I am a huge fan of the Final Fantasy Series and I am going to buy Final Fantasy XIII as a birthday gift for myself next month. But I am nowhere near the fanboy level. I did not buy Dissidia because I never asked the question "who would win: Zidane or Bartz?" I do not waste time going to the internets and complain everytime x-random internet reviewer points out the flaws of whatever a Final Fantasy game is reviewed. I am well aware of the flaws of most final fantasy games. I have my favorites, like 4, 6, 9, 10, and 12, but I've enjoyed all of them.
For good or ill, Final Fantasy should be retired for a decade. No matter what the fans say, it will be the thing that non fans point to and say that is the reason why they hate JRPGs as a whole. All the things wrong with Final Fantasy, like random battles, railroaded storylines, and what have you, are the things wrong with modern JRPGs. You can point to them that modern jrpgs do not have any of things anymore and they still do not care because Final Fantasy had them.
After 14, there should not be a new core Final Fantasy game for a long time. I do not mean stop making Final Fantasy games, but the next in the core series XV, should only be used as a "In cased of impending financial ruin, break glass" emergency option. I say milk the fanboys for all their worth and keep making Final Fantasy games set in the established worlds. I would love to see them go back to Gaia, Ivalice, Spira, and the other unnamed worlds like the Crystal Chronicles world, FFVIII, and FFV. Why stop with FF7, so the graphical update to all the psone Final Fantasy games and while they are at it, fix the gaping plot holes that exist in all of them. Hell, do something like Final Fantasy IV: the After Years for the other 8 and 16 bit Final Fantasy games. Better yet, do a Dissidia style game with all the square enix characters. There are enough things Square Enix could do with the establish worlds that they do not need to make a new core Final Fantasy game for a long time.
If you have not guessed already. I prefer jrpgs over western rpgs anyway. Like it or not, jrpgs are a lot more honest with you than western ones. With a JRPG, you know your place. You are an angry id that takes over for combat and nothing else. You have some input as to how to get from plot point A to plot point B, but the rest of the time you are a long for the ride. In a Western RPG, the lies start at character creation and never stop. Sure, you might be wandering around the universe as much as you want, but as soon as you find other people and the story, you have no choice but to follow it. It is just as scripted as the things in jrpgs and your "choices" never affect the outcome. The townsfolk are programmed to overlook your theft, murder, and what have you just so they could have resolution to the conflict.
