"Leave XIV Alone!" ~ Dragon Age

After spending so much time having arguments constructively critical discussions on this forum about what "Final Fantasy" entails, I'm surprised at how much Dragon Age is just rubbing my face in it.

The bard character's best and unique weapons are bows, the Ranger is heavily focused on nature and usually has a pet tank for it while it stabs sh!t in the back with a dagger, and none of the jobs are allowed to faff about and only take care of one thing at a time.

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Originally Posted by ZERO PUNCTUATION

Dragon Age isn't dark fantasy, nor is it light, gray, avocado, or caffeine-free fantasy, it's just straight fantasy classic. It's a straight-line Tetris block wiping out four big fat rows of demand for traditional single-player RPGs.

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Does anybody else think that Yoshida-san's interpretation of the Final Fantasy universe within the current generation MMO market might be (DON'T HIT ME!) fixing some of the goofier preconceptions that old-school Final Fantasy (DEAR TWELVE, NOT THE FACE) screwed up a bit in terms of "standard fantasy setting" or "hodgepodge of global traditional fantasy generalities"?

Yes I do, but at the end of the day the fans want what they've been taking for the past 28 or so years. It seemed like the Tanaka dev team was trying to crawl out of the crumbling cave that is "Fantasy" vs. "Final Fantasy" and just weren't successful.

It was a gamble that busted unfortunately.

Yoshida had to pick up the cards and take a seat.

We'll see how this hand works out.

Well, he played DAoC right? that was his main MMO? so I guess he's fond of western fantasy settings and how they are traditionally portrayed.

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Originally Posted by Junpei

Well, he played DAoC right? that was his main MMO? so I guess he's fond of western fantasy settings and how they are traditionally portrayed.

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Aye, that's what I've been thinking about. The thing is, the original point of Final Fantasy was to bring Western fantasy to Japan because it was so exotic and ... fantastic. That's why FF uses re-named versions of the American standard measurements (Yalm = Yard; Ponze = Pounds) and why most of the items in the Japanese versions are katakana of English words (Grass Viper = Gurassubaipa). It sounds more exotic.

So, that leads me back to - if the original intent was to bring all of the world's fantasy together into one lore and then transform it into their own ... maybe Yoshida, with his more expansive experience with non-final-fantasy fantasy, is actually fixing some things that have gone askew.

To be loyal to old customs for the sake of being afraid of being the "bad man" who changes them is dishonest and lazy; sticking to bad customs prevents the creation of new and better ones. (<3 You, Nietzsche!)

Not to sound like a fanboy whiteknight or anything, but... I've gotta say, I'm behind the guy.

Perceptions of what a western fantasy world should be don't worry me much. I just want the world to be internally coherent in and of itself so we don't get Phoenix Wright standing up and screaming with the word OBJECTION!

Trends, conceptions and what fantasy should be: They all mean little if a game's lore and structure can't mesh with its own principles.

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Originally Posted by Catapult

Trends, conceptions and what fantasy should be: They all mean little if a game's lore and structure can't mesh with its own principles.

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Well said; I admit, all of the "I can see this turning out pretty awesome..." I've been trying to stay positive about would be pretty moot if crashing BRD into ARC turns out as well as crashing a gay pride parade into a biker bar.

final fantasy is how many years old now? i'm sure you know the date mouse (not a dig at your age:P just meaning you know a lot about final fantasy) anyway if you are as old as final fantasy. are you the same person you was when final fantasy 1 hit the shelfs?

the brand has changed so much since the original (that was always ment to be a one off) but if yo don't evolve you die. is the new FF a good thing? if i'm honest i prefer the old FF. but maybe that is me showing my age

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Originally Posted by grandm

are you the same person you was when final fantasy 1 hit the shelfs?

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Are you ready for my Final Fantasy street-cred to hit the floor? The Final Fantasy I played was FFX (In 2002; when I was 14). I know, I know. (The shame!) X sucked me in so deep that I went back and binged the entire series in one summer hoping to find one that lived up to it. Needless to say, pretty much every single Final Fantasy beat it in terms of characters, but Spira's lore remains among my toppers. (If anyone cares, Final Fantasy Tactics for PSX was my favorite by far, XII coming in close second because I pretend that Vaan decided being a sky pirate sucked, went back to Rabanastre, and left Balthier as the main character after Act One).

As for the game aging, aye, adaptation is completely required. Sometimes I just feel that they change and cling to the wrong things, which is why I find at least 90% of the recent changes refreshing compared to the alternatives. I'm happy to see what XIV will become, it's the process of becoming and adapting to it that's got my feathers ruffled. Like they say, it's not being dead that sucks - it's getting dead. I think game evolution's kinda similar, sometimes.

Then again, if XIII proved anything, it's that they're pretty much out of ideas if they don't start making some drastic changes. So, if it prevents another XIII, change whatever you want.

i'll never forget the headline

"final fantasy 13, a fantasy too far"

i hated reading that. but i hated more that i had to agree. anyhoo i love what yoshi is doing with 14. and i even love the look for 13-2. and if SE has proven one thing over and over again, its don't count them out

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

Are you ready for my Final Fantasy street-cred to hit the floor? The Final Fantasy I played was FFX (In 2002; when I was 14). I know, I know. (The shame!) X sucked me in so deep that I went back and binged the entire series in one summer hoping to find one that lived up to it. Needless to say, pretty much every single Final Fantasy beat it in terms of characters, but Spira's lore remains among my toppers. (If anyone cares, Final Fantasy Tactics for PSX was my favorite by far, XII coming in close second because I pretend that Vaan decided being a sky pirate sucked, went back to Rabanastre, and left Balthier as the main character after Act One).

As for the game aging, aye, adaptation is completely required. Sometimes I just feel that they change and cling to the wrong things, which is why I find at least 90% of the recent changes refreshing compared to the alternatives. I'm happy to see what XIV will become, it's the process of becoming and adapting to it that's got my feathers ruffled. Like they say, it's not being dead that sucks - it's getting dead. I think game evolution's kinda similar, sometimes.

Then again, if XIII proved anything, it's that they're pretty much out of ideas if they don't start making some drastic changes. So, if it prevents another XIII, change whatever you want.

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Similar story here. X was first and I've been dabbling in the earlier titles as they've been re-released. Although I'm abnormal in that I really enjoyed XIII. And XII, although that's more to do with the game ripping off Skies of Arcadia than anything else.

Feathers ruffling for the same reason. But holding out because if Ferne has proven anything, it's that the lore masters and writers can get rather creative.