We give Square Enix some friendly tips for keeping the Fantasy alive.
PUT THE “FANTASY” BACK INTO “FINAL FANTASY”
Fantasy is probably my favorite genre of fiction. As a kid I’d daydream about swinging swords, casting spells, and defeating hulking monsters. My exposure to Final Fantasy was those first three games released in the United States, and I marveled at all of the awesome weapons, magic attacks, monsters, and locations. Getting into an airship for the first time blew my mind.
And then Final Fantasy VII happened.
Suddenly, Final Fantasy was less about fantasy and more about sci-fi. Enemies had machine guns, tanks, and helicopters. Magic seemed somehow out of place in this world, and I couldn’t quite wrap my head around a protagonist that chose to bring a sword to a gunfight. The series was changed after that moment; after a return to tradition with FF IX the games became stories set in hybridized worlds such as Spira or Cocoon. Sure, the games still had swords, magic, and monsters, but something felt off. The fantasy was gone.
So let’s get back to that. For Final Fantasy to continue, it needs to embrace its roots while also taking note of modern game design. It’s high time for the series to go back to creating worlds based on magic and medieval aesthetics. Imagine exploring a location like the Kingdom of Baron or The Veldt with current generation technology. Imagine seeing magic spells that fill the screen with power and fury, like that good old Ultima spell. Imagine characters wearing intricate armor and wielding powerful weapons that would make Robert Jordan proud.
While we’re at it, let’s bring back the diversity to the party. There was a time when the party lineup for a Final Fantasy game ran the gamut. You had everything from twin magicians to wise-cracking ninjas to wizened old sages. You could team up with moogles and yetis, or roll around the world with middle-aged knights and feral children. Lately, the cast of any given Final Fantasy game looks like it’s part of a Japanese modeling campaign as opposed to characters on a quest to save the world from evil. The best fantasy stories bring in characters from all walks of life and experiences. Final Fantasy should reflect that again.
I’d also love to bring back true exploration. Since FF X, the concept of an overworld has simply vanished, and with it that thrill of exploring the world from above in a wicked cool airship or equivalent. I want to see an expansive world to experience as I see fit. There’s that whole “choice” aspect again. How amazing would it be to traverse an area as large as Skyrim, but with traditional Final Fantasy design and story elements? This may require that the game have a more limited scope than previous FF games, or perhaps the graphics would have to take a hit in quality to allow for the amount of places to go. I think this is a fair tradeoff. I’d much rather play a 40 hour Final Fantasy game that gives me the freedom to explore and take in the sights than a 70 hour game that funnels me down a corridor.
Step 1: FIRE TESTUYA NOMURA (I'm so glad you mentioned that in this list, you just earned about 1,000,000,000 points from Retro Rampage)
Step 2: Let Yoshitaka Amano design all of the characters. ALL THE CHARACTERS.
Step 3: MAKE SURE NOMURA IS COMPLETELY FIRED.
Step 4: Did I mention fire Nomura? We don't need zippers and belts on everything.
Step 5: Return the Active Time Battle, for fucks sake - don't fix what isn't broken.
Step 6: ??????
Step 7: Profit.
And here I was thinking I'd have to defend my position on Nomura. Well played!
I'm sure there may be some tweens out there that heart Nomura, but I'm a Final Fantasy purist, and over the years have developed a love for Amano's work, though perhaps not as much as my co-host has, but to me, that's what gave the characters that extra depth. The facesets in FF6 were in that Amano-watercolor style, and it really added some character to what otherwise would be some generic anime face (no offense Dragon Quest/Warrior fans).
I am sick of that hair. I am tempted to put some of Akihido Yoshida work on my desktop.
I'm clicking an imaginary favorite button. Man I miss Amano....
Oh! What about whoever did the art for that El Shaddai game. Takeyasu Sawaki was it? Man could you imagine him and Amano working together on an FF game?
And I'm clicking an imaginary Like button as well, and if Amano and him worked together, I think it would introduce the character and art design that Final Fantasy has so desperately needed all of these years.
I agree with your article almost completely.
I personally would not want any Western influence at all in Final Fantasy- in fact, I want it to be MORE Japnanese. They already tried the whole Western influence in XII, and while it is unarguably the single greatest game in the series, Square could never hope to bring in Western elements more perfectly than in XII. As much as people bitch (most of whom, I would bet haven't played through an entire FF game since VII), the North American reception of XII proved that the average gamer wasn't all anymore accepting of a Final Fantasy game, no matter how much innovation or outside influence Square weaves in. Haters gonna hate, as they say.
The only real divergence I have with your thinking is loot. Fuck loot. This isn't WOW. Just bring back the concept of individual peices of equipable armour and I'll be happy.
I especially like your suggestions for choice. Optional time and dialogue with party members would be a great, I want the characters to feel human and relatable again. I think little things like that help. I'd like to see a return to the exploration that was present in FF12 too. It wasn't too open or linear, it was just right and it's a shame they never did anything like that again. I just want the world and characters of Final Fantasy to feel alive again. If that makes any sense..
Also, I don't mind Tetsuya Nomura and I really like the work he's done. But I think he could use a break from Final Fantasy. I do really love the art direction for Versus though <3 Anyway, I like the thought of brining Amano back but something new and fresh would be welcome too.
It's too bad they couldn't have kept Yasumi Matsuno and Hitoshi Sakimoto. Final Fantasy XII fit the bill of nearly everything you just described.
True, I actually really enjoyed XII. A lot of people really hate it which kind of baffles me but eh, to each their own.
NOMURAAA! Honestly I kind of liked his designs on VII and VIII, but compared to Amano they just come off kinda of flat . Just when we were getting to a level of graphical power that would do Amanos' designs justice He leaves and we get zippers and feathered hair on everyone. He realy has drove the series into the ground style wise.
Turn based combat needs to be brought back. Atlus realized people didn't like AI controlling the party after Persona 3 and gave you the option of semi AI or full control of your party in Persona 4. If I wanted to play an action game or an action rpg then I will play DMC or Skyrim. When I play a JRPG, other than Star Ocean or Tales, I expect a it to be turn based.
Variety in party composition is another spot on point. Both for the sake of the story and the combat system. This is why FFIX is one of my faves. You have a varied cast with specific abilities, strengths and weaknesses, but unlike FFIV, you have control of who is in your active party(most of the time). Putting together the right party is half the startagy and the fun of these games.
Althought not a straight up loot game, gear has had a more important role in FF games in the past but for some reason they have drifted away from that which sucks. You play damn near 3/4 of the way through XIII before you can even modestly upgrade your weapon much less anything else. FFVI was pretty good in the gear department, left hand, right hand, body, head, and two spots for relics that could be anything from speed boots, to a ribbon, to a magic exp amping egg. VII had materia and IX let you actually forge weapons from old gear. And you didn't have to wait 3/4 of the way through the game before you could find or make some cool stuff.
Anyway I think you pretty much nailed it but I wouldn't hold my breath. I have pretty much given up on Final Fantasy ever reclaiming its former glory.
Yeah, bring back the fantasy. The characters and costumes Tetsuya Nomura is designing is not fantasy anymore, becaue that's what all the kids in Japan look like in their free time. It may take some courage to finally try something new, but in Japan a better example of true fantasy that doesn't look anything like real life is From Software's Souls series. British accents and Friar Tuck bowl haircuts. Now that's fantasy!
Great article, I agree with most of your points. Cloud (Old Cloud not Advent Children emo Cloud) is one of my favorite characters, but I agree that Nomura needs a rest.
Two things that I want to point out, while I agree that choice is important in a video game and that armor customization would be awesome in Final Fantasy - I am getting tired of the Bioware conversation tree formula. In fact, I have begun specifically playing games like Tales of Vesperia because sometimes a linear story is great. Sure having conversation trees with your party members makes you care more about them and should be embraced but for the main story arc - sometimes I just want to be surprised.
Secondly, I'm not so hot on the ATB system. Sure they could add more animations for the same attack, but how many are they really going to add? Enough that I still don't wish I could skip past it in a 70+ hour game? Watching combat and clicking through menus just seems so passive to me. One of the greatest rpgs of this generation, Dragon Age Origins, nailed it perfectly where combat was still slow enough that you could appreciate the fight and yet involved enough that you were constantly switching tactics, fighting with different weapons and armor, and bringing different party members to compliment the situation.
I enjoyed your post on this and agree on many of the points. FF was a staple for me for many years. FF12 was the first one I have not finished and FF13 I never even played. I won't go into terrible detail, but the ATB is one thing I missed as well as the fantasy elements as opposed to modern.
I just want to give major props for the Robert Jordan comment. He was my favourite author and wrote what I think is the best fantasy series of all time.
More high fantasy in Final Fantasy would bring the series back to it's roots in a big way.
Good points, and all of those elements were present in their earlier games. Their failing with this series is that they kept drifting further and further away from the core mechanics that made the series work. For instance, FF XIII battles made me dizzy after awhile, and I wasn't watching battles unfold on screen, just looking at text. I did not have fun with that. They didn't put in fresh ideas that charted "good" new territory. They do too much rehashing instead of evolving. Also, sci fi elements are alright, but I want a fantasy game, not a sci fi game with fantasy elements. The SNES era was the best for me.
What I would like for Square Enix to do is to form two FF teams. One, headed by Yoshinori Kitase and Tetsuya Nomura, would focus on the type of FF games that cater to fans of FFVII, FFX, and FFXIII. The other, headed by Akitoshi Kawazu and Hiroyuki Itou, with Akihiko Yoshida doing the art, would focus on more traditional fantasy settings and the Active Time Battle turn-based system. There is merit to both approaches. Remember, FFVII came into being because people were tired of medieval fantasy at the time, with that being pretty much the only trope used for RPGs for many years. The teams could alternate releases the way Infinity Ward and Treyarch do for Call of Duty. That's the lesson Square should have taken from CoD, not the game structure.
However, whichever approach they use, I want them to use the best tech available. Unlike a lot of others, I have no real burning nostaligia for 8-bit or 16-bit games, and find a lot of games made in that style nowadays look like faded imitations of the classics that were actually made during those eras. And with Tales of Vesperia, Ni no Kuni, Valkyria Chronicles, Final Fantasy XII, and Dragon Quest VIII all showing us what a talented RPG design house can do with HD technology and cel-shaded graphics being better than ever, I see no reason to revisit 16-bit graphics.
For some reason I came into this article expecting to not agree with anything, but found myself nodding along to most of it.
1. is less important to me, but still something nice. I'm not really into character building and usually follow a guide when a game has it, though I do like a decent variety of characters for personality purposes. The Dragon Quest games have a "party chat" feature that allows you to talk to your members about towns, NPCs, story events, and more, which can even give you hints on what to do. This would be something neat to have in FF games, especially ones like IV and VI.
2 is definitely it, there are plenty of (mostly cheesy) sci-fi games these days and the number of fantasy games is dwindling. I much prefer fantasy since it's much farther from reality than sci-fi, especially sci-fi games set in the future of the real world and passed off as a possible future.
3 is not exactly necessary, but can be fun if they don't overdo it. I like the second world in FFVI because the world kind of opens up, and you can go and collect lots of equipment and items, or you can go to the final battle any time you want. If the loot is mostly optional then it's a good addition to an FF game.
4 is the biggest one, for sure. I'm sick of turn-based RPGs being considered archaic and old-fashioned, and that action and real-time RPGs are some sort of evolution which makes them obsolete. This is as ridiculous as if someone claimed that 2D platformers were archaic and obsolete. It's simply a different style of game, and I don't get why any genre would be considered obsolete. Unfortunately, I think it's more a matter that most people simply don't like this kind of game, and are only criticising it to get more of what they want. Which is sad, but, these are the times we live in.
I have no comment on 5, I don't follow who works on games.
As far as I'm concerned, the FF spin-offs have been better than the main series. The Crystal Chronicles series has gotten pretty good, with Echoes of Time being a fun multiplayer game and Crystal Bearers being a unique experience with a decent story. Chocobo's Dungeon was a lot of fun as well.
Your ideas about choice and bringing back the fantasy are right on the money. I don't want my Final Fantasy game to feel like Halo! Or Call Of Duty,either. Time and a place for that sort of thing. They have strayed too far away from what made the games so amazing and memorable to me.
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