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[MagiusNecros]

Erm, what?

I'm not trusting the Wikipedia article. I'm questioning this statement:

Ito statement isn't in the Bafta interview. So it's either a offhand statement or false statement.

 

[Tex117]

We're here to hope, friend. We're here to hope.

 

[Box]

This

"For me, the most important element of a RPG is the player feeling like they are taking the role of a character in a fully realised fantasy world. They can explore a vast world, visit various towns and dungeons, talk to numerous NPCs, customise the equipment and abilities of their character, collect a wide variety of items, battle many different types of monsters, and engage in optional side-quests and mini-games. The story and event scenes are also important, but they should be balanced with these aspects of RPG gameplay."

When did a Final Fantasy game ever have real roleplaying in it? Maybe it was there in the first few games when things were a whole lot more abstract, but what I've played of 6, 9, and 12 do not have any.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I would like the next Final Fantasy game to be a HD version of Bravely Default. That's what I want. Screw Agni's Philosophy and that whole direction. Just give me something that focuses on Art Direction, Gameplay and Story at this point.

 

[Green Mamba]

I think FFXV will be the first game in the series to have a more action oriented battle system.

I certainly hope not--that's a potential slippery slope I really do not want to see a series in such poor hands as Final Fantasy fall down.

 

[RedWaltz79]

I hope they pull a 180 and go back to a more Fantasy oriented game that has loads of CHARM. After playing Ni No Kuni and Dragon Quest VIII and Rogue Galaxy, it makes me realize how much I prefer that sort of cell shaded childlike adventure charm. They need to go back to the FFIX style of game, if only for one game and then back to their Japanese cliches...

 

[jaxword]

When did a Final Fantasy game ever have real roleplaying in it? Maybe it was there in the first few games when things were a whole lot more abstract, but what I've played of 6, 9, and 12 do not have any.

When people say "roleplaying" in regards to Final Fantasy, they mean "Given a character with some traits, but extremely simplistic ones, so I can imagine the rest, aka FF4/6/psx." They don't mean complete DnD style roleplay with COMPLETELY blank templates, otherwise FF1 and FF3 (and the online ones) would be the most popular. Perhaps this is why FF11 is still doing well.

See, as the FFs get more detailed, the characters get more of their own personalities and voices. Everyone heard Cecil and Terra in the voices they imagined. They imagined the body language of the tiny sprites in their heads. They read some text as shouting and some as quiet. They saw the characters flirt as they wanted them to flirt. The towns of 3 shops and 4 NPCs are FAR bigger than what's on screen. The characters could buy Magical Ice Armor and look exactly the same, but in your mind they had this cool silvery shimmering outfit. Basically, you could imagine almost anything you wanted based upon those little details.

With full-on motion capture and voice acting, it's like watching a movie. Your imagination can't create details because the details are ALREADY there.

The arguments about old vs. new FFs are basically the same as The Book vs. The Movie. Books give your imagination the room to see and hear what you want. The Movie tells you. Very different experiences.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I certainly hope not--that's a potential slippery slope I really do not want to see a series in such poor hands as Final Fantasy fall down.

Never TO a great ARPG battle system, always AWAY from turn-based, and damn the quality of the destination.

 

[Midou]

The arguments about old vs. new FFs are basically the same as The Book vs. The Movie. Books give your imagination the room to see and hear what you want. The Movie tells you. Very different experiences.

But there are new RPGs that have elements like older FFs, like Ni No Kuni, got the world map, towns, exploration and all that. FF does not have to go in the direction of FFXIII, they specifically chose to do that. It's possible to have a movie that reads like a book? Or something.

 

[Box]

When people say "roleplaying" in regards to Final Fantasy, they mean "Given a character with some traits, but extremely simplistic ones, so I can imagine the rest, aka FF4/6/psx." They don't mean complete DnD style roleplay with COMPLETELY blank templates, otherwise FF1 and FF3 (and the online ones) would be the most popular. Perhaps this is why FF11 is still doing well.

See, as the FFs get more detailed, the characters get more of their own personalities and voices. Everyone heard Cecil and Terra in the voices they imagined. They imagined the body language of the tiny sprites in their heads. They read some text as shouting and some as quiet. They saw the characters flirt as they wanted them to flirt. The towns of 3 shops and 4 NPCs are FAR bigger than what's on screen. The characters could buy Magical Ice Armor and look exactly the same, but in your mind they had this cool silvery shimmering outfit. Basically, you could imagine almost anything you wanted based upon those little details.

With full-on motion capture and voice acting, it's like watching a movie. Your imagination can't create details because the details are ALREADY there.

The arguments about old vs. new FFs are basically the same as The Book vs. The Movie. Books give your imagination the room to see and hear what you want. The Movie tells you. Very different experiences.

I don't see it, really. You have to go on what's in the game. Now I haven't played every Final Fantasy game and I've only gone and beaten a few of them, but from what I have played, none of them really provide an avenue for roleplaying. You can do it, but it's completely independent of the game. They don't give you diverse dialog options or let you create your own story. Sidequests take a backseat to the main plot that is fundamentally linear and driven by the story of the game. And there's no character that serves as an avatar for the player, they all talk and they all have their own stories.

It's interesting that you mention that the earlier ones are like books, because books are not roleplaying devices either. Maybe some things can be vague or up to interpretation, but they're still telling you the story. You don't really get to decide what happens, and you don't even really get to decide why things happen. I don't think it's a big deal or a knock against FF, but I can't really say that roleplaying is a big element of the series.

 

[jaxword]

I don't see it, really. You have to go on what's in the game. Now I haven't played every Final Fantasy game and I've only gone and beaten a few of them, but from what I have played, none of them really provide an avenue for roleplaying. You can do it, but it's completely independent of the game. They don't give you diverse dialog options or let you create your own story. Sidequests take a backseat to the main plot that is fundamentally linear and driven by the story of the game. And there's no character that serves as an avatar for the player, they all talk and they all have their own stories.

It's interesting that you mention that the earlier ones are like books, because books are not roleplaying devices either. Maybe some things can be vague or up to interpretation, but they're still telling you the story. You don't really get to decide what happens, and you don't even really get to decide why things happen. I don't think it's a big deal or a knock against FF, but I can't really say that roleplaying is a big element of the series.

It's the illusion of choice that the earlier ones had. The story was controlled, but there was the illusion of player avatarism and player control over the actions of the characters. A good example is FF6. There's a few times when the character has to choose between doing X or Y or Z...however the outcome of the story is EXACTLY the same either way. Later rpgs do the same thing but I use FF6 as a good example as it gets touted for having a "branching storyline" when it really does not.

Same with the overworld--objectively, the overworlds of the earlier FFs were just as "on rails" as the current ones. The player could wander into some forests or off to the sides of the map, but they'd always meet some sort of barrier and thus, 2 minutes later, have to go to the cave or path the game intended them to go all along.

It's all an illusion of role playing, and the lack of details in the earlier FFs allowed for this. The more detail, the less immersion/"role playing."

 

[caffeware]

...

 

[Box]

It's the illusion of choice that the earlier ones had. The story was controlled, but there was the illusion of player avatarism and player control over the actions of the characters. A good example is FF6. There's a few times when the character has to choose between doing X or Y or Z...however the outcome of the story is EXACTLY the same either way. Later rpgs do the same thing but I use FF6 as a good example as it gets touted for having a "branching storyline" when it really does not.

Same with the overworld--objectively, the overworlds of the earlier FFs were just as "on rails" as the current ones. The player could wander into some forests or off to the sides of the map, but they'd always meet some sort of barrier and thus, 2 minutes later, have to go to the cave or path the game intended them to go all along.

It's all an illusion of role playing, and the lack of details in the earlier FFs allowed for this. The more detail, the less immersion/"role playing."

Maybe. I can see how that might make a difference, though I don't personally consider it important and would not call it roleplaying.

Still, that's not necessarily the same perspective as Ito and the OP who I was directly responding to. I don't feel like the quote in question is saying that, although it may be. I'd like to hear what others who agree with that think it means, though.

 

[jaxword]

Maybe. I can see how that might make a difference, though I don't personally consider it important and would not call it roleplaying.

Still, that's not necessarily the same perspective as Ito and the OP who I was directly responding to. I don't feel like the quote in question is saying that, although it may be. I'd like to hear what others who agree with that think it means, though.

I think a good way to think about it is that "Final fantasy" roleplaying is probably not the same definition of roleplaying you're used to.

I suspect you'd probably think of FF11 or FF14 as closer to "real" roleplaying, yeah? Choose your own character's class, appearance, and they talk like you want them to talk with whatever voice you give them?

 

[Deleted member 20920]

Who decided to switch the story from Basch to Vaan during development of 12. Was that one delusional individual or a group of them.

I think the general marketing people and whoever that controls the production of games. It wasn't one individual. And was done fairly early (during game conception) and not mid way. People always made it sound like they just shoved Basch aside suddenly like a lead actor who dropped to second billing after some fallout with the producers. I would say that Vaan himself got shoved and never got the Slum Boy works his way to become a Sky Pirate plot that Matsuno wanted.

 

[ULTROS!]

I think the general marketing people and whoever that controls the production of games. It wasn't one individual. And was done fairly early (during game conception) and not mid way. People always made it sound like they just shoved Basch aside suddenly like a lead actor who dropped to second billing after some fallout with the producers. I would say that Vaan himself got shoved and never got the Slum Boy works his way to become a Sky Pirate plot that Matsuno wanted.

Actually...

Spoiler

He became a sky pilot in the end. So it was like nothing really happened to him until the actual ending.

FFXII's story can still withhold even with the exclusion of Vaan and Penelo, who were just tagging along for fun.

 

[Labadal]

What bothers me is that they can make great games. Technical issues aside, The Last Remnant was fun. Many of their handheld games have been great. They supported the development of NIER.

They know how to make good games. It's just that console Final Fantasies have suffered some. There is mismanagement in the company, but some people need less responsibility in the dev teams. Mismanagement isn't the only excuse for all FF projects. Type-0, XIII and Versus XIII? Mismanagement. XIII-2 and XIII-LR? Not mismanagement. More like milking the series. I'd be okay with that if they weren't a step down in quality.

 

[Deleted member 20920]

Actually...

Spoiler

He became a sky pilot in the end. So it was like nothing really happened to him until the actual ending.

FFXII's story can still withhold even with the exclusion of Vaan and Penelo, who were just tagging along for fun.

That is true but I seem to recall Matsuno wanting to do more with the whole sky pirate thing. I did like Vaan and Penelo's roles in FFXII and wished that they had more time to do the parts that were already written, specifically for Penelo. She was such a likeable and grounded character and yet wasn't the typical sweet/innocent childhood friend.

 

[encephalon]

I think the general marketing people and whoever that controls the production of games. It wasn't one individual. And was done fairly early (during game conception) and not mid way. People always made it sound like they just shoved Basch aside suddenly like a lead actor who dropped to second billing after some fallout with the producers. I would say that Vaan himself got shoved and never got the Slum Boy works his way to become a Sky Pirate plot that Matsuno wanted.

There's probably a lot of wishful thinking that goes on with this, although there's no real evidence of Basch being in any position to carry the story in the game. Ashe did. And furthermore, the first half of the game hints at this special connection between them

Spoiler

with Vaan being the only one who can see her dead husband

, cue mysterious music hinting at ... nothing. I've always wondered if they had bigger things planned for Ashe and Vaan's relationship (not suggesting a romance).

Oops, sorry about that failed tag. -_-;

 

[aliencowz7]

I felt exactly the same way the first time I played through the game. I didn't fully understand the relationship between all the different kingdoms, couldn't keep track of all the alliances/betrayals, didn't know what the judges were doing or why, and, I couldnt understand why Vaan and Penelo were in the game at all, lol. As a result, the story felt like a terrible disjointed mess from beginning to end. When you don't understand what is going on or why your characters are doing what they're doing, the experience becomes very boring.

I don't want to blame the player for this situation though. FFXII's story is the most mature and complex story in the series IMO, and because of that, it asks for a level of attention that it doesn't really do a good job of easing you in to.

But despite all of that, if I read you correctly, none of that stopped you from completing the game, (a 40 hour plus time investment) and the same was true for me. There was something that kept you going.

If its been a few years since you last played it, I'd recommend you sit down and give it another shot. More than any other game in the series, FFXII's story demands a second playthrough. I hate being that guy who says something along the lines of, "yeah man, you totally have to give the game 40 hours before you get to the good part," but unfortunately, it's the nature of FFXII's story. The good news is that the payoff is absolutely worth it.

It's become my favorite game in the series. I think everyone recognized the outstanding I writing and voicework from the beginning, but perhaps werent able to see it in the context of a complete story. After my second playthrough, everything came together and I was able to enjoy all of that with a good understanding of the the world and its characters.

If you have the time, please give the game another shot. And to anyone else who didn't love the game the first time through, try and give it another go. It's not like we have anything else to play right now anyway, and it still looks really good.


P.S. The monster designs and how they are animated in game is goddamn incredible.

I completed it fully the first time playing through it, all extra content included and have attempted to replay it a couple times since then to little success. Honestly the story was the least of my issues with the game though. My largest issue was that it felt like they were on the tail end of making another FF MMO and then some focus group told them to make it an offline rpg so they stripped the online out and just slapped together some characters in the character creation tool and built a story around that.

The areas themselves although large and wide open felt bland and totally lacking any kind of personality. It felt like playing a MMO once the population had died off and the areas were just landscape for the sake of landscape.

The battles were just a complete bore to me with the auto attacking between occasional skill use and if I didn't force myself to try to finish rpgs that I start this would have been the point that really made me give up early on in the game.

I also found myself taking varying levels of annoyance away from certain design decisions taken with the game such as the idiotic way they handled loot from chests or the way they handled character progression with the license board (which I think is fixed for the most part with the international edition)

I just don't think the game is for me, it pretty much goes the exact opposite in every category from what I want out of a FF game but i certainly don't blame anyone who liked those things from wanting another game like it.

 

[ULTROS!]

FFXII's location was mostly boring at the first 1/3 of the game (desert, sands, desert, sands, you get the picture). It becomes a bit more varied after that. I just don't like it that there's too many terminologies in this game, heck in fact l'Cie and fal'Cie were easier to keep track.

The battles seemed to work fine for me towards the end, then again it was similar to an MMORPG but it worked fine in the end.

 

[jaxword]

FFXII's location was mostly boring at the first 1/3 of the game (desert, sands, desert, sands, you get the picture). It becomes a bit more varied after that. I just don't like it that there's too many terminologies in this game, heck in fact l'Cie and fal'Cie were easier to keep track.

The battles seemed to work fine for me towards the end, then again it was similar to an MMORPG but it worked fine in the end.

If they had opened up Cocoon far earlier in the game, FF13 would be better received. Maybe if they'd done it about the same time as leaving Midgar.

Or at least the "it's all flashy corridors!!4" arguments wouldn't be around. I'm sure something else would've been the replacement complaint, but you get what I mean.

If I directed it...I would've done something like split the party up where one team gets the wide open world exploration and the other gets the claustrophobic-run-from-the-army feeling. Kind of surprised they did NOT do that, since they were willing to separate the teams already.

 

[aliencowz7]

FFXII's location was mostly boring at the first 1/3 of the game (desert, sands, desert, sands, you get the picture). It becomes a bit more varied after that. I just don't like it that there's too many terminologies in this game, heck in fact l'Cie and fal'Cie were easier to keep track.

The battles seemed to work fine for me towards the end, then again it was similar to an MMORPG but it worked fine in the end.

I wouldn't really argue that they worked fine, I just didn't find them very fun to play.

As for the areas, it wasn't just the lack of variety that I ended up disliking, but also the general layout of the areas as well as them just feeling soulless I guess. It's a little hard to explain but I would much rather have a huge wide open world map but then have more focused and driven areas once you actually found where you were supposed to be.

It just ends up with the developers having a better handle on conveying each area and what they want it to be about for me.

 

[Megalosaro]

That is true but I seem to recall Matsuno wanting to do more with the whole sky pirate thing. I did like Vaan and Penelo's roles in FFXII and wished that they had more time to do the parts that were already written, specifically for Penelo. She was such a likeable and grounded character and yet wasn't the typical sweet/innocent childhood friend.

Awe yeah. Penelo is awesome, albeit very played.

 

[ULTROS!]

If they had opened up Cocoon far earlier in the game, FF13 would be better received. Maybe if they'd done it about the same time as leaving Midgar.

Or at least the "it's all flashy corridors!!4" arguments wouldn't be around. I'm sure something else would've been the replacement complaint, but you get what I mean.

If I directed it...I would've done something like split the party up where one team gets the wide open world exploration and the other gets the claustrophobic-run-from-the-army feeling. Kind of surprised they did NOT do that, since they were willing to separate the teams already.

If FFXIII had:

- At least a few towns with a few sidequests, not to mention at least an arena.
- A story that relates to the FFXIII world more than the characters.

... it would get high scores and people will actually like it.

The problem here is that they focused the story too much on the characters that have one-dimensional goals, here's how I perceived their goals that haven't really changed from the beginning till the end:

Spoiler

Lightning and Snow - Focused on saving Serah
Hope - Revenge for his mother
Sazh - Save Dajh
Vanille and Fang - Destroy Orphan I think?

I'd go out and say that Vanille and Fang are probably the least one-dimensional characters because

Spoiler

they hated Cocoon but as time went by, they realized they can save a country they hated even if it comes to sacrificing themselves

.

From what I've observed, almost all the FFs I've played had characterization, but the story doesn't revolve around them necessarily, it revolves more around the world. Like take for example FFVII: you have Cloud trying to fight his personal conflicts and Sephiroth but at the same time things happened in FFVII's world

Spoiler

Mako being depleted, a meteor is crashing towards the world, the weapons rise to destroy humanity, etc.

Or take FFV where

Spoiler

the crystals are being destroyed one by one and the world begins to merge and other continents are absorbed by the darkness, etc.

FFXIII, on the other hand, didn't have much things going on around the world. Sure there was confusion and a small-scale war but the game doesn't focus on those. It would have been better if FFXIII was set during the War of Transgression

Spoiler

aka Vanille and Fang's time period

.

 

[Megalosaro]

Agreed. A big part of that is because for most of the game, the party is isolated from everyone. They're in remote locations with no NPCs to interact with other than the random boss. There aren't that many side characters, and the ones who do exist barely have screen time

 

[KiN0]

XIII's biggest issue wasn't the lack of towns, it was the lack of involvement in the world. I felt like the story could have taken place in any setting and there wouldn't be too big a difference.

 

[Deleted member 20920]

FFXIII, on the other hand, didn't have much things going on around the world. Sure there was confusion and a small-scale war but the game doesn't focus on those. It would have been better if FFXIII was set during the War of Transgression

Spoiler

aka Vanille and Fang's time period

.

It would have been nice if they had done that but even more. The game can start still start with Serah finding the Vestige and somehow manages to access Vanille and Fang's memories (via plot voodoo). For the first half we could jump between playing Vanille and Fang in the past and Serah+ Co in the future. We can have Pulse brand Serah without decrystalising Vanille and Fang early. The Purge will still happen but Serah doesn't crystalised until further into the game (and drop the whole non-mystery about why Serah became a crystal). This would at least give us more resonance with Lightning and Snow's main agenda. As players we don't quite care about Serah because we never really knew her. The first part would be about running away from the Cocoon military. Serah gets crystalised/captured in the middle and then by then we would feel more connected to her. The group would at least have a legimate and shared reason to go save Serah.

And rather than having the ultra stupid Let's Kill Orphan anyway even though we would destory Cocoon ending, let the gang find something on Pulse. Let them find the crystalisation of Fang and Vanille at Oerba and the methods to reverse the bad effects of being L'cie. At that point Fang and Vanille can legitimately join the gang and they could all go back to Cocoon to save it and Serah.

Spoiler

Sorry, can't stop rewriting FF13 in my head everytime I think about the lost potential.

 

[jaxword]

Interesting to note that a lot of people who dislike FF13 also seem to have ideas of how, if it were just shuffled and rearranged here and there, it'd be a good game.

Like, it's salvageable.

Versus, say, games that people downright say are beyond putting helpful thought into, like Dirge or Revenant Wings or FF2.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Interesting to note that a lot of people who dislike FF13 also seem to have ideas of how, if it were just shuffled and rearranged here and there, it'd be a good game.

Like, it's salvageable.

Versus, say, games that people downright say are beyond putting helpful thought into, like Dirge or Revenant Wings or FF2.

There's things that could be helpful for those titles. Problem is, very little would actually care. Especially since XIII is the most recent mainline title. Especially since Type 0 although mainline has little presence and is deemed spinoff.

Fact is, believe it or not, XIII had a damaging effect on the series brand, and it's easy to see what didn't work and what could have.

Introducing a time element could have served to bring Hope's mom back, the entirety of what makes up his character, but of course that is never explored.

It would be fair to say that the characters in XIII ARE never explored as they had one little situation that UTTERLY changes them and that's all the development they get.

That isn't rational as a human being, we change, but we change gradually. It isn't immediate.

 

[SolsticeZero]

I just want a good return to medieval Final Fantasy games. No guns, no towns with giant holographic TV screens all over the place, no cars. Just swords, magic, and chocobos. I don't mind FFIX style airships (low end steam technology and magic powered).

I want it to be a god damned fantasy again, not a cyberpunk fanfic.

 

[jaxword]

That isn't rational as a human being, we change, but we change gradually. It isn't immediate.

Eh, I have to disagree there. Shock and trauma can completely change a character. FF has a few good examples, like Cloud's complete mental breakdown, or Garnet's state of shock. Or even Sephiroth, who goes from cool and composed to...well, still cool, but sadistic and religiously fanatical. Or Kuja, who goes from a stereotypical Victorian foppish type to a rather bizarre furry deathseeker.

In fact, I'd be MORE impressed if the FF writers were to use that more. It'd be FAR more realistic to have these kids severely traumatized by the war and death they are suddenly exposed to.q

 

[MagiusNecros]

I just want a good return to medieval Final Fantasy games. No guns, no towns with giant holographic TV screens all over the place, no cars. Just swords, magic, and chocobos. I don't mind FFIX style airships (low end steam technology and magic powered).

I want it to be a god damned fantasy again, not a cyberpunk fanfic.

Play Type 0. Best of all worlds.

Eh, I have to disagree there. Shock and trauma can completely change a character. FF has a few good examples, like Cloud's complete mental breakdown, or Garnet's state of shock. Or even Sephiroth, who goes from cool and composed to...well, still cool, but sadistic and religiously fanatical. Or Kuja, who goes from a stereotypical Victorian foppish type to a rather bizarre furry deathseeker.

In fact, I'd be MORE impressed if the FF writers were to use that more. It'd be FAR more realistic to have these kids severely traumatized by the war and death they are suddenly exposed to.q

Type 0. Every character. Especially the one I adore.

 

[SolsticeZero]

Play Type 0. Best of all worlds.

But I'm in America. I can't play Type 0 =(

 

[MagiusNecros]

But I'm in America. I can't play Type 0 =(

Didn't stop me. Why should it stop you? Import. It's what I did. I don't regret it. Unless you have a moonrune shield I don't see the issue here.

 

[Kyoufu]

Would be great if Ito was given the project, but at this point I just hope Toriyama never gets anywhere near another mainline FF ever again.

 

[SolsticeZero]

Didn't stop me. Why should it stop you? Import. It's what I did. I don't regret it. Unless you have a moonrune shield I don't see the issue here.

I don't have a way to play it. I gave my PSP to my brother in Oregon. I only have a Vita now.

 

[jaxword]

Everyone seems to in agreement that Type 0 is a combo of what everyone's been waiting for.

The early reviews say it's pretty average...not Bad, though, just a bit generic...but maybe when it finally gets that Vita release it'll blow people's nostalgia.

Would be great if Ito was given the project, but at this point I just hope Toriyama never gets anywhere near another mainline FF ever again.

I think everyone agrees with this. Toriyama really has caused a lot of strife. Time for some new blood.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Last thing Ito ever did was that Guardian Cross iOS game.

He's probably on Coffee Maker and Printer duty.

I don't have a way to play it. I gave my PSP to my brother in Oregon. I only have a Vita now.

That would be problematic. Such a design flaw. Doesn't help some aspects on the JP PSN version don't even work properly on Vita either.

 

[SolsticeZero]

I've been playing Theatrythym and it's really making my nostalgia itch. I might go back and play IX on my Vita to satiate my thirst.

Last thing Ito ever did was that Guardian Cross iOS game.

He's probably on Coffee Maker and Printer duty.

I'm on printer duty at my job. Maybe Ito and I can become best friends and make our own Final Fantasy game.

That would be problematic. Such a design flaw. Doesn't help some aspects on the JP PSN version don't even work properly on Vita either.

They don't? Damn. I was actually considering getting the JP PSN version somehow since I have a spare Vita memory card to account swap with.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Ito and Tabata are the guys I look for on Square's end.

And the Bravely Default guy. Asano I think it was.

 

[APZonerunner]

Erm, what?

I'm not trusting the Wikipedia article. I'm questioning this statement:

If it helps at all, I was there and heard this exchange. Some people applauded. I don't necessarily agree with the statement (FF's issues are far beyond the power of any one individual, really) but this was definitely said. Not sure how great his English is, though, so who knows exactly how clear the phrasing of the actual question was through the slurring of an over-excited fanboy Londoner.

 

[Servbot24]

I'm the furthest thing from an FF authority (only played XII and XIII, watched someone play through VII), but it warms my heart to see the XII love itt. For some reason I thought fans didn't care for that entry, but I thought it was a terrific game, aside from a somewhat dull plot.

 

[MagiusNecros]

If it helps at all, I was there and heard this exchange. Some people applauded. I don't necessarily agree with the statement (FF's issues are far beyond the power of any one individual, really) but this was definitely said. Not sure how great his English is, though, so who knows exactly how clear the phrasing of the actual question was through the slurring of an over-excited fanboy Londoner.

If he did say that then maybe Square decided to purposely not give Ito a big project out of spite.

Crazy talk of course.

I'm the furthest thing from an FF authority (only played XII and XIII, watched someone play through VII), but it warms my heart to see the XII love itt. For some reason I thought fans didn't care for that entry, but I thought it was a terrific game.

Great game, but Matsuno's full vision would have made it a masterpiece.

 

[SolsticeZero]

I'm the furthest thing from an FF authority (only played XII and XIII, watched someone play through VII), but it warms my heart to see the XII love itt. For some reason I thought fans didn't care for that entry, but I thought it was a terrific game.

All of my friends consider VI and XII the best FF games and they hate XIII, but that's because I only hang out with good people.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

If it helps at all, I was there and heard this exchange. Some people applauded. I don't necessarily agree with the statement (FF's issues are far beyond the power of any one individual, really) but this was definitely said. Not sure how great his English is, though, so who knows exactly how clear the phrasing of the actual question was through the slurring of an over-excited fanboy Londoner.

Alright, thanks for clarifying.

 

[Midou]

If they had opened up Cocoon far earlier in the game, FF13 would be better received. Maybe if they'd done it about the same time as leaving Midgar.

I was actually discussing this with some friends before, and that was essentially what we had been expecting. Spend a few hours in cocoon then leave it for the rest of the game until later on or some such. When you finally DO get there, it's huge and awesome, but it's for like a single chapter or two.

I do still have some faith they can go in the right direction for XV though. It doesn't have to be like an FF7 remake to be good.

 

[SolsticeZero]

I was actually discussing this with some friends before, and that was essentially what we had been expecting. Spend a few hours in cocoon then leave it for the rest of the game until later on or some such. When you finally DO get there, it's huge and awesome, but it's for like a single chapter or two.

I do still have some faith they can go in the right direction for XV though. It doesn't have to be like an FF7 remake to be good.

Exactly. While I don't care for XIII's story at all, its real problem lies in the fact that it was a hallway simulator for 9/10 of the game. If they would have made the battle system more customizable and made the world a ton more open, it wouldn't have been as bad. That's why I view XIII-2 as a much better game. Is the story much better? No. But they opened the world and there was so much more to do.

 

[MagiusNecros]

XIII wanted to be a story driven game.

A shame you need a feasible scenario for that to work.

Would have been better off as Final Fantasy Asura's Wrath or just a film.

 

[jaxword]

I was actually discussing this with some friends before, and that was essentially what we had been expecting. Spend a few hours in cocoon then leave it for the rest of the game until later on or some such. When you finally DO get there, it's huge and awesome, but it's for like a single chapter or two.

I do still have some faith they can go in the right direction for XV though. It doesn't have to be like an FF7 remake to be good.

This is why, if they'd gotten the timing just a BIT better, they could have had them leave Cocoon the same time that Midgar was left. People LIKED that moment of big open world.