SE to churn out a FF title/year?!

[Seif]

Nvm the whole OP then. If they make every FF game a waterslide with minimum interaction from here on out then I suppose doing one every year won't be too much of a challenge.

Personally I think the sales numbers were greatly affected by the fact that it was a FF-title. One which appears every so often and the previous ones were such great games. Also XIII was marketed like no FF title before it. People didn't buy XIII knowing what kind of game it was going to be like.

While pointing at the sales is definitely a good measure I think the sales of XIII-2 will be a much more telling of what people like instead of pointing at the great junction that happened with XIII.

Every single person I know personally that has played FF games in the past (about 17) absolutely hated XIII but bought it because they say ; -quote "I thought it was an FF game".

[Betelgeuzah]

Nvm the whole OP then. If they make every FF game a waterslide with minimum interaction from here on out then I suppose doing one every year won't be too much of a challenge.

Par on course with every FF title before it, then!

An empty world that barely has you interacting with anything beyond scarce sidequests with uncomprehensible objectives. A battle system in which pressing attack and heal every 10 seconds while figuring out mind-numbingly simple gimmicks to beat "bosses" is the pinnacle of it's gameplay. Pressing X while watching cutscenes that have no interaction whatsoever. Going from place X to Y as the only means of game progression.

[Seif]

Par on course with every FF title before it, then!

An empty world that barely has you interacting with anything beyond scarce sidequests with uncomprehensible objectives. A battle system in which pressing attack and heal every 10 seconds while figuring out mind-numbingly simple gimmicks to beat "bosses" is the pinnacle of it's gameplay. Pressing X while watching cutscenes that have no interaction whatsoever. Going from place X to Y as the only means of game progression.

While I fully understand your personal annoyment of JRPGs in general I can't help but wonder why you've played them in the 1st place? I mean especially the old ones are really really long but something compelled you to go through them anyway?

[Betelgeuzah]

While I fully understand your personal annoyment of JRPGs in general I can't help but wonder why you've played them in the 1st place? I mean especially the old ones are really really long but something compelled you to go through them anyway?

While I was a teenager, my tastes were different and the FF series' story (made for my demographic) was compelling. Naturally my tastes have changed since then, just like yours, so the FF series and especially it's story (still made for the same demographic) most likely wouldn't have the same effect on you than it did back then.

Hopefully needless to say, the now-pre/teens enjoy playing FFXIII for its story, while the grumpy old men that played the previous entries are not as compelled by it yet still cling to the franchise anyway.

I also find it telling that you did not (or, could not!) refute any of the points I made, which have nothing to do with anyone's subjective opinion but straight-up facts. The worlds really were empty aside from the NPC's that only existed in the cities, the sidequests rarely gave you even remote hints as to what the hell it is you should actually do, the battles had you pressing X every 10 seconds while watching animations which were sometimes even a minute+ long. The gimmicks were simple by any standard so calling it strategic would also be the overstatement of the decade. The story did not progress anywhere until you went to the one exact place or talked to the one exact NPC and the story was the aspect that kept the game going.

The old ones are really really long because you were doing mundane crap half the time like talking to each NPC in town when all you wanted to do was to keep the story going.

Now you will probably start listing "all the sidestuff" that you "could do" in these "games", all of which could have existed without all the filler that didn't serve any purpose.

[northernsky]

While I was a teenager, my tastes were different and the FF series' story (made for my demographic) was compelling. Naturally my tastes have changed since then, just like yours, so the FF series and especially it's story (still made for the same demographic) most likely wouldn't have the same effect on you than it did back then.

Hopefully needless to say, the now-pre/teens enjoy playing FFXIII for its story, while the grumpy old men that played the previous entries are not as compelled by it yet still cling to the franchise anyway.

Fair enough.
That said, I played my first FFs as a teen, and still enjoy those ones the most. There was that "little something" (best word that comes to mind is '"atmosphere") that could not be achieved with just gameplay or graphics.

[Betelgeuzah]

Fair enough.
That said, I played my first FFs as a teen, and still enjoy those ones the most. There was that "little something" (best word that comes to mind is '"atmosphere") that could not be achieved with just gameplay or graphics.

That's because you play the "Back in My Day VII".

In my language there is a different word for experience and experience. It is, ironically, much like of a drug in that you can make it occur once but you can't simply reproduce it by experiencing the same thing again and again.

SE's games are much like it, in that they give you an experience and anything after that will not be the same. As far as being games, they don't do that well, but you are mistaken if you think that I don't keep the experience in a higher regard. However, unlike some of you I understand that it is not so simple as to play a similar game to get back the feeling (or as you would say, atmosphere) to return. Right now what makes me play their newer games is only the fact that I think they are more entertaining as games as they were before. When previously you would have been hard-pressed to play an FF title if the story, music or characters were not compelling to you, today it is possible to like the entries for being games alone. I don't have to like the story or characters for it to be entertaining.

I had my experience back then with FFX and to some degree FFXI. I still think that playing those games were the best entertainment I've had in my short life, but that shouldn't stop me from looking at them objectively and with the eyes of now 21-year-old me. When somebody criticizes FFX, I think the complaints are legit. That still doesn't take away what I got out of said game long time ago.

[northernsky]

That's because you play the "Back in My Day VII".

In my language there is a different word for experience and experience. It is, ironically, much like of a drug in that you can make it occur once but you can't simply reproduce it by experiencing the same thing again and again.

SE's games are much like it, in that they give you an experience and anything after that will not be the same. As far as being games, they don't do that well, but you are mistaken if you think that I don't keep the experience in a higher regard. However, unlike some of you I understand that it is not so simple as to play a similar game to get back the feeling (or as you would say, atmosphere) to return. Right now what makes me play their newer games is only the fact that I think they are more entertaining as games as they were before. When previously you would have been hard-pressed to play an FF title if the story, music or characters were not compelling to you, today it is possible to like the entries for being games alone. I don't have to like the story or characters for it to be entertaining.

I had my experience back then with FFX and to some degree FFXI. I still think that playing those games were the best entertainment I've had in my short life, but that shouldn't stop me from looking at them objectively and with the eyes of now 21-year-old me. When somebody criticizes FFX, I think the complaints are legit. That still doesn't take away what I got out of said game long time ago.

I was not referring to VII (more like VI, IV, or chrono trigger, which is about the order I played them, I may be a old older than you put me on), but I get your point.

But now that you mention it, I played VII a lot later and found the same addicting FF atmosphere. I played FFXII maybe 5 years ago, found it bland and boring, then actually played X after, and found it addicting with a very nice FF atmosphere.

Point is, I don't think it's just a question of "back in my days" since I did not play them in the chronological order and played some of them quite recently, plus I found some very different experiences from game to game. So I'm not looking for new games to repeat what I liked from previous ones.

I also think that those games I like the most (FFVI, VII, X, chrono trigger) had fundamental game play, storyline progression and character development divergences, yet they recreated, to me, this very unique atmosphere that makes me want to play them again today.

[AdvancedWind]

Fair enough.
That said, I played my first FFs as a teen, and still enjoy those ones the most. There was that "little something" (best word that comes to mind is '"atmosphere") that could not be achieved with just gameplay or graphics.

That's called nostalgia