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Final Fantasy vs. Oblivion
An anonymous reader writes "bit-tech has up a short comparison between Final Fantasy VII and Oblivion. While Oblivion is touted as the latest and greatest PC-based RPG, Final Fantasy VII is held in the minds of many gamers as the best RPG of all time. From the article: 'At the time of its release, nearly ten years ago, FFVII received rave reviews from the press and the public, and it has a claim to being the best loved Final Fantasy game ... In a Top 100 Games of all time, it would be up there in the single digits. It is, by all accounts, Sergeant Pepper-Citizen Kane great. If something is great, it should be great whenever you pick it up -- buy a fresh copy of Pepper or Kane now and they'll still blow you away: they were great in '67 and '41, and they're great now. Is the same true of FFVII?'"
Personally, I think SW:KOTOR is the best PC (and Xbox) RPG in the last few years. Oblivion had such an open world, but just about everything was linear in it - dialog choice was pretty much fixed, and about the only player choice was whether to sneak or not for each quest. With KOTOR, there was multiple choices for practically every quest, with the 'light-side/dark-side' system. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but it certainly made it more entertaining and gave the game more replay value.
If you took someone new to gaming, and said, "tell me what an RPG is," and gave them Oblivion and and FF7 as examples, I doubt they would really be able to complete the task. Seriously - Japanese RPGs and CPRGs (I guess, for lack of a better term) are so different there really isn't any utility in classifying them in the same way. Don't get me wrong, I like them both (haven't played Oblivion yet - really liked Morrowind, in spite of its weak main story - and I loved FF6) but such a comparison just seems to me like a way to either drum up page hits or start a fanboy war.
concrete5: a cms made for marketing, but strong enough for geeks.
I enjoyed both games, but non-linear games don't really do it for me. First of all, I don't have time to put a million hours into a single game when there are so many out there to play. That's why I decided to give up MMOGs completely - or if I try one I only play the trial month and then quit (as I did with World of Warcraft and Everquest 2).
Also I just personally prefer linear games over non-linear ones - especially when it's an RPG and the story is the reason that I'm playing. Everything can be so much tighter and efficient in a game that has you follow the story closely.
For the record, I liked FF7 more than FF6 but not as much as FF9.
it should be noted that the same people who say Citizen Kane is the best movie ever are the same people who say it is the most overrated movie ever. And before you ask here is one source.
So, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility for FF7 to be the same way, afterall when something is hyped up so much, it is bound to be viewed down a bit too...
"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
Hum yes, Its not fair for Oblivion to compare it to FF4-5-6-7-9 because they're just all better in my opinion.
But lets not mix apples and oranges. FF & Oblivion are not the same type of RPGs. They're both beautiful games (in terms of graphical eye candy - for when their time anyway).
Oblivion is more about freedom, exploration and interactivity while FF is more about your classical RPG where the hero saves the princess from the raging dragon.
But i have to admit that square enyx has done a good job at disapointing me with some of their latest installments, notably, FFVIII and FFX (and x-2) I havent played the online game and not quite looking forward to play FFXII, because they've become shallow - compared to my beloved 4-5-6-7-9 whose story was quite compelling.
If you look like your passport photo, you're too ill to travel. - Will Kommen
1) By your definition, DOOM is a role-playing game.
2) You miss the point; in Oblivion, you have the choice not to play the "main quest" *at all*. When you "win" the "main quest", the game doesn't end... the only reason it's really even the "main quest" in the first place is that it's a long quest chain that happens to start with the very first quest you receive. If you want, you can play Oblivion as if the assassin's guild quests were the "main quest", beat that chain, and declare it won. That's true freedom. And the fact is, Oblivion is pretty much equally fun whether or not you even participate in the "main quest."
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