Will Final Fantasy ever go back to its FANTASY Roots?
- Thread starter Samtemdo8_v1legacy
- Start date
Wrong; if anything, it was them trying to relive the past. Seriously the game has "Trying be the new FFVII" all over it, right down to having a female version of Cloud (a decade too late as well considering that Parasite Eve did that with Aya Brea). The problem with XIII is it forgot the reason FFVII was so groundbreaking: it was a deconstruction. It was a MASSIVE dismantling of all sorts of RPG cliches such as the rebel alliance being a bunch of terrorists, the pure white magic girl being neither naive nor pure and actually being sassy and street smart, the "empire" being a modern multi-nation conglomerate, and the villains being corporate suits, not-Jiro Ishii, John Carpenter's The Thing, and psycho Captain America. There's a reason every attempt to do more with it failed; none of the creative who tried it understand deconstruction because that requires self-critique.Samtemdo8 said:
No, FF needs to do more new stuff instead of trying to relive its glory days. It needs to do something fresh, something instead of playing it safe or going back to the past. There are no roots to return to, no basics to reexamine.
Funny enough they retconned that to it being Link instead of Erdrick in that grave so technically it should go back to ripping Hyrule.CaitSeith said:In other words, you want Final Fantasy to go back to ripping-off Dragon Quest's setting.Samtemdo8 said:
Final Fantasy has ALWAYS had a bit of the magictek influence to it. Even the most straight forward fantasy games had airships and tech that goes far beyond the setting under the guise of magictek. So while it had it's basis in fantasy and D&D style play, it was never strictly Fantasy. Even 9, which setting wise was probably the most straightforward D&D fantasy setting, it still had airships and things like that.
So the answer is no.
So the answer is no.
As others have mentioned already, Final Fantasy has always used the "Fantasy" part of its name broadly. As in, high fantasy and science fiction blended together.
That said, Yoshida (FFXIV's lead) is rumored to be putting together a team for FFXVI and has expressed interest in a more traditional fantasy setting for the next FF game. I'd be totally on board for something in the same vein as FFIX.
That said, Yoshida (FFXIV's lead) is rumored to be putting together a team for FFXVI and has expressed interest in a more traditional fantasy setting for the next FF game. I'd be totally on board for something in the same vein as FFIX.
I hope the Protagonist is someone like Cecil because Cecil is far and away one of, if not the best protagonist in all of Final Fantasy.Fappy said:
Ever since Cecil FF Protag's became worse.
5's Bartz was a clown
There was no Protagonist in 6
Cloud was the start of the emo.
Squall was the epitome of the emo.
Zidane was cool but I want prefer a protagonist that is a bit more Aragorn-esque.
Tidus is probably the worse protagonist in the series even though I understand his story.
Vaan was never meant to be in the game at all.
Lightning wasn't that great either.
Noctis narrative wise was ok, I just didn't like his design.
I love Cloud and Zidane. Zidane fit the tone of the story perfectly and was basically a better version of Vaan. As for Cloud, I really don't think he was as emo as people remember. Advent Children certainly did not help with that interpretation of him though.Samtemdo8 said:
It is funny you mention Vaan, because at the end of the day he is our POV character but I hesitate to call him the protagonist. Ashe and Balthier feel like the real protags, and I love them both.
I agree. Cloud starts FF7 as an asshole but he isn't and never was at any point of that game, emo. Advent Children gave him that bullshit and that seems to be what people remember the most which is sad.Fappy said:
Vaan is definitely the player proxy, but he isn't the main character at all. He just kinda tags along and is the player's reason to see all the shit happen.
Despite how he actually was in the original game, I still prefer Cecil over Cloud.CritialGaming said:
It's not just that, it's that FF at its peak never did the same thing twice; this isn't like Dragon Quest or Zelda which remixed old themes and archetypes, FF always tried to do something radically different with each entry which is why they kept making new terminology and concepts with each world. I would say the problems began with FFIX where they thought being "nostalgic" was possible...but since FF is a very eclectic series, even in the early days, that's just not possible.Fappy said:
This only became exacerbated with the departure of Sakaguchi upon which FF played it utterly safe. XII-XV have this obsession with being "traditional" despite being no tradition with FF. Which is why those games also have incredibly contentious reception. You can't make a tradition out of something whose entire concept is about breaking tradition
And before any of that, FF has bigger problems, like the fact that the development cycles are complete clusterfucks and that the mainline series has become a directors' graveyard. On average, every FF since XII has had a five-year-plus dev cycle and every single director has either left Square or effectively been put into exile. That is a TERRIBLE thing let happen with their flagship series. This is also why I don't buy into the wishful thinking that Yoshida will somehow come in with FFXVI; dude is happy being full-time on XIV where he has complete creative control so why would he want to deal with the mires of the next mainline entry? It's just not worth it
Meh, setting doesn't matter quite so much as writing quality and gameplay, both of which the series has struggled with. Dragon Quest sticks to traditional fantasy, so it's understandable that FF would try to bring it into more modern settings. FFXII's Ivalice is probably one of the best detailed, but I had some other problems with the game.
Given the decision, I'd like to see an extremely magic-driven fantasy setting, basically Harry Potter with all the children's safeguards about references to magical racism removed from the start: If you can use magic well, you're virtually guaranteed wealth and success, but if you can't you're discarded to the bottom of the pile to try and make a living in a wasteland full of monsters.
Given the decision, I'd like to see an extremely magic-driven fantasy setting, basically Harry Potter with all the children's safeguards about references to magical racism removed from the start: If you can use magic well, you're virtually guaranteed wealth and success, but if you can't you're discarded to the bottom of the pile to try and make a living in a wasteland full of monsters.
I thought everyone remembered Cloud for that fuck awful laugh. Or am I confusing him with a different Final Fantasy character?CritialGaming said:
The laughing was Tidus from final fantasy 10. And that scene was to show how socially awkward he was. Not the other voice acting exactly helps.Gordon_4 said:
In context the laugh is rather sad. If I remember correctly it happens after a Sin attack (basically Godzilla) and Yuna is beating herself up over not being able to do more. Titus then acts like a clown to try and cheer her up. If you feel sad then just laugh I think he says. Hes forcing himself to laugh after a tragedy in order to keep Yuna from dwelling on the tragedy, hes deliberately hamming it up. That said the execution fails to get this across, so this decent character moment is just a massive meme now.CoCage said:
I don't even mind the laugh. It works in context. I was more annoyed by Tidus's overall personality and speech pattern. So much I remember wishing there was a way to turn off the speech only and just have the music and sounds. Or switch it to Japanese or something.Dansen said:
I would have also accepted a button that adminstered electroshocks to TIdus on demand, to be used to keep him from talking so much.
It's honestly kinda sad because Tidus's VA knows how to Voice Act and even in the later parts of the game(including his narration over the intro) shows he can do a good job, but most of his dialogue in the early parts of the game is just obnoxious. Though this can be blamed on the scriptwriter and director, honestly.
Lulu:"If you want everything, you get nothing"
Tidus:"But I want everything!"(in an incredibly Whiny voice)
I get Tidus is supposed to be a spoiled little shit with daddy issues but it doesn't make him any less annoying. Just like I get that Holden Caulfied in Cather in the Rye is supposed to be a whiney teenager but it doesn't make me less inclined to want to punch him in the mouth to get him the shut up for 5 minutes.
Holden Fucking Caulfield. Fuck that novel and fuck its chump of the month protagonist.Dalisclock said:
Honestly, the only purely fantasy games I can think of in the series are Crystal Chronicle (only the first one) and Mystic Quest. And while I wouldn't mind a few more games in the vein of Crystal Chronicle, Mystic Quest needs to remain dead and buried.
Not that I have any particular love for Mystic Quest(I played it for a bit when I was a kid) but wasn't it supposed to be a "Final Fantasy for beginners/kids" game? I wouldn't hold it against the rest of the series for comparison.Wrex Brogan said:
Honestly, the only purely fantasy games I can think of in the series are Crystal Chronicle (only the first one) and Mystic Quest. And while I wouldn't mind a few more games in the vein of Crystal Chronicle, Mystic Quest needs to remain dead and buried.
And I say that as someone with fond memories of the early numbered games(Everything prior to 10...and maybe 8 if I ever get around to playing it).