In what may be a tacit admission that the Final Fantasy series has become too staid even for Square Enix, CEO Yoichi Wada has said he thinks the company needs to move on from the established Final Fantasy formula.
In his recent Edge interview, he has this to say:
That period [the start of franchises like Biohazard and Metal Gear] really set in stone a certain style of Japanese development, which some might say has reached its culmination with Final Fantasy XIII.
How do you think these kinds of big-budget, long-in-development Japanese games stand up in the current climate?
I believe Final Fantasy XIII is going be something special, and that it’s going to be well received by the audience.
But whether we are going to continue to internally create this type of game remains to be seen, because I actually feel that the team that was involved with Final Fantasy XIII should next move on to create and generate some ‘next generation’ forms of play.
Internally and externally I feel there’s an expectation of Square Enix to offer something new, and I really think that the Final Fantasy team could create something completely different, but at the moment they’re strictly catering to the particular audience they have now.
Combined with his admission that he would consider having Final Fantasy titles developed overseas, and that he is personally a fan of western games, to say nothing of sacking large numbers of Japanese employees whilst procuring a western developer, it appears some big changes may be in store for both Final Fantasy and Square Enix.
Oh well it’s about time, New franchises plz? no more sad ppl.
Essentially I think it meanswill go the same way as front mission series, what was once a good stratagy mech game they turned into lazy mans dumbed down kiddie action game. I think reading this FF will just end like a platformer or action game series from now on. Tbh FF13 to me imho felt more like action game than rpg was just too linear or more like you watching a movie where they throw you bread crumbs few minutes play between scenes before next part of movie plays imo.
What a shame, Final Fantasy is awesome.
A big issue is that the characters are becoming too human-looking. I think we all thought they learned their lesson from ‘Spirits Within’ when they went to do stuff like FF9 or 11 (10 sort of had the same issue but at least had badass 1-armed hellions and furries) but then they resort to the whole pop culture pretty boy stuff that’s just not memorable.
We get more attached to odd-looking sprites like in 4/6/7 don’t we? Then even when the graphics get tailored up it doesn’t matter since they’re in our hearts.
But when it looks like Advent Children to begin with, there’s not a chance.
7/8/9 were memorable because they had good story and what the latest FF games lack… freedom. Personally i liked Advent Children though but disliked Spirits Within 😛
Basically I’m going to say what a lot of fans have had on their mind for years but haven’t gathered the courage to say what needs to be said….and that is Square[soft] undeniably has went downhill ever since merging with Enix. It has. The ultimate culmination of this fact is presently seen. You cannot, absolutely cannot, have a single, company-founding game in development for the better of 5 years and be THIS detached from the core of what your audience wants and what you ought to know what is required to make a masterpiece. It’s embarrassing, delusional for all the factional teams involved in the development, and downright grounds for a serious internal review of design using 1997 as a ground zero template.