What's Final Fantasy?

[Xeni]

Breaking my Lurkishness and actually posting to tell SE; Watch this video and put your god damned magic into this game!

[Nuru]

Breaking my Lurkishness and actually posting to tell SE; Watch this video and put your god damned magic into this game!

Awesome first post! Welcome to General! lmao, you may or may not get used to it. x-x

[Xeni]

XD ty. I've been reading this board for months. Video gave me the Goosebumps!

[Eldaena]

I'm really glad a lot of you liked this. Even enough to bring Xeni around to posting. =p

[Firon]

This Video was good and i liked every FF i ever played from the main series and XIII being in my Top 5 Lighting being my second fav FF char now cause i like games with strong female leads like Metroid

[Zantetsuken]

Matsuno didn't even want him in there in the first place. Vaan only exists due to SE corporate and marketing having their way once Matsuno was released from the project. In short, he was SE's attempt at pandering to the demographic I mentioned.

Fascinating~ I never knew that...

It makes sense because as a main character, Vaan is an almost completely insignificant tag-along.

On the other hand, casting Balthier main character makes much more sense as it adds much considerable weight to the struggle with Gabranth. In fact, looking back on his in-game dialogue, the references to himself as the "leading man" seem to be a not-so-subtle jab at the inclusion of Vaan.

I really did enjoy FFXII though.

[Eldaena]

Fascinating~ I never knew that...

It makes sense because as a main character, Vaan is an almost completely insignificant tag-along.

On the other hand, casting Balthier main character makes much more sense as it adds much considerable weight to the struggle with Gabranth. In fact, looking back on his in-game dialogue, the references to himself as the "leading man" seem to be a not-so-subtle jab at the inclusion of Vaan.

I really did enjoy FFXII though.

Nice Signature. =p

[Shai]

He hardly counts as Matsuno didn't even want him in there in the first place. Vaan only exists due to SE corporate and marketing having their way once Matsuno was released from the project. In short, he was SE's attempt at pandering to the demographic I mentioned.

Of course as I implied, most of that post was in jest anyway.

The conjecture was - since the merge SE has made worse Final Fantasies and you're saying the same thing using different words as a defense. SE has made some pretty bad choices since 2000. Vaan is one of them.

[Shai]

You know, one thing that is hard to convey in an MMO is "world-changing."

Some of you have listed tangible things that make "Final Fantasy" what it is (such as crystals, chocobos) but I think that's small picture stuff. The scope is too narrowed.

Personally, I think Final Fantasy has always been great due to a few things. A sense of exploration is one of them. This is XIII's biggest weakness and I think most critics agree the best part of XIII is exploring Pulse. XI did a good job of this as you were barred from areas in several ways - either plot related or due to monsters that would tear you a new one just for trespassing into their territory.

I was Rank 30 when I got to both Camps in Mor Dhona. XIV has good exploration but it's over too quickly (and the fact that once you've seen a zone, you seen about 80% of what that zone has to offer). The ride is simply over too quickly in XIV (so far). It should have been different, more diverse, and/or barred access to pieces. There are plenty of unimplemented things, but that's not what I mean. I mean - something you could work toward to explore a new chunk of the world. That isn't there once you have seen Mor Dhona.

I also think (as I mentioned) player driven meaningful changes to the world aren't happening. We aren't rescuing any Princess Sara(s) or rekindling the light in any crystals. We don't even know who our enemy is. We spend the entire story chasing shadows and pulling at straws. We learn practically nothing. We influence nothing. The finale is basically an epic let down (epic to watch; let down cause you are humbled and have to pick up the pieces). I feel XIV has a strong story and I like where it's going. I expect the next chapter to have some meaningful things but so far it's missing. I think XIV will have a good "Final Fantasy" story once they stop not-telling-us everything and start understanding the Echo, Primals, Garlean objectives, etc.

I think I've said enough for now. I think these are two distinct "grand picture" differences between XIII, XIV and the rest of the series.

[Eldaena]

You know, one thing that is hard to convey in an MMO is "world-changing."

Some of you have listed tangible things that make "Final Fantasy" what it is (such as crystals, chocobos) but I think that's small picture stuff. The scope is too narrowed.

Personally, I think Final Fantasy has always been great due to a few things. A sense of exploration is one of them. This is XIII's biggest weakness and I think most critics agree the best part of XIII is exploring Pulse. XI did a good job of this as you were barred from areas in several ways - either plot related or due to monsters that would tear you a new one just for trespassing into their territory.

I was Rank 30 when I got to both Camps in Mor Dhona. XIV has good exploration but it's over too quickly (and the fact that once you've seen a zone, you seen about 80% of what that zone has to offer). The ride is simply over too quickly in XIV (so far). It should have been different, more diverse, and/or barred access to pieces. There are plenty of unimplemented things, but that's not what I mean. I mean - something you could work toward to explore a new chunk of the world. That isn't there once you have seen Mor Dhona.

I also think (as I mentioned) player driven meaningful changes to the world aren't happening. We aren't rescuing any Princess Sara(s) or rekindling the light in any crystals. We don't even know who our enemy is. We spend the entire story chasing shadows and pulling at straws. We learn practically nothing. We influence nothing. The finale is basically an epic let down (epic to watch; let down cause you are humbled and have to pick up the pieces). I feel XIV has a strong story and I like where it's going. I expect the next chapter to have some meaningful things but so far it's missing. I think XIV will have a good "Final Fantasy" story once they stop not-telling-us everything and start understanding the Echo, Primals, Garlean objectives, etc.

I think I've said enough for now. I think these are two distinct "grand picture" differences between XIII, XIV and the rest of the series.

I was thinking along these lines as well. I can remember progressing through storylines in final fantasies and coming across new places, npcs, situations...it kept things moving and interesting...and right now I don't feel that in FFXIV. I'm sure as new content comes out it'll be better...but it always felt like Final Fantasy games I played have people having to push their limits and their physical boundaries in the world in order to find their truth. Going to places that probably even the characters never thought they'd have to progress to. And they always seem to become wrapped up in things so much bigger than themselves...I guess this is what I miss in FFXIV.