What if Final Fantasy never left Japan?

[Midnight Crossroads]

Final Fantasy would be listed on every favorite obscure RPG. 13 would be considered brilliant.

Nobody would get Kingdom Hearts.

"Who's this guy with the big sword fighting for Hades? Why is that Squall guy calling himself Leon? Who are these three annoying pixie girls? What game is that hot bruiser chick in black from?"

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

On the other hand, it would mean 90% of the people who ***** about JRPGs on this forum would either be completely unfamiliar with the subgenre or be forced to whine about a completely different franchise. I'm not sure how that would work out.

[sub]Or is that roughly what is happening right now? Replace FF in the question with any JRPG franchise that never caught on, and that's more or less the level of discussion here.[/sub]

You ninja'd me. Yeah, I would have less idiots to call out on this forum. I never got into the series, myself.

 

[Chibz]

Actually, FFT itself was based off of Tactics Ogre. And by "based off of", I mean that Square hired the very same team to make a very similar game. So Disgaea could've been inspired by TO instead. Maybe the Ogre Battle series would've gone on to fill part of the Final Fantasy niche.

So I wouldn't lose out on my Disgaea games in this proposed universe? Great.

You ninja'd me. Yeah, I would have less idiots to call out on this forum. I never got into the series, myself.

The problem, more than anything, is that the JRPG subgenre has become stagnant.

 

[mireko]

Actually, FFT itself was based off of Tactics Ogre. And by "based off of", I mean that Square hired the very same team to make a very similar game. So Disgaea could've been inspired by TO instead. Maybe the Ogre Battle series would've gone on to fill part of the Final Fantasy niche.

So I wouldn't lose out on my Disgaea games in this proposed universe? Great.

You ninja'd me. Yeah, I would have less idiots to call out on this forum. I never got into the series, myself.

The problem, more than anything, is that the JRPG subgenre has become stagnant.

Has it, though? The games coming out of Square-Enix have been underwhelming to say the least, but that leaves a lot of developers doing some interesting and different things.

From Software made Demon's Souls, Atlus made Persona 4 [small](a PS2 game, but it was released in 2009 over here so I'm counting it as recent)[/small], tri-Ace made Resonance of Fate, NIS made ZHP. Whatever your opinions on these games are, you can't deny that they are very, very different from each other and from their previous games.

Even FFXIII had a very different combat system and pacing from earlier entries in the series. It wasn't completely successful, but that doesn't mean it's stagnant.

 

[Vern5]

Has it, though? The games coming out of Square-Enix have been underwhelming to say the least, but that leaves a lot of developers doing some interesting and different things.

I miss Squaresoft.

 

[mireko]

You ninja'd me. Yeah, I would have less idiots to call out on this forum. I never got into the series, myself.

I liked VII and IX (haven't played the pre-PS1 games). The others are fine, but I don't quite understand the devotion some fans have.

On a completely unrelated note: I hope they localize P2: Innocent Sin when it's done being remade. Saw the original OP for the first time yesterday, and it's impressively far ahead of its time (1999):
Well, until 1:50 anyway.

 

[flagship]

RPGs really took off in the PS1 era after FF7 in large part due to the graphics so something really pretty like Legend of The Dragoon would probably have been the gold standard, glad that didn't happen I hate all the constant timing required for combo hits.

 

[Gindil]

For the sake of argument, let's say I used my evil powers of theoretical thinking and went back in time and prevented Final Fantasy from ever being sold overseas. Other games by Squaresoft would be shipped but Final Fantasy would never see any audience other than the Japanese for years.

With this in mind, how would today be different? There's a whole demographic of Final Fantasy fans but, deprived of Final Fantasy, what game would these people gravitate to? Without the presence of Final Fantasy, what JRPG series would rise to become the most popular in the western world?

Actually, the first was more out of desperation than anything else. So if FF1 hadn't gone out, there would have been no RPGs.

But I would think that we would be VERY deprived if RPGs hadn't come into being. But if you had used your evil powers (You EVIL MAGNIFICENT BASTARD, you...) to prevent FF games, I would say my fave would still be the Secret of Mana series and CT series. Hell, other than say the Baldur's Gate series, there really aren't too many RPGs from the early years that really compare.

 

[Defense]

And I always thought Final Fantasy was more about character than story.

Well, they're doubly damned there. Final Fantasy characters tend to be either bland and uninteresting, or like a dozen nails screeching across a chalkboard. The few times they DO manage to interest me with a character, he's not the main and takes the back seat to the far less interesting lead.

They're rarely bland. They use the same basic archetype sometimes, but they change the personality enough so that it doesn't seem like a carbon copy.

Cecil Harvey, Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, and Ramza Beoulve have little in common other than that they're the protagonists of their games. Yeah, I suppose they're emo at a few points in the game, but it fits considering the situation that they're in.

The problem, more than anything, is that the JRPG subgenre has become stagnant.

Completely disagree. Most of the issues with JRPGs are that they're too different from their earlier forms. For example, Radiant Historia shares a lot of similarities with older JRPGs, but it's praised for being akin to older games.

 

[Vern5]

For the sake of argument, let's say I used my evil powers of theoretical thinking and went back in time and prevented Final Fantasy from ever being sold overseas. Other games by Squaresoft would be shipped but Final Fantasy would never see any audience other than the Japanese for years.

With this in mind, how would today be different? There's a whole demographic of Final Fantasy fans but, deprived of Final Fantasy, what game would these people gravitate to? Without the presence of Final Fantasy, what JRPG series would rise to become the most popular in the western world?

Actually, the first was more out of desperation than anything else. So if FF1 hadn't gone out, there would have been no RPGs.

But I would think that we would be VERY deprived if RPGs hadn't come into being. But if you had used your evil powers (You EVIL MAGNIFICENT BASTARD, you...) to prevent FF games, I would say my fave would still be the Secret of Mana series and CT series. Hell, other than say the Baldur's Gate series, there really aren't too many RPGs from the early years that really compare.

Yeah, I wouldn't really be affected if FF never came to America. As long as I can still play Saga Frontier 2 and Legend of Mana, I would be fine.

 

[kickyourass]

The gaming world as a whole would be alot poorer for it. Say what you want about the more recent installments, but if the first Final Fantasy hadn't sold outside of Japan, Square probably would've gone belly up. Everything made by Square, or their subsidiaries probably wouldn't exist, and I don't think I want to live in a world without Super Mario RPG. (Then again without FF7 there, Legend of Dragoon probably would've dominated in its place and that'd be pretty sweet.)

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

You ninja'd me. Yeah, I would have less idiots to call out on this forum. I never got into the series, myself.

I liked VII and IX (haven't played the pre-PS1 games). The others are fine, but I don't quite understand the devotion some fans have.

On a completely unrelated note: I hope they localize P2: Innocent Sin when it's done being remade. Saw the original OP for the first time yesterday, and it's impressively far ahead of its time (1999):
Well, until 1:50 anyway.

I think they feel obligated to at this point. Too many fans here want that PSP remake (including me).

 

[Gladion]

Fanboyism disguised at its worst, ladies and gentlemen. 10 points for effort, though.

OT: The world would have another series of (better) JRPGs to play. No loss, I'd say. Maybe Koudelka would've been more popular and I'd be playing Shadow Hearts 13 right now. Wishful thinking...

How is that fanboyism?

Fairly simple, let me get out my dictionary:
"I was never into FF and it's far too late to try, anyways. I don't care, it doesn't look interesting enough for me".
Your answer: "I don't want to see that you meant you're not interested, let me just assume you're talking about how the story is far too developed for you to understand at this point. Don't be fooled by the numbers. It's more or less a secret, but the Final Fantasy games arenot direct sequels to each other. Try them out and you will be able to enjoy life as I do. Then we fight together on the internet, the way I do right now!"

"FF games are seriously not developing. They're all the same"
This time, I don't even have to translate your answer. The very first word is enough:
"lolno"
Besides that, the most popular ones (7 - 9, possibly 10) are, on the gameplay level, very VERY alike. No comparison to Nintendo sequels, even if you tried that.
The story is also very similar, but that's just because every single major FF game is. (Possible exception: FF Tactics)

Now be fair, Final Fantasy USED to be good. It's just not so good anymore.

I remember enjoying FF 4 and 6. That was a long time ago, though and I still say: It wouldn't have been a loss. Now, the SaGa games...

 

[FalloutJack]

Assuming all this, my personal history would still have Persona, and therefore my background in RPGs would be awesome by default.

 

[2xDouble]

Here is exactly what would have happened: We'd all be complaining that the protagonist and antagonist of Mother 7 (Earthbound officially renamed to match the Japanese series) were too effeminate, but it was still the best game in the series. We would bemoan the franchise's slow decline after its tenth entry. And a small but rabid fanbase would be desperately translating and remaking the rumored "greatest RPG ever made", Final Fantasy 3 (I hear it actually let you change your character's abilities!) while SquareEnix venomously denies rumors of an English translation in the works.

Bonus points if you get the joke.

 

[viranimus]

Perhaps it would be Enix-Square instead of the other way around? RPGs were around in the NES days, and there was a market well outside of just Square back then. Perfect example would be Enix with Dragon WARRIOR.

On that thought, perhaps we wouldnt have JP franchises being sold in the US under one name, and then a decade later being renamed to be in line with their JP counterparts.

Anyway.. in all likelihood the only true impact would be that the role square plays now would just be replaced with someone else. Pretty much all the cultural milestones would eventually be passed much in the same way.

 

[CptRichards]

I would be a very sad individual. Also, with the thousands of hours of time I've spent on Final Fantasy over the years suddenly being open I probably would have cured cat lukemia a while ago. As for games probably Dragonquest would have twice the fanbase it currently does.

 

[twaddle]

RPGs would probably take a bit longer to become a popular genre, and there would probably be much less JRPGs in America.

The most popular JRPG series would be Kingdom Hearts if it were localized of course, along with Xenosaga as the Cinematic RPG experience.

i don't think kingdom hearts would have even existed since disney is originally an american company