Manji187 said:
I don't care that it's not just FF that flunks at matters of execution. They flunk at it hard and therefore it needs to change. As for the characters...sure there are some exceptions but IMHO a lot of them are flat. Cardboard archetypes with cardboard hopes and dreams (like Barret, Zell, Steiner, Kimahri. Oh yeah and Aeris...especially Aeris..with the whole holy virgin act).
SOME are, some aren't. That's every series. FF has had some amazing characters too, like Delita from Final Fantasy Tactics.
As for the looting...again I don't care. Sticking to tradition is easy but not the way forward. Innovation entails taking risks. It's a "dirty" job but somebody has got to do it once in a while.
Part of the problem I find with this is that a lot of times this method (and this applies to WRPGs and adventure games too) is used to add flavor to the world and show how people live.
About the 6 foot sword, what I meant was..cosmetics should largely be in service of story/ gameplay. Cosmetics only for the sake of cosmetics is unnecessary extravagance.
Would you take the lightsabers out of Star Wars? It's the same thing: the weapons used ultimately don't have much affect on the story unless it's something like the Master Sword from Zelda or the Sword of Kings in FF12.
As for the Jap/Japanophile issue..make no mistake...the Japs are catering to their home market first, they always have. Funny thing is, now Square Enix is thinking about "Westernizing". It's easy to Google. So maybe, just maybe... this is an indicator of them losing inspiration and fans.
Again, saying "Jap" makes you sound rather racist. As far as Westernizing goes, I question exactly what they mean by that (all we have are vague statements).
I mean..you've been around the Escapist forum (and perhaps other forums as well)...haven't you come across critical topics saying something in the lines of "SE hasn't made a good FF since FFX (then just Square)"? I sure have. People are gradually "dropping out" of that ENOURMOUS fanbase.
Again, this is the same thing as any large series: fans will always be divided. There's people who thought FF4 was the last good game Square made too. It's all tied to nostalgia, personal opinion, and all that garbage.
And finally, as for the conveying of emotions..I present to you FF13 or "Emo Paradise" (including a song by Leona Lewis...seriously). Go check the gametrailer footage. It's "Sera.." this and "Oh Sera.." that and a lot of voice raising. The "onion induced" was a joke.
I'm waiting to play FF13 myself for a number of reasons. As far as being "emo" goes, a lot of people tend to confuse having more emotion than a glass of water for being "emo" so... yeah I'm waiting to see for myself.
Have I hit a nerve or something? Cuz you come across rather fierce. Is FF your favorite franchise in the whole wide world?
Not even close (my favorite franchise is Fire Emblem, but that's irrelevant). The reason I'm aggressive is because your original post carried the implication that there's never been a good Final Fantasy game, and made numerous statements that to me sounded like someone who had played perhaps one or twp of the games and declared the whole franchise crap. For example, I know a guy who played FF8 (the worst game in the entire franchise) and says the whole series sucks.
ALSO.. It would be nice to see you coming up with some ideas for change. Or would you rather prefer to leave everything as it is?
I already presented my ideas several pages back.