What is the best thing Square Enix has produced?

Mister Goober

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Chad Thundermember
It's obvious the answer from each of you will likely be a Final Fantasy game, but be inclusive here. It could even be a specific element of a Final Fantasy game or maybe even a specific element of the franchise as a whole.

For me, it's the Chocobo. Iconic.

Don't forget about music too. It could be a certain battle theme or a song.
 
For me it is their focus on character driven stories! Sure many JPRG's have character arcs within their stories but I feel Final Fantasy as a whole is a series which become renown for it.

You've probably heard me mention my difficulties in engaging with JRPG's which have a silent protagonist. I understand the idea in having a character with no attributes so the play can interact within the surroundings, but all I see is a lifeless avatar who is always in the way - It's especially worse when other characters have to talk around this fact just to have the protag' stare at them or give them a nod. I love the JRPG genre, the sense of adventure they offer but too many of them feature silent protagonists and the experience just becomes stagnant for me - Dragon Quest, Persona, Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, Ys... The list goes on...

Final Fantasy for the most part (More so from IV onwards) has always featured complex main protagonists to which we experience the world with. Sometimes their story can take over the majority of the experience - which is the case with VIII, I love Squall's transition but the other playable characters certainly take a back seat. Other times, a main character besides the protagonists story can become the main draw, Vivi's existential crisis for me was more compelling than the majority of FFIX's plot - which is not disrespecting IX's story but his journey was just even more compelling. Another example is Yuna's Pilgrimage from X, even though we experience the story from Tidus' perspective, the main story is focused around her journey - even to the point where she gives Tidus a good telling off for always claiming this is HIS story!

I feel that Final Fantasy offers more engaging characters than any other series I've played, in doing so each of their stories becomes more engaging as they have more interactive with the protag too - giving us a better perspective of time. What I love most is when the games give time to explore substories with the cast. Final Fantasy VII does a goodf example of this. Especially when you visit the characters home towns. It's moments like these when you really beginb to learn about the characters like Nanaki's resentment for his father or the hatred Coral Town have on Barret and the meeting with his brother Dyne. Later FF games haven't really had the world structure in place to do this, so I'm hoping with the upcoming XVI that not all the characters we gain are from the main kingdom we start in. I want to pick up stragglers along the way like Amarant and learn more about them as we progress the journey.
 
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