A Brief Return to the Present

I just finished reading this editorial from Gamespot entitled, How to Fix Final Fantasy: (http://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-to-fix-final-fantasy/1100-6417822/). I want to thank Kevin VanOrd for his writing but I have some things to say in response to this.

The main thing I noticed is that this article states very few, if any, concrete methods for "fixing" Final Fantasy, however, it did raise some interesting points that are worthy of elaboration. The focus, for one, and I'm not talking about Final Fantasy XIII's focus. Toriyama, the XIII trilogy's director, showed that he had a lack of understanding regarding not only Final Fantasy design but game design as a whole when interviewed regarding the XIII trilogy. He would frequently bring up other games and talk about what needed to be fixed with Final Fantasy by referencing things like the graphics and action gameplay.

I'm not saying there isn't any room for cross-genre research, certainly not. Gearbox Software showed that this can be used to tremendous effect with their hit Borderlands series. Cliff Bleszinski, of Gears of War fame, stated, with a certain degree of truth, that the future of shooters is RPGs. Even hits like Call of Duty have shown a willingness to incorporate character progression, inventory management and class customization into their games, all clear ideas brought over from the RPG genre.

Toriyama did learn some successful lessons from this approach in reverse, as well. The fast paced fighting structure of Final Fantasy XIII was highly lauded and with good reason. It was a lot of fun to play and battles could become quite frenetic, especially in the major boss fights. This type of gameplay shake-up is exactly the type of thing that makes a Final Fantasy game what it is

It was the other comments made that are concerning. Very rarely did Toriyama ever talk about the storyline or the characters, other than Lightning. Yes, gameplay is very important and many games show that gameplay can supercede a strong storyline as long as it is fun enough. RPG's cannot follow this path. RPG's, by their very nature, require a strong storyline and, more importantly, interesting characters. Why role play a boring character going through events that you don't care about? What's the point? This is the lesson that Toriyama required and that Nomura will hopefully learn.

Cyan is probably the most one dimensional character in FFVI and still is better than Lightning.

VanOrd mentions that making relatable characters is important to the series but he talks more about how boring Lightning is than talking about what should be done with Final Fantasy. As any writer will be able to tell you, the most important thing to a storyline is strong characters. Honestly, strong characters can make a boring plot into an enjoyable adventure. Let's look at the classic Final Fantasy games. Was there really anything all that interesting about the overall plots, minus the characters? Every Final Fantasy game is either save the world or overthrow a corrupt government. There is very little deviation. The important aspect about these games are the characters that make you care about what's going on.

In order to care about a world, you must care about it's inhabitants. Why should you care about a corrupt empire taking over cities unless you care about the inhabitants that it affects? There's no reason to get upset about Cecil being betrayed unless you care about Cecil himself. Final Fantasy IV is really the best example of this. The main storyline is mostly ridiculous tripe, if we get right down to it. What's important throughout the game is the evolution of Cecil, the redemption of Kain, the coming of age of Edge. These are what make the game memorable.

In Final Fantasy VI, they went in with the goal of making every character the protagonist. There's a reason this became one of the highest rated games in the franchise. The characters were great. Terra was a bit whiny, sure, but her backstory showed a lot of promise and her evolution over the course of the story from weak, scared victim into powerful force for good was interesting. Locke was well liked because of his charm but also his devotion to his love, Rachel. Edgar and Sabin were both great characters in and of themselves but their duality made them classic.

The other imporant thing to have an interesting foil for the main character(s). It's no coincidence that two of the most important Final Fantasy characters of all time are Sephiroth and Kefka. Up until VI, the bad guys were pretty standard fare. Someone trying to take over the world, bwahahaha. Kefka was almost a parody of this, making fun of previous game's failures to have strong antagonists. He was evil beyond a doubt, poisoning innocents, enslaving Terra, killing anyone who didn't fit into his plans. However, they contrast this evil with a clown-like exterior and giving him probably the best sound effect in all of gaming, his distinctive laugh. Even the empire he worked for seemed afraid of this seemingly unstable villain. He was unpredictable, never making his goals obvious. They also learned that the corrupt government needs to be made up of people with varying goals and values. General Leo, despite working with the Empire, was a strong moral guide for the game, representing the good aspects of government and all that people can accomplish.

A defining moment in Final Fantasy IV

This is one reason why I have a lot of hope for Final Fantasy XV. Nomura has shown himself to be a master of characterization. Kingdom Hearts has one of the most overblown, ridiculously convoluted plots in all of gaming history, even taking Metal Gear Solid into account. There are more spin-offs than main series titles. The gameplay is repetitive and often quite derivative. What makes people so enthralled with this magical series is the progression of Sora, Riku and Kairi. Sora's innocence against an otherwise dark world is inspiring and his almost child-like love for Kairi makes even the coldest of hearts melt. Riku's struggle against his fall into darkness shows a strength of will and determination that is admirable and plays a nice balance between brooding and sympathetic. He represents the difficulty of finding what is the "right" path in a world that rarely remains black and white. Even many of the side characters like Axel, Namine, Aqua, Terra and many others show complexity of character beyond what the game may have you believe at first glance.

Many people have been talking about what defines Final Fantasy in recent years. Many comments online talk about the XIII trilogy not being "true" Final Fantasy games but what makes a "true" Final Fantasy game? Is it the chocobos and moogles as Kevin seems skeptical to accept? Maybe it's the airships or Cid who make an appearance in almost every title? Of course not. These things are superficial items that tie an otherwise disparate series together. The true heart of Final Fantasy lies in it's constant desire to innovate gameplay and its ability to create fascinating characters. Final Fantasy XIII succeeded in the first but failed miserably in the second. Every character in XIII is a stereotype and nothing more. Lightning was even announced to be a female version of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII. Snow was the closest they got to having a deep character but he was unable to penetrate beyond his dangerous obsession with Serah. Hope was mad about his Mom's death, Sazh was worried about his kid, Vanille wanted to hide her secret (seriously, who didn't see this coming?), and Fang was Vanille with a mommy complex. Characters cannot be so simple as to be summarized in a couple of words. There needs to be more to them than that. The storyline should be important to the characters but they need to have motivations and goals beyond simply what's happening in the here and now.

While I have a lot of hope for XV, it's far from a sure thing. As VanOrd mentioned, Square Enix seems far too concerned about reaching a large audience and not as concerned about making something that people will love. They are what network television in the US is to the cable networks. Appealing to everyone ends up appealing to nobody. They need to return to their roots and make the game they want to play, not the game they think everyone else wants to play. They need to capture the storyline that touches their hearts, not what they think will resonate with the greatest number of people. Passion for your art will inspire passion in others. Sterility will come across as corporate and bland. So far, though, they are innovating the gameplay by melding Final Fantasy XIII with Nomura's Kingdom Hearts series, a blending I am personally very excited for. This will bring in fast-paced action although I'm hoping for character development along the lines of Final Fantasy X, the best development system in the series, in my opinion. The storyline, bringing Final Fantasy into a modern setting, is a fascinating twist on the series, seemingly inspired by The World Ends With You, one of the best RPG's to come out in the last decade. If it's anything like that game, Final Fantasy XV will be exactly the revival we need it to be.

Game on!