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Final Fantasy XII First Mentioned
According to a story over at GamerFeed, Square-Enix has said that Final Fantasy XII will appear at the Tokyo Game Show. No further details are given other than the game will be offline, as opposed to the forthcoming Final Fantasy XI. Apparently this is in response to fan pressure. Sounds good to me, too, since I don't really want to pay a monthly fee to play a Final Fantasy game.
It's no laughing matter. Making XI an MMORPG was the single worst thing they could have possibly done. The FF series has always been about RPG and RPG alone. Throwing in the psudo RPG qualities that come with MMORPG makes us true FF fans skip number 11 when we count FF games.
Of course Square seems to be kicking themselves in the face lately with FF games. The series reached it's apex with VII. VIII was good but the overcomplicated card system was discouraging and the GF system was lame. IX was too cartoony and the story too lame. X was too much graphics and minimal gameplay and the ending was terrible. X2 was the worst idea Square ever came up with at this point. You never make a sequel to an FF!! And they bottomed out at XI being even worse than a sequel.
Conclusion: let's hope Square has learned from their string of bad games and let's hope XII is a return to what made them great. Oh how I long for another game as good quality as IV, VI, or VII.
You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
All but a very small portion of the cutscenes in FFX are rendered using the game engine, not CG.
Additionally, the only reason that there seem to be so many cutscenes in FFX is because of the voiceovers, etc., which cannot be accelerated. I would be willing to wager that if you compared the amount of pure story dialogue in FFX with that of previous FFs, it wouldn't be vastly different. It just seems that way since you can't skip through it as fast as you can read as in older FFs.
Why not branch out? Taking a different approach on one isn't going to hurt too many feelings (i think after #8 it would take a lot of crap to shake off their fan bases)
I just kind of wish they hadn't wasted a number on it. They've done FF:Tactics, FF: Mystic Quest, FF: Legends, and FF:Crystal Chronicles, why not FF:Online?
Instead they've double the amount of time that those of us not interested in MMORPGs have to wait for the next main game.
All in all it's not that big a deal though, since i'm not looking forward to the new games that much anymore. I've kind of given up hope that they'll ever come out with another IV, V, or VI, or another Chrono Trigger. I've got some hope for IX, which i'm halfway through now, but a lot of people have claimed the ending sucks.
Taking a different approach on one isn't going to hurt too many feelings (i think after #8 it would take a lot of crap to shake off their fan bases)
Eh, depends on what you mean by "shake off." I've already stopped buying the games on release and have started picking them up in used bins later.
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It takes all kinds. FFX was far and away my favorite entry (I liked VII plenty and enjoyed IX too--probably the most beautiful game for the PSX ever).
I just really enjoyed a slightly greater emphasis on puzzles, the tone and atmosphere of the cast and the world. With one exception (a long FMV in the middle of the game) I thought the ratio of cutscenes to play was excellent. I really liked the fact that the main thread of the game (including the final battle) was easier to complete than in previous FFs (call me a wimp if you like). There was plenty of side play to complete if you wanted a challenge.
I loved the switch to turn-based combat--I never liked feeling hurried to make a call. The backstory was incredible, and the plot was excellent. About the only thing I didn't like about it was Blernsball. Or Blitzer. Or whatever it was. But luckily you didn't have to play if you didn't want to.
demi