So, I finally got around to watching the E3 FFXV trailer.
Honestly, I think I’m going to die a little waiting for it. (That and Kingdom Hearts III.)
I have something else to say, though. A lot of the comments on these types of videos are spouting how bad the newer games are compared to the older games. I even have a co-worker that refuses to play any MMO versions or sequels. He is missing out on X-2, XIII-2 and Lightning Returns, among others.
To be fair, I won’t play any of the MMO versions, and will agree with him there (although, XIV does look reaaaally tempting…). But it’s because I like my gaming experience to be private; I enjoy how the FF games make me feel, I don’t need to experience that with tons of strangers.
But going back; I would like to take the opportunity to speak about XIII for a bit. I got around to playing the game before I moved a few weeks ago (after Oblivion was just taking too long) and in the process of moving put the game aside for a while, and have yet to pick it back up because it will utterly consume me for a while and I have to be a functional member of society for a few more days.
But why is there so much hate for this installment? Yes, it’s linear. Yes, some of the characters (Snow) are unbearable and you mash a lot of buttons and chocobos are sorely underused and blah blah blah. But you know, some of the other plots didn’t make much sense, even if you could go anywhere at any time. Selphie made me want to wring her neck, and while we’re talking about VIII (which I LOVE, don’t get me wrong) you could say mashing the X button for your GF, while strangely satisfying, was horribly annoying too. And don’t even get me started about how pithy Chocobos are except for racing horses in X.
Each game has its goods and bads and I won’t tolerate some saying an entire game shouldn’t have been made! No, XIII was not like other games, in many many ways. But, guess what though, it’s okay to be different! They did not hurt you, they did not abuse your trust, they are not bound to make every single game perfect to your standards. They wanted to make a new type of game and they did. They have sequels because they want to expand that world, and many of the older games would be ruined with sequels, or I bet you they would make them. Some stories have more to tell, or are enhanced by more.
I, for one, am excited. I’m not saying, slap the name Final Fantasy on something and I will eat it up, but I am saying if it is done well enough I am not going to stick my nose in the air and say “I played this before it was cool, and this isn’t like how it should be, so I won’t play it, and I know better than you” (because that is the sentiment I get in a lot of comments, from all over the place, about newer FF games).
Yes, each final fantasy has the appeal of being completely different; different characters and plots and worlds so direct sequels seem complete sacrilege.
But the games evolve like the players. I was 7 when VII came out. We didn’t have consoles when I was a kid, so in an effort to read, like I was instead advised, all I could do was dream about all the characters and plots I was introduced to through the editor’s notes in all the manga I digested throughout the years. The first time a FF game was presented to me, I leapt on it.
This isn’t some Land Before Time crap where they REALLY should have never made any sequels, and now it’s out of control. This is a bunch of disgruntled boys (and girls who like to show off how they’re nerdz, lolz, but should really just be themselves, nerdy or not, since they’re trying to point out how they don’t fit the standard girl stereotype, by fitting another stereotype) who are just mad that Final Fantasy Versus XIII was pushed back because of Lightning, and now the name is changed too…
I’m not going to tell SE what to do and say stop making sequels. Maybe I’m just more sentimental than some people but I tend to fall in love with characters. If you’re presenting me with another opportunity to be with them, then I will take it. (I mean, ladies, you don’t want to ever see Balthier again?) Remember, Final Fantasy was originally a last ditch effort for a flailing company. Remember that we loved VII for the story, even though Cloud’s head was about 3 pixels. Remember that Squall and Rinoa at first were both sullen and too peppy, and hate-able, but by the end you wanted to rewatch the final FMV a bagillion times. I think we should give SE props, and let them do what they do best, and not give them so much bad flack.
Why is it only okay if it’s a spin off on another platform; why do we hate the sequels so much?
Princess Gloss 