I'm not a big fan of the FF series. Even though I've played most of them and beat almost all that I played, the series always seems mediocre compared to other games that get released around the same time...like Chrono Trigger/Cross, Breath of Fire/II, etc. I haven't played the new one, but once I beat Darksiders I'm going to let my frind borrow it for his FF.
I actually thought FFX was the best Final Fantasy since VI and VII, other than the fact it was linear and really easy.
The problem with Final Fantasy now is Sqaure-Enix is too focused on creating a beautiful environment, pretty models and jamming useless content to increase play time. Note to developers: the people who actually have time to put 80+ hours into a game are not the same fans that have been with you since the Super Nintendo and before. We don't have time to grind and defeat/capture every single Esper or w/e they are calling the spells. You have problems when you have spent more time on sidequests than the main story.
In order to bring back Final Fantasy, I think S/E needs to strip everything down and simplify things. Battles are too boring. Simple...go back to the FFIV system where your attacks aren't turn based and the number of attacks you get are based on your statistics (agility quantifiers, etc.). If you don't get your attack off in time you lose it/you get penalyzed. Don't use the 'Tales' battle system. It is too convoluted. Same with Dragon Age. I'm not a huge fan of spending hours configuring how I want my AI teams to play because having to base things off Trial and error is a pain in the ass. Simple, Simple ideas, but make it challenging.
From my experience, if the consumer is spending $70 on a game we will want to PLAY it. Xenosaga couldn't get much beyond 'cult status' because the game was a movie. A Blu Ray only costs $30 or so. Cut down on the lengthy cut scenes. They are effective if used properly, but it isn't necessary to have a half hour cut-scene after every chapter. Leave them for key points in the game. For example; the climax and the ending...and maybe if there is a major twist in the middle.
One key for me is stop focusing so much on character development. Gameplay and Story are more important, especially now. FFI & II are great games, and there is no development really at all. It's nice to know about your guy (I'm using as a generalized term...as in dude. Don't be offended) but you don't need to go out of your way to describe every facet oftheir life, or the secondary characters. They are saving the world...all they need to have is bravery, will-power, etc.
If you want to delve into character development do what Tales of Symphonia did...build on it by having some scripted cut scenes during world exploration or when running dungeons. Just, simple, short clips. Or at a save point so it doesn't break up gameplay.
Every Final Fantasy is linear at some point. It just seems more linear because of the camera angle. The camera angle always shows you moving forward. That's fine. To fix this there should be some random towns you can discover along the way, with ONE or TWO optional sidequests that result in the ability to recruit an optional (potentially really powerful) character or to acquire an optional powerfulartifact, or piece of gear. And by 'sidequest' I don't mean go find 40 espers and kill them type sidequest, I mean;Banditskidnapped my13 yr-old son and his younger sisterand have taken them eep into the mines. Please help...kinda sidequest. When you get there maybe you find out the 13-year-old eventually goes crazy with magic power from the rage caused by the bandits killing his sister and obliterates them in a cut scene after a mid-boss fight. If you have done things a certain way in the main story maybe he asks to join you, if not, maybe he gives you a powerful magic item to help you on your way until you get closer to endgame loot.
I don't know what the job systems are like in the new FF, but the grid thing in FFX was REALLY bad. Spell trees/latters are much more efficient than a random grid system where if you screw up than your character is broken. But if you want a hybrid character or two you can do it.
Also, I would think ramping up the difficulty and implementing a five player team instead of three would allow players to enjoy the characters a bit more (and have them shout stuff out as the fight goes on). That way if say, a character sacrifices themselves or gets killed in a cut-scene, the player will feel more emotion instead of if Jim, the old monk gets killed but you don't care because you never used him since you already had two better fighters. What's the point of having 8-10 characters if you only use 3 of them? Create the story to include 5-7 main characters, have 3-4 optional characters and have a couple characters die during the story. Or have 8-10 main characters and 8 optional characters and force a split story where the player has to choose who goes with who. Maybe one team makes it and the other doesn't, or maybe both make it, but by the time they've come back together they're down to groups of three at the climax or something. Because you can't expect to save the world and not have casualties along the way.
That, IMO would be cool. But FF hasn't had any of that for a long time. I think if Square Enix could make a really good 20-40 hour story without all the filler they've tried to jam into their more recent games and have maybe 5-10 hours of sidequests instead of like 20-60, it would be great. People have to realize it isn't the amount of time the game lasts, it's the quality of time. I'd rather spend 10-15 hours on Uncharted 2 than 100+ hours on Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Mainly because grinding, if I wanted to grind I'd play an MMO.
What make the old games so great is the character. It's what makes a good game great. Look at Fallout 3. Very good game. But if you've played Fallout I or II, than Fallout 3 may seem disappointing. And that's because it is missing the character of the other two. It's totally devoid of what made the previous installments so great.
Log in to comment