So, I just finished Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Final Fantasy shortened to FF hereafter) and *sorta kind not really a spoiler* the ending disappointed me to be honest. Now, that's not what I want to rant about. One of the things I'd love to rant about is how mean the commenting community in Kotaku is, but that's a story for a different day. It's not too far removed from the sort of inane vitriol spouted by a lot of the internet at large but it is generally venomous and drives me to ire 9 out of the 10 times I attempt to read any of it. However, that's also not what I want to rant about (wait, I think I just did, doh!) So I read this article after seeing its video and then read some of the comments. What caused me to go on this rant is this line by the first featured comment:
"Just bring on Versus already. Please. I'm begging you. X_x"
So here's the thing: first off - disclaimer - I'm not attacking the commenter at all. My rant isn't against the comment. It's about the trend I've seen growing lately. There was this general dissatisfaction with FFXIII that has become nothing short of this epic hate train against Square-Enix (SE) and particularly the FF IP. Going deeper into this, for a second, I really find it sad that this contempt is born from a desire to like the FF games. However, this desire has turned into this overwhelmingly unmeetable standard for FF games. I really wonder if SE will ever be able to shake its history. People hold FF6 and 7 in the highest of regards. Now, on its own this is obviously a great thing but when you add to it the fact that SE has to continue to make games, and the fact that every subsequent game they ever produce that has the words 'Final' and 'Fantasy' in the title will be measured against those fan favorites, you can see where the problem rears its ugly head.
In some ways I feel like FF is spiraling into the awful place the Sonic games went to. I'll fight real hard to not digress in this direction but to make the connection a little explanation is necessary. If you're familiar with the Sonic franchise you probably know what I'm talking about. Too many Sonic fans have Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or Sonic Adventure on some holy pedestal that results in no 2D or 3D Sonic game to be released these days considered "as good" let alone better than those! It's a shame too, because while, truth be told, there were a lot of let's say poor Sonic games released in the years since the aforementioned, the newest ones have really come into their own, I think. Sadly, it seems many fans (or at least the most visible and/or vocal ones - this may be part of the universal problem surrounding comments) are unwilling to approach these games without their nostalgia glasses on; without the prejudice that says bad until proven good but ultimately damning them before the beginning of the trial. SEGA, and particularly Sonic Team, the main development team for the Sonic games, weren't afraid to experiment and take the mascot in many new, interesting, at times unfortunate, oftentimes perfectly sensible directions.
I think SE has been doing this with the FF series. FF7 was a serious departure from what the series had established but, perhaps because it was the first FF a lot of us, myself included, played (note this is one possible reason among many) there was no standard to hold it to. Naturally, it fittingly became that standard. Also of note is the fact that, although in terms of design and overall aesthetic, FF7 was indeed very distinct, the mechanics were generally left intact. I came to play FF6 well after FF7. Actually, after FF12, if I'm not mistaken. The overworld, the Active Time Battle system, the way Summons worked, character count, you name it, stayed largely intact. After 7, this pattern stayed in place up until 10. Sure, a lot of people dislike 8 but it's got as many detractors as it has avid fans and from what I hear, most of them simply didn't like the story; others took issue with the junction system, which, while pivotal to the game, was a purely mechanical element and it's kind of been a tradition of the FF games to play with the character development mechanics with each entry. We'll call 7-9 the PS era FF.
Enter FF10. This was the first PS2 FF and marked the beginning of the hate train. I'd say 10 was like putting down the tracks the train would eventually run on. Without 11 and so on there wouldn't necessarily be a train at all, but 10 is important because it was a turning point. Many things stayed the same but very important things were gone. The one that springs forth the quickest in my mind is the overworld. This is, of course, because it was one of my favorite things! Yes, the rant is personal. Was there ever any other way? They also added voice overs. FF10 has been the butt of many jokes in relation to the accidentally comical voice overs. The Tidus and Yuna laugh scene always comes to mind and pretty much makes me laugh every time. It's really a pretty poignant moment in the game but the acting is so... odd that it shoots right over horrible and becomes hilarious.
Wow, okay, it really feels like I've gotten off track. Or rather, I'm getting too granular. Cutting to the chase with the PS2 era, the metaphorical train we've been talking about starts to take shape in the form of the iconoclastic FF11 and the unexpected FF10-2. FF11 took a lot of the FF formula and defenestrated it to oblivion by making the game an MMORPG. FF11 was pretty successful and a huge testament to that is the fact that it's still around. Yes, more than 10 years after its release there's still a community of devoted fans playing it. More power to 'em if they enjoy it, I say! As for FF10-2, I think enough is said in stating two opinions: 1) Mine: I enjoyed the battle system a lot, story was meh, there's a poster of it on my wall back home :X. 2) General public as I see it: W.T.F. I imagine there must have been people out there wanting more of FF10 or else why would they have made it?
Enfranchising individual FFs is something that may've started with 10 (correct me if I'm wrong) but SE have taken that wave and are riding it now more than ever. FF10's sequel may've been planned and produced once FF10 sold as much as it did - sheer speculation - but FF13 was announced as a franchise from day one: Fabula Nova Crystallis, as they are ever so esoterically calling it.
"Jeez, can we get to the point?!" - I hear you clamoring, in a voice that is 98% my own and 2% it's 1:30AM. (Wait I didn't talk about FF12, just a quick note, pretty please!) FF12 was excellent (not my favorite, honestly) but worth all the praise it got. It changed even more mechanics and old fan-favorites but the writing (localization?) was top notch, the voice acting was excellent, the story was fascinating and the world was, in some ways, what may as well be the natural progression of the overworld (can't believe I typed that). That said - this actually happened, by the way - the first kid to pick up his copy of FF12 when it released in Japan on their huge launch party in Tokyo was asked how he felt and uttered into the microphone a single request that had nothing to do with FF12 and mostly everything to do with what my rant is supposed to be about: "please remake FF7."*
Well, my rant isn't about FF7 but it stems from the fact that there's still people out there who refuse to move on from what the series used to be. Yes, it's different. It has to be! "Oh man, but don't you get it? How cool FF7 would be with FF13 graphics!" Oh man, yeah it would be so cool! But SE has shot down that possibility time after time. And that's not even the point! Right now countless people, like the one quoted in the beginning of the post, are hating on FF13-2 before it even comes out in the states; before they even play it! Also, at the same time they're hoping upon hope that FF Versus XIII will be everything they've ever dreamed and more. Now, I have to give those people props because at least they're not continuing to wonder when FF7 will come out on PS3. But wow, can they at least try FF13-2 before they dismiss it? The answer is, I can't possibly expect the internet to only say things I agree with.
I admit that in part I'm preaching to myself. I too am hoping that FFv13 is amazing. That said, I'm not irrationally expecting it to be that. I don't want it to be like FF7. Also, I really don't want it to be like FF13, especially after finishing FF13-2 and feeling like I just played a slight revamp of 13 (Oh wait, that's what it is in so many ways!) I want it to be its own things. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a fan of Tetsuya Nomura's work. Kingdom Hearts (KH) is my favorite game series of all time (one day I'll rant/rave about that one and if I wrote this much about FF, fear, just fear the length of that post *evil laugh*). The reason I mention KH is because the team behind FFv13 is made of people who worked on KH and also FF7: Advent Children, which I love. I love that movie and will probably watch it tomorrow out of virtue of simply mentioning it on this post! *awkward pause as I stare blankly at thin air* Oh, the post, right. So yeah, with people from teams who cranked out two things I really enjoy and directed by Nomura, whom I admire because he made/makes KH, I feel like I can safely have my hopes up. Oh, oh, also, FF Type-0 and Dissidia 012 (ugh, SE names, why?!) have an overworld and those were also worked on by Nomura. There's hope, folks!
So long story unnecessarily long, the lessons I hope we can all strive to learn are to take the FF games as stand-alone projects ('cept for the sequels, SEQUELITIS!), be optimistic about FFv13 but not so much that it ends up disappointing you because you thought it was gonna be practically perfect in every way - that's Mary Poppins territory and she's not letting anyone in there - and to love each other.
*total paraphrase pulled from memory
tl;dr -> please don't ruin FFv13 for yourselves by thinking it'll solve all your "remake FF7" problems/dissatisfaction with FF13.
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