Animation Lock: Why don't you like it?

[Molly_Millions]

Oh, a number of reasons. Bad gameplay, bad questing system, not really a lot of content, the levelling system was awful as well... Still doesn't change the fact that aesthetics are extremely important in a Final Fantasy game. It only proves a game can't run solely on looks. However, a Final Fantasy game with good gameplay that's extremely ugly will also do just as badly.

That's right, people left in droves because the aesthetics alone were not enough to keep them playing. therefore, gamepley > aesthetics.

[SkyeWindbinder]

That's right, people left in droves because the aesthetics alone were not enough to keep them playing. therefore, gamepley > aesthetics.

As I said before, a game can't run on looks alone. But Final Fantasy games, these days, can't run on only gameplay either. I repeat: If a Final Fantasy game is released that is visually unappealing, chances are it, too, will fail. For example...

I'm playing FFXIII and it has great aesthetics. Gameplay is really lacking, I feel like I'm watching a movie rather than playing a game. I do like FFXIII, but not for being a game.

gameplay > aesthetics

^^This. I, too, liked FFXIII. But, gameplay-wise, it was sorely lacking. Still, the story and beauty of the world had me hooked. Aesthetics ang gameplay = both important. But looks mean a lot.

[Molly_Millions]

As I said before, a game can't run on looks alone. But Final Fantasy games, these days, can't run on only gameplay either. I repeat: If a Final Fantasy game is released that is visually unappealing, chances are it, too, will fail. For example...



^^This. I, too, liked FFXIII. But, gameplay-wise, it was sorely lacking. Still, the story and beauty of the world had me hooked.

While it may not get as many people on board at first, any game with fantastic gameplay will keep players playing. If a game doesn't look the greatest but has fantastic gameplay word would spread and a large fanbase would eventually be created. Again, just look at minecraft. Although, for obvious reasons that model is not what SE wants. I think minecraft is just an extreme example that proves my point. ARR looks fantastic as well, so I don't think there's much to worry about in that regard. We're just talking about one particular mechanic that improves gameplay, and to my point, I'll take that over a minor hindrance to aesthetics any day of the week.

[SkyeWindbinder]

While it may not get as many people on board at first, any game with fantastic gameplay will keep players playing. If a game doesn't look the greatest but has fantastic gameplay word would spread and a large fanbase would eventually be created. Again, just look at minecraft. Although, for obvious reasons that model is not what SE wants. I think minecraft is just an extreme example that proves my point. ARR looks fantastic as well, so I don't think there's much to worry about in that regard. We're just talking about one particular mechanic that improves gameplay, and to my point, I'll take that over a minor hindrance to aesthetics any day of the week.

People who are playing games like minecraft are looking for something different than what people who are playing games like Final Fantasy are looking for. People play minecraft because they want to play with blocks. You can build things, and go exploring for more things so you can build more things. It's the game equivalent of legos.

Now, Final Fantasy, for instance, is different. The first things that people who are fans of this series critique are "How pretty does it look" and "What's the story". The gameplay comes in third. Beauty and storytelling are what FF fans are looking for. And if it's good in that regard, excellent, that draws them in and gets them to play the game. Gameplay mechanics are judged later. Come to think of it, there also wasn't much story to the early build of FFXIV 1.0 either, and what story there was you had to level up to get to it, which was hard to do thanks to the lackluster levequest system... One of the big complaints about FFXIV was that there were too many roadblocks in the way or progressing lore-wise.

[Firon]

People who are playing games like minecraft are looking for something different than what people who are playing games like Final Fantasy are looking for. People play minecraft because they want to play with blocks. You can build things, and go exploring for more things so you can build more things. It's the game equivalent of legos.

Now, Final Fantasy, for instance, is different. The first things that people who are fans of this series critique are "How pretty does it look" and "What's the story". The gameplay comes in third. Beauty and storytelling are what FF fans are looking for. And if it's good in that regard, excellent, that draws them in and gets them to play the game. Gameplay mechanics are judged later. Come to think of it, there also wasn't much story to the early build of FFXIV 1.0 either, and what story there was you had to level up to get to it, which was hard to do thanks to the lackluster levequest system... One of the big complaints about FFXIV was that there were too many roadblocks in the way or progressing lore-wise.

Everyone plays games for different reasons tho, Like me I play RPG's for this reason in this order. Combat > Story > Graphics. I love number crunching in rpg's and trying to get the most out of it so in that regard sometimes I don't even care if a story is bad in game cause when i grew up games did not really have stories anyway. It's a reason pokemon is my fav RPG cause no game can macth skill and strat of the game, you have so many options in the game and you never know what someone will come at you with.

[CrystalWeapon]

Everyone plays games for different reasons tho, Like me I play RPG's for this reason in this order. Combat > Story > Graphics. I love number crunching in rpg's and trying to get the most out of it so in that regard sometimes I don't even care if a story is bad in game cause when i grew up games did not really have stories anyway. It's a reason pokemon is my fav RPG cause no game can macth skill and strat of the game, you have so many options in the game and you never know what someone will come at you with.

I completely agree with you in order of importance, but this doesn't mean all 3 can't be improved as much as they possibly can.

If I don't like the mechanics of a game, then I have a hard time getting into the game. Beautiful graphics and an awesome storyline can only distract from so much.

If the storyline makes no sense whatsoever it also distracts me from fully enjoying a game. On the other hand if storyline is really successful at pulling me in I can overlook other flaws.

If a game completely looks like crap it will also distract me from enjoying myself as much, but it's not anywheres near a big deal for me as the above two issues.

If you can get an A+ in all 3 fields... Then why not? It's not like you have to only focus in one or the other. I think some of the graphical issues people have with ARR stem from a lack of development time. They're trying to do the best they can but at the same time they can't develop this game indefinitely. I personally think they did a damn good job in the amount of time they did it in. I also knew the graphics were going to take a slight dip because they wanted to shift things up to allow players with lower end systems to have access to the game. Again even with that, I'm still impressed with what they've done so far.

As far as animations and transitions go. I don't think they will have the game exactly where they want it on release, but it's not like they can't continually upgrade and improve after the game's release. Didn't they say they also wanted to upgrade their graphics to a newer version of DirectX in the future so that the game will look even better?