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[UraMallas]

We need a prequel with Auron taking Yuna's father to fight Sin.

Would buy.

 

[Vinci]

I'll back you up. I love FFX-2 and look forward to the HD version.

I'm not the biggest Final Fantasy fan on this board, but I actually preferred FFX-2 to FFX. I wasn't a big fan of the first game but felt the sequel really had fun with the world they'd created and I appreciated that compared to the melodrama of the first.

 

[Skilletor]

I'll back you up. I love FFX-2 and look forward to the HD version.

You have my dress sphere. X-2 is one of my favorite FFs.

 

[Daouzin]

(And before anyone says, "Bu-bu-bu-Jpop! Bu-bu-bu-dresspheres!", I got a kick out of that stuff too, so away with thee!)

I definitely didn't mind either, but it's sad that so many people didn't give it a shot when the job system and dress spheres helps rank FFX-2 as having one of the best battle systems in the whole series. Changing job classes in battle without making it feel over powered was pretty awesome.

I'm not the biggest Final Fantasy fan on this board, but I actually preferred FFX-2 to FFX.

Same, X was alright, but X-2 was super fun.

 

[Dark_castle]

I find all of the "fashion model" talk about FF characters to be pretty funny in hindsight considering the main characters of XV are actually fashion models.

No, they are not.

 

[MYE]

FFX and FFX-2 have to be the shittiest looking main FF in my eyes.
Even the prettiest of graphics and new console smell didn't sway me into getting that one.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Ayami Kojima's not Hideo's wife. Also, she can draw badass when she wants to:

In an interview, she once said she loves drawing older men.

The guy who did Radiant Historia's art says the same thing. His favorite character to draw was Heiss.

This sort of thing isn't as rare as it would seem either...

This looks great, would love a FF with this artstyle and just crazy shit happening so they can be even crazier with the art. Current FF artstyle is incredibly boring.

That's a good word to use. The look has gone rather stale in the last decade+. Even switching it up with Yoshida in XIV helped immensely, even though his work was cut.

 

[MilkBeard]

Let's boil it down even more, 'Is anyone tired of this Japanese series looking Japanese?"

Boom. And there we have it, folks.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

Let's boil it down even more, 'Is anyone tired of this Japanese series looking Japanese?"

Pretty much.

Screw that. I hope these games stick even stronger to their guns. I really do not want a second coming of that "Japanese companies having an identity crisis and westernizing their games" trend. If people don't like how FF looks, they should just play something else.

 

[DJIzana]

Pretty much.

Screw that. I hope these games stick even stronger to their guns. I really do not want a second coming of that "Japanese companies having an identity crisis and westernizing their games" trend. If people don't like how FF looks, they should just play something else.

Starting to think the same... may as well enjoy what we have now because who knows if they'll even exist much longer.

 

[Jennipeg]

yes there is, it even had a jpop song in it. Squall was modelled after jpop star Gackt and Rinoah looks like your typical jdrama pure girl. Even cell sports a typical year 2k millennium tribal tatoo on his disgusting face.

oh, and every single one is young and handsome.

Sorry but I don't get this at all, Squall was modelled after River Pheonix, and Rinoa is European, they wanted her to look 'cute' not drop dead gorgeous, I think they pretty much nailed it. VIII is one of the least Japanese Final Fantasies, in terms of art direction and character design.

I don't see why having a young cast is so bad? They were a bunch of teens in school after all, it made sense for that game. I also don't get how FF VIII started the 'Jpop fashion model' look. The look they chose for that game hardly carried on into IX, or X, or XII, so it's not exactly been recycled over and over in later games.

The most Japanese inspired installment was X, and then X-2 did have the Jpop thing. Crisis Core also had Genisis who was modelled after Gackt, but neither of these games are similar to VIII, I guess I just don't see how you have pointed to VIII as the culprit for starting a trend you don't like.

 

[Shadow Ranger]

As already pointed out, that's all Nomura's doing.

There was a point after FFX that I got a bit bored of Nomura. FFs, KH, TWEWY, The Bouncer...then FFXIII's main characters, Dissidia, 3rd Birthday... they must have him locked up working on everything and anything. I'm excited for his major contributions to XV (wasn't when it was Versus due to being bored of Nomura at the time, but it's been so long now my excitement reignited) and obviously KHIII, but I do hope XVI cuts him off somewhat to allow for something like FFIX/XII. Alternate.I like that. Keeps things fresh and different.

 

[Arthea]

Yup, the only thing I'm happy with. FF13 still is the best looking game this gen for me, character models are nice, and some environments looked gorgeous, it's a pity that didn't make a game good.
I like aesthetics of FF15 a bit less, unfortunately.
FFX was ideal of FF "visual identity" for me, without a doubt.

 

[Mael]

If they could find the artist for Terranigma, I'd love to see him take a crack at it. I believe his name was Tatsuo Hashimoto

Hmm for some reason I thought that was Kojima's wife, but regardless, she is an excellent artist.

Square needs to let the artist from the Saga series do the art for one of the next FF's. They already got Hamauzu for the music.

Man I thought this thread would be boring and everything and people post such awesome art in it!
Waaah
why can't SE release something from these guys?
Or can anyone actually hire these guys to make some games?
I mean really anyone!

 

[dramatis]

Man I thought this thread would be boring and everything and people post such awesome art in it!
Waaah
why can't SE release something from these guys?
Or can anyone actually hire these guys to make some games?
I mean really anyone!

It costs SE more to contract with an outside freelancer, they can save money by just handing the design work to their internal employees.

Someone is already running it here on GAF:

XIII and XIII-2 are so terrible that hundreds of thousands of copies have been returned since July "according to NPD".

These charts are very conspicuous and people have quickly clung to them as gospel without ever questioning their veracity.

We all appreciate anyone who wants to help, but I'd rather it not be with fake numbers (we already have that covered on another website).

I knew one of those charts was way off when I saw the US NPD numbers for FF13, but I didn't know there were 2 versions floating around. He should put dates on those charts.

The only publicly available number for FF13 is about 1.3 million for first month of sales, there's no way it can climb to 2.5 million over 3 years.

 

[twobear]

The endless anime hair is annoying. For all that they've done to ruin it, I thought FFVII had a very cool aesthetic, though.

 

[IAmRandom31]

I am not happy with much that has occured with the FF series lately.

FFX was the last great Final Fantasy. The other's have been incredibly flawed. Still great compared to other RPG's, but mediocre compared to previous FF titles. Even FFX had major flaws, but compared to XII and XIII it was a masterpiece. Especially the soundtrack of FFX. The soundtracks in XII and XIII have been rather mediocre as well.

I just wish SE would pay homage to their heritage at some point and bring the main FF series back to the classic fantasy world. I'm more then tired of the futuristic stuff they have used since VII, besides portions of IX and X anyway.

 

[Mael]

It costs SE more to contract with an outside freelancer, they can save money by just handing the design work to their internal employees.

I get that after all why use Nomura for chara design otherwise.
The thing is that Romancing Saga designer was a Squaresoft employee, no?
Or was he/she a contractor Kawazu took a liking to?

 

[destrudo]

Let's boil it down even more, 'Is anyone tired of this Japanese series looking Japanese?"

I'm sure that's true for some people, but there's many examples in this thread of different Japanese art styles that people prefer over what's in modern FF. Nomura in particular draws inspiration from popular Japanese fashion, and just because people don't like that doesn't necessarily mean people don't like Japanese character design in general.

A lot of Nomura's designs look overly complicated to me, like he doesn't know when to stop. For instance, when it comes to something like Kingdom Hearts, Disney character design is pretty simple looking and that clashes with Nomura's style. Just look at Nomura's take on characters like Mickey or Pete in Kingdom Hearts 2.

 

[Celine]

If they could find the artist for Terranigma, I'd love to see him take a crack at it. I believe his name was Tatsuo Hashimoto

Are you sure?
I thought it was all Kamui Fujiwara doing.

He did the very good Dragon Quest Emblem of Roto manga too.

 

[Mr. RHC]

Look at Nomura's take on characters like Mickey or Pete, who look equally overdone.

Overdone Mickey in Kingdom Hearts? Like the outfit he wears that fits the rest of the casts appearance?

Nope.

 

[Android18a]

I'd truly love another game with FF9's whimsical animal-people style. Cartoony characters and over the top locations, suits me to the ground.

Having said that, a general Super Deformed style like FF7's in-game graphics would be welcome (although obviously with character models that... look good).

 

[dramatis]

I get that after all why use Nomura for chara design otherwise.
The thing is that Romancing Saga designer was a Squaresoft employee, no?
Or was he/she a contractor Kawazu took a liking to?

I think in the present day, unless the 'creator' (composer/designer/writer) is a big name with a lot of history with the company, SE doesn't contract with them. That's why Kazushige Nojima, Nobuo Uematsu, Yoshitaka Amano are still having their names tacked onto a lot of FF things, but Tomomi Kobayashi is hardly as known so they wouldn't contract with her even if her art presents a different style that could be refreshing for Square games. I think short of having a high level director/developer guy ask specifically for certain artists not in the SE stable, it's unlikely you'll get a specific artist style.

Also, it could just be artist preference. Kazuma Kaneko is smoking pot somewhere in Atlus, I'm not sure if he works on anything except SMT.

 

[Usobuko]

When it comes to Japan's artists, I quite fond of the illustrator Akihiro Yamada. He nailed the Chinese inspired mythology look with Juuni Kokki.

 

[KiteGr]

Somehow I preffer the Anime style of FF7 over ani other (Cartoony or Not) FF style, including other types of Anime drawings like the Last order OVA and the art for Disidia and KH.
This old anime style had something magic to it.

They translated surprisingly well on the low poligon Playstation, and also felt well with the imposible moves the characters are making. Somehow I'm ok with a character droping comets when he is anime.

IMO the series was at it's peak when they where chainging their style in every instalment! (PS1 era)
The style of most FF games on NES and SNES were pretty similar, because they couldn't do more with the limitations of that hardware, and there wasn't much competition in that stile.

Now ever since FF10, all look the same! Someone who doesn't know much about FF besides having watch various photos might look at a random image and being unable to figure out which of the last 6 games is it from.

 

[Shion]

Let's boil it down even more, 'Is anyone tired of this Japanese series looking Japanese?"

Is it really that simple, though?

I mean, just like with western art, there's art that some people like and some don't.

For example, I hate the macho aesthetics of Gears of War, yet I love the visual design in BioShock.

I don't like anorexic, pale, effeminate-looking, characters with heavily styled hair and weird, fashion-inspired, clothing with chains, belts and zippers. I don't like immature youngsters that try to be sexy by being half-naked in battles and I don't like animu-style designs.

I don't like these:

Yet, I like these:

Final Fantasy VII

Panzer Dragoon Saga

Order of Ecclesia

Vagrant Story

Bravely Default

 

[Rei_Toei]

Excuse me for ranting, but here are my musings.
My problem with FFs art style is that the medium has changed, not necessarily the art or design itself.

Spoiler

Jury's still out on that, although it doesn't look good tbqh. =P

With pre-FF7 games, all you had were tiny blobs of pixels shaped vaguely like LEGO people. The game was clearly a representation of what went down "for real", so just like when reading a book, my phantasy filled out the gaps. For that reason I liked Amano and "his take" (heh) on the universe, because character pictures aside, what actually happened in the game and how people looked was pretty much up to my imagination.

Fast forward to the 3D era, and more importantly, the FMV era. There is no wiggle room there. This is no longer viable to be experienced using the "book approach", since the frequent cutscenes and comparatively high level of graphical detail (as well as improved animation and whatnot) prohibit any individual "perspective" to events and characters. It leaves very little to the imagination: You get what you see.​

And, from my last attempt to return to the universe with FF13/14, I don't care for what I see. I need my wriggle room, and I am no longer being given one. I find the stories and characters as they are presented to me insufferable and annoying, awkward and ridiculous, uninteresting and unrelatable. And they may have been the same back in the day, who knows. I probably just didn't know or notice, back then.

Getting more to the point now.

I also hate overengineered and obviously impractical stuff. My mind screams at me constantly when they are on screen (and - see above - they are). KISS is one of my favourite design principles, and practicality one of my highest rating aspects.

This problem only appeared because more powerful machines allowed for more polygons and thus more freedom for designers, leading to some sort of vicious circle where artwork would become increasingly flamboyant because the artists can run wild, as they are prone to. It's that streak that makes them artists, after all.

Also, I got older, more experienced cynical, and less willing to put up with bullshit. I can't identify with designed-to-be-young characters anymore, and I have no interest in cookie cutter antics.

That's my take on why the "visual identity" now matters when it did not before, and why modern FF games as a whole no longer interest me. The designs per se haven't changed in any meaningful manner, I think.

QFT. Stated it better then I could and my sentiments exactly. I'm missing the element that is left to the imagination. And it has me actively hoping that SE one day returns to what they once did best: 2d graphics. And if it's not SE that is willing to do it, hopefully other developers combine the look with the genre again, someday.

 

[NoirVisage]

Is it really that simple, though?

I mean, just like with western art, there's art that some people like and some don't.

For example, I hate the macho aesthetics of Gears of War, yet I love the visual design in BioShock.

I don't like anorexic, pale, effeminate-looking, characters with heavily styled hair and weird, fashion-inspired, clothing with chains, belts and zippers. I don't like immature youngsters that try to be sexy by being half-naked in battles and I don't like animu-style designs.

I don't like these:

Yet, I like these:

Final Fantasy VII

Panzer Dragoon Saga

Order of Ecclesia

Vagrant Story

Bravely Default

We're resonating here bro..everything from the Alis avatar to the choices (especially panzer dragoon saga) good rebuttal to those who want to claim this is some anti japanese thing, japan is more than jpop hairstyle, or gakt and malice mizer rejects.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

I don't want Final Fantasy to stop looking Japanese at all, and suggesting that feels a little racist to me. There's plenty of anime and manga that look completely fine.

Like, let's talk about what might be the origin of "hero with a ridiculously huge sword", Berzerk

Or Record of Lodoss War

Or Slayers

Arguably, yes, those are all "old" anime and manga from the late 80's or early 90's. But they still carry what could be considered "Japanese designs" - it's just they don't look like they stepped out of a Katy Perry music video.

Final Fantasy characters look too "perfect" now. Too glamorous. Glamor is not an inherently Japanese thing.

 

[Mondy]

You mean the L'Oreal Paris look?

No.

 

[NoirVisage]

I don't want Final Fantasy to stop looking Japanese at all, and suggesting that feels a little racist to me. There's plenty of anime and manga that look completely fine.

Like, let's talk about what might be the origin of "hero with a ridiculously huge sword", Berzerk

Or Record of Lodoss War

Or Slayers

Arguably, yes, those are all "old" anime and manga from the late 80's or early 90's. But they still carry what could be considered "Japanese designs" - it's just they don't look like they stepped out of a Katy Perry music video.

Final Fantasy characters look too "perfect" now. Too glamorous. Glamor is not an inherently Japanese thing.

another good rebuttal post.

 

[Boogybro]

Like, let's talk about what might be the origin of "hero with a ridiculously huge sword", Berzerk

You're asking too much of S-E.

They just aren't capable of Berserk-level greatness.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

tis bullshit

they want to XV/Versus to have a old school FF feel. .......

2D ARTWORK IN THE MENU's IS THE KEY!

Nomura pls.

You're asking too much of S-E.

They just aren't capable of Berserk-level greatness.

We have Demons souls for that. Not to mention, FF is going for a totally different vibe than Berserk.

I trust Nomura to do great art as he usually does though I wouldn't mind Yoshida.

 

[Dark Octave]

This kind of "quoting" gives a really strong vibe that you were "losing" the argument, and now you're mad. Also makes you sound condescending as hell.

You're right about everything. None of my fellow current FF hater brothers were there to support me and I was all alone, being called everything in the book (nah they were somewhat civil), but yeah it pisses me off (in a joking way). I know I was right, while some may care more than others, nobody comes to FF to see a Kia Optima or every day real world settings. I want to see something exotic and something I have never seen before from a different perspective of enginuity. I want to see machinery powered by mako, mana, ether, esper, magic, not an everyday Hyundai that looks like it runs on 92 octane. And I don't have time for an MMO nor is that a replacement for a one time fee, story and character driven, single player RPG. Not even close.

And I know I made a huge deal over the car which may be a small part of the game (we don't know yet), I'm just expressing my fears for how I don't want this small portion to bleed into the rest of the game and series. I don't wanna play GTA with monsters and I hope it doesn't become that.

Someone mentioned the metrosexual look of the characters and they are right. FF characters have never been the Gear of War types but they always have to be teenagers with feathered hair since FFX and always moody and emo as hell since FFVII, skip a few. It's cool and not a bad way to go once or twice but let's tell a different story with a different character now please.

 

[Boogybro]

We have Demons souls for that. Not to mention, FF is going for a totally different vibe than Berserk.

But that's the whole point of this thread, right? People not being happy with Final Fantasy's current "vibe."

I for one would like to see them mix it up a bit. Personally, going back to their more traditional styles, mixed in with a little bit of Berserk. I think it could work, and would be pretty cool.

 

[Mr. RHC]

Ok, general post:

You are posting a lot of stylized concept art from other games which looks completely different in the game. And the "Nomura" facial features which some apparentely don't like, are also present in XIV.

Where is the super masculine or effeminate character in the Final Fantasy series?(you also fail to provide a definition for effeminate*).

You also fail to provide a proof that Final Fantasy has ever looked essentially different or would look different, regardless if it fits the story told, you just selectively pick the lead character 3D designs VII onwards. *You fail to provide again and again the definition of "effeminate" characters and deny Amano's and Nomura's legacy at the same time as well as the fashion trends in Japan and what younger audiences find interesting.

Where is the 30 years + scared, lead character in the Final Fantasy series? There can be variety, and there obviously is with ARR. Where is the super effeminate lead character with 100% presence. You've been posting stylized concept art, nothing else.

Yes it this is the way it worked with Nomura's designs, and it has worked well!
Another problem is the selective picking of designs you don't like and then say:
"Hey, this is the visual idendity of modern Final Fantasy, the whole visual idendity, let's not regard the rest."

OP and supporters, you have not brought a single good and compelling argument that recognizes Final Fantasy tradition but the same rants comparing it with other games over and over again.
Edit: And don't even get me started on narrative and emo characters, I believe the small hints at that here and there were probably just plainly wrong. That's a different topic.

 

[masterlobo]

As long as it's not like FFIX. It's my least favorite FF in terms of design.

Why does everyone on IX look kinda...'chibi'?

I am really digging XV, and am extremely excited although I have to admit that they are indeed too 'pretty' and dislike the fact they all wear similar clothes (at least on the promo shot).

Btw, overall my favorite FF in terms of design comes down to FF7 (PS1, not AC, BC, CC, or DC).

Btw...many of you probably missed XI. That one is also superb design-wise and OP would probably like it since it's not 'animeish'.

 

[BlazingRain]

lol at this thread still going strong.

The best part about it is going through and reading the posts and seeing that all the people criticizing the art style completely contradict each other, and that there are plenty of people completely lying to try to back up their criticism with some sort of imagined objective basis.

 

[Timeaisis]

I think VII had fine character designs, as that was the route it was taking. Problem is, Square decided that the teen anime boys look was what they were going to stick with for the rest of the series, with IX and maybe XII being a little exception (which, didn't sell well enough so Square equated that with the fans wanting the sad anime teen boys back).

So, no, I am not particularly happy with it. I'm OK with it for some of the games, but they have used the same character designs / art style for one too many games at this point. FFXV looks to be no exception.

God, bring back some more creative designs, Square. FFIX had a great identity (FFVII did too, for it's time -- but now it just looks "samey").

 

[Skinpop]

Sorry but I don't get this at all, Squall was modelled after River Pheonix, and Rinoa is European, they wanted her to look 'cute' not drop dead gorgeous, I think they pretty much nailed it. VIII is one of the least Japanese Final Fantasies, in terms of art direction and character design.

I don't see why having a young cast is so bad? They were a bunch of teens in school after all, it made sense for that game. I also don't get how FF VIII started the 'Jpop fashion model' look. The look they chose for that game hardly carried on into IX, or X, or XII, so it's not exactly been recycled over and over in later games.

I think there is some Gackt dna in Squall as well but that's up for debate.
Rinoa might "be" european but she looks exactly like the typical ideal well brought up jdrama pure girl. The way she looks is pretty much ideal japanese waifu material(for japanese men) and yes she does look japanese (and not euro at all). I don't actually mind her as I do like 90's japanese beauties such as Nanako Matsushita.

Honestly I don't mind the character designs in FF8 so much, I think squall and edea are very well designed, I don't like it that all the characters are handsome and I would have preferred some age variation.
It's apparent to me that FF8 took a step toward mainstream jpop and was heavily influenced by contemporary jpop fashion and celebrities. FF X caters more to the harajuku and cosplay crowd(jpop and fashion changed between ff8 and 10).
FF 12 gave me hope that it was only a transitional stage but ofcs they had to shoehorn in jdrama puppy eyes vaan and later completely return to the jpop crap with ff XIII.

FF XV is pushing the jpop envelope even further. This time around though it's more fashion conscious but overall less over the top. I'm not sure what to think about it. Bringing in designers could be a cool idea but unless you are a runway model you wouldn't wear clothes from the same designer from top to toe. That makes it look fake, and when all of them do it makes the cast look like a gang of host boys getting together for a pamphlet photo shoot. We haven't seen much yet so I'm still open to the possibility of it turning out well, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[BlazingRain]

It costs SE more to contract with an outside freelancer, they can save money by just handing the design work to their internal employees.


I knew one of those charts was way off when I saw the US NPD numbers for FF13, but I didn't know there were 2 versions floating around. He should put dates on those charts.

The only publicly available number for FF13 is about 1.3 million for first month of sales, there's no way it can climb to 2.5 million over 3 years.

Why are people so desperate to deny FF XIII's success? SE's money comes from shipped units, not those sold, and even then, there's no reason to believe it couldn't have sold an additional 1.2 million in 3 years.

 

[Moon_frogger]

honestly you wont get anything from final fantasy other than a highly focus tested, demographic pleasing look. It's just the nature of the business. These games cost to much to make. I appreciate that some people like Nomura and it's obvious he's tried to mix it up over the years but his technique really is style over substance and I think anyone with a trained eye for graphic design acknowledges this.

Honestly the character designs are my only real gripe with the mainline final fantasy games. I love the gameplay. I love the settings and the monster design. I adore their more experimental work like x-2 and i thought XIII was a bold distillation of the formula.

I thought XII character wise was a solid effort to change things up visually, but obviously there was pressure from higher ups to not deviate to far from what was considered a 'successful' formula. Too bad. I think FFXIV's characters are great, too bad we'll never see that kind of variation in the main single player games. It's always gonna have that realistic, pretty faced expensive haircut look. too bad in my opinion.

 

[BlazingRain]

honestly you wont get anything from final fantasy other than a highly focus tested, demographic pleasing look. It's just the nature of the business. These games cost to much to make. I appreciate that some people like Nomura and it's obvious he's tried to mix it up over the years but his technique really is style over substance and I think anyone with a trained eye for graphic design acknowledges this.

Honestly the character designs are my only real gripe with the mainline final fantasy games. I love the gameplay. I love the settings and the monster design. I adore their more experimental work like x-2 and i thought XIII was a bold distillation of the formula.

I thought XII character wise was a solid effort to change things up visually, but obviously there was pressure from higher ups to not deviate to far from what was considered a 'successful' formula. Too bad. I think FFXIV's characters are great, too bad we'll never see that kind of variation in the main single player games. It's always gonna have that realistic, pretty faced expensive haircut look. too bad in my opinion.

lol this guy is still lying about FF's art direction being dictated by focus tests. He was already called out on it two days ago.

 

[Wazzy]

I think there is some Gackt dna in Squall as well but that's up for debate.
Rinoa might "be" european but she looks exactly like the typical ideal well brought up jdrama pure girl. The way she looks is pretty much ideal japanese waifu material(for japanese men) and yes she does look japanese (and not euro at all). I don't actually mind her as I do like 90's japanese beauties such as Nanako Matsushita.

Rinoa's appearance tends to look different multiple times throughout the game so I can see how someone would find her more asian than european. However, I think saying she looks like an ideal pure girl is wrong and that she bears no european resemblence is too. For example, an actress that heavily resembles Rinoa is Camilla Belle who is European(I think? even if not, she is white).

Also the only resemblence to Gackt would be clothing wise. Squall's apperance isn't that uncommon.

Honestly I don't mind the character designs in FF8 so much, I think squall and edea are very well designed, I don't like it that all the characters are handsome and I would have preferred some age variation.
It's apparent to me that FF8 took a step toward mainstream jpop and was heavily influenced by contemporary jpop fashion and celebrities.

I really don't see much jpop influence in VIII. Squall is the only one I find has some form of it and that's only his clothing. Everyone else is fairly normalized. Irvine, Selphie, Zell, Quistis, Raijin, Seifer, etc.

I also thought there was some aged designs such as Cid, Edea, Raijin, Kiros and Ward. I know not in the main party but they're teenagers so that's to be expected.

 

[Tex117]

No. Fuck Nomura.

This

 

[Skilletor]

Why are people so desperate to deny FF XIII's success? SE's money comes from shipped units, not those sold, and even then, there's no reason to believe it couldn't have sold an additional 1.2 million in 3 years.

Seems more the opposite, really.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Seems like Square-Enix has made it clear that this is what Final Fantasy will look like for quite some time.... and honestly, I've been sick of it for years

Why do people expect franchises to age at the same rate people do? You grew up, Final Fantasy didn't. Deal with it.

 

[Tellaerin]

Why do people expect franchises to age at the same rate people do? You grew up, Final Fantasy didn't. Deal with it.

It's not even about "growing up". It's probably fairer to say, "Your tastes changed, Final Fantasy didn't".

 

[Fehyd]

http://youtu.be/39j5v8jlndM

Its worth taking a look at the intro cinematic for FFXIV to see just how much they've crammed into that game.

Magitek and armor and airships and wizards etc. Its sort of what I'd like to see.

Plus with the revelation in the story that Eorzea might have some of relation to

Spoiler

Ivalice

and things are getting interesting.

Basically, for everything that modern Final Fantasy seems to get wrong, FFXIV seems to get right in the presentation, art direction, and design.

I'd absolutely love to see a single-player game set in Eorzea. Perhaps even something set deep inside the Garlean Empire.

 

[Boogybro]

It's not even about "growing up". It's probably fairer to say, "Your tastes changed, Final Fantasy didn't".

And it would still be wrong.