Sud0_x said:
I'm in my '20s now and I do know a few older cats who do still enjoy the franchise, including the latest games in the series, for what it is.
And I would be one of those older people.
I'm in my thirties now (also firmly in denial, but that's another story), and I still find the FF games as much fun as I did when I first picked one up. VII was my first and I was 17 at the time.
I'll be the first one to admit that by todays standards, VII is looking a little shaky. What can you expect, it's about 15 years old, and the industry has come on in leaps and bounds since then. However. Maybe it's part nostalgia speaking, but I still play it. I still find the Materia system to be one of the best, most customisable, magic systems I've ever used. Someone earlier mentioned that the characters are like old friends - that sums it up perfectly for me. I spent my formative console gaming years helping these people save the world, and I'm very attached to them.
There's an adage floating around about how generally, your first FF game tends to be your favourite. In my case that's true. Perhaps it's because it was all so new then, it made such a lasting impression. Sure, nowadays we moan about The Hero, The Loner, The Love Interest, The Kooky One, but that's because they have become somewhat forumlaic. But back in the day (and this is where nostalgia comes creeping back in), they didn't feel like stereotypes.
VIII was the next one I played after VII, and for a good while, I didn't like it. I sulked about all the different gameplay mechanisms - where's the Materia? Why is it a GF instead of a Summon? Blah blah blah. Then it clicked that I was expecting VIII to be a sequel, or at least very similar to my beloved VII, which obviously it wasn't intended to be. Once I got my thick head around this, I started to enjoy it for what it was, not what I wanted it to be. And now? Love it. Well, the Draw system still makes me twitch uncontrollably, but apart from that I love it.
So I went back and played the older games, and I've done the new ones as well. The main conclusions I've reached are that if you don't like JRPGs, these will not be your thing. Food you find on the floor is always good. Hair styles often defy the laws of physics. And take each game as it is.
Some you might like, some you'll think are lacking compared to others. But I appreciate the fact that Square haven't just churned out the same mechanics each game, they've tried new systems. Some worked and others didn't, but each game has sucked me in eventually.