Why Final Fantasy is no longer the final fantasy

When you think of the RPG genre for console games, and more specifically, the Playstation brand of consoles, one of the first games to pop into your head will be, no doubt, Final Fantasy. There is a very good reason for this, after spawning more than a dozen direct numerical “sequels” and countless offshoots, Final Fantasy has certainly made it big amongst the genre. You’d be hard pressed to find any other RPG series as long lasting or as well founded as the Final Fantasy series. However, that said, what has once been considered the staple of the RPG genre, and more specifically the JRPG genre, is beginning to lose ground to an onslaught of newer and, arguably, better RPGs from both Japanese and American developers. Just a bit of history before I fully delve into my reasons for my argument:

Throughout the 1990s, Final Fantasy was a relatively obscure game. Focusing solely on the Super Nintendo for it’s primary games, SquareSoft (the developer) made three games for the U.S. market (Japan always got more Final Fantasy games than America at this time). Two of the games were critically acclaimed RPGs in the forms of Final Fantasy IV (II in the U.S.) and VI (III in the U.S.). Both of these games were very well liked amongst those that enjoyed RPGs, but, unfortunately, neither really received the financial credit that was due in America as they both went largely ignored by the mainstream gaming populace. It wouldn’t be until 1997 that the Final Fantasy series would really break out into the mainstay of videogames in the Western culture.

Final Fantasy VII was, and still is, probably one of the best RPGs of all time. It was the first ever Final Fantasy game to be released in Europe, and it was a smash hit in the U.S. which some claim to even help the Playstation brand overtake the Nintendo 64. It was during this “Playstation” era that I believe Final Fantasy had it’s reign. During the Playstation 1 era Square-Enix successfully launched 2 more critically acclaimed games as Final Fantasy VIII and IX. All three of these games were a marvel to the RPG franchise, each boasting unique worlds and fantastic stories that were as diversified as the teams who worked on them. Then the PS2 came out. . .

Now, I am not sure what relevance the PS2 actually had on the Final Fantasy series, if any at all. However, this is definitely when the series began a noticeable difference in storyline changes, and basic functionality changes. Starting with Final Fantasy X the series began to abandon it’s more traditional routes in order to generally appease a more global audience. This, of course, meant doing away with certain amenities and adding more customization. One quick look at the Final Fantasy X leveling system and it was very easily noticeable that changes were underfoot. As somebody who loved Final Fantasy VI (SNES) and Final Fantasy VII, this game was a stark contrast. While the storyline was still solid, the changes in leveling and the lack of a world map to explore was definitely a turn-off for me. It made my RPG experience feel overwhelmingly hollow. Of course the same can be said for FFX-2, which was, in my honest opinion, the worst Final Fantasy game ever. It was made for the fanboys of the series so they could oggle the digital beauties in the game. With FFX-2, the series had definitely hit a low point.

Final Fantasy XI, on the other hand, was truly a departure from the series. In fact, it was so much of a departure from the series that I’d argue tooth and nail that the game isn’t actually a Final Fantasy game at all were it not for the FF icons that littered the world in the shape of black mages, chocobos, etc. FFXI was an MMORPG. This, in of itself, makes the game completely unlike the others as, with an MMO, you can’t have a persistent storyline. Persistent storylines are what make the Final Fantasy series so great. Without those storylines there really isn’t a whole lot of reasons to play the game, and I didn’t.

Finally, we have Final Fantasy XII. This was the one FF game on the PS2 I had very high hopes for. After going through a considerable drought on the PS2 for Final Fantasy games I honestly believed that this one would knock my socks off. It did not. Upon receiving my copy and playing it I was soarly disappointed. Although the leveling system returned to a more traditional setting than the previous 3 games, the game still lacked a world map to explore. In addition to this the storyline was not as great as past renditions. It felt very hackneyed and the main character wasn’t at all likable. If this wasn’t enough, though, the simple fact that they turned the combat into more of an MMO type system as opposed to the oft used turn based combat was a complete deal closer. Never, at any time during my play session, did I think that the new combat system was better than the previous systems of the yester-games. It was a mockery of Final Fantasy games and every time I see the review scores ranging in the high 9’s I always find myself asking “How?”

So that’s it. There is, in my opinion, the decline of the Final Fantasy series lumped into a few paragraphs. I don’t have enough information on Final Fantasy XIII to accurately judge it, however, that said, I will be much more wary of it than I would be if the PS2 era had not been such a horrible generation for Final Fantasy. Of course, I guess this all leads back to my title, and I suppose you must be asking, “why is Final Fantasy no longer the final fantasy?” Well if you hadn’t noticed during the exact period of time as the Final Fantasy era was coming to a close was also the same era that hundreds, if not thousands, of other RPGs got their start. This can probably be attributed to the weakening of the Final Fantasy domain. Disgaia, the Tales series, Suikoden, Wild Arms, even other Square-Enix games such as Dragon Quest and Star Ocean gained dominance on the PS2. While none of them single handedly overthrew Final Fantasy brand name they did carve out niche markets for themselves out of what used to be Final Fantasy territory. Because of this Final Fantasy could disappear altogether, but it won’t be the last fantasy RPG. There are far too many household brand names of RPGs now. Of course, this goes without saying, that the reasons I highlighted in my article might not have anything to do with the actual Final Fantasy decline. Those are my personal reasons for disowning the franchise, and nothing more.

Thanks for reading.