My experience in gaming has taught me one thing. A company that tries to appeal to both people who like story and people who like to punch dragons (to borrow your phrase) will inevitably turn out a half baked product. This is because both narratives and dragon punching (mechanics) are very time consuming things to create and polish.
However, you have stated that "Square is talented enough to make one game that can appeal to people of different tastes" and I tend to agree. I think that the dungeons and boss fight mechanics in FFXIV are really well done and interesting. And for what it's worth I think SE has found a good middle ground in regards to the narrative vs mechanics bit. They still focus on the storyline but they also allow players to skip through dialogue (manually) and to skip cut scenes (either manually or by checking a box in the config menu) which means that players who want to focus only on mechanics can do that- granted, they still have to do the storyline fights and dungeons but we are talking about a compromise here.
Let me put it to you this way.
You have stated that games like DotA, CS, and Hearthstone have no story. Instead, what they have is their gameplay and ability for social interaction. That is what draws you to them. And you know what- you're right. Those games are as you say they are. However, since I know what those games are like and to whom those types of games are directed at, let me ask you this. Just how unreasonable would it be for me to go into those games and ask for their core concepts to be changed so that they suit my needs?
If I did that it would be more than a little unreasonable on my end. Actually it would be outright unreasonable.
At the very least I should understand the types of games they are and who their target audience is and then I should adjust my expectations accordingly.
Likewise, you can't go into an FF game and expect the storyline to be pushed to the side- because whether you realize it or not that is what you're asking for when you say you want to bypass the 2.x storyline in favor of starting in the 3.0 areas.
(Actually, yes that did make me cringe but not because they were played out of order. Prior to XIII's launch I absolutely hated X and X-2. I felt that they were the weakest games in the franchise T_T)



Reply With Quote

