I'm curious...

[MysteryMage]

We all know that Final Fantasy games are plot driven. That's perfectly fine; nowadays a good enough plot can usually be enough reason to play a game, so long as they at least try to make the parts one actually plays bearable. However, one thing I've noticed is that Final Fantasy fans tend to care ONLY for the plot. For example, I was reading another topic on this very forum, and several people mentioned that a poor story in a game can be made up with... character relationships. They could pour their soul into a fun battle system with deep character customization and interesting battles, but it wouldn't matter if it didn't have a deep story and/or well developed character relationships.
This makes me kinda sad, really, and it also makes me wonder just how much gameplay fans are willing to have removed in order to accommodate story. As such my actual question is this:
Would you be willing to have a Final Fantasy with no gameplay at all, in, say, anime form? And I mean with a plot that actually feels like it would fit in a Final Fantasy game, not like that nonsense they tried to pull with Unlimited. I ask this because I see so many people not even taking the gameplay into consideration when talking about Final Fantasy games, treating it like mere padding, something that they will accept is there but only really care when a particular boss is preventing story progression or , if it's annoying or difficult enough, something that makes a game not worth playing; tl;dr version is, I'm asking because it seems that the general attitude among FF fans is that gameplay can break the game but never make the game and I can't help but feel what the attitude would be about no gameplay.
I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds here, or if I'm drawing mistaken conclusions, and I'm sure this has been discussed countless times before, but I really am curious.

 

[ClaireSensei]

true to me story/plot/character is most important in a ff game. However it does need a good battle system amoung other things because it helps you get use to the characters. It also makes things a lot more interresting. If it was a anime i would care a lot less about the characters. Why easy because in a game you can get closer to a character since you actally controling them and using them a anime you just watch.
In ffh12 the character/story was terrible so i stop in the middle of it.
However if the battle system quest and ect sucks i mot likly not play it and if i do it will be to see the story then i never play it again but a good quest battle and so on systems makes me wont to come back and play it over and over again and so far almost all ff have had good battle systems. At lest to me, i play game like assisan creed halo mass affect for the battle system then the story then games like ff i play for the story then the other systems in it.
So yes ff is mostly about the story to me but never been let down with the battle so far so never had to really think on that what i would do.


sorry bad at grammar

 

[Talbain]

No, I would not, because looking at movies like Advent Children we see pretty clearly how inept the typical FF game is when it doesn't have actual gameplay to revolve the story around. Frankly even in "epics" like Metal Gear Solid and Star Ocean I'm mainly there for the battle gameplay, and if they weren't very good I wouldn't be touching them.

 

[FinalHeart]

To be perfectly honest, I would have really enjoyed FFXII if it felt like a Final Fantasy game. I liked the gameplay in general, with the gambits, although the license board could've been done better (lp to wear a hat?). However, it just didn't feel like a Final Fantasy game. It felt very generic, very colorless. Lots of brown and gray, but not enough blue and green.

Also, the story is VERY important. However, I'm not willing to go through crappy gameplay even if the story is the best ever. That's why I'm looking forward to FFXIII so much, other than the fact it's the first game I've even had a chance to be hyped about in the series. It seems to have really fun gameplay. The story doesn't seem too shabby either.

 

[Martel]

Well, really, if you've seen one turn-based or real-time combat system, you've seen them all. The gameplay for the Final Fantasy series has been practically identical since the series started: if you strip them right down, then they're all just turn-based RPGs. The gimmicks and whatnot they come up with like summons, sphere grids or whatever are just add-ons, and they are what make the games different from every other RPG out there.

Of course, there are a couple of exceptions - FFXII's system is real-time, and you've got the Tactics series to a lesser extent - but those systems have been used before as well. Square Enix don't have to put any effort in - all they need to do is take the core turn-based or real-time battle system or strategy turn-based system or whatever and add some flashy gimmicks that have been used somewhere else before under a different name.

This is why I focus more on the story of an RPG than its gameplay. Unless its been poorly designed, I know I'm going to enjoy playing the game, because I love turn-based and real-time combat battle systems. The story of an RPG is what sets it apart and makes it worth buying. If I'm going to play the same system over and over again, I want a good reason for doing so, which is where the storyline comes into play. If the story is boring...might as well play an RPG with a better story, I'll enoy it a lot more and I won't be missing out on much.

To answer the question posed in the first post: I'd be interested in seeing a proper, in-depth Final Fantasy anime, although I enjoy playing through the games and seeing how the story turns out at my own pace - whilst they all use the same turn-based system, its never implemented poorly, and discovering what "new" recycled gimmicks they've put into it is always fun. Solid gameplay punctuated by an in-depth story.

 

[Dirges for Damcyan]

Really good thoughts LiquidEnergon. I think that while story is one of the most important qualities to FF fans, they are a little too quick to dismiss gameplay. For example, take into account some of the least popular FF Games: FFII and FFVIII (which happens to be my personal favorites). FFII has far more well developed characters than does FFI, and a much richer story. However nearly every FF gamer (including myself) ranks FFI above FFII. Why? Simple: FFII's gameplay was broken and frustrating.

Similarly, I have always argued with fans that FFVIII's characters are far more interesting and developed than FFVII's. However, FFVII nearly always is ranked higher than VIII. Why? Because people adore the materia system and despise the draw system.

Another illustration can be drawn using FFV. The story is your standard paint-by-numbers elemental crystals and end of the world story. The characters (aside from Galuf) have nearly no backstory and undergo no meaningful development throughout the game. The job system, however, is dynamite, and as a result people love it.

Ultimately I think people are drawn to FF because of the stories. How they pick their favorite FF though largely depends on gameplay.

 

[MysteryMage]

Huh. People are actually still interested in actual games after all.
Still, I'll bet that there is some group of people somewhere that would be perfectly content with - or even prefer - that SE do away with the whole game angle.

 

[Rydia]

Well, every FF game has pretty much the same battle system with minor variations, heck in the later games all you need to do is hit "attack" for 70+ hours and your are good. And in an RPG your are often doing more than just battling monsters.

I think I like RPGs because I get to control the character and sometimes make choices with their actions (and sometimes you can make your character a nice guy or an ass). You also sometimes have to figure out on your own what to do next by talking to villagers or looking for hints in the dialogue. You can revisit places later, look for hidden items, do stupid chores for a awesome item, and play minigames. I think I like the game Chrono Trigger so much because I can change events in the timeline or I can choose to ignore it. With an anime I really can't do that because everything is already decided and I really can't interact with that world. I also don't feel any satisfaction when the main enemy is killed because I was not the one doing it. And when I watch TV I tend to zone out so I would probably miss half the story anyways.

I do like games to be challenging along with a good story. I am a little bit frusterated with newer RPGs because the final boss is practically a push over. And I hate overly complicated battle systems that make a game feel like a chore to play.

But I do think story needs to be taken in to consideration. An rpg can have a great battle system, but all battle systems get boring quickly. I need a good story so that I will be excited about what comes next.