Remember back when the Final Fantasy franchise had room for silly jokes and random frivolity? I certainly do! In fact, I was just wondering about this the other day: when did the Final Fantasy games get so serious?

Back in Final Fantasies III-VII the games seemed serious, but still had a prevalent silly overtone. You had the dirty magazine in Final Fantasy IV, the bizarre character animations and suplexing the train in Final Fantasy VI, and Barrett in Final Fantasy VII, to name a few.

After that things changed a bit. Final Fantasy VIII had some small silly parts but took itself as seriously as a heart attack most of the time. Luckily, Final Fantasy IX brought back that classic silly nature in droves. Gaia had such a good feeling to it as a result that I still feel like it was the most pleasant of the FF worlds to explore.

But from Final Fantasy X on its seems like Square has gotten too straight faced with the series and consequently left very little room for anything goofy at all. The recent games have all been good in my opinion, but very rarely do we get the trademark lightheartedness that trademarked the franchise in the 1990s.

What brought on this change? Final Fantasy XIII-2 has a bit more comedic elements than usual but I find that it still takes itself too seriously at times. Does anyone else feel like a move back to a funnier Final Fantasy installment is warranted?

---

I love the various humorous elements of the older FF games, such as the date with Barret in FF VII. Just as Metal Gear Solid has always kept its balance of hilarious and silly, so should Final Fantasy, but it seems a bit late to go back.

---

I wholeheartedly agree with you on this. The lack of any good humour creates a very melodramatic experience that I find can be rather jarring and just puts me off from playing the game. FFXIII-2 sort of tries to incorporate some humour, but it's minuscule compared to the, for lack of a better term, glory days. It's especially why I loved VII and IX, Cloud was such a dry sarcastic bastard and who remembers that part where the party climbs the stairs of the ShinRa tower? Genius, I loved it, never laughed so hard when playing a game before. And in IX, there was some pretty heavy stuff, but Zidane was such a fun character, grabbing Dagger's butt, or constantly getting on Steiner's (aka Rusty) nerves. The characters had great chemistry between each other and the fact that the game didn't constantly take itself so seriously made the experience all the more enjoyable.

---

I agree as well. I think they changed it because instead of showcasing the stories, they are more into showing off their character design and graphics to attract more people. The games were more comical when the characters looked more cartoon-ish and exaggerated. It's something that I miss too and something that usually only older fans respect. Also, they try to be on par with other high-end games, which are also very serious. I don't believe that they'll change it anytime soon, with all the technological breakthroughs in the industry.

I would love a funny, goofy, light-hearted FF game again. Now a days everyone is too serious!

---

I also miss the humor that was found in the game up to 9. 10 didn't do much for me personally. Every other game before then had a fare share of comedic elements. I never made the connection to the graphics as being part of the reason, but now that you mention it I can see how Square making a Final Fantasy that was cell shaded really well so it looked like Last Order might create an atmosphere that was more conducive to humor. I'm not sure they'd ever do that for a numbered title though. They'll just have to figure out how to bring the funny to the graphical powerhouse. In 9 they managed to incorporate humor into the CG sequences as well (Zidane chasing Dagger and being chased my Steiner) so we know they're capable of doing it.

---

I see I'm not alone in my thoughts.

Don't get me wrong, I am excited for Versus XIII, but it looks to be taking the most serious tone of a FF title yet. I'm sort of worried in that respect... A mainline title in the tone and style of The Crystal Bearers and FFIX is something I want from Square these days.

---

I think they'd have a lot to gain by doing another "throwback" title like they did with 9. I'd love to see something like that for 15. It would be interesting to see how an expanded class system with characters like thieves and paladins would play in an action-oriented battle system like the ones in 13 and 13-2.

---

(February 07, 2012 09:15:47 PM)Thundaga Wrote:  I think they'd have a lot to gain by doing another "throwback" title like they did with 9. I'd love to see something like that for 15. It would be interesting to see how an expanded class system with characters like thieves and paladins would play in an action-oriented battle system like the ones in 13 and 13-2.

... and dragoons! Dragoons would be AWESOME in XIII's battles!

---

Here's the funny! XD
Yes, well, if I talk about FUNNY in a Final Fantasy, what comes to my mind immediately is FFVI. Ulty and Keffy are my favourite funnies ;D. More comic (relief) would be appreciated in the next FF. Will it be vs13? I don't think that'll be anything but serious bizznezz. Type-0? Funny? Not really, from what I've seen. Maybe they could incorporate a secret secret ending where you unlock a video of Nomura doing the Carlton. YESH. XD

---

While I agree that recent main titles have been more serious, there's still some comedy. Take for example Sazh in FF13 and Crystal Bearers. I do agree there is less, I think lot of it gets lost by the change to more realistic characters. The only humor they can do anymore is vocal and attitude.

Visually it can't really be done anymore. Back in the old 8/16 bit gaming, the characters were already small and cartoonish, making them bulge their eyes and look excited was okay and funny. Take for example when Lock and Edward discover Terra could use magic. They look at the camera, eyes get huge, and they fling their arms in the air hysterically. Now, think of that same scene but with Lightning, Snow, and Hope. It would get laughed off the shelf if anything. Same with the days of Playstation with 7-9. Seeing Rusty get steamed up was funny stuff, but again FF9 was cartoonish so it worked.

Vocally it's doable, they did it with Crystal Bearers quite well. However I think the reason you see a lack of it anymore is because of negative people being so critical of it. People hate the voice acting or hate how it's portrayed. Heck I would bet money on that if FF13 was a 16bit game with no voice acting, Vanille would be the #1 character. Why is she not now? Because people are to critical of anything anymore (I'll be the first to confess).

I think the other factor is if FF is truly being marketed to the west anymore, and they look at the humor in our games, all they can see is either none or garbage. So they either choose to be serious, be a walking satire clown, or release the immature humor we see so much in today's gaming. I'd prefer none at all in that case.

Anyhow, put me on the list for wanting another FF9 type game. Make it cartoonish, silly, and full of what made FF what it is today.

---