With the recent Final Fantasy Union podcast episode, different opinions on what makes a Final Fantasy game a true numbered title arose. And that got me wondering what everyone's opinion was about this. So: What do you think makes a game a main series title?

This applies to all series whether it be Final Fantasy, Uncharted, or Zelda. Do you think a game simply needs to hold the name of the series? Does it simply need to be in the same universe as a previous game? Or does can it even simply be made by the same company? All opinions are welcome!

Personally, I think a main game in a series like Final Fantasy should have a complete storyline and plot, boast a numbered title, have a cast of unique characters, and a battle system that works well. And games that continue over one storyline, like Uncharted, should simply continue over their main storyline, roughly have the same mechanics, and bring something new to playing field every time. What are your thoughts?

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I think the things that would make a good title are; A concluding storyline, but so it's open for a sequel. Main characters that are cool, you can understand and aren't just complete douches. A good script, so the characters say interesting and clever things that actually have something to do with the game. Obviously, if the game has a battle system, it has to be a good one, whether it be turn based, real time based or a mixture of both. I don't think the games in a series have to follow on the storyline. Final Fantasy has done perfectly well with that. But, depending on the circumstances it may or may not be better to continue the storyline. I don't really think this aspect could make or break a game. Finally, making sure there is something new to offer, and that the developer isn't just selling you the same game under a different name.

All these, in my opinion, would make a good game. There are many more aspects that could make a game better or worse, but these are the ones that I feel are the most important to get right.

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I think that a main title game has to continue the story of the series focal point, bring something new to the table, and have enough content to stand on its own feet. Take the Metal Gear series for example, the main series is about Snake, whether it be Naked, or Solid/Old Snake. Although Metal Gear Raising is a AAA title I see it more as a spin off because it doesn't move Snake's story along.

Final Fantasy and the Tales series are exceptions though since they create whole new worlds for their games, but when they continue a story its a spin off. Funny how in their case backwards is OK.

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These are some good points. I totally agree with the concluding story and the continuing of the series focal points. And the whole games like Final Fantasy being backwards is true. But then you think of games like Portal, which is technically a spinoff of the Half Life games. Sure it starts its own series, but it doesn't continue the Half Life story line (And if it does, please correct me, because I haven't actually played either). So can you consider games like that a spinoff, or main series?

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I think there's nothing absolute that makes a main series game. There's just so many things that can factor into it. Yeah, Portal is pretty much an offshoot of Half Life. It plays like it, it uses the same engine, the art direction's the same, but you hardly hear anything referring back to the HL games, so it's pretty much its own stand alone series. Black Mesa is thrown in like maybe once, but that seemed more like an easter egg than anything else.

I consider FF Tactics a main game. I consider Type-0 its own game. Then there are those that wouldn't consider either XII or XIII as main games for how poorly they met fan expectations in general. Crisis Core is pretty much part of the main series, as over-rated as it is. The "main" numbers in the FF franchise are so arbitrary, it doesn't indicate the level of quality or experience for the game. It's just like tacking on a subtitle to Final Fantasy, it doesn't make a difference. The preconception that a main number game will always be awesome is just blind fanaticism, in my opinion, and I say that in the nicest way possible. Judge the game after you've played it, not before without any first-hand experience.

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personally to be a "main series" game, it needs to follow the story closely, it needs to be directly related, generally on the same platform or the next gen version of said platform, for example, main series jak games were all the ps2 games, the ones on the psp were not part of the main series as they were not necessary for the main plot points of story although they did fill in some gaps

It also helps if it follows a numerical numbering system, although i do appreciate that some games are more a fan of the subtitling route which can make it a bit harder to judge overall

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http://www.twitter.com/Coramoor_

Some more good points. Colin, I also consider the Portal series more of its own series rather then a spinoff. But if you consider Final Fantasy tactics a main series game, is it for the Tactics series or the whole Final Fantasy franchise? And I think the Type-0 will be more, within the world of FFXIII. And the numbered titles are the main series because they are the flagship games, even when they are sub-par, and introduce entire new worlds to be explored. Almost all other FF Titles are simply within the same worlds, not main series, not as much of a spinoff as say, Crystal Chronicles.

Coramoor, I totaly agree with you! The same system or their predecessors should be key to a series. I only consider Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 main series, and the others (maybe not BBS as much) as side-stories that don't progress the overall story by much. Simply subtitling a game makes it much harder to judge a main title from a side-ish story.

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