Final Fantasy XIII might be last true Final Fantasy

[Repliica]

Wow, this is pretty heavy stuff. According to Square Enix president Yoichi Wada, Final Fantasy XIII might be the swan song of the traditional RPG at Square Enix. Although Wada expects XIII to do great things for his company, he believes that Square's internal studios should be put to work on creating "next generation" gameplay.

"I believe Final Fantasy XIII is going be something special, and that it’s going to be well received by the audience," states Wada. "But whether we are going to continue to internally create this type of game remains to be seen, because I actually feel that the team that was involved with Final Fantasy XIII should next move on to create and generate some 'next generation' forms of play.

"I really think that the Final Fantasy team could create something completely different, but at the moment they’re strictly catering to the particular audience they have now."

This is actually pretty astounding. Final Fantasy might have tried all manner of different combat and character progression systems over the years, but its core JRPG gameplay as always remained intact, and of course won Square Enix a huge fan following. Abandoning that winning formula is pretty bloody huge, and if Squenix dared to do it, I wonder what its hardcore fanbase would think.

What do you think, first and foremost? Should Square Enix abandon all the old ways and focus on doing entirely new things, or are there some aspects of Final Fantasy that should never change?

Source: http://www.destructoid.com/final-fan...y-159676.phtml

[Björk]

The last Final Fantasy was X.

[Squall]

The last Final Fantasy was X.

Truth has been spoken

[rshadowkirby]

The last Final Fantasy was X.

this is the truth
and nothing BUT the truth

ff13 and 12 are no where NEAR the other ffs
as far as im concerned they ARE the next gen thing that square speaks of
to give up final fantasy would be stupid since your losing a giant source of revenue
square enix IS final fantasy
final fantasy (and the spinoff that is kingdom hearts) is its biggest source of revenue. to give that up from a business standpoint would be nothing short of stupid

[Knocking_you_all_down]

What do I think? I think SE is about to lose a LOT of fans/players...

[Aevitas]

That is pretty heavy stuff. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I always relied on Final Fantasy in the past to get my Squenix fix, because that series was ensured quality for me. For example, I'd play Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates and think, "Gawd, that story was horrible, at least I'll have the next Final Fantasy to look forward to for that." I don't know what to think if there's no fall-back plan. Granted, the latest game I ever played was X, so I'm not sure how XII stacked up to the older games. On the other hand, considering that they've rehashed the same basic game elements 12 times (or roughly 23 times if you count the sequels, related spinoffs, and MMO games), I can see that it's possible... just possible.. that they're running out of ideas. XD If that is indeed the case, I'd rather they not beat a dead horse and just let the series end with a bang.

If they put more resources into a new series, maybe they can recreate the same magic that was Final Fantasy all those years ago. They have experimented with some new things in the past and have raised the bar for RPG's in many ways, so I'm looking forward to what they would come up with. Don't get me wrong, I'd still miss Final Fantasy, but sometimes the only time something new and great can be made is if you let go of the old.

[Repliica]

To be honest, this was the exact feelings that I had about Final Fantasy XIII.

If they wanted to do something that was completely different but held some elements of Final Fantasy they could've just made a new game. Of course Final Fantasy 14 has already been talked about but as many know it's an online game like XI.

Personally, I think that they should stop the Final Fantasy series ONLY because I'd like to remember FF for what it was and not what it might become. Of course if SE want to take that risk of driving the franchise to its max then I have nothing against that, as long as I can play the older games I'm fine.

Squaresoft IS final fantasy

fix'd. =3

Square Enix branches out in too many places.. like with their new games coming out that are action based etc. Dx

[TWOxACROSS]

It's a bold business move, but it's their idea, and we have to try to respect it. However, if they want to spend time making different sorts of games, why not link in all the other Final Fantasy tie-ins people want?

-Man with the Machine Gun- Final Fantasy VIII
A prequel third-person shooter that shows off more of Laguna's past as he not only ventured to get his surrogate daughter back, but also inadvertently save the world from a power hungry Sorceress Adel.

-Dissidia- Final Fantasy: Paradox Universe
A Dissidia set on a larger scale, more characters, more levels, more interactivity, more in-game systems to enhance the combat. We all have heard the whining that people have done that one character was in over another, so why not give the fans who "felt shafted" a bit more?

And one last thing that's always bugged me. Square makes Final Fantasy, Enix makes Dragon Quest.

I know they merged, but it will always be just simply Square to me.

[Scott]

I liked 12... I'll also probably like 13. I don't see it being a problem with 13 being the last of the main Final Fantasy series as we know it, they could re-invent it much better. As long as a real time combat system similar to Dissidia/Tales comes into it and there is no FPS, I'll more or less be happy.

[Repliica]

I have a feeling that Final Fantasy XIII won't disappoint me. At least from what I've seen (damn Japanese getting it before us D<)

But I also have to say.. that it'd be really sad if they did let it go. I mean, we all knew that this was bound to happen at some point but for Final Fantasy to actually become final is a saddening thought. Dx