Why do you think Final Fantasy has such immense brand power?

Anybody even somewhat familiar with videogames known that Final Fantasy is the king of the Japanese RPG, atleast in America. Even with the franchise reputation being somewhat tarnished lately, there is simply no franchise that has the kind of brand power that the FF series does. So why do you think this is? Why do you think that FF has much mainstream recognition and has maintained such noteriety among gamers while other RPGs, some just as good as the best FF games, don't. I mean, know one franchises has to be king of a genre, but what about FF in particular do you think lead to its absolute dominance in the genre? Is there anything about the American consumer that you think is more receptive to Final Fantasy than Dragon Quest, which is more popular in Japan, but much less popular in the US.

Here is my theory. It consists of three basic parts:

1. Final Fantasy has consistently been on the forefront of technological advances. Until Chrono Trigger, FF6 was the best looking/sounding RPG on the SNES, offering unprecented immersion. Final Fantasy 7 was the first RPG to really use the power of the PlayStation, leading to a game that made extremely large strides in the area of cinematics, which, back then, must have increased immersion for players to new heights. Then there was Final Fantasy 10, which was the first JRPG to fully embrace voiced dialogue. It also made incredible use of the PS2's power, leading to a game that was graphically amazing with some of the best CGI ever seen up to that point. I think one of the reasons that FF13, which is unquestionably the best-looking and sounding JRPG on the 360/PS3, didn't impress gamers as much as is because it was the first one that didn't feel like a quantum leap even tho it was ridiculously pretty. But anyway, I think the superb visual and audio presentation of the FF games have made them more appealing to gamers and have covered the fact that FF's basic gameplay is much the same as other JRPGs.
2. Final Fantasy is infamous for changing up the aesthetic/universe/systems of its games, so this creates a certain sense of unpredictibility that makes each Final Fantasy game feel like an event. The games are so different from eachother that gamers and the media hype each entry by speculating what direction Square will go in and how it will fit into the overall series. In constrast, a franchise like the Tales series has no chance of generating this kind of hype because all the entries are markedly similar. Of course there are exceptions to this (like Call of Duty), but's that a different genre with different expectations. In the same way that Madonna makes all of her album releases events simply by changing up her musical/visual style so often, Final Fantasy uses reivention to create hype that other RPG franchises can't match.
3. Final Fantasy games always have a element of emotion and aesthetic beauty that not alot of other RPGs can lay claim to. Of course most people would argue this is melodrama, but it doesn't matter. Films, books, and games alike thrive on the public's desire for melodrama. Also, while many other RPGs go the melodramatic route, few do it with the immense presentation of the FF series. Melodrama has much more power if it has beautiful visuals and music to back it up.

Anyway, that's my theory. What are your thoughts?

Because the older FF games were amazing. It wasn't until FF13 that Square stopped caring about it's origional fanbase.

i havent had a BAD ff game experience yet.

i havent had a BAD ff game experience yet.

jsmoke03

Then you skipped several Final Fantasies so far. FF14 is one of the worst gamesof it's year and some other games (like this crystal chronicles which is on DS and looks like a crappy port on Wii) that are just bad. Along with the extremly disappointing titles (like 13) and the games they announced like 5 years ago (Versus) the image from the series goes downhill and I know a lot personally that agree with me. It used to be a stamp of quality, but today SE putss it on every fantasy JRPG they sell just in hope to increase the sales

Final Fantasy was one of the first games that tried to tell a mature story on consoles. Just play a bit of FF6 and you'll realize that there's nothing quite like it on the Snes. Then FF7 launched with massive amounts of hype (and butthurt from Nintendo fans) and the hype was met so that's when it got its legendary status and built a huge fan-base (before it was only a cult following outside of Japan). A fanbase composed of mostly anime infused console gamers when Japan was the primal driving force behind video games (and I mean on consoles). Then they kept making a good game after the other and people started to expect only perfection from the brand... Then Western RPG's step into the console gaming realm and all of a sudden the FF franchise went down the drain. Square couldn't compete with such mediocre offering like FF13 .

But the man to blame is Toriyama.

[QUOTE="jsmoke03"]

i havent had a BAD ff game experience yet.

ArchoNils2

Then you skipped several Final Fantasies so far. FF14 is one of the worst gamesof it's year and some other games (like this crystal chronicles which is on DS and looks like a crappy port on Wii) that are just bad. Along with the extremly disappointing titles (like 13) and the games they announced like 5 years ago (Versus) the image from the series goes downhill and I know a lot personally that agree with me. It used to be a stamp of quality, but today SE putss it on every fantasy JRPG they sell just in hope to increase the sales

Probably because of your reasons. I've only played X, XIII, and Crystal Chronicles, and XIII is the one I've enjoyed the most.

[QUOTE="ArchoNils2"]

[QUOTE="jsmoke03"]

i havent had a BAD ff game experience yet.

jsmoke03

Then you skipped several Final Fantasies so far. FF14 is one of the worst gamesof it's year and some other games (like this crystal chronicles which is on DS and looks like a crappy port on Wii) that are just bad. Along with the extremly disappointing titles (like 13) and the games they announced like 5 years ago (Versus) the image from the series goes downhill and I know a lot personally that agree with me. It used to be a stamp of quality, but today SE putss it on every fantasy JRPG they sell just in hope to increase the sales

I don't think 13 is bad, but it disappointed more than others, even more than 12. 14 is horrile, lucky you for skipping it. I own every ff btw

Probably because of your reasons. I've only played X, XIII, and Crystal Chronicles, and XIII is the one I've enjoyed the most.

Michael0134567

I like XIII for its amazing art design, cool battle system, a story that was great until Gran Pulse, and the sexy and bad ass Lightning, but it was probably my least favorite of the main series (I've never played XI and XIV) because it didn't have variation. I adore X tho. Never played Crystal Chronicles.

[QUOTE="Michael0134567"]

Probably because of your reasons. I've only played X, XIII, and Crystal Chronicles, and XIII is the one I've enjoyed the most.

GreySeal9

I like XIII for its amazing art design, cool battle system, a story that was great until Gran Pulse, and the sexy and bad ass Lightning, but it was probably my least favorite of the main series (I've never played XI and XIV) because it didn't have variation. I adore X tho. Never played Crystal Chronicles.

[QUOTE="GreySeal9"]

[QUOTE="Michael0134567"]

Probably because of your reasons. I've only played X, XIII, and Crystal Chronicles, and XIII is the one I've enjoyed the most.

freedomfreak

I like XIII for its amazing art design, cool battle system, a story that was great until Gran Pulse, and the sexy and bad ass Lightning, but it was probably my least favorite of the main series (I've never played XI and XIV) because it didn't have variation. I adore X tho. Never played Crystal Chronicles.

Yeah, easily the best battle theme of the series. I love those violins.

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"][QUOTE="GreySeal9"]

I like XIII for its amazing art design, cool battle system, a story that was great until Gran Pulse, and the sexy and bad ass Lightning, but it was probably my least favorite of the main series (I've never played XI and XIV) because it didn't have variation. I adore X tho. Never played Crystal Chronicles.

GreySeal9

Yeah, easily the best battle theme of the series. I love those violins.

[QUOTE="Michael0134567"]

Probably because of your reasons. I've only played X, XIII, and Crystal Chronicles, and XIII is the one I've enjoyed the most.

GreySeal9

I like XIII for its amazing art design, cool battle system, a story that was great until Gran Pulse, and the sexy and bad ass Lightning, but it was probably my least favorite of the main series (I've never played XI and XIV) because it didn't have variation. I adore X tho. Never played Crystal Chronicles.

Nostalgia and longevity.

One thing alot of people overlook is that they are all polished, you dont really appreciate that until you play a buggy game with tech problems.

One thing alot of people overlook is that they are all polished, you dont really appreciate that until you play a buggy game with tech problems.

crimsonman1245

Polish is overrated. Horse carriers to the moon is where it's at.

Well it wasn't until final fantasy XIII that I had a problem with the series

One thing alot of people overlook is that they are all polished, you dont really appreciate that until you play a buggy game with tech problems.

crimsonman1245

Because the older FF games were amazing. It wasn't until FF13 that Square stopped caring about it's origional fanbase.

ShadowMoses900

pretty much this, fanboys will rage over anything but up till ps3 ff games were amazing, is not a small feat to make 12 + games amazing

lol nothing has more brand power then nintendo's ips , -except call of duty maybe lol

lol nothing has more brand power then nintendo's ips , -except call of duty maybe lol

mariokart64fan

Except perhaps a certain soft drink company, Jesus and your usernames ability to garner more stupid with every post you make.

i havent had a BAD ff game experience yet.

jsmoke03

[QUOTE="mariokart64fan"]

lol nothing has more brand power then nintendo's ips , -except call of duty maybe lol

1080pOnly

Except perhaps a certain soft drink company, Jesus and your usernames ability to garner more stupid with every post you make.

He means gaming brands, genius.

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]

[QUOTE="mariokart64fan"]

lol nothing has more brand power then nintendo's ips , -except call of duty maybe lol

Goyoshi12

Except perhaps a certain soft drink company, Jesus and your usernames ability to garner more stupid with every post you make.

He means gaming brands, genius.

Well gee, thanks for pointing that out....and there was me thinking I was just trolling the fanboy.

favorite final fantasy was 12

[QUOTE="Goyoshi12"]

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]

Except perhaps a certain soft drink company, Jesus and your usernames ability to garner more stupid with every post you make.

1080pOnly

He means gaming brands, genius.

Well gee, thanks for pointing that out....and there was me thinking I was just trolling the fanboy.

Sarcasm is dead to me on the interent. For all I know you all mean every single word you say on my screen.

[QUOTE="Michael0134567"]

Probably because of your reasons. I've only played X, XIII, and Crystal Chronicles, and XIII is the one I've enjoyed the most.

GreySeal9

I like XIII for its amazing art design, cool battle system, a story that was great until Gran Pulse, and the sexy and bad ass Lightning, but it was probably my least favorite of the main series (I've never played XI and XIV) because it didn't have variation. I adore X tho. Never played Crystal Chronicles.

Sarcasm is dead to me on the interent. For all I know you all mean every single word you say on my screen.

Goyoshi12

Good for you? It's a hard life being on 'the spectrum' I guess.

Final Fantasy 13 had no content, incredible flat characters and just such a boring story, names ect. Le cie and fal cie or whatever the crap it was sounded so bad. linear corridors, spam mindless gameplay, open world elements destroyed since 10 (but at least 10 had a good combat formular, and a decent story), FF13.... an ok franchise, just not in quality, shows how much the current generation kiddies like graphics over everything. FF13 had no soul.MBirdy88

13 was so boring..no fun at all, just solid graphics with nothing else

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Final Fantasy 13 had no content, incredible flat characters and just such a boring story, names ect. Le cie and fal cie or whatever the crap it was sounded so bad. linear corridors, spam mindless gameplay, open world elements destroyed since 10 (but at least 10 had a good combat formular, and a decent story), FF13.... an ok franchise, just not in quality, shows how much the current generation kiddies like graphics over everything. FF13 had no soul.Liquid_

13 was so boring..no fun at all, just solid graphics with nothing else

[QUOTE="Liquid_"]

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Final Fantasy 13 had no content, incredible flat characters and just such a boring story, names ect. Le cie and fal cie or whatever the crap it was sounded so bad. linear corridors, spam mindless gameplay, open world elements destroyed since 10 (but at least 10 had a good combat formular, and a decent story), FF13.... an ok franchise, just not in quality, shows how much the current generation kiddies like graphics over everything. FF13 had no soul.squalls_revival

13 was so boring..no fun at all, just solid graphics with nothing else

[QUOTE="Liquid_"]

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Final Fantasy 13 had no content, incredible flat characters and just such a boring story, names ect. Le cie and fal cie or whatever the crap it was sounded so bad. linear corridors, spam mindless gameplay, open world elements destroyed since 10 (but at least 10 had a good combat formular, and a decent story), FF13.... an ok franchise, just not in quality, shows how much the current generation kiddies like graphics over everything. FF13 had no soul.squalls_revival

13 was so boring..no fun at all, just solid graphics with nothing else

have u played any other final fantasies?

[QUOTE="squalls_revival"][QUOTE="Liquid_"]

13 was so boring..no fun at all, just solid graphics with nothing else

MBirdy88

[QUOTE="squalls_revival"][QUOTE="Liquid_"]

13 was so boring..no fun at all, just solid graphics with nothing else

Liquid_

have u played any other final fantasies?

[QUOTE="Goyoshi12"]

Sarcasm is dead to me on the interent. For all I know you all mean every single word you say on my screen.

1080pOnly

Good for you? It's a hard life being on 'the spectrum' I guess.

It helps that I have a balancing pole.

final fantasy 13 certainly had soul.. you can tell by listening to the creators they treasure this series and every game in it.. why do you think versus 13 has taken 5 years. They put all their heart and soul into everygame.. The story was not only beautiful, emotional and relevant. It was very deeo and soulful.

final fantasy 13 certainly had soul.. you can tell by listening to the creators they treasure this series and every game in it.. why do you think versus 13 has taken 5 years. They put all their heart and soul into everygame.. The story was not only beautiful, emotional and relevant. It was very deeo and soulful.

squalls_revival

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]

[QUOTE="Goyoshi12"]

Sarcasm is dead to me on the interent. For all I know you all mean every single word you say on my screen.

Goyoshi12

Good for you? It's a hard life being on 'the spectrum' I guess.

It helps that I have a balancing pole.

You're quite likeable. I'm drunk and trolling. Associations with mariokartfan64 make me sad.

[QUOTE="squalls_revival"]

final fantasy 13 certainly had soul.. you can tell by listening to the creators they treasure this series and every game in it.. why do you think versus 13 has taken 5 years. They put all their heart and soul into everygame.. The story was not only beautiful, emotional and relevant. It was very deeo and soulful.

funsohng

[QUOTE="funsohng"][QUOTE="squalls_revival"]

final fantasy 13 certainly had soul.. you can tell by listening to the creators they treasure this series and every game in it.. why do you think versus 13 has taken 5 years. They put all their heart and soul into everygame.. The story was not only beautiful, emotional and relevant. It was very deeo and soulful.

squalls_revival

I can add that because FF was easily one of the better games out at the beginning. There weren't nearly as many publishers and devs then that were well known, had high profile stuff, marketing, and a major shift in rpg mechanics out so there games just clicked for fans.

Nowadays there are several devs and many of them showing off their high profile releases. There are many more of those kinds of games now than before and a whole lot more marketing for said games, so FF started to become less relevant at least to gamers recently.

Because there are about 10 Amazing Final Fantasy Games vs 5 iffy ones. (heck 12 is somewhat more accepted to fans)

[QUOTE="squalls_revival"][QUOTE="funsohng"] The story was horrid mess, characters were boring for the most part, and in resorted to the all-too-familiar save the world with friends crap, but with pure execution. I understand people defending FFXIII for things like high production values, good combat system, and hot main character. But story was disgusting piece of crap.funsohng

It made perfect sense.. you were just looking at the superficial aspects of it clearly..

have you noticed each of the final fantasy games are grande metaphors. the entire game is a metaphor.

[QUOTE="funsohng"][QUOTE="squalls_revival"] but that's like, your opinion, man... maybe you couldn't see any relevance in the story and couldn't relate? guess we agree to disagree. I notice most people who dislike the story, thought it made no sense.. I however understood the message and it made perfect sense.. squalls_revival

It made perfect sense.. you were just looking at the superficial aspects of it clearly

[QUOTE="squalls_revival"]

[QUOTE="funsohng"] I didn't say it didn't make sense. It made very little sense. And when it did make sense, it was like a 7-year-old child's story. Yay I save the world from this ridiculously named proper noun that I just don't give enough sh*t to remember, with some other ridiculously named proper noun that I just don't give enough sh*t to remember, while being this ridiculously named proper noun that, again, I just don't give enough sh*t to force myself to remember. It's Japanese RPG's cliches at its best, its chyuunibyou (emo-ness in English, I guess, can't find a suitable translation for it) at its best. Whoop-dee-f*cking-doo. and you do all this with a guy named Snow. Snow. Good Lord, I pity the writers at Square Enix Japan, I really wish I can go and help them out, and I would do it for free.squalls_revival

It made perfect sense.. you were just looking at the superficial aspects of it clearly

FF IXBadosh

This is my favorite one. Its ashame its very underrated and overlooked. It had a great cast of characters and a wonderful story. This was the last Final Fantasy game that I considered awesome. All others that came afterwards were just "meh" imo

[QUOTE="squalls_revival"][QUOTE="squalls_revival"]

It made perfect sense.. you were just looking at the superficial aspects of it clearly

funsohng