The Future of Final Fantasy

June 13, 2007, 8:28 PM

This is not a remake topic, or a Should square close shop and stop making games topic, or anything like that, just to clarify.

I was reading an interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi a few weeks back, and he made a very valid point. His complaint about Square is that they are putting all of their stock into just Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. New games are coming out all the time by them and they are all of one of those two titles. It really is getting crazy... I can, off the top of my head, think of 8 FF games that are announced/in production/whatever.

Yeah, it's great and all that FF is still a thriving title.... or is it? I'm glad that the powers that be in Square-Enix are wanting to branch out and try a lot of new concepts, but doing it inside the FF series may not be the place to do it anymore. I don't mean they need to stop making RPG's... just that maybe they should leave behind the Final Fantasy title.

Really, the people up at Square have proven time and time again that they are exceptional game designers and can create anything they want to, and that even goes for past games from a long time ago. Einhänder was one of my favorite games for along time, and thats a scrolling shooter. I found it incredibly addictive, and spent a lot of time opening all the secrets in it and such. This was not a FF title, yet was a great game and a bit before its time even.

Fueling my speculation is the fact that so many oldschool FF fans have been unhappy with the recent FF games to be released. FFX took the series to strange levels. FFXI was online only. FFX-2 was... wow... just.. wow. FF:CC was for kids. FFXII was the closest to a classic FF in ages, yet some still think the magic isn't there...

I suppose a good test would be to make a "Final Fantasy" game with a different title. If it still sells good, then maybe they have been on the right track all this time. If it doesn't... then it is obvious that the company is definitely going in the wrong direction, and they should stop using the FF Title while they are still ahead.

Discuss.

June 13, 2007, 8:43 PM

SE needs to develop some new titles, however, they should never stop making FF games. Yes...that's all I have to say...

June 13, 2007, 10:18 PM

why would you ever want them to stop making final fantasy games? and plus just adding the name "final fantasy" onto the game automatically makes it a best-seller. plus fans like us are all salivating at the idea of a new final fantasy so it doesn't seem to ME, like square should have any reason whatsoever to stop making final fantasies, ever.

June 13, 2007, 10:19 PM

No more remakes, spin offs or damn sequels! SE should stop being lazy! SS were never like this!

June 13, 2007, 10:28 PM

i agree about the shitty spinoffs, but stopping final fantasy period? completely out of the question.

June 13, 2007, 10:28 PM

I never said that. I dont want Final Fantasy to stop.
Oh and sorry I misread his quote!

June 13, 2007, 10:42 PM

I've said in a previous thread that I would like Final Fantasy to go on as long as possible but I haven't been impressed by an FF title in about 7 years and with the FFXIII title spanding over 10 years with a possibility of 6 titles (Not all necessarily games) than just the 1 title to tell a story and move on to the next game. If this is the direction Final Fantasy is going and I would pretty much wouldn't mind if the series ended sooner rather than later. I am prefering all the remakes since I am not enjoying any of the new titles.

June 13, 2007, 10:51 PM

The Future of Final Fantasy? As I can tell, it's down a toilet... Personally, I'd like it if they take a break from FF for a few years to work on pushing Mana, Front Mission, and SaGa in countries other than Japan. I mean, SaGa's pretty much the same thing as Final Fantasy, different characters and different universe each time.

June 14, 2007, 4:23 AM

I hope the future of the franchise never ends.

I have to admit though, I'm not entirely impressed either to hear that the XIII series will span over 10 years, but I'm not going to loose hope just yet seeming as we don't really have a lot of concrete information with the XIII series. However, I was really hoping that SE would concentrate on doing what they used to do best, a completely new FF title every few years or so.

June 14, 2007, 3:03 PM

It's adapting; it's evolving; it's digging deeper into the depths of our brains.

Sure some of my favorites of teh series are the Old School games, but FFX turned out to be my favorite due to the plot and the character and history backstories, as well as the maturity of the FFXII plot. It's not a storyline that any average teen-ager can sit down, play through, and instantly understand; it's a massively in-depth mature political plot.

As for the continued lifespam of Square's FF series, I hope to see it continue, grow, and boom successfully for years to come. Sure you can say Square may run ouot of original and creative ideas, but so many people are being hypocritical now-a-days. People beg for FF's to be creative, make some cool changes, and what happens in FFXII? People bitch about the summons not having traditional names like past titles in the series. Hell, these summons had more of a backstory than the main characters in the game did, as well as a better backstory than any summon group since FFVI's.

Square's not going down the shitter, they are simply adapting to a more mature audience I believe. Sure we'll always love our PS1 and before Old School games, but the new one's are mighty fine games as well. You'll see, Square will deleiver, and millions will be satisfied.