Square Enix Tids: What Are FFs? We Just Don't Know

Posted on Monday 26th November 2012 at 14:43 by Death Penalty

Strike that - now we do! At their Open Conference in Tokyo this past weekend, Square Enix presented a list of the five qualities that make a Final Fantasy game a Final Fantasy game:

Magic
Summoning
Gorgeous Beauty
Refinement
Change and Challenge

To most of us, I think, this list is rather... odd, if not optimistic. Duh, there's magic. But no moogles? Certainly no one is getting subtlety points for 'gorgeous beauty.' And, depending on one's interpretation, 'change and challenge' certainly seems arguable. 3, 2, 1, discuss!

At the same conference, Square Enix gave a look at an extended version of Agni's Philosophy, the real-time tech demo for Square Enix's new Luminous Engine. Since this extended version is still unavailable to the public (though the original is included in the second link below), I quote from kotaku: "Not only is every individual hair on their bodies being rendered in real-time but also the hairs are moving in accordance with the wind and movement of the animal. More than that, you can see the animal's refection in a pool of water-an image that is a real-time copy of what the animal is doing-that is distorted due to the depth and clarity as well as the movement of the water. But what's truly amazing about this is not only that it is being rendered in this way but also that it can be changed drastically with a click of the mouse."

Finally, a bit of old news that didn't quite warrant its own post. Two weeks ago, Final Fantasy XIV servers were officially shut down, to be rebooted with the launch of A Realm Reborn: Final Fantasy XIV, which we reported earlier this summer (release date sometime this winter). Square Enix scheduled a major 'final' battle and cinematic sequence, but many players weren't able to actually participate due to server disconnections. Looks like Square Enix will have one more thing to add to the "to do" list.

Source: Kotaku, Kotaku, Kotaku

Posted in: Square-Enix News

Written by	Death Penalty
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Comments

TheEvilEye	Comment 1: 2012-11-26 18:41
	While the list is a little strange, change is definitely something they seem to strive for with every iteration. Even FF13-2 had a lot different from FF13 with battle system changes, party selections and playable characters. Personally if I were giving a list, I would put in job classes and take out magic since magic seems to more of an RPG norm that's prevalent. Challenge seems too broad and quite varying to list as a FF reason... Oh, and airships.
Death Penalty	Comment 2: 2012-11-26 22:35
	Quote (TheEvilEye @ 26th November 2012 14:41) While the list is a little strange, change is definitely something they seem to strive for with every iteration. Even FF13-2 had a lot different from FF13 with battle system changes, party selections and playable characters. Personally if I were giving a list, I would put in job classes and take out magic since magic seems to more of an RPG norm that's prevalent. Challenge seems too broad and quite varying to list as a FF reason... Oh, and airships. Agreed across the board. One thing I would've expected would be something regarding battle type a bit more specifically: something like 'active-time yet strategic gameplay'. Or something regarding storytelling, which seems to me to be a pretty major aspect of the series, at least compared to other genres.
Del S	Comment 3: 2012-11-28 09:50
	Quote (Death Penalty @ 26th November 2012 15:43) Magic Summoning Gorgeous Beauty Refinement Change and Challenge So... Two gameplay elements that rarely have had a major story impact other than just being there (sometimes as a side effect of more important story elements), something they've only been able to really pull off since FF7 or so arguably, a vague term that means whatever they want it to mean, and then another vague term that's actually two things. They could have saved a lot of time by just going "I dunno lol" because by that logic, Call of Duty is Final Fantasy. Think about it. -You heal by hiding behind cover even after being filled with bullets: MAGIC -You can occasionally call in helicopters and bombs and missiles: SUMMONING -Everything is very pretty while it explodes: GORGEOUS BEAUTY -They add new maps and tweak the multiplayer balance: REFINEMENT -They add new guns, throw more grenades, and Treyarch try to have an actual story while Infinity Ward just blow things up: CHANGE AND CHALLENGE
Glenn Magus Harvey	Comment 4: 2012-11-28 09:58
	I would have said a technical guy named Cid, airships, moogles, an epic plot, three female protagonists, Vancian magic (including Fire, Ice, Bolt, and Cure spells), and people with crazy clothing and/or hairstyles. And good background music. Quote "Not only is every individual hair on their bodies being rendered in real-time but also the hairs are moving in accordance with the wind and movement of the animal. More than that, you can see the animal's refection in a pool of water—an image that is a real-time copy of what the animal is doing—that is distorted due to the depth and clarity as well as the movement of the water. But what's truly amazing about this is not only that it is being rendered in this way but also that it can be changed drastically with a click of the mouse." Somehow my first question is, would I want all this? Quote What are FFs? We just don't know. One might ask the same about birds.
Death Penalty	Comment 5: 2012-11-28 23:05
	Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 28th November 2012 05:58) Quote "Not only is every individual hair on their bodies being rendered in real-time but also the hairs are moving in accordance with the wind and movement of the animal. More than that, you can see the animal's refection in a pool of water—an image that is a real-time copy of what the animal is doing—that is distorted due to the depth and clarity as well as the movement of the water. But what's truly amazing about this is not only that it is being rendered in this way but also that it can be changed drastically with a click of the mouse." Somehow my first question is, would I want all this? Quote What are FFs? We just don't know. One might ask the same about birds. I'm often torn on the graphics question as well, GMH. On one hand, my favorite visual era for videogames began with the advent of 3D gaming and ended some time in the early 2000s, when graphics capabilities reached a level that no longer required them to be creative. I love that graphics restrictions forced games to be creative with their art style. Not to say that it's no longer possible - look at something like Borderlands or the Legend of Zelda games, for instance, both of which have a unique character which is indebted significantly to their art style - but it seems to be less frequent. On the other hand, I think there is something very impressive in the advancements SE is making here. If we're looking at videogames as works or art - which I think we should - such incredible detail is really impressive. As for the birds question, I would give you the Golden Mars Bar for grabbing that Look Around You reference, but Tiddles already had it in chat, hah. Also, I just knew Del was going to have fun with this one
Glenn Magus Harvey	Comment 6: 2012-11-30 03:59
	Look Around You remains my favorite comedy series. But yeah, does this mean they're basically doing Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within-level graphics, rendered in real time, now? Edit: Quote In the next programme, we will look at Dragon Quests.
Rangers51	Comment 7: 2012-11-30 13:12
	Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 29th November 2012 22:59) But yeah, does this mean they're basically doing Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within-level graphics, rendered in real time, now? Yes, and no. They have an engine that is capable of doing the things in real time that were previously the domain solely of prerendered cutscenes (or, as you suggest, TSW). However, they don't have any games that are capable of using it yet, just the Agni's Philosophy demos. Technically, that does mean they're "doing" them, yes, but not in a way that benefits any of us yet.
Kame	Comment 8: 2012-12-04 05:35
	Totally not related to the topic at hand buuut... LOL, "Look Around You" is f'en genius! A few years back a friend of mine introduced me to that series. It was even funnier when the guy who shoots eye lasers looked just like his brother.
C-Bo Wroth	Comment 9: 2012-12-14 13:11
	What they left out is that once upon a time it had amazing storyline that always kept you wanting more... instead of relying on amazing graphics to try and keep old school fans satisfied.
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