I usually agree with most of what Yahtzee has to say, certainly as far as story-led games go, but I feel I've got to leap to the defence of this franchise a little bit.
Now I'll freely admit I love Final Fantasy (although I don't think they've made a truly great one since 2001, but anyway), and I think it's a great shame that Yahtzee thinks otherwise. However, I'm not here to say what bits of the games I think are brilliant and how he's so wrong blah blah, because we'll go round and round all day - everyone knows it's a game that polarises audiences. However, I do think there's an aspect to this debate, and to his slamming of the franchise staples, that he's overlooked. There's this common view that most Square Enix fans are half-blind idiots who'll lap up any old rubbish as long as it has spiky hair and big swords, and then tell the world how utterly brilliant it all is, to the accompanying sound of incredulous forehead-slapping from its critics. While these people think we're morons, in actuality, they just don't quite understand why we like the games. So:
The angsty drama, the complicated and unwieldy combat system, the ridiculous names, the separation of combat from gameplay, the over-the-top outfits (although I think Vaan's probably went a bit TOO far), the immensely slow pacing of the story... as FF fans we're not apologising for these things and trying to claim they either don't exist or that they're the finest examples of game design right across the board. Sure there would probably be smoother ways to make a battle system (if that's what you want), and more subtle ways of telling the story. But then it just wouldn't be Final Fantasy. We like the games BECAUSE of those things - they're as comfortable, familiar, and as much part of the franchise as Chocobos and Tonberries, and we'll always come to a new game in the series with an understanding of what it's going to be like, both in the gameplay and story elements.
So when the collected, smug FF haters go on about all of the game's various 'flaws'... yes, we know. We like it like that.
Now I'll freely admit I love Final Fantasy (although I don't think they've made a truly great one since 2001, but anyway), and I think it's a great shame that Yahtzee thinks otherwise. However, I'm not here to say what bits of the games I think are brilliant and how he's so wrong blah blah, because we'll go round and round all day - everyone knows it's a game that polarises audiences. However, I do think there's an aspect to this debate, and to his slamming of the franchise staples, that he's overlooked. There's this common view that most Square Enix fans are half-blind idiots who'll lap up any old rubbish as long as it has spiky hair and big swords, and then tell the world how utterly brilliant it all is, to the accompanying sound of incredulous forehead-slapping from its critics. While these people think we're morons, in actuality, they just don't quite understand why we like the games. So:
The angsty drama, the complicated and unwieldy combat system, the ridiculous names, the separation of combat from gameplay, the over-the-top outfits (although I think Vaan's probably went a bit TOO far), the immensely slow pacing of the story... as FF fans we're not apologising for these things and trying to claim they either don't exist or that they're the finest examples of game design right across the board. Sure there would probably be smoother ways to make a battle system (if that's what you want), and more subtle ways of telling the story. But then it just wouldn't be Final Fantasy. We like the games BECAUSE of those things - they're as comfortable, familiar, and as much part of the franchise as Chocobos and Tonberries, and we'll always come to a new game in the series with an understanding of what it's going to be like, both in the gameplay and story elements.
So when the collected, smug FF haters go on about all of the game's various 'flaws'... yes, we know. We like it like that.
