Psyched For: Final Fantasy XV
I realise it's probably a bit weird that I'm psyched for Final Fantasy XV, especially considering it's only really been mentioned in passing, and there are so many other Final Fantasy titles in development now that should probably be taking my focus. But despite the recent announcement of Final Fantasy XIII-2, the name changing of Final Fantasy Agito XIII to Final Fantasy Type-0 and the showing off of some gameplay footage of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, I'm more interested to see what the next new story they can tell will be like.
Call me old fashioned, but I still remember the old days of Square (Squaresoft for you North Americans), where you knew that they'd poured their heart and sole into a title, and if it was an RPG, you knew that it was going to be amazing without even touching it. Despite the fact that Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X all came out within a span of time that's only just longer than the entire development cycle of Final Fantasy XIII, their quality was much greater. Their stories are some of the best ever told in the history of video games and if you ask anyone which has been their favourite Final Fantasy title, it will be one of those five.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII, but Square Enix has never really been able to emulate the success of Square. It has resulted in the company losing the feeling of unquestioned quality that they once had and this started shortly after the formation of the company, but was probably epitomised by Final Fantasy XII. It's an ironic game really - there are Western gamers who absolutely despise Final Fantasy in general, but Final Fantasy XII seems to get respect more from them than any other title in the series. It had a much more Western vibe in general due to its open world, and it felt like an MMO in many ways - something that was obviously intentional. Indeed, it's the most well received (critically) Final Fantasy title in the series when using Western critics as a judging metric. The question is, was this a business decision to try and broaden their audience, or was it designed to be that way from the start? We'll probably never know. After all, Final Fantasy XII was of course, developed by a different team, and it has a vibe that's akin to the Ivalice franchise. But Vagrant Story still managed to retain the JRPG feel and that's as Ivalice as you can get without going into the realms of the Tactical JRPG.
It's just hard to really picture what went wrong. You could probably put it down to too much commercialisation. It's common knowledge that Square got themselves into a bit of a hole financially, but that's mostly because of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Their main series titles were commercial successes and were fine the way they were. Perhaps Square Enix felt that they needed a more solid footing, which was obviously the theory behind the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. A new franchise based off an existing title which is one of the most popular games of all time.
Fabula Nova Crystallis though, feels different. Unlike the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or even the Ivalice sub-franchise, it's seems completely pre-meditated. Yes, the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII was planned as a huge entity, but it was borne from the success of Final Fantasy VII, it wasn't planned when Final Fantasy VII was made. Likewise with the Ivalice games, none of it was pre-planned, they just seem to appear often at random. The Crystallis franchise, on the other hand, seems to assume success. Pseudo-sequels were planned in advance and it wouldn't surprise me if their intention was to release Final Fantasy XIII-2 from the beginning.
Call me pessimistic, but Square Enix has done little to convince me I should be all that excited about anything that the Crystallis franchise has to offer in the future either. Sure, the games will probably be good, but it's unlikely that they'll hold a candle to any of the five previously mentioned, or even the Kingdom Hearts franchise, which Versus seems to emulate. And I'm not just saying that because they're the older games and I hold them up on a pedestal. Every game has the ability to surpass something else. It's just unlikely that anyone is going to list Final Fantasy XIII as one of their favourite games in the series, despite its sales figures. And right now, I find it difficult to see Versus or Type-0 garnering such praise either.
So that's why I'm psyched for Final Fantasy XV. Every Final Fantasy main series title is supposed to be a new beginning for the franchise - a fresh start - and Final Fantasy XV is the next title that can offer that. Final Fantasy IX wasn't necessarily to my personal tastes, but I still enjoyed it and the same is true for Final Fantasy XIII. I can also fully appreciate what they were trying to do with Final Fantasy XII. In short, I look forward to seeing what they will do next. How will they push the genre on further? What new band of troops will capture our hearts and imaginations? And what new world will be created for them to venture through?
For all their trying, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Type-0 will never, in my opinion, be considered on-par with a main series Final Fantasy title, nor will any title in the Fabula Nova Crystallis franchise aside from Final Fantasy XIII, and perhaps Final Fantasy XIII-2 (in much the same way Final Fantasy X-2 is).
I'd rather have something else to look forward to, and Final Fantasy XV is that something.
