Well Square, you finally did it... you killed Final Fantasy (A Rant)

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Don't personally care. That combat system looks fun as HELL. WHich is something I have not said about too many FF(or even Square-Enix) games over the past couple years.

They could have me playing as a sailor scout and I'd be like "BY THE POWER OF THE MOON!"
*zoom zoomy all around the place attackattackattack*

while i did enjoy the past few ff's combat, i totally agree with this, POWER OF THE MOON MOTHERFUCKERS all the way. This shit looks awesome from what i've seen so far, and the fact that the trailer showed off a dude instead of a girl playable character made absolutely no difference to me.


plus, those characters are probably the most tame ff since...ever, ff13 wasn't bad and ff7 is close to it,but most of the time they are fucking bizarre beyond all belief (which is fine)

still, waiting until the game comes out would probably be preferential until you use one of the worst reasons i have seen in a long time to not get a game.

 

[Zeldias]

I was totally prepared to agree with you, because I've felt that FF10 was kinda shit and it was only getting worse from there (except for FF12, which I still didn't love), but this actually looks amazing. If there's an actual game to play and not something like FF13, it seems like it'll be pretty excellent. I'm hoping the game will have an open world like 12 did.

I'd also hope to be able to change the protagonist's name (at least, because that's always fun for me), but it seems that FF has moved away from letting us do that.

 

[Deshin]

Snip.

Ohhhhh you young whipper-snappers and your growing up in the late 90's/early 2000's. You think THAT'S a bastardization of your favorite childhood franchise? Try to imagine growing up in the late 80's/early 90's...back when Final Fantasy actually took place in fantasy worlds. Where knights actually looked like knights and weren't some guy that dressed like he just walked into his closet with the lights off, grabbed a bunch of random clothes, and walked out carrying a sword for some odd reason.

1 through 6 are the "classics" that I was speaking of. And while 6 will always been in my top 3 favorite RPGs of all time, it was the very start of the downhill slide of moving away from fantasy settings and into more "modern" settings. But if 6 was the peak from which everything began going downhill, 7 is where the slope becomes officially noticeable. In 6 you've still got a samurai that looks like a samurai, a ninja that looks like a ninja, a thief that looks like a thief, a wizard that looks like a wizard, etc. For the most part, all the characters had clearly defined classes and looked the part of those classes. The setting, however, was beginning to take a more modern twist.

You seem to be under the impression that "fantasy" means "medieval". Let's let the dictionary give us a proper definition...

fantasy
fan·ta·sy
[fan-tuh-see, -zee] noun, plural fan·ta·sies, verb, fan·ta·sied, fan·ta·sy·ing.
noun
1. imagination, especially when extravagant and unrestrained.
2. the forming of mental images, especially wondrous or strange fancies; imaginative conceptualizing.
3. a mental image, especially when unreal or fantastic; vision: a nightmare fantasy.
4. Psychology . an imagined or conjured up sequence fulfilling a psychological need; daydream.
5. a hallucination.

So according to this you criticising the series for not sticking to the (honestly beaten as fuck to death) "ye olde medieval europe" setting spits right in the face of fantasy because it's taking imagination and restraining it to a single rigid setting and environment. Could you imagine the Square offices?
Guy 1: "Oh I have a great idea for a setting where the cast are teenagers in a future high-tech training school for soldiers."
Guy 2: "No damnit, knights and robes and goblins and elves and d&d or gtfo."

Honestly that reminds me of the time someone wrote (paraphrasing), "Harry Potter isn't magical enough for me, what kind of a word is 'muggles' for humans? They should be called 'nar'shul' or something else magical-sounding, not a silly word like 'muggles'." It's a very toxic trail of thought...

-----

As for the main topic at hand. I didn't give two shits when FFX-2 gave us an all female-cast and I don't give two shits FFXV is giving us an all male-cast.

Spoiler

Or did FFX-2 get bollocksed for not including male playable characters?

 

[captainballsack]

Edit: I quoted the wrong comment and now I can't find the one I was replying to. Oh well, the comment still applies out of context (It was someone saying that Final Fantasy is dead because they tried to change things up too much).

There is nothing wrong with changing the game up a bit and trying something new. I personally think X was a really great game, and its battle system was different. Them trying new things has nothing to do with the lack of quality;

Their laziness and shitty game design, does.

FFXIII is abysmal. Its levels are unnecessarily long, and they feature the same enemies over and over. There is no thought in it at all, it is pure grind for avatar strength that is executed against the players will through auto-battle. The only time the player really has to do anything is during the boss fights (which I will admit, were pretty great). There is absolutely no control, only illusion of control. It's one long path with some enemies slapped into it. Maybe if the path had different combinations of enemies that taught you various mechanics and shoved different, unexpected challenges down your throat that prepared you for the boss at the end that would require you to use what you have learned in order to defeat it, maybe it would be a good game; by the looks of it, that's what it looked like it was originally going to be. Instead though, we got pretty much nothing other than great art, music and a mediocre story.

The point is that, FF hasn't gone down hill from trying to innovate, they've gone down hill because they're not even fucking trying. If they did try, maybe they would have innovated the way the fancy new battle systems seemingly intend to do, but they just haven't, because the FF IP is a cash cow; slap FF on a half finished game and it will sell because there has already been enough good in the franchise to consider it legendary. They have no motivation to make good games; all they have to do is make their new game look good (which is what they undoubtedly do well) and we'll all buy into their bullshit.

 

[deadish]

Have you ever thought, OP, that SOME of us might be getting really tired of unrealistically spiky haired kids with super unrealistic clothes? I mean, seriously, how long have we been doing this sort of thing with FF? It may not be the best character designs here but they still look a darn sight better than what we've had in the recent past.

What's so "unrealistic" about the hair?

http://pochamaycorner.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/8311_larc-en-ciel.jpg

It's better than the same crewcut in every military FPS game ever.

 

[Zeldias]

Or did FFX-2 get bollocksed for not including male playable characters?

Ask yourself how often we have male protagonists in games compared to female protagonists. The one thing I can't hate about X-2 is that it was fucking revolutionary for not having a male in the main cast, period. You're trying to attack what you perceive as imbalance in criticism by going at the thing that is actually the balancing factor in the imbalanced system being critcized. It's not as if games are filled with female protagonists, and so X-2 should have been given a whooping for not featuring men in the main cast (and let's not forget that the whole motivation for the game was a man anyway). I would be surprised if 20% of games overall had female leads, let alone an all-female main cast like X-2, so I understand the irritation about maybe not having any playable women at all.

But as far as the brotastic thing, I don't see it. I'm actually grateful those motherfuckers aren't running around looking as mockable as Vaan did.

 

[krazykidd]

Whoa whoa whoa, FF15 is going to ditch the turn-based combat and are making it a cross between Kingdom Hearts and Devil May Cry? That actually sounds like something I might like, one of my two major gripes with Final Fantasy was the turn-based combat (the other being the mostly cliched plots).

But actually on-topic, I do agree they look like douchebags, they're somewhat better then the really... weird character designs of the previous games. I sort of see why you would be pissed though.

Wait what? No more turn based combat? Well they just lost my vote . Man games are becoming more and more casual every day . And i don't mean casual in the casual vs hardcore sense , i mean it in the litteral sense , they games are now being geared towards people that only place games once in a while for an hour or two . Not people that actually has it as a hobby.

 

[captainballsack]

Have you ever thought, OP, that SOME of us might be getting really tired of unrealistically spiky haired kids with super unrealistic clothes? I mean, seriously, how long have we been doing this sort of thing with FF? It may not be the best character designs here but they still look a darn sight better than what we've had in the recent past.

What's so "unrealistic" about the hair?

http://pochamaycorner.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/8311_larc-en-ciel.jpg

It's better than the same crewcut in every military FPS game ever.

I actually like the stylised Japanese look.

I love big, ornate weapons. I love the spiky anime hair and the ridiculous clothing. It's imaginative and it looks cool god dammit.

I find it harder to relate to, yes, but isn't that what fantasy is all about? A lack of realism, and a shitload of style and, you know, fantasy?

 

[RJ 17]

Snip.

You know what the great thing about opinions are? They're kinda like assholes: everyone's got one. And right now I kinda feel like being an asshole, so I really don't care what you have to say about my opinion in the first place. It's mine, and you're not going to change it.

Edited for spelling errors.

2nd Edit: I apologize, apparently I was a bit hasty in reading over your post and didn't see that the last bit was directed at the OP in particular.

 

[The_Echo]

Those are some egregiously petty complaints.

As many others have said, we know so precious little of the game. You have no idea how many female characters will be in the game, playable or otherwise. But even so, who cares? A character is a character, and as long as they're a good character their sex shouldn't matter to you.

The tagline of Final Fantasy XV is "this is a fantasy based on reality," so the character designs reflect an exaggerated, fantasized version of real world fashion. Not your bag? Well that's fine, can't please everyone. Shouldn't be using it as a point against the game, though.

And you know what? Tetsuya Nomura's directing it, the original Kingdom Hearts team is developing it, and Yoko Shimomura is composing for it. Game's gonna be the tits.

Wait what? No more turn based combat? Well they just lost my vote . Man games are becoming more and more casual every day . And i don't mean casual in the casual vs hardcore sense , i mean it in the litteral sense , they games are now being geared towards people that only place games once in a while for an hour or two . Not people that actually has it as a hobby.

Well, XV was Versus XIII once upon a time. It wasn't intended as a main-series entry. It's part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis sub-series, along with XIII and Type-0. I'd assume they changed it to XV simply because it's been taking so goddamned long to develop. As said previously in this post, it's being developed by the team that developed Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. The combat is very similar (the HUD was nearly identical earlier in development) to that.

I don't see why real-time combat would immediately disinterest you from the game though. Just go check out a trailer, since I s'pose you haven't seen it in action yet.

Nonetheless, Final Fantasy isn't getting "casual." I don't see how action-RPG is any more casual than turn-based. You can do a lot in a classic RPG with only an hour or two. Expect XVI to return to turn-based. Unless of course XV completely cleans house when it's released, then they might keep it up.

 

[Quellist]

Oh man, thats too funny, they really do look like a douchbag boyband. Man you ruined FF XV for me now! i'm always gonna be seeing them as Take That or Boyzone from now on!


Screw it though, i'll still be buying/playing it.

Protip: Play the Tales games if you dont like the way FF is going, they seem to be where FF was in the 90's (thematically anyway). They are also seriously good

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Oh no. They're making a game that's different from previous games. I'm sure this really will be the tragic end to everything right with Final Fantasy, just like half the fanbase says about every post-SNES FF. Personally, I think I'll wait to see more than five minutes of the thing before I write it off as a complete failure.

Also, I played and FF with only female playable characters, and I'm perfectly open to playing one with only male playable characters if that's what they decide to make next. (It's not like it will lose them any of their female fanbase, anyway; that's always been based way more on women obsessing over hot dudes and writing slash fanfics than anything else.)

 

[Balkan]

HAHA, I'll be honest, I don't know anything about this game, but I wonder if they removed the female characters and switched to a modern[warfare] setting to appeal to the call of, uh I mean mainstream audience. I don't think that westernizing the game will win anyone who is not already a fan , the opposite actually, hardcore fans seems to hate it.

 

[rob_simple]

I decided to look up a trailer to see what all the fuss was about and I am now psyched as hell for FFXV. The gameplay looks amazingly fun, and the characters still look interesting; given the more realistic world the game looks to be set in, it makes sense to not have the characters dress like surfer dudes or kleptomaniacs in a thrift store.

It's a shame you're all upset over this OP, but I've never understood the attitude of people like you, when you declare a franchise is dead to you. So you're not digging FFXV --ignoring the fact we still know barely anything about it-- but, rather than just skip out on this one game, you're calling the whole thing quits; declaring all future titles a write-off?

I will expect you to keep your word, then, if FFXVI turns out to be set in a magical world of wizards and knights with lots of pretty colours and not a mullet in sight, or whatever it is you, in particular, require to make a Final Fantasy game acceptable.

 

[Smeatza]

FFXV is the first Final Fantasy game I've been excited about in over a decade.

The combat actually looks fun and the characters don't all look like douches.
Although we'll have to wait and see if they act like douches.

 

[Deshin]

so I really don't care what you have to say about my opinion in the first place. It's mine, and you're not going to change it.

2nd Edit: I apologize, apparently I was a bit hasty in reading over your post and didn't see that the last bit was directed at the OP in particular.

Re edit 2: It's all cool. Just saying fantasy does not instantly mean tolkien-esque depictions and settings, I think that specific sub-genre of fantasy is called "high fantasy"? Can anyone confirm that? I mean I get that you like and enjoy that specific setting, that's totally fine, but I just don't get how you can deride it for "not being fantasy" when fantasy is not inherently sword'n'knight. This isn't even an opinion thing, SE can be rightfully critisised for a LOT of things but "not being fantasy" really shouldn't be up there. :/

Ask yourself how often we have male protagonists in games compared to female protagonists. The one thing I can't hate about X-2 is that it was fucking revolutionary for not having a male in the main cast, period. You're trying to attack what you perceive as imbalance in criticism by going at the thing that is actually the balancing factor in the imbalanced system being critcized. It's not as if games are filled with female protagonists, and so X-2 should have been given a whooping for not featuring men in the main cast (and let's not forget that the whole motivation for the game was a man anyway). I would be surprised if 20% of games overall had female leads, let alone an all-female main cast like X-2, so I understand the irritation about maybe not having any playable women at all.

Off the top of my head? (not played every single FF)
FFVII - Cloud main char and his story. (second place goes to Aeris)
FFVIII - Squall main char and his story. (second place goes to Rinoa)
FFX - Tidus main char but let's not lie, "This is my story" was bull, the whole game was Yuna's story.
FFX-2 - Yuna main char, I don't really think Tidus was the "motivation" so much as saving the world was.
(from this point on the "main character" aspect is negligble due to changing main char to who you want)
FFVI - Terra first char and major story plot point of the game.
FFXII - Vaan first char but that game was pretty much Ashe's story for the most part.
FFXIII - Lightning first char but did a decent job of explaining all their stories.
FFXIII-2 - Serah first char, did a good mix of both characters' stories as well as their interpersonal.

So honestly: In general they seem to have a lot of female protagonists and the last THREE titles they released you could main the game as a female character and said female character's story was just as important as any male's character, if not more-so. Unless of course you're talking about the industry AS A WHOLE in which case I'm left wondering why the fuck is it Square Enix's burden that western devs are afraid of a main char without a schlong? We shouldn't blame SE for something SE didn't do yo.

 

[Paradoxrifts]

Now Final Fantasy is Macho like every other game

How on earth am I supposed to take you at all seriously when you come up with pearls like this?

 

[Dr.Awkward]

People are seriously whining about Tetsuya Nomura directing this game? ... seriously I would take Nomura over another game by Motomu Toriyama.

I can get behind people complaining about it straying from the series roots cause yeah it has very little in common with the older games. Although saying Nomura is all "style and no substance" is kinda funny considering Toriyama's games lack both style and substance, at least with Nomura even if the character designs are wacky or the story is a bit on the nutty side then the gameplay is solid.

The problem with Noumura is that he's just not that great when it comes to character concepts. Seriously - The only reason this guy got so far in Square's hierarchy is because he rode around on Yoshitaka Amano's coattails, and when Amano wasn't doing the art, Nomura stepped in. Problem is, despite the influences gained from Amano's works, it doesn't stick very long with Nomura, and before you know it, Nomura's influences start coming from the very streets of Tokyo.

...And there lies within the problem. Yoshitaka's designs age like a fine wine - Mystical and unique enough that they will likely be still admired within the next fifty years. As for Nomura's, when he creates art using inspirations from the streets? People are going to see them as passe designs by then, and likely won't hold value.

So yeah. Nomura's an alright artist, but when it comes to creativity from scratch, he absolutely sucks at it. Square needs to stop using him as a concept artist, and more just as an artist.

 

[KOMega]

And why is the cast of FF15 looking like a douchtastic boyband coupled with a bunch of old dudes with oddly trendy j-pop hairstyles? It's not even the hairstyles, it's not the look of the characters... it's the fact that you seem to be "broing" up the series in the worst possible way...

I mean seriously... look at these guys... they look like a bunch of douchebags going out to the club...

Spoiler

I kinda like that picture.
And I highly doubt it looks like anything a "dudebro" would like anyways.

The character design looks alright. It's not making me spew rainbows, but it's not terrible.
What would you rather they look like?

Also, one of the things that is drawing me into the game is the new combat system. It's like Kingdom Hearts but a awesome new setting.