Originally Posted by
SenilIonia
If I were an overprotective fan, I'd be complaining about changes to my "oh so beloved franchise." I'm open to change in the series - in the genre, even - and I welcome what XIII is bringing to the table (and, in some cases, taking away). I'm not being overprotective in the least. Were I naught but a fan of the franchise, I wouldn't be able to express my dislike of some of the entries in the series - I didn't much like VII or XII. As for what I said not making sense... well. I'm sorry you didn't understand.
I'm having a bit of trouble making heads or tails of this string of sentences, but if you're asking if I own a copy of each of the games released (in my territory, granted), then yes, I do. I've never sold any of them back - not even X-2 or XII. Further, I'm not sure what you were getting at with your thinly veiled (in English!) jab. I put that in my post to highlight the importance of playing an RPG in a language you can actually understand. I've seen more than a fair share of reviews written by English speaking peoples that were trashing the story of the Japanese game - after stating that they didn't understand Japanese. I'm sorry... what? That doesn't even make good sense. Reading reviews, getting people's opinions, it's certainly important, but people are overlooking the fact that the vast majority of these reviews are a) coming from people that did not understand the game (tutorials, dialogue, directions, etc etc) or b) are written in a language that most of the English speaking naysayers don't even read.
Opinions. Personally, I love the CG experiences. I don't feel like I need to be holding the controller and hitting X between statements to be "immersed in the game." I've never bought into that sentiment, personally, and I would be sorry to see the CG removed. And as I already stated, I don't see shops as a key element of the game at all. I honestly do not remember a single shopkeeper from all of Final Fantasy other than O'aka, and that's really only because he travels to where you are and is everywhere you need a shop to be - kind of like having them at save points.
People are complaining about EVERYTHING. "wah wah wah, it's linear until halfway through the game!" So? Some of my favorite games are linear, and linear is not synonymous with 'entirely devoid of exploration.' Look at FFX - the very best FF game to this point, in my opinion, and it was linear until you got to the Calm Lands. That certainly didn't mar the experience, so why the complaints? But then they go and whine about the changing of the theme song, the lack of shops, how there were polygons showing in one screenshot of Vanille's hand months before the game was even finished, how they released an unpolished demo, how they're not releasing a demo to the US, how they've taken too long in development, and now, how they apparently HAVEN'T taken enough time to develop the game. It's not about fans being unhappy about one little thing here or there after they've played through the game, it's complaining about everything, constantly, before the game has even been released outside of Japan in a language they can understand.
As for the evolution of interactivity... I don't know, I suppose this is based in opinions as well. Some of the huge towns in XII were absolutely unbearable - crowds of people milling around with !s over their heads, having to wade through dozens of NPCs that I honestly did not give a rats ass about to find that one guy that I needed to talk to to complete the quest from that other chick with the bunny ears.... bollox, where was she, again? To me, that was a step BACKWARDS. Give me a few NPCs that actually matter, that I actually sort of care to remember, rather than hordes of character models with whom I can carry on meaningless text based chitchat. XIII brought something new to the series by giving the NPCs voices, letting them carry on conversations amongst themselves that you catch onto as you run by - to me, that's the more realistic approach and something worth appreciating. I don't see a devolution here at all, simply a change of direction. Then again, I'm a fan of quality over quantity.
I disagree. XII was not the best game, but it's the only actual Final Fantasy that we've seen since the release of X, and that game was incredible. XII was a bit of a fumble and X-2 should never have happened, but that doesn't mean it's all over for the franchise. XIII is SE trying something different, and I honestly think that 'different' should be given a chance rather than looking at it in terms of what once was. FF fans are reluctant to see their series change in any substantial ways, and while there is some merit in that (good lord, look at X-2's atrocious characterization and XII's botched battle system/subpar characterization), it's reached the point that it's as though no change can possibly be good. SE's trying to refresh the series, but that's going to take some trial and error on their part and some patience and willingness on ours - look at what they fixed after the complaints about XII. XII's bland and emotionally detached story is a thing of the past in looking at this newest installment, and they've certainly fixed the issue of XII's boring automated battles. They even incorporated elements of X-2's battle system, which was lauded by many as the greatest battle system the series has ever seen (I don't completely agree, but it was highly enjoyable). The important thing, though, is that they'd never have arrived at XIII's battle system without first trying something new in both XII and X-2, and then again in the creation of this game. SE is listening, and they're trying to make innovative games by trying new things - some will work, some won't, but completely trashing every little thing that's different from your standard run-o-the-mill RPG, that only stagnates progress. Let it change, give the lack of shops a chance. I, personally, am ready to fall in love with a world the way I did with Spira, and I don't think towns are necessary for that. The games live best through their mythologies and their main characters. I don't think cutting out the idle chatter with townspeople will be a detriment, particularly as it wouldn't make sense for these characters to be carrying on in that way, anyway.
Just give it a chance - that's all I'm saying. Fans need to stop whining and complaining about a game that most of them have never touched or couldn't completely comprehend because they don't speak the language. When I see an English review of the English game that's making negative points about something substantial, well... then I'll start to worry. Because at that point, they've got all the pieces. Until then, I'm just eagerly awaiting March 9th and my chance to leap into another (hopefully) amazing story.
Re: Final Fantasy XIII's linearity due to towns being "too much work"
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