take to fight Sephiroth.

This article is joke.

He doesn’t even know FF7 Remake is a whole new game.

[CrimsonWing69]

Game journalism at its finest…

[eTeknix]

Why do people assume everyone is playing it on PlayStation, we all know it's coming to PC, Xbox... but thus far, it hasn't. We all know it's a new take on the game, but also that it's more than one part too.

[Youngindy21]

I personally liked FFXIII, XIII-2, and FFVII Remake. I haven't played XV yet, but I'm sure that was probably good as well. I dunno what the author is talking about.

[Inverno]

I didn't get into the series until I played X and X2 a few years back on PS3 and I enjoyed it enough to later buy FF15 based on my experience with X. 15 was a disappointment for me compared to X and then compared to KH as an AJRPG. I heard nothing but bad things about 13/2/3 so I never got em.
14 is an MMO and my time playing the trial was very pleasant so I can't complain about it.
7 was pretty great, and I'm playing through the original on my VITA and the game is pretty mind-blowing, very awesome presentation so far.

I can't say much about the series quality wise but I have said in the past that Square has no idea what to do with the series and I will continue to say that until they proven otherwise, but really you can say that with just about all of Squares franchises.

[jukins]

Besides the mmos, which are honestly some of the best imo, theyre right. It was like after the ps2 era where they focused on substance they shifted towards eye candy while basically rehashing the basic final fantasy story over and over.

Even as great as ff7 remake is, which in currently playing on ps5, they had an entire game to reference.

[lucian229]

Idiots like the author are stuck in a land of nostalgia. It's typical around the age of 30 to only believe the things from your childhood were good.

What the author meant to say is his dopamine production levels have tanked with age and he's not capable of enjoying anything new.

[eTeknix]

What a strange take on me as a person, it's an opinion piece, not a statement of what you think. Still, it's good to see there's a good mixture of opinions here.

[lucian229]

it;s just biology...same reason why most old people don't like the next generations music, yadda yadda

[jartoon]

for those who didnt read the article and just saw the headline: HE HASNT PLAYED FF7R (and doesnt know if he "wants to")... Sooo...

[GenWorld]

Big Reach Energy

[anast]

It started going down hill when they got emo.

[OhReginald]

FF went downhill when FFX released.

[Elda]

I've enjoyed playing most of the FF games starting from the games on the SNES up until the latest remake on the PS5. Some games are more memorable than others but I enjoyed playing them.

[Godmars290]

The franchise has become half assed style over anything of substance. Something that sadly began with FF7.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

The series went downhill after X, I don't know what caused it or what's going on with them, but the decade plus has been disappointing excluding the rare standout games like World of Final Fantasy and ARR. These days I'd rather play Persona or Dragon Quest, I feel like those games are heads and shoulders above modern FF games, I feel like I should cut the franchise loose after experiencing FF7R (ahh, why did you have to inject KH into the plot SE?).

[MocBistro]

Last good FF is FF X

[Godmars290]

No. The last "good" one, the last to competently use and develop available assets, were six, seven and nine.

[jambola]

lol
what a pointless comment
you're basically just repeating his comment but replacing the game

[Stanjara]

I only cared for 7..and remake is amazing. The rest I tried to play, I really did. I can actually agree with this title.
Edit
That "Chaos" trailer didn't surprised me at all. Please SE...put all your efforts into finishing 7 remake.

[Flawlessmic]

To be honest 12 is the last one i really loved, 10 is my favorite followed 7 original then 9 and 8, the rest have been ok

[Father__Merrin]

Well Ff13 was pretty cool and was well received, the spin off 13-2 was also pretty neat. Never really got into 13-3 as I hate timed titles.

Ffonline is now mega popular, FF15 was a solid adventure and even that rev release ff hd-zero was worth a go.

[MrGameAndWatch]

I made the jump from IX to XV, and then VIIR plus the XII. Clearly a change from the good old turn by turn for sure, but I enjoyed them. FF is still great for someone, not matter its number.

[DarkKaine]

It pretty much started going downhill for me with X-2.
XIV is a freaking MMO I won't touch, and XV is well.. Backstreet Boys: The game. 7 remake is cool though.

[TheTony316]

FF7 remake and FFXIV disagree.

[AnnaDea]

With the exception of FF VII Remake, the FF series golden era was from FF VI to X, that means from 1994 to 2001, almost 20 years.

FF XIII and FF XV are good games, but really bad FF games, because they never reached the heights of the previous installments. XIII was super linear because Square wanted to please COD players at the time for more sells (and Xbox 360 still used DVD as storage while ps3 had blu ray 9gig vs 56gig). While Tabata never had a real vision of FF XV which made them go through development hell. They even made changes to the story 3 months before release wtf xD

Problem is that Square made a Final Fantasy game every 1-2 years in the 90's while they take 4-7 years today for some reasons.

[John_McClane]

A little Final Fantasy history for those that may not be aware that it was once a Nintendo exclusive until Sony came along. https://kotaku.com/that-tim...

[MeteorPanda]

16 looks good?

15 wasnt bad just they had so many development issues. the true ending being in a book cause they couldnt make a dlc is sad tho

[360ICE]

The Nomura era has been a real drop in quality.
FFXV development took a decade, and then final product felt really unfinished. KH3 downright sucked. The FFVII remake is pretty good, but then it's based on one of the greatest games of all time, and adds a lot of Nomura-style mysticism that ends up dumbing down the story.

[RPGer]

I can blame Nomura for his Rock, emo and Prompto style.

However, eveything else is not his fault.
First of, Versus XIII was his total creation, he did even build an protoype in KH2 engine (this how old the project was), Square heads were listening, but didn't care yet. Until PS3 released, they did their Nova Crystal series thing and told Nomura to go on and inplement the L'Cie thing in his game and call it Versus XIII, he demand the team (most of them from IX, X, and some old games developers) they helped him and when they showed the trailer and just started to go on in 2008, Yoshida ordered to pull the team to save XIII production since they decided to release it in Xbox 360 as well and to finish the game befor the deadline. Nomura still went on by with little help from the others, when XIII went gold in 2009 and released in Japan the team took a break and went back to Versus XIII, they did a good job, but SE didn't yet allowed full production, so Nomura is yet been on semi-hold situation, however, he did have the full idea, a lot of characters, insomnia city, engine, soundtracks direction etc. He released the Trailer and it was amazing, the settings, the epicness, the gorgeous city and dark, mature tune packed with blood and great gameplay. SE again pulled the team for xIv: Realm Reborn. At this time Tabata finished Type 0 (meh list potentials). So, Tabata assigned to be part of the team and co-director for Versus XIII althought it is not in full production stage. xIv went fine and have clear vision and almost finished the beta stage, now it only needs technical stuff and whatever. The team went back for Versus XIII, but SE were skeptical about Versus since the idea felt apart anyway and non of Nova Crystal were a commercial success, so they forced the change of the name, and Tabata being the director and when he became the director, Nomura assigned for co-driector tben gave the full production for XV greenlight by 2012. In 2013 the trailer released, SE wanted Tabata to change the game with same "spirit", so they pulled Nomura back. So SE highers up didn't really let Nomura develop the game as if it shlould. In 2013 also Nomura had been given the green light to develop KH3, but again higher ups played dump and forced Unreal Engine, instead of in-house engine. At that stage Nomura was starting to put story elements in KH3, but he could not as he is now busy to convert the whole work on Unreal Engine, with limited time frame.

Nomura has nothing to do with the delays and XV lost potentials, and KH3 missing some original stories.

The only game that Nomura recently developed with some real freedom was VII remake and guess what it is one best games ever.

[360ICE]

So by your logic, he shouldn't really be blamed for the result of two projects he directed, but should get a lot of credit for the FFVII remake that he co-directed with Toriyama?

I don't blame Nomura for the delays, but the execution and final product. And ofc there are more people than just him that deserve blame (the choice to develop an engine and game simultaneously on Versus XIII, for instance, was a questionable one) -- but he was the director.

Plus, the elements you do try to credit Nomura for, like Insomnia City, really aren't that special. It's fine, but a fairly bland neo-gothic game city imo. Compare it to, say, Zanarkand, Midgard or Lundblum. Amazingly designed cities, that are unique and inseparable from the stories that unfold in them. In the same vein, the story in both KH3 and FFXV are completely uninteresting (most interesting parts of the FFXV story are put into the anime and DLCs)

What's good about the Final Fantasy remake is mostly the base material they're working on. The music is beautiful, Midgar is represented really faithfully, and the core concept and story is still really interesting -- but it all builds on the ideas from the PS1 game.

The elements they've added are much more mediocre. There's some cool character building, but there's also much more tedious writing, less subtlety, and more Nomura-style over the top anime badasses in coats fighting over unknown motivations.

[DutchieSmurf]

FF IX was released in 2000, so I would say 21 years since a "great" FF. XIV is a good mmorpg, but falls short of great, X is when the series took a nosedive into annoying whiney protagonists (might be related to adding voice acting?) and blitzball... The 7 remake is decent, but not complete yet and seems to focus far too much on graphics and slowly walking through tight spaces than gameplay and good storytelling (adding more fluff doesn't make a story better, remember the hobbit movies)

[gold_drake]

13 and lightning returns ... i only played them once. thats how much i liked them lol.

13-2 was great. the music, the banter, everything was done right ha.

15 was ... not that bad after they got rid of most of the bugs and stuff.

world of final fantasy was great, i really enjoyed it.

14 is loved by aaalot of people. had a rough start tho.

ff7 remake was absolutely amazing

i didnt really play any other spin offs in the last 15 years. record keeper was the only mobile game that i liked.

[Rebel_Scum]

I'd say it hasn't been great since FFVII but merely ok.

[AceRimmer302]

Literally just wrote this on PC Gamer just a minute ago. Series has really lost its way. People don't just wax nostalgic about 1-10 because memories. They were objectively great games with lovable, unique characters, epic stories, great combat and mechanics. They had heart and just the right amount of levity and weirdness.
Nomura has bastardized the franchise and corporate incompetency has really ruined it. It's been diluted and watered-down for the masses, which means nothing special is made. By trying to please everyone, it's lost what made it so unique in the first place.

[jambola]

another person who thinks Nomura is the antichrist or something, geez
he made 7 remake and it was great and very highly regarded

[Muigi]

Author needs to pass me whatever he’s smoking.

[Fiddlerblue]

All of the truly great Final Fantasies have one thing in common: Hironobu Sakaguchi. When he left, the series was never the same.
That being said, FF7r is a fantastic game and probably my favorite entry since FF9.

[RPGer]

So since XII, we got XI expansion which is great one, we got Crisis Core and considered one of best FF spin off if not the best and best game in PSP besides GOW, also we had the second Dissidia on PSP which is also on of best PsP fighting games and one best games on PsP as well. Type 0 was ok.

On PS3 we had XIII (technically amazing game, but a 9 hours toturial and so nowhere going story generally meh game), XIII-2 which was an amazing game and did the best potentials of XIII gameplay and story wise but people ignored it because of the OG. XIII LR was different and creative and nothing about it is bad in some areas the game peaked to be a phenomenal FF game but not always tbh. xIv was bad then the revamp to RR and beyond is nothing but the best MMO RPG ever and constantly competing witb WoW as matter of fact it does beat it in some elements and now is just matter of taste you like western armor and sci fi style for WoW or you are into some mythological creature and Eastern style.

On 3DS and Wii U there is nothing to mention except for than soundtrack game.

On last generations the remasters done very good job with the modes to make it easier and faster. World of FF was an excellent game for it style. XV was a good game but lost potentials. Then Dissidia NT a port from arcade focused style (bad no very bad).

Mobile games like Record, Brave, Opera and Mobious are the best RPG free games on it industry.

Lastly, we got the VII Remake, now whether some fans like the new direction of the story or not, it is absolutely one of best RPG games ever and one best last gen besides, Persona 5, GOW, Horizon Zero Dawn, Mario Odyssey, The Witcher and Bloodborne. The Graphics and visual presentation was up notch, the gameplay is the most premium made in the industry, the variety was critical, the themes and stages were just amazing, the technical performance was outstanding and it is absolutely even better than XII.

I am sure I missed some games, but even though FF isn't as constant evolving as it used to be since V till XII. But it still better than Pokemonz Zelda, Tales of, KH, Star Ocean, Bathesda franchises, and other Japanese Counterparts. Despite of the fact that FF fans does heavily criticised the whole FF series more (by miles) than other fans of other franchises.

[Abriael]

Folks, do you seriously expect a decent analysis from someone who dismisses Final Fantasy XIV for "lack of controller support?"

Final Fantasy XIV literally INVENTED controller support for MMORPGs.

[jambola]

can confirm i played through the whole game with a controller
and even a lot on the ps3

[Yusi-D-Jordan]

Square Enix has lost all ability to tell a cohesive narrative.

After FF10 (and I guess FF10-2), it's been downhill. Uematsu and Sakaguchi left Square. Square hooked up with Enix, and started churning out dog****. FF12 had some decent moments but was enormously lackluster, and every game since then has been awful except the online FF11 and FF 14. FF7 Remake was good but really only because it had a story that was already great, although they tried their best to change that by adding a bunch of unnecessary crap.

[ManMarmalade]

FFXIVARR hijacked my life for a good couple on months. Amazing game, tons of features.

[Snakeeater25]

Well final fantasy 8 to 14 were terrible but 15 and 7 remake are awesome

[SDuck]

"Gaming journalism hasn't been great in 15 years"

there, fixed it for ya

[ghostrider32]

FFXIV says otherwise. Even the music is still great.

[GravedancerX]

Final Fantasy XIV is fantastic right now so...

[jambola]

if the person writing hasn't played the most recent and is making this call, i write it off completely

besides as we all know FF is really great up until (insert last game I liked)

[NapalmSanctuary]

I remember over a decade ago thinking that Mortal Kombat had been crap ever since 4 and that we would never see another great MK game again. Then after a year or so MK9 was announced just before E3 and I lost my shit. Best game of the series just comes out of nowhere. Of course its been down hill ever since but the point is that there's always hope.