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

[PedroSteckecilo]

This may be the beginning of the end... for me and gaming anyway...

I've loved Final Fantasy since I first glimpsed my friends older brother playing FF6 back in the SNES days and I purchased both a Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 purely so I could play Final Fantasy. I even picked up a PS3 when it seemed like FF13 was FINALLY getting close to coming out, and hey it eventually did... but for both PS3 and the 360, not that a non-exclusive mattered. What mattered was that well... I just didn't like it much, it lacked a particular something that all non-mmo had that made me love them (yes even 12). So after putting out the first non-mmo Final Fantasy I haven't beaten it seems Square has finally killed my excitement in the franchise that made me interested in videogames in the first place.

I'm talking of course about Final Fantasy 15, no it's not the semi-modern world I can take that... it's not the more action based combat system... I can take that as well... it's not even the character designs themselves...

I mean seriously square, no playable Female Characters announced? 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

Perhaps I'm just being negative on the character designs but to me it feels like this is just... too big of a change for the series in a direction I have no interest in following. I mean I still WANT to play JRPG's and I still WANT to play Final Fantasy, but it seems that you don't want to give me Final Fantasy... you want to give me J-pop douchebros on parade...

*sigh* Ah well, with the way gaming is going these days I'm sure more and more of my favorite franchises will get unbearable and with the whole medium in general straying away from Narrative Driven Games I'm sure the day isn't far away when I'll likely give up videogames as my primary hobby...

So Escapist, how do the rest of you feel about Final Fantasy 15?

 

[Genocidicles]

Have they announced they're the only playable characters? I mean there might be a few female ones and we just don't know it yet.

But yeah, they do look like douchebags. And I mean, what's with the main guy's outfit? The others just kind of look like regular douchebags, and there's him looking like something out of the previous games, only slightly more douchier.

I love the look of the setting though. I'll see how the game turns out before I make any decisions.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Here's a panorama of characters from the most recent trailer (that picture you're using is quite old)

Spoiler

As you can see, there are two girls, and when viewing the characters from the front they don't look so "brotastic" to me.

That's the one that the "Old Dudes with Oddly Trendy J-pop Hair" comment came from, it's just the fact that none of the female characters have been announced as playable yet that bothers me. Videogaming has enough games with purely Male Protagonists, Final Fantasy doesn't need to join them but it looks like it is anyway.

 

[shrekfan246]

Yes, a game that has been in development hell for over half a decade and has extremely limited announced features is the death of a long-standing franchise because of a completely meaningless thing that may not even actually be true, because we don't have enough information to know yet.

Or, and here's some truly radical thinking, you could wait until more information about the game is actually released and maybe even wait until the game is released before you declare that it's "RUINED FOREVER".

To be clear, it's not that I disagree with your sentiment. I disagree with the way you've phrased it and how utterly intolerable it makes your opinion come across. Have you seen the other Final Fantasy games? Particularly XIII, really, but past the very first few they've pretty much always been the "J-Pop brigade broing it up", even with the female characters. And I'd rather no female characters than a retreading of Lightning or Vanille, personally.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I've never played any Final Fantasy game, buuuut, are you really complaining about character designs NOW?! I mean, just look at them!
<img src=http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/ww75/elgefe02/photobucket%20sez%20no%20more%20than%202500/89c8a56e.jpg>
<img src=http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120604043953/finalfantasy/images/d/d3/Fran.png>
<img src=http://www.ff-xiii.net/images/media/4ee81b4a_Final-Fantasy-XIII-2-Caius-Character-Artwork.png>
<img src=http://moe.animecharactersdatabase.com/uploads/2376-1963572874.jpg>

If anything, characters on your picture are actually very well designed.

 

[Lilani]

There's still Final Fantasy XIV if you want a quirky Final Fantasy game :3 I got into the Beta finally and I loved it. Not only the amount of whimsey you can put into your character, but also how the game felt overall. There's lots of cute little details and the characters are very well-defined, even the minor ones that just give you fetch quests. I just can't wait til the open beta when my character data will be preserved...

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Yes, a game that has been in development hell for over half a decade and has extremely limited announced features is the death of a long-standing franchise because of a completely meaningless thing that may not even actually be true, because we don't have enough information to know yet.

Or, and here's some truly radical thinking, you could wait until more information about the game is actually released and maybe even wait until the game is released before you declare that it's "RUINED FOREVER".

To be clear, it's not that I disagree with your sentiment. I disagree with the way you've phrased it and how utterly intolerable it makes your opinion come across. Have you seen the other Final Fantasy games? Particularly XIII, really, but past the very first few they've pretty much always been the "J-Pop brigade broing it up", even with the female characters. And I'd rather no female characters than a retreading of Lightning or Vanille, personally.

Not saying ruined forever, but certainly ruined for me... unless things REALLY change as it gets closer to release.

Also... I kinda liked Lightning... I know a lot of people didn't but I thought she was pretty awesome, Fang too... actually the only character in that game I really didn't like was Hope...

I think that complaints like this should never be taken seriously. Who fucking cares if a female isn't a playable character? This is an Action RPG and you will most likely only play as Noctis, just like you can only play as Sora/Riku the in the Kingdom Hearts series. Did those games completely suck because "OMG GUYZ THEY DUN LET ME PLAY GRRL CHARACTERZ!"

Well... I don't really like Kingdom Hearts very much because I found the characters annoying as hell so while I wouldn't say they completely suck... I certainly didn't LIKE them very much...

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

Are you...are you fucking serious, man? Fucking seriously? I can completely understand people having their reservations about Final Fantasy at this point, but saying the character designs and lack of a playable female character killed the series for you? I'm a female myself and I don't give a rat's shaved ass about that. Hell, I didn't even notice until you mentioned it. And while she may not be playable (who knows, she might be; we know very little about this game really), Stella is supposed to have a pretty big damn role in the game, so it's not like XV is a complete sausage fest. Though even then I wouldn't care as long as the game is good. You know, a good Final Fantasy game...something that occurs in complete independence of character models.

The characters look perfectly in-line with the Final Fantasy aesthetic to me anyway, only pumped up on next-gen graphics. Sorry if I sound a bit harsh OP, but you need to chill the fuck out. Final Fantasy XV looks pretty promising to me.

 

[shrekfan246]

Yes, a game that has been in development hell for over half a decade and has extremely limited announced features is the death of a long-standing franchise because of a completely meaningless thing that may not even actually be true, because we don't have enough information to know yet.

Or, and here's some truly radical thinking, you could wait until more information about the game is actually released and maybe even wait until the game is released before you declare that it's "RUINED FOREVER".

To be clear, it's not that I disagree with your sentiment. I disagree with the way you've phrased it and how utterly intolerable it makes your opinion come across. Have you seen the other Final Fantasy games? Particularly XIII, really, but past the very first few they've pretty much always been the "J-Pop brigade broing it up", even with the female characters. And I'd rather no female characters than a retreading of Lightning or Vanille, personally.

Not saying ruined forever, but certainly ruined for me... unless things REALLY change as it gets closer to release.

My point is that you should be less reactionary when there's still a lot of time left until the game is released. Wait for more information, then you can say that you're not interested in it because of reasons. Right now, we don't know if there's going to be female playable characters or not, so saying that the game is ruined for you because you're assuming there won't be any is just silly.

Also... I kinda liked Lightning... I know a lot of people didn't but I thought she was pretty awesome, Fang too... actually the only character in that game I really didn't like was Hope...

For better or worse, Lightning could've easily been male without any functional difference in her character. While that's not a bad thing in itself, since most video game writers fail at making 'female' characters in the first place and it's commendable to have a female character that isn't defined as "is female", the writing for her hasn't been strong enough to keep her from being otherwise flat and generic, with the only outstanding characteristic thus becoming the fact that she is a she. More specifically, there's a reason people say she's basically a female version of Kingdom Hearts-era Cloud Strife.

 

[The_Merchant]

>FF speciality being different in Universe, Design, Characters, Gameplay, etc. with each game
>Complain about that very properity

I think it's just the modern setting, and the monarchy featured in the game greatly resembles a yakuza-like structure.
And with every monarchy there is the element of uniform, in this case the guys wearing mostly black.
The monarchy is also placed in a Japan-like city-state. The silly hairstyles might not be so much out of place this way. And either way it's been a stable since FF7, no use complaining about it now.

And the characters have been redesigned to some extend since the picture youre using.
Noctis for example no longer sports the coat he's wearing but instead a simple shortsleeved, slightly overcoat, black shirt with a black tanktop underneath. It makes him look closer to someone you would actually meet in reallife instead of an overdesigned KH character. His facial features also changed. The e3 mugshot gives him a more younger, inexperienced appearance.
He is after all a teenage prince with no battles fought whatsover,suddenly drawn away from his everyday life.
In previous trailers he looked like he already had some fools sent to hell and had more a lone-wolf anime hitman feel to him.

Prompto on the other hand is the only bright-haired member. He also isn't a member from the kingdom,he's a wanted felon and thus feels inferior in the group. Plus, he wields a firearm despite the prohibition of firearms in the kingdom.
He's an odd one out in social status, means of offensive and thus gameplay and even looks.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Well the lack of a female character isn't the ONLY thing... I wasn't particularly interested in a "Modern World Esque" version of Final Fantasy back when it was Versus, few things interested me less about the future of Final Fantasy than the progress on bloody FF13 Versus and I didn't see what all the fuss was about when people kept complaining that there was no new information. But now Versus is FF15 and that apathy has turned into annoyance...

Now Final Fantasy is "Modern" like every other game
Now Final Fantasy is Brown and Grey like every other game
Now Final Fantasy is Macho like every other game

I guess the only real difference now is how... feathery... the game is...

Hmmm, I'm having more trouble explaining why FF15 bothers me so much than I thought... it just looks... Lame, incredibly so... other than the possibly interesting action there isn't a single thing I've seen that's appealing about it. Noctis looks like every brooding anime hero ever same deal with his bro-posse...

Perhaps that's it... the whole thing seems so...woobie-ish... as in "On look at all of these serious dudes being all serious and serious! Look at them be all fashionable and modern! Also Serious!"

 

[The_Merchant]

Now Final Fantasy is "Modern" like every other game
Now Final Fantasy is Brown and Grey like every other game
Now Final Fantasy is Macho like every other game

''brown and grey''
''modern''

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

Now Final Fantasy is "Modern" like every other game

You mean like how every Final Fantasy game since VII (except for XII and XIV, I believe) has been? Or do you mean in terms of presentation? In the case of the latter, I would simply disagree; I can still feel the "Final Fantasy" vibe emanating very strongly from all the trailers and footage we've seen so far, except now there's a Kingdom Hearts feel in there as well due to the new combat system. I can understand some people won't like Kingdom Hearts in their Final Fantasy, though you've made it sound like you don't mind that bit.

Now Final Fantasy is Brown and Grey like every other game

Granted, the newest trailer only showcased one or two locations that were supposed to be within or around a realistic city and the last screenshot is an older one, but chances are very good there will still be brightly coloured areas akin to Gran Pulse in XIII or pretty much any part of A Realm Reborn that I've seen.

Now Final Fantasy is Macho like every other game

Er...yes, because I'm sure people whose gaming bread and butter is Gears of War will find this game so appealing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to be excited for this game. It's okay to think it just doesn't look good at this point. But making a whole thread about how Final Fantasy is destroyed for you due to flimsy reasons is a bit much. As for whether Final Fantasy XV will actually be as "lame" as you make it out to be...we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

 

[Soundwave]

I wrote off the final fantasy series halfway through X, but looking at those new screenshots maybe I'll give whatever this one is a shot. As long as there isn't some 40 hour tutorial like I heard the last one had.

 

[The_Merchant]

I have trouble understanding your compliaints.
FF has been on the modern route since FF7(firearms, powerplants, capitalism(shinra))
So far there's been trailers who mostly showed ONE city(the tokio-like citystate) and that is enough to make you go ''2modern4me''
Indeed, there has't been much info yet but there's been enough to strike down most of your complaints.
The game basicly depicts a world war between the nations. One in particular has been Blitzkrieging others and your caught in the middle of it. I'm sorry but it's common to be serious when there's an opposing army and behemoths right at your front door with no hint about it. Besides if you've seen the gameplay trailer of FF15 you would have seen thatthe characters don't act dark and edgy at all. Noctis hi-fives Prompto for covering his back, and they all cheer and party the victory over a giant swordwielding golem. No srs business posing or that stuff.

And for years FF has been the running gag for adrogynous male characters, now A FEW have been given more brawn than wavy hair and suddenly it's ''2macho4me''

As for the female player-character, gender has no place and doesnt matter in gameplay. Eddy and christie from tekken for example. Any well-made female character can essentially be replaced with a male without consequence.
Silent hill 2 would still be the same depression trip if it was Mary strolling through town and James being that phantom that haunts her. It's because games that do female characters well don't approach characteristics that seperate male from female. If they do then it's suddenly sexism.