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Final Fantasy Titles Need a New Theme

plower glove | May 30, 2008 | Blog | Misc 
Final Fantasy titles have gone stale and the series needs a jolt. Or a facelift. Between watered down attempts, lame spinoffs and bad branding, the once great franchise is in need of something new to bring it back to greatness, and it better be more than a clueless blond protagonist.
The allure just isn't there anymore for the Final Fantasy titles and we have to ask why. Loyal fans try to create hype, but the games are just not combining new and old expectations. Maybe it's because every game, we have to warm up to new characters and worlds. Square sets itself up for hit and miss titles with no character regularity. The only motif running through the series I can identify is a blond guy and clueless protagonists. Most of the recent Final Fantasy games (dare I say Square Enix games) have a blond hero who is completely clueless as the world collapses around him.

But it's the closest thing to regularity the series offers in its constantly redesigned worlds. I mean, at least we have our clueless blond protagonist that reassures us that the FF games are related. Right?

It's like Square is having a blond moment in its thematic creativity. They need to think of a real theme for this series to hold together.

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  • 0 thumbs!
    SSJ3 Trunks | May 31, 2008
    Yeah, Im tired of titles that are the same.. something new will help with sales no dbout.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Gothic Girl | May 31, 2008
    Tbh, I don't think they need to be changed. They need to go back to the way they were - good.

    I don't mind change in a series, but Squeenix haven't been going in the right direction.
    Lazy spin-offs, weird gameplay ideas (e.g. the random DMW in CC), cliche one-dimensional charaters, and confusing (or obscure) storylines have all been a part of recent FF games ... These are things that Square never did in the past. They never got such simple things so wrong.

    They're trying to make the series "new and exciting", but they're actually making it worse. And it's showing - Western fans are losing interest in the series.


    (haha, and they're right about the abundance of clueless blonde characters. there's so many of them!)
    • 0 thumbs!
      Final Blade | May 31, 2008
      I disagree, I find the new exciting stuff to be fresh and not the same old 5th generation style. What they really need is better storyline, cause who honestly wants to see a political storyline anyway. NO we want Final FANTASY storyline. Thats the thing thats lacking right now, imo.
  • 0 thumbs!
    cookiemunstahh | May 31, 2008
    I'm assuming everyone is hating on X-2, correct? Lol. Geeze, it wasn't THAT bad. Just a bunch of egotistical men obsessed with machismo (or boys I should really call them) pissed about the "girliness" (I am a self confessed tomboy, 1/2 Viet btw... probably more mannish than most men, but I found it to be quite enjoyable.)

    I'm amused you argue that all the titles are simultaneously "the same" while arguing that each is annoyingly completely different.

    The only themes/motifs which I find are constant between titles are the easter-egg naming (Shiva, etc) and the "naturalistic" literary themes (though this is probably a by-product of Japanese culture... many Japanese films and anime deal with this concept, for instance, Blue Seed). By "naturalistic" themes I mean dealing with the environment as well as going back to a country's cultural roots (through ancient tales/myths).

    However, one thing I haven't liked recently is how young-looking the characters have gotten. It seems as if they make the male protagonist in each succeeding game more baby-faced, especially Vaan. He looked as if he had the head of a 5 year old. LOL.

    I rather like the flexibility of having new characters though. I mean don't you people get tired of having the SAME characters sequel after sequel? If so, maybe this is why Hollywood has inundated our theatres with so many, imo, crapshack sequels. I personally can't stand it.

    - Also as for the blond hair thing, you must understand that most of the world's entertainment operates on one idea: exoticism. Note, here Asian style interior design (and weddings interestingly enough) are popular because, well, it's "exotic." If you were Japanese, something out of the ordinary like blond hair would be exotic, no?
  • 0 thumbs!
    Zeon I | May 31, 2008
    They need to stop basing the plot around a love story. I wish that Today's Final Fantasy Games didn't focus on love, the main focus for the characters is to save to world, getting the girl comes after. In the old FF Games (1-6), you felt compelled to save the world, in the newer ones (7-12) I feel like Saving the World from utter destruction comes second to getting the pussy. (I will edit this line if I have too)

    They need to quit with all the extremely shitty Protagonists. I wish all FF Protagonists were clones of Cecil Harvey, The best FF Protagonist ever. All current protagonists are either extremely Whiny, Amnesiac, or just plain assholes. I just want a protagonist who realizes that he has to get his ass up and save the World from the forces of Darkness.

    Quit with all the crappy Mini-Games and Side-Quests. Mini-Games are fun, but from FF 8-12, they're nothing but Time-Wasters. Side-Quests are major pains in the ass and I wish they would burn. The reason I love the Early Games is because they were straight forward. You figure out that you have to save the world and then, you go save it, the villain occasionally sets you back a couple steps, but it's not enough to knock you off track. If there must be Mini-Games, please, make them fun or get rid of them completely.

    If they want new themes, how about they make a Protagonist that isn't some pasty kid like they have for the past 5 Games? Change it up, make him Black or something. Better yet, maybe they can return to that Middle-Age feel like the originals I love had.

    People, remember these are my opinions. Hate it if you want.
  • 0 thumbs!
    kik36 | May 31, 2008
    Eh, it's a double edged sword.....if they try something new people bitch it's not the same, if they make it the same people bitch 'cause it's not new. What they need is to be more creative, while keeping the nostalgia without the lameness. How they will do that is beyond me. I think the DMW was an interesting move.....but wasn't polished. Same with the Gambit system in FFXII. Maybe they need to start fresh with all new designers and creators.
  • 1 thumbs!
    Cruxis Mana | May 31, 2008
    SRLY.

    Whats with the sudden hatred of Final Fantasy all of a sudden ? There's been quite a few articles like this over the past few weeks.
    • -1 thumbs!
      Gothic Girl | June 01, 2008
      Probably because people are starting to realize that Final Fantasy isn't the pinnacle of RPGs anymore.
      • 0 thumbs!
        Final Blade | June 02, 2008
        Without FF RPG's would have died a long time ago. Its still the pinnacle of RPG's. The fact is its not generating much fanbase since the storylines on some of the recent games just flat out sucked.

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