So, as you could see in my last post about the upcoming Final Fantasy versus XIII (FFvXIII), I'm pretty excited about it, but I also have some worries concerning this game. As we know, FFvXIII is being made by the same team that makes the Kingdom Hearts (KH) series (except for Disney-related influences) and I must say I'm a big fan of KH. Even though it has a lot of child-oriented Disney stuff, the story is nicely constructed and pretty deep overall. About the main games in the series (KH & KH2) it can be said that graphics are nicely presented, although textures are cartoonish-flat ones (they seem sometimes even like Mario 64) in most of cases. Character design is stylish and revamps Disney's franchises in an interesting way, clearly aimed for those who grew up with their classic movies.
Gameplay is pretty simple and neat. The way action and RPG genres are fused in here, helps simplifying RPG's customizing nature without making it unnecessary (great for young kids and people who are not keen on spending more time on the menus than actually playing) and gives the average RPG gamer a more realistic way (yeah I said "real" within a fantasy-themed game commentary) to fight and explore. Let's face it, FF XII and they still couldn't make heroes jump or swim outside of a battle... COME ON!!! Turn-based gameplay is getting old, and if they don't come up with something actually new, and keep adding factors to each turn that instead of making them faster, makes turns more complex and slow, that will be aweful.
Given that Tetsuya Nomura's most recent video game involvement (as director, character designer and much more) has been in the KH franchise, those are the games which I'll take as an example as Nomura's team most recent tendencies. It is precisely some gameplay related issues I'm worried about considering the following:
1.-Summons.
Remember how amazing summons have been throughout the whole FF series?. Nice. Now, look back at how summons were simple, but nice in KH (perfect for an action/RPG game. Finally, they de-evolved just to become crappy and lame in KH2? What were they thinking (yeah, AVGN reference) when they chose a freaking ukulele as Stitch's brilliant (!) weapon and tried to turn Chicken Little into Master Chief. On the other side Mr. Nomura's statement of trying to recreate the battle style and feeling of FF AC makes me hope that to get summons, we may have to defeat them first which might be great.
SUMMARY: Please include well thought summons, gargantuan size and DO NOT turn them into lame minigames.
2.-Freaking "x" button.
Yeah I know every video game is about pushing buttons, specially "x" in the PS ones, but COME ON! KH was a challenge in various points even in a "normal" difficulty. Remember Kurt Ziza for example. Abilities on their own were an RPG element that could give us the edge on battle without taking out the challenge. The problem is that the abilities they made in KH2 were something awful. You can actually beat the entire game in a "hard" difficulty without touching the analog when there are enemies on the screen and just pressing "x" until your thumb explodes. It would have been more difficult if there was an ability called "Turn off" which turned off enemies' A.I. I know that KH is more childish and Nomura said he wants to create a "more serious KH" with FFvXII.
SUMMARY: Make it difficult, challenging and make it so we need to be skilled and not just press "x" like retards.
3.-Freaking "▲" button.
You thought I was over with talking 'bout buttons?... well I'm not. If a game may get boring by just keep on pressing "x", believe me, Quick Time Events (QTE) are not the solution. Yes, they look nice and are surprising, but after watching them eleventy zillion times it get boring, not to say that they are like using fatalities in MK when the enemy still has a full HP bar. It made the game even easier game and turned the coolest moves into QTE's which gamers only sat through. Almost every boss from the first KH was harder than Xehanort which was defeated almost entirely through QTE's. They did make the battles look stylish, but in Nomura's attempt to bring "Advent Children's" battle style on to FFvXIII I hope they stay clear from QTE's. If their idea of Advent Children-ish fighting is "action commands", they'll release the game and I will cry.
SUMMARY: Keep the style without the QTE's, we DO NOT like them, we actually want the "darkest FF ever" and not the "darkest FF interactive movie ever".
4.-Magic.
Do I have to say more on this one? Not just KH2 crapped over magic, but in general, spells MUST be renewed. I don't mind the common, -ra, -raga, -raja system, I mean in the way they can be used. Maybe some way to mix spells or a more complex, yet not confusing element relation system.
SUMMARY: Think out of the box, we don't want crappy magic, but the same old thing is also crappy by now. Oh yeah, and no drawing please, not in a fast-paced action/RPG seamless-intended awesome game.
5.-Roxas.
Good plot device, hid correctly the mess they did because it is clear KH wasn't intended to be a franchise, BUT I hoe they do not make us spend 2 or 3 hours in a tutorial that is boring. Sure, the first time it is new and great, but it takes out replay value. I actually get bored just of thinking of starting a new KH2 game because I do not want to spend 2 hours with Roxas in a tutorial that is no fun anymore.
SUMMARY: Maybe no tutorials this time, if it is seamless, learning to play in some other ways than being told what to do might be interesting.
6.Job system.
I'm not very sure on this one. I'm not pro nor against it, but I want them just to do it right. Here is what I mean: Final Fantasy VII, IX, X, etc. (just some examples) = good, job predefined characters. FFT is an example of a multi job system that works. FF XII's first version, is an attempt to let you customize characters that end up in everyone being able to do everything without really giving any character-specific strengths. This got nicely fixed in the International Zodiac System version that was sold some time after the first FFXII release.
SUMMARY: Whatever it is, we need it to be
The next three things are not gameplay related, but are still as important for a good experience.
7.-Final mix versions & DLC's.
What's up with that! One could say they want to make more money, but if that was actually the case Square Enix should remember that some of us gamers actually don't live in Japan. I'd rather have a FFvXIII that is whole on itself: no Final mixes, +'s and whatever else. BUT if they do that again, PLEASE, @Nomura_Tetsuya (XD) sell it on this side of the Pacific too!. The same thing about DLC's, I hate it when they do things like in Assassin's Creed 2 and make you buy DLC's to fill up some not-even-that-good plot holes.
SUMMARY: Guys at Square Enix have had more than 7 years, and it might get to 8 years before its release, I hope they at least sell a COMPLETE game.
8.-Locked files.
This really pisses players off. Don't you my beloved geek brothers get pissed of by locked files that you cannot copy? I'll get mad if I keep writing about this, so I just hope they do not lock the save files.
9.-New game+
Finally, I hope that this game is like 10008000 hours long, I hope we get to play at least 85% of those hours, not like Kojima's MGS4 which was made more like a big movie with playable segments. I loved it, but whoever is not a fan, simply won't But Over all those things I hope it has great replay value. Since last generation of video games, replay value is a MUST and a FF without it may lose great possibilities.
If you survived after all of my statements, tell me if you agree or not? I trust that Nomura is not a dumbass and FFvXIII will not be KH3, but still, they might include some of the things I just mentioned. I do not claim to be right, I just hope it is a good game because it promises so much, it is returning to the old school (FF VIII-like sprites, open world, vehicles and so on). But who knows, in a few months I may find myself writing that Nomura shut my mouth xD.
See ya!
I agree mostly. Yet, come on, Roxas' seven days were cool. Maybe a little less tutorialish, like in KH, that tutorial was simply AWESOME.
ReplyDeleteAlso, they better release it on 360 as well. Come on, there are many fans with 360's out there. Most of this egeneration's RPG are there.