Final Fantasy X ruined Final Fantasy (and Square)

[AcacianLeaves]

5. Because the way the story was written, You being Tidus and discovering more about the world makes it so that the linearity of the level design not so bad, even though it might just be a narrow path, the story and the fact you know nothing of the world, makes you wonder what's around the bend, what am I going to find out next and so on. For me, this is linearity done properly. XIII's design was boring because it didn't have "interesting" locations, the story was so shallow that I didn't really feel anything when there were "twists" in the plot. Also the lack of any minigames, that old man telling you the history of the world, reoccurring characters you get to see along the way, the summoner lady, the chocobo knights, crusaders, finding al bhed primers, spheres that show Braskas' pilgrimage. There was a lot to see along the way when you think about it. You pressed a button to interact with people which made things seem more personal and engaging rather then seeing people rant to themselves, the people in X also gave you items sometimes. Differences in gameplay e.g. The temple puzzles and swimming made things more interesting. Also since the camera is fixed, you kind of have to walk around the place to see everything (e.g. Al Bhed primers were in places you couldn't actually see at all. Final Fantasy XIII had a camera you controlled so you could see everything where you stood, meaning that there was less "exploration") That may seem kind of small, and look like i'm scrapping the bottom of the barrel with that last point, but, for me even thought it's a "small" thing, it actually makes a ton of difference.

I don't mind the way that Tidus knows nothing about the world - that kind of thing is necessary in any sci-fi or fantasy storytelling. Its how exposition is handled without seeming like you're being lectured. FF13's storytelling suffered from having no character that needed things explained to them, so they had to exposition dump in your logbook.

I recognize that the lack of exploration isn't as bad as it is in FF13, but my point is that compared to FF4-9 there is a decided shift in focus away from exploration. You can still speak to characters and you find the odd path away from the corridor that leads to a 'hidden' item, but the roots of the complaints for FF13's linearity are first present here in FFX.

 

[Ashcrexl]

i am so sorry you are unable to utilize the suspension of disbelief to enjoy a somewhat silly, but thoroughly enjoyable game.

 

[WorldCritic]

Eh, everyone is entitled to their opinions. Though I don't own FFX from what I've played, it was a pretty good game. Since this is a Final Fantasy fanboy rant thread I might as well say my opinions on a few.
FFI: Good, fun, and simple
FFII: Pretty good, a little less fun and simple though
FFIII: Haven't played it
FFIV:Haven't played it
FFV: Ok, if I could make an FF rant it would actually be on this game
FFVI: Awesome
FFVII: Awesome (IMO)
FFVIII: Pretty Good
FFIX: Haven't played it
FFX: Pretty good
FFXI: Don't plan on playing it
FFXII: Good
FFXIII: Good
FFXIV: Don't plan on playing it

Yeah I probably went a little overboard, but there have been worse.

 

[TaboriHK]

Final Fantasy X is one of the only FFs that was worth a damn, in my opinion. Besides VII, none of the others have really been worth playing.

 

[AugustFall]

I was awesome at blitzball, it comes in second only to the triple triad ccg. Personally I thought X was awesome. I liked the world, the characters, the crafting system (some of those weapons were gorgeous) and probably most of all blitzball.


Seriously, how was Blitzball impossible? It was pretty deep in that you recruited characters (somewhat secret characters) from all over the game and learned moves and leveled up. I wish they would make a standalone game.

 

[Something Amyss]

Tidus was a better main character than Cloud, Squall, and Vaan combined.

The first two don't take much (Don't remember Vaan). And while I loved playing FFVII, the characters were freaking terrible.

 

[Stormz]

I loved Final Fantasy X and it's story. I wouldn't say it's my favourite though, Final Fantasy 9 has that title.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

I could just as well agree with everything OP said, however I will refute one point. There are 2 secret characters (technically 4), Yojimbo and the Magus Sisters. They're completely unrelated to the plot yet they're secret Aeons you can find and recruit.

I found X to be largely tolerable because I usually didn't pay attention to character designs, that is, until now. X is the last game I could ever call a Final Fantasy game with good conscience. From there on, the series was speeding downhill at the speed of light. I'm not even going to TOUCH 13 because of the stupid fucking automated combat system (and I grew up with the ATB/CTB system) and, according to Yahtzee, alienated J-pop characters. 12 put me off too because of that asinine License system and the Kingdom Hearts-style combat, plus it had beginner's traps that lured me in and ruined probably 3 hours of unsaved progress.

By the way, Cloud and Squall were both angsty mercenaries who didn't give a fuck about anything until the respective endings.

 

[Tanis]

I disagree. It all went down the tubes with 7.

1st reply wins it.

FF6 & CT were the pinnacle of Square.

FF7 and beyond was a slow, downhill, journey.
While there have been some decent games that rose above (FFT:WotL), most of the time SQ/E just made stuff that I found 'meh'.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I could not bear to play through FFX to completion the first time I tried.
It took me grinding my teeth through the beyond-retarded plot and forced romance sections to truly appreciate the nuances of dialogue in OTHER GAMES.
Yes, FFX lowered my standards for RPGs. Few other games have done that.

And all of this was years before I even knew about Spoony. Years before I ever had a decent net connection.

Even so, I don't point to FFX as the Squaresoft's lynchpin. I don't even point to FF7 (hello? We saw an increase in the number of great games in that short time frame from Square up until FFX).

I point at the first Final Fantasy movie, The Spirits Within.
Immediately following its spectacular failure, Squaresoft changed its focus radically to prevent another expensive disaster from ever occurring again. Shortly thereafter came the Enix merger.

Those two actions combined changed Squaresoft into the abomination we know as Square-Enix (or Squeenix) today.

Chronologically speaking, the last truly excellent games released by Squaresoft (in my opinion) were Legend of Mana and Chrono Chross (many cite FF9 as well, though I still don't like it).
FFX had amazingly strong production values, but a terrible plot and even worse characters.
It also launched the "Bling mentality" that would later lead Squeenix to publishing a multitude of Shiny Turds. FF11 would contribute to their failure by cementing one global visual style for all their future games.

I've noticed a decreasing amount of effort on Squeenix's part dating all the way back to FFTA (which doesn't even come close to the greatness of the original). The few tiny bright spots of creative spark are outdone by the sheer incompetence elsewhere.

Take Radiata Stories, which is a parody of a number of RPG and gaming memes, with a fairly ambitious combat system.
However, the game is ugly, horribly balanced, and the story is pathetically short due to them splitting the last third or so up between two totally different paths.
But the game had the foundations for something original and fun.
"Fun" doesn't sell nearly as good as "awesome" and "badass".

Of course, the rest of the evidence speaks for itself.
Squeenix carted the Mana series to an undeserved end (which had about 3 games altogether that weren't mediocre), milked the tits off of FF7 with that shit-gargling Compilation idiocy, and of course launched their own MMORPG grindfest.

I think the last series they have that isn't ass is Kingdom Hearts, and I cannot get into that at all. I was totally switched off by KH2.

 

[Tanis]

I point at the first Final Fantasy movie, The Spirits Within. Immediately following its spectacular failure, Squaresoft changed its focus radically to prevent another expensive disaster from ever occurring again. Shortly thereafter came the Enix merger.

Shame that TSW is one of their better products and it failed so magically.
:|

 

[Kelethor]

Well, your Opinion I suppose. I liked it a lot.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

This is probably partly due to a poor translation, but that's hardly an excuse. Tactics, 6, 7, and 9 all had superior writing.

Considering the absolutely terrible localization Tactics got, that's saying something -- and before you ask, I actually agree with you on this point. It's always been strange to me that so many people have X as their favorite Final Fantasy, because X is the reason that I haven't played an FF game since. It was that bad. I would disagree with you on the decline starting with X, though -- VI, VII, and Tactics were the peak of the series, and it's all been downhill since then. IX might have been decent, but I can't say as I never got to play it.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Sorry, but the counter argument in that video isn't worth dick. Rather, it's a string of fallacies held together with copious amounts of trolling.

Mainly, him just saying something is better than something else isn't enough. You need to prove why that something is better. I can agree with many of his examples, but unless one has played those games, they mean nothing.

I totally agree that FF7 was horribly overrated, and but for actual reasons rather than a few minutes worth of shallow trolling.

 

[AceAngel]

Um, no? FF7 pretty much nailed the coffin in terms derpism. FF10 was simply stagnating, so by all means, it's was a bad game...not great, but neither the worst.

 

[Snotnarok]

The series started falling down hill after 8, I thought 7 was well thought out and made use of the cutscenes well. After that it was just abusing it. Hell I have some bile for 7 since they keep trying to suck money out from the fans of the game with shitty spin offs and what not.

What people fail to realize was 7 was one of the first games to kinda take RPGs out of the medieval era. (Except Phantasy Star which was rocking that boat for ages) So it did do a lot right which many seem to forget.

Tactics to me will always be the ultimate Final Fantasy perhaps with 7.

 

[astrav1]

Incorrect sir, it ws X-2 that ruined all of that.

 

[JediMB]

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha.

The laughing scene is actually supposed to be forced and awkward-sounding. It's just as bad in Japanese.

Well, this is as much as I'll say. I like FFX, but I really do prefer FFX-2. X-2 and XI were the last two Final Fantasies I cared about enough to put some serious time into them.