The Evolutions & Constants of Final Fantasy

Modern Final Fantasy are awesome!! haters need to shut up!!

honestly the first final fantasy game i ever played was X , and i loved it, & i enjoyd X-2 and 12 but i still wish i had the opportunity to play the older ones.

FF has been limping and surviving on brandname alone since the merger. FF13 may have moved forward in terms of graphics, but in terms of everything else we loved about the classic FFs it just disappoints. The gameplay is basically a rehash of FFX-2's(no surprise there as it seems to be the same team responsible), but limited your party-members to have pre-set gambits from FF12 depending on their class. FF11 and 14 should've just been kept out of the main single-player series and spun-off to their own FF ONLINE series. FF12 had a lot of potential at the start but became too tedious and MMO-ish for its own good. Not enough story and bad pacing.

1st please stop automatic reproduction of the next vid!!!Now, I don't think they've been stream lining Final Fantasy (not that much). Since they are all different games, where they try new things. For example, XII was the complete opposite, a very open game with many paths to go many places. There were several places in the world you didn't even have to visit to finish the game, and form what I hear that game was about 60% completed!!! So it doesn't hurt AT ALL that XIII is the other way around. A good relaxing, cool looking game with it's own merits.

XIV sucked at first, haven't played 2.0. Love all Final Fantasy series, and my favorites are VIII and X. (OF COURSE I LOVE IX TOO). The first one was great, and blabla so on, lol.

FF XII was one of the hardest games I've ever played. Still haven't beaten it, but I know I'm close to the end.

My favorite is still FF XII, one of my top 5 favorite games ever.

I really liked the last two FF games. However, they do need to go back to the old summons, and I also think the turn based combat when you got to control all of your characters was a little better.

As long as they keep telling good FF stories though the rest doesn't bother me so much.

I played all FF expet for FFIII, my favorite is VI.

VII and XII( yes XII!!!) are close second, each for it's own reasons.

noooooooo I spent ages forgetting that one scene in FFX and you bring it back here casually DX

I'd love another FF in the style of any of the games from 4-10. in my opinion they were 7 of the best games ever released. stories were brilliant characters were brilliant, I'd even like it if they didn't have voices in the next game, just go back to text. Vanille in 13 made me want to smash my controller against the screen!!lol. also sort out the summons!! go back to the days of using the summon instead of calling them into battle instead of your team. loved the job system to, was alota fun customising the characters into what you wanted to use instead of set classes. great video Jonathan, keep it up, loving your videos on the FF series:)

I must say FF was truly enjoyable until FF XII, because the series still maintained strong and signficant RPG elements like the battle system, summons and great characters, despite the off stories sometimes. After FF XIII, it became a whole new thing. I still like FF, I bought FF XIII and FF XIII-2 and as long as SQEX keep making them, I'll buy until I can. It's beloved series for me.

well. in my opinion. i actually preferred the romantic Final Fantasies. Cloud losing Aerith, Squall saving Rinoa. Tidus sacrificing himself for Yuna. i mean. its a bit cliche but somehow. romance actually brings you closer to the characters. XIII on the other hand. couldn't get head my wrapped around that game. XIII-2 was a disaster. when i first created this account. all i could think of was how awesome Final Fantasy games were. now. i just wished i could change mine.

For me, the series peaked at FF6. You have a large and memorable cast of characters, a great story where the villain actually WON, the esper system, and some of the best music ever made.

I think 99,99999 % of all Final Fantasy Fans would rather have the franchise go back to the "OLD WAYS" rather than the confusing state it is in now. Ofcourse we want some changes to the series, but there have bee NO GOOD changes to the series ove the last 10 years.

ps. esper system was the best

1-7 epic , the rest is blah

Wow an FF video not ignoring my fav ff5. FF5 had the best leveling system, and i think the best gameplay to.

I still don't see why people gripe about the linearity of XIII, X was about the same when it came to linearity and not many complain about that.

@buccomatic

FFII would be my favorite if it wasn't so broken and exploitable.

The first FF I played was FFVII. I think they have lost their way a bit with recent releases. Linearity being the major issue, aswell as the fall in the standard of music in the game and gameplay features.

I would like them to start again with a true open world adventure and bring back some of the old more charming musical styles of the old games. If FFVII can have an open world and still be able to tell a good story then they should be able to do it now.

Great show, thanks!

we want ffx battle system back and better stories. unlike 13 !

Say what you want about XIII, but those cut-scenes are still the sexiest things I've seen my xbox 360 conjure up.

i just wish they dont overcomplicate stories, utilize more plot twists like the old one did. less movie/j-pop orientated

"Remember how you blew your load on Final Fantasy VII's opening?"

Best line in the video :D

I love the Final Fantasy series, but the recent games have been a little hit and miss for me. X and XIII are both too linear, and truth be told their stories never really interested me. XII was great, although it's story wasn't on the same level as IV, VI and VII. I hope Final Fantasy XV can bring back the dramatic story telling of IV, VI and VII, with more open ended game play and maybe an evolution of XII's battle system.Am I hoping for too much?

@Ayfauri "the best FF"

... Let me fix that for you.

Ayfauri: "my favorite FF"

There you go. =)

Thanks, Jonathon. Another great video.

I haven't given up hope that Square-Enix can produce another classic in the series. I've loved Final Fantasy since the day I traded a copy of Coolboarders to a kid at school for Final Fantasy VII (Seriously, Coolboarders!). I was probably 14 or 15 at the time, so that was probably 1997-1998. I've since gone on to play most of the numbered titles in the series, and a few spin-offs here and there.

Despite my general fondness for open-world games, that was never a drawing feature of Final Fantasy for me. The exploration in IV, VI, and VII in particular was fantastic, don't get me wrong, and I enjoyed many of the sidequests and optional content - but the most attractive thing about any Final Fantasy game for me has been the stories, the characters, and the music. So while I agree with many folks, that the recent additions to the series have been less impressive than others, it hasn't been as severe for my own tastes.

I found XIII rather disappointing for the automated combat, and the very linear corridor-ish feel of it all (the whole game is pretty much a straight line with a lot of just-press-x battles). Despite that, my least favorite game in the series is by and far Final Fantasy XII on PS2. The snooze-mode battles, the over-long cutscenes and weighty dialogue, the completely shallow lead characters, the narrative that didn't even feel like it was trying to make sense... I can't go on about that game. I get headaches just thinking about it.

However, the standout of the series for me, is definitely X. Despite the quite irritating male lead, Tidus (mostly the fault of the voice acting), X remains in my mind, a shining example of character development, storytelling and turn-based combat in any RPG. The love story of Tidus and Yuna remains unmatched in gaming - which so rarely delves into romance, let alone delivers the subject well - providing each character enough space to stand on their own, without burying them behind a generic relationship. Typical gaming romances generally relegate females to "girlfriend of the hero" archetypes, which FFX avoided so well.

I'm one of the few people who enjoyed X-2 also, but mostly for different reasons. The silliness of it all, the mission-style campaign and the alternate endings was a breath of air for the series that I really appreciated. Final Fantasy had always been so pretentious, and X-2 just loosened the restraints, and cast off every inhibition. I admit, some of the downright bizarre moments (Leblanc's massage scene comes to mind), the pop songs, the recycled environments and character models, and the very existance of 'Brother' isn't for everyone to name just a few things. So I understand why some people hate it so passionately. I just hope that X-2 may someday get the HD treatment X is getting, even if that is a selfish hope. X-2 is a guilty pleasure.

XIII-2 was a few small steps in the right direction from XIII, but far from where that series should be. I don't believe its far enough to be a disservice to fans, like some might say. One of the key constants of Final Fantasy is that each new title brings something different to the table. So many people have different favorites and least favorites. You could argue forever about which is the best, and numbers VI-through-X will almost always come up, but then, you'll always find someone who loved VI but hated VIII, loved VII but hated IX.

Everyone is different, and the reality for Square-Enix is that they cannot keep everybody happy - they don't much try to, and maybe that's for the best. If there's one sure thing you can bet on, its that XV will be vastly different to XIII, and (obviously) XIV, and the best way to judge any future Final Fantasy title is by viewing it and judging it on its own merits, not on those of its predecessors. The things that feel most familiar about Final Fantasy games are not always the most tangible. You may hate, you love it - but you're likely to find very different reasons for those feelings.

I do enjoy all the FF that still come out (except the mmo ones). but i do feel like there get worst our their misssing key factors. RPGs are my favor and i find myself enjoying Tales games alot more then FF in this generation, and im more excited for the wii JRPG then any games i see on ps3 or xbox360... i cant think of any ps3 or xbox360 rpg i loved like i did, dragon quest 8, FF10, and even FF10-2. Even the PS2 games lost some key factors but were still good, not FF 7,8,9, good but good enough.... RPG are getting worse, like you have to ask your self, if the games was good enough to replace one day..... All PS1 and SNES games made we wanna re play them one them. i dunno i just been playing indie rpg....

The world map and the free roaming, it´s what I miss the most in the last FF.

The secret area in an island, the enemy that you could only in a desert of the world map, tha used to give a sense of exploration tha disapeared since FF9(I still liked FFX though).

Plus the turn based combat felt much more strategic, these 2 things were the trademark of the FF series.(Plus the great drama plots).

I wish they kept their ways thats what made them unique, now it's FF is still good, but it's just another random game in the stores it lacks identity.

The new FFs suck so bad, I don't even pay attention to them anymore

The FF serie has become a shame.

I've played FF since the first FF at SNES , my favorites where IV , VII and VIII though.

This wonderfull series who once had a open world with a lot of side quests , free roaming , areas to explore who had nothing to do with the main story and another limitations , now is linear and boring.

It started at FFX and it only got worse with their successors.

Hard to believe that a company like Square Enix could ruin a serie like that , you must try really hard , but i guess with practice comes perfection , FFXIII is absolutely unplayable.