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Why does square enix not do fantasy anymore?

Posted: 21st August 2018 08:35

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I was thinking about this, because one of the last games which is fantasy was FFX arguably.

FFX still has some fantasy elements in it, and the technology was only super advanced in the one city that was destroyed.

Is this the end of fantasy? I mean Square enix made FFXV more modern day than anything else, and the setting i think doesn't fit having swords in and socery in a modern time the way it is.

Even though ff6 had gunpowder, it was at least a new weapon type, and back in the real 1700s they had muskets and uses melee weapons still, and in the 1800s as well.

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Posted: 21st August 2018 16:47

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Black Waltz
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They are far more concerned with demographic market research bullet points than making anything that anyone might find interesting on its own. They don't seem to be interested in any kind of original thought going into their games, just selling more merch.

To me, the whole of the games industry seems to be calculated utterly to the point of nauseum, by now. There used to be games that seemed like interesting takes on the tropes that have been established since the 70s, when electronic gaming started to proliferate, but that era has long passed.

Since it became clear that games were big money (ahem, looking at you FF7), rich people got dollar signs in their eyes and came in and ruined it for us, as they always seem to do.

Living in this world with any kind of love of craftsmanship or artistry is a special kind of living hell, indeed.

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Posted: 21st August 2018 23:47

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Magitek Soldier
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FF Brave Exvius takes place in a fantasy setting! There's crystals to protect, airships to ride, kingdoms and empires, magic and espers.. In some ways it's derivative of other Final Fantasy games, but it definitely has its own story, and the story feels very fantasy-like to me.

I haven't played too much of the story in Mobius, but that feels like a fantasy to me as well. You've got people taken from other worlds and brought to Palamecia, their memories lost except for their names, and one of them is destined to become the Warrior of Light.

So I'd argue that they haven't completely abandoned fantasy settings --it just might be where you don't think to look.

As for XV, I haven't played it yet, but when I saw the first trailer way back when it was Versus, I got pretty excited because I was interested to see how the traditional Final Fantasy elements would fit in a more modern setting. Still looking forward to playing the game, though I have others in my schedule to play first.


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Posted: 22nd August 2018 08:48

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I think that thing you talked about, the thing about demographics is on point.

Seems like there is simply no love.

Even ff7 had some love in it, and you could tell there was some craftmanship and love.FF9 had a lot it seemed to me, and was a fine game.

I don't know guess i lost faith in square enix to do a good jrpg.

I'm not anti sci fi if its done well.mass effect is sci fi, and i quite like the series up to the 3rd game.

Parasite eve takes place during modern era.You even got a cheesy black cop scene which is hilarious and also lovable character.

Pe2 was a great game arguably, even for its flaws.It tried to be more of a horror game.

The issue is:Square enix recycles characters tropes kids saving worlds? yeah and they focus too much on graphics.Graphics are like fireworks if just by themselves.If graphics are used well, you can end up with a world that is breathed and lived in, like the way midgar was in ff7.You got to explore midgar so you got to see what its like and feel alive.The cgi of the plate worked great.Thing is:Worlds like FFXIII you cannot really interact with the towns at all, because everything is in cutscenes 99% of the time, in fact:there is very very little interaction, so its like a beautiful painted background.

I think also having all the information about towns and plot in a huge log you have to read is a bad bad idea.There are better ways to tell a story, such as allowing us to talk to people and get a understanding or maybe having some historic relics we can interact with to learn.


This post has been edited by Magitek_slayer on 22nd August 2018 08:56

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Posted: 27th August 2018 16:52

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It's sorta interesting how FF drifted away from very traditional swords-and-sorcery fantasy starting with FF6, into making unique settings for everything, while Dragon Quest kept going with that.

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Posted: 6th September 2018 19:02

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I've looked at this thread several times trying to come up with something to say about it, but really all I have for it is the semantic argument. It seems cheap, but I'll mention it anyway - "fantasy" just doesn't mean "medieval fantasy." I think that's what you're going for, MS, trying to say that you prefer Final Fantasy games to be anchored in medieval-style fantasy (even though as you note, Final Fantasy VI itself veers more toward a steampunk-style fantasy setting). That's fine if so, to each their own! But, each Final Fantasy game is very much a Fantasy JRPG. Even the ones that skew far more modern like VII, VIII, XIII, and XV are supported by a lot of typical fantasy elements - they just aren't the elements you personally like. And I think you're confusing that point with the notion that Square Enix don't love making games any more, which is a pretty big stretch. You can hate the newest FFs all you like, that's your right, but given the development lifecycle of those games I'm pretty sure you can't say they don't care. Not caring would look more like cancelling those games entirely.

So, in that regard, yeah, I wouldn't count too much on Square Enix going back to creating Final Fantasy games that look like the ones made 25 years ago. Like GMH mentioned, you might want to look at Dragon Quest if that's what you need, or even Bravely Default. Or even indie RPGs, which in many cases look very much like what you feel Final Fantasy should be. I agree that there's still a niche that Square Enix could better fill for high-fantasy turn-based RPGs; as much as I think I'd enjoy Bravely Default I haven't had a chance to play one at all, for instance. But I think it will probably make you feel a lot better if you don't stick yourself so closely to what Square Enix used to do, in the long run.

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Posted: 6th September 2018 19:13

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Black Waltz
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Star Trek and Star Wars actually aren't the hardest Science Fiction you will find either. The former is more Space Fantasy while the latter is more in the line of Space Opera. To go really hard into sci fi used to require reading actual printed books. Gasp.

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Posted: 15th July 2020 20:24

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Really its because more or less Zipperman holding on to the series for over ten years trying to push his version of Jar Jar Binks no one liked, Lightening. Its bad enough the damage FF12 made but Zipperman held onto the series pushing a character and concept of forced hall way simulations no one liked.

He made excuses that the west doesn't understand Japanese games....what? The Final Fantasy series always had world maps and exploration was a huge part of the series. Thank god the new generation of japanese game makers (2002 - 2014) have been forced out of their positions and a new generation has taken over like Yoshi P.

FFXV was supposed to be a side game but because Zipperman held onto it so long well making sequels to a game no one liked FF13 we never got a chance to see what someone else could do with the series. FFXV as much as I liked it, the game was a broken mess.

The various episode the game was broken up into and the book should have been one game. Ardyn was a good guy all a long and Bahamut was the true villain yet they broke the game into a movie, book , and various DLC.

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