[Gratitude] PS2 Limitations

[Alhanelem]

I didn’t applaud the dev team here. I applauded Sony, since it prevented SE from turning FFXI into games like FFXIV, FF16, and FFVII-Remake.

That was never going to happen.

And even though looks are part of the game, none of these games are merely "fashion games." Not everyone cares about the look of their character, and they still play these games.

Sony played no role in this, and do not deserve applause.

Aside from this, there was little chance that such a big change in direction would have occured simply becuase of the platform the game was on.

Also, even FFXI has a substantial number of vanity items that have no gameplay function and only serve to change the look of your character. Even with "PS2 limitations," they added options like lockstyle that make it easier to create the look you want independent of gear stats (even though it's fair to argue more people use this by virtue of it preventing character blinking than anything else)

You enjoy simple, fashion games, and that’s fine.

Where's the thumbs down button?

Just because a game has deep character customization doesn't mean it's "simple," or has to be. There is literally no connection between character creation options and gameplay- they are not mutually exclusive. THere are many amazing games out there that have great character customization and also great gameplay. You don't like FFXIV (or any other game for that matter)? That's fine. The only reason I have an issue with your post is the blanket assertions and over-generalizations you keep making. I like challenging games too. The reality is, there is challenge in these games you call "fashion games," if you take the time to look. Your dismissal of games because they have a lot of customization for your character is ridiculous at best. It's going to lead to you ignoring some great challenging games in the future just because they have "fashion."

I say FFXI is protected, and FFXIV is a waste of time fashion game.

You're wrong on both counts. FFXI is in some danger of being lost to time because the game was prevented from adapting. And FFXIV is far more than just a "fashion game." It certainly isn't the reason I play it, anyway. The association you create between depth of character customization and lack depth in gameplay is entirely false and imagined. Now, there are actual games that are entirely about fashion (especially on mobile) that don't have any other gameplay elements at all, and I actually do think those are dumb. But none of the games you mentioned are like that.

Frankly I really hope that this post is really just some silly hot take where you take an unpopular opinion just to create controversy (aka, troll bait.) Limitations (in general) can be a good thing because they can force developers to be creative to solve problems, which leads to better design and programming practices and means future games can be even better as a result. But that's not the case here, and it didn't need to be that way. FFXIV dropped the PS4 pretty quickly, because it was getting in the way of a lot more than just pretty graphics- it was actually getting in the way of game functionality.

Within I want to say 5 years of FFXI"s release, the vast majority of console players had already moved on to the next generation of consoles, and the people who were still playing FFXI on PS2, it was most likely the only thing they were doing with their PS2s by that point. The lack of PS3 compatibility was certainly a factor in why some people left FFXI and never came back.