What consumers expect of a FF-title

[Lakefingers]

Just look at how badly FF12 did to see that they didn't just sell well off the back of the name. People don't like the kind of depth you're talking about. Still, I think FF13 was a little too stripped back. Not to mention it needed a better storyline, had FF13 had a better set of characters and plot I would be fine with a mainly plot oriented style, The new Metal Gear did this brilliantly.

[grandm]

B-B-BUT GUYS FINAL FANTASY HASN'T BEEN GOOD SINCE 10. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE I'VE PLAYED EVERY SINGLE TITLE AND GAVE IT A FAIR SHOT AND I'M NOT JADED TOWARDS THE LACK OF TURN BASED COMBAT.

The Final Fantasy fanbase is a joke, what's new?

i like brown sauce on my bacon sandwiches and hot water in my bath. there is nothing wrong with knowing what you like. and one day when you grow up, you will know your own mind

[Buddhsie]

Wait, are you saying that you DON'T think a remake of a 10+-year-old game on with an expensive HD budget helmed d by a guy who has clearly lost his edge is going to be able to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Bethesda and Bioware, or even future entries of its own series? Are you saying instead that Final Fantasy should look to the future instead of the past?

Get out of here, Betelgeuzah.

The fact that people buy games made by Bethezda is baffling. EVERY SINGLE game they make is complete garbage. Dat gameplay...

[Lucifer]

Just look at how badly FF12 did to see that they didn't just sell well off the back of the name. People don't like the kind of depth you're talking about. Still, I think FF13 was a little too stripped back. Not to mention it needed a better storyline, had FF13 had a better set of characters and plot I would be fine with a mainly plot oriented style, The new Metal Gear did this brilliantly.

FF12 was lacking elsewhere. Depth was not the issue. Regardless, I thought FF12 was amazing.

[Zezlar]

XII and XIII were awesome in their own way. They changed it up, and in my opinion they delivered. I own every FF they released in the U.S. However XIV was the only one that I was disappointed with (at launch). The only reason i'm still here is because the dev team is now delivering, and promising something better.

Dalamud/Nael van Darnus has me interested.
Ifrit/Moggle Mog XII/Batraal fights are all fun as hell.

Story/Gameplay are the most important to me. Need to have both.

[Zantetsuken]

FF12 was lacking elsewhere. Depth was not the issue. Regardless, I thought FF12 was amazing.

FFXII was fantastic, but I agree that it wasn't perfect.

• Battle system on auto-pilot made the combat too easy. Gambits should have been disabled for active character.
• License board erased distinction by endgame - Intl. Zodiac version fixed this with job boards.
• The story was sober, complex, and subtle -- like all Ivalice stories -- but I think Yazumi Matsuno's exit resulted in a loss of focus at the end.
• Van was a bland character and lacked the depth found in the other cast members. The game would have been stronger if Ashe remained center stage.
• Some of the monsters were a bit silly looking.

Those issues aside, I think FFXII was one of the best in the series.

Unlike the 'RPG on rails' style of FFX and FFXIII, it had a relatively open world with lots to explore and do. It may not have had the emotional moments that FFX or FFVII had, but it was also free of the sappy and cliched dialog that plagues the more 'emotional' FF stories.

I seriously hope SE considers an HD (and 3d) re-release for the Intl Version of FFXII. I'd be first in line for it.

[Burn]

The gaming industry has evolved, SE is still living in the last decade. Thats not going to change until you get new blood in there who have bright new ideas.

[Zezlar]

The gaming industry has evolved, SE is still living in the last decade. Thats not going to change until you get new blood in there who have bright new ideas.

No they're not. They're moving forward, and that's what people are complaining about. They are changing the formula too much. Call of Duty for example is the same old crap every year, and yet the sales continue to rise (even though people complain they want change). People are afraid of change, and prefer to settle for mediocrity.

[Holy_Dragoon]

The problem with that is FF was not mediocre to begin with. They started good, perfected it (for game generation X), then changed decided to radically change the formulas instead of gradual changes into the current generation.

[Zezlar]

The problem with that is FF was not mediocre to begin with. They started good, perfected it (for game generation X), then changed decided to radically change the formulas instead of gradual changes into the current generation.

You're right. The old formula is a great one, but they couldn't rely on it forever. Look at Lost Odyssey for example. Critically it got slammed even harder than FFXIII did, and it used that same formula. They have to evolve over time or people will start to complain, but in this case people are complaining anyways. Final Fantasy doesn't need to evolve, the fans do, or they need to find something else to play.