I have been for decades a huge fan of Japanese-style RPG games, and have been playing them since the 90's. All four first Dragon Quest games are some of my all-time favorites (the quality increasing with each installment), and to this day I enjoy most of them. In fact, I recently finished Dragon Quest XI on the Nintendo Switch, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. (I even endured the sheer amount of mindless level-grinding required for the absolutely insane and unfair final boss in the true ending, just because the game was so addictive.)
Such games seem to be quite a rarity nowadays, although absolute gems sometimes pop up. Octopath Traveler is not only one of the best JRPGs in recent years, but arguably of all time, including the classics of the 80's and 90's.
Not surprisingly I was also a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series. I have played all the entries in the main series, with the exception of XI, XII and XIV (mostly because two of them are MMORPGs, which I have zero interest in, and the remaining one is something I have never had a console to play it with.)
The main problem I have with the Final Fantasy series is that, for all intents and purposes, at least from my perspective, Square made only 9 of them. The last game in the series that they made was Final Fantasy IX, and then they stopped.
They did start a completely new and unrelated game series and slapped the name "Final Fantasy" into them, starting with Final Fantasy X (which is not only the worst "Final Fantasy" game, but in fact one of the worst and most infuriating games I have ever played in my life), but this new series has pretty much nothing to do with the previous one, other than the name and a few vague references. This new series uses pretty much nothing of what makes a JRPG a JRPG.
For all I'm concerned, Square has only made nine Final Fantasy games, after which they stopped. Every single one of the subsequent games carrying that name is not part of the original franchise, and is only hijacking and soiling the prestigious name. It's no different than if eg. some game company made a new game named "Colin McRae Rally" that's a first-person shooter in the setting of a futuristic spacestation, with the only references to the original game series being a couple of posters of rally cars on some walls. Or a game named "Pro Evolution Soccer" that's a tower-defense puzzle game involving robotic enemies and laser turrets, where one of the enemies is named after a football player.
It wouldn't be so bad if this new game series was engaging, addictive and enjoyable to play. It's not. As said, Final Fantasy X is one of the worst and most infuriating games I have played in my entire life. Final Fantasy X-2 is ridiculous, and nobody even remembers it. Final Fantasy XIII is universally loathed, and its two sequels are mediocre and forgettable (almost nobody even remembers they exist). Final Fantasy XV was mediocre (and I couldn't even be bothered to finish it, as it was becoming extraordinarily tedious and boring towards the end levels). And none of them have absolutely anything to do with the original Final Fantasy series, or JRPGs in general.
Square Enix has not lost the ability and talent to create traditional an extremely well crafted JPRGs (Octopath Traveler being a marvelous example), but for reasons known only to them they refuse to return the Final Fantasy series to its original roots, and seem to be set-on continuing this strange non-JRPG path with it, removing everything that makes a JRPG a JRPG from the series.
And now, rather obviously, they are going to sully one of the most beloved entries in the series, Final Fantasy VII, by creating a remake in the post-FFX style, which once again has nothing to do with the original Final Fantasy series and JRPG games. The remake is just another FF XIII/XV clone, with a FF7 skin, throwing away all the original JRPG game mechanics and elements.
I'm not really interested. I think I will be skipping this game. Maybe I'll grab it if it's on a massive sale (like 10€), but perhaps not even then.
Such games seem to be quite a rarity nowadays, although absolute gems sometimes pop up. Octopath Traveler is not only one of the best JRPGs in recent years, but arguably of all time, including the classics of the 80's and 90's.
Not surprisingly I was also a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series. I have played all the entries in the main series, with the exception of XI, XII and XIV (mostly because two of them are MMORPGs, which I have zero interest in, and the remaining one is something I have never had a console to play it with.)
The main problem I have with the Final Fantasy series is that, for all intents and purposes, at least from my perspective, Square made only 9 of them. The last game in the series that they made was Final Fantasy IX, and then they stopped.
They did start a completely new and unrelated game series and slapped the name "Final Fantasy" into them, starting with Final Fantasy X (which is not only the worst "Final Fantasy" game, but in fact one of the worst and most infuriating games I have ever played in my life), but this new series has pretty much nothing to do with the previous one, other than the name and a few vague references. This new series uses pretty much nothing of what makes a JRPG a JRPG.
For all I'm concerned, Square has only made nine Final Fantasy games, after which they stopped. Every single one of the subsequent games carrying that name is not part of the original franchise, and is only hijacking and soiling the prestigious name. It's no different than if eg. some game company made a new game named "Colin McRae Rally" that's a first-person shooter in the setting of a futuristic spacestation, with the only references to the original game series being a couple of posters of rally cars on some walls. Or a game named "Pro Evolution Soccer" that's a tower-defense puzzle game involving robotic enemies and laser turrets, where one of the enemies is named after a football player.
It wouldn't be so bad if this new game series was engaging, addictive and enjoyable to play. It's not. As said, Final Fantasy X is one of the worst and most infuriating games I have played in my entire life. Final Fantasy X-2 is ridiculous, and nobody even remembers it. Final Fantasy XIII is universally loathed, and its two sequels are mediocre and forgettable (almost nobody even remembers they exist). Final Fantasy XV was mediocre (and I couldn't even be bothered to finish it, as it was becoming extraordinarily tedious and boring towards the end levels). And none of them have absolutely anything to do with the original Final Fantasy series, or JRPGs in general.
Square Enix has not lost the ability and talent to create traditional an extremely well crafted JPRGs (Octopath Traveler being a marvelous example), but for reasons known only to them they refuse to return the Final Fantasy series to its original roots, and seem to be set-on continuing this strange non-JRPG path with it, removing everything that makes a JRPG a JRPG from the series.
And now, rather obviously, they are going to sully one of the most beloved entries in the series, Final Fantasy VII, by creating a remake in the post-FFX style, which once again has nothing to do with the original Final Fantasy series and JRPG games. The remake is just another FF XIII/XV clone, with a FF7 skin, throwing away all the original JRPG game mechanics and elements.
I'm not really interested. I think I will be skipping this game. Maybe I'll grab it if it's on a massive sale (like 10€), but perhaps not even then.
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