The entire process of writing this
multi-part franchise overview has been surrounded by my experience
with Final Fantasy VII Remake. I started writing before a copy
arrived, continued alongside the playthrough, and am now finishing
just a few days after viewing the unexpected ending. No intentions of
spoiling the experience for those still making their way through the
game, that topic can come in another post, but the revelations from
that ending further revived my fascination with this series and how
it rarely stays within a safety zone. That's
especially true with many of the tiles we'll be discussing today.
Settle in as we take cover one last round of Final Fantasy goodness.
Final Fantasy XIII (2009) Dir. Motomu Toriyama
By the time XIII hit
shelves there were multiple groups of fans who'd been ingratiated
into the series at different points, each with their own view on what
Final Fantasy was supposed to be. This phenomenon existed despite how
wildly the games had continued to change from one entry to the next.
So when Motomu Toriyama, finally given control of a main title rather
than sequels or spin-offs, delivered a liner and combat driven game
lacking much of the fat from past entries people threw a fit. Well
some of them anyway, there's always the likelihood of the loudest
group not being as a large as they seem since, from what I can
gather, Japanese gamers more than happy with it.
Once again the series had given us something totally different from
before with a story that featured a group of characters branded by
the gods to carry out acts of potential terror with their reward
being decades suspended in crystal. Should they fail their fate would
instead be transforming into twisted ghouls. Their mysterious shared
mission tied into the greater conflict between the floating
civilization of cocoon and the wild lands of Gran Pulse below them.
The presentation is still one of the finest in the entire franchise
with amazing graphics and one of the finest soundtracks in all of
gaming. Narrative was very much a focus here and it shows in how
every scene is drenched in production quality.
Upgrading within the game was largely streamlined witch only a few
choices like deciding which items to spend on weapon upgrades or how
to best maximize the usage of ability points before the next big
boss. Combat being the other focus of the game was an absolute
beauty. Initially characters can do very little as the game eases
players into the new flow of things. As they develop each can shift
between different battle roles at any point in battle witch the
different mixes of roles being referred to as paradigms. Consider for
instance how different roles might influence the stagger bars for
enemies with magic building the bar quickly but disappearing just as
fast whereas physical attacks sustained the current amount of
stagger. There were six roles, two each of physical, magical, and
status-based with each pair divided by positive and negative forms
with each character excelling in three and only having moderate
skills in the others. Then you mix in factors like enemy behaviors
with some foes battling each-other or combining forces. Knowing who
to strike, when, where, and how eventually burns itself into players
minds like reflexes in a fighting game. A valuable tool since this is
one of the hardest games in the series. Thankfully they offer the
ability to continue from right before any lost fight, a feature you
are going to use at least a few times.
As you might be able to guess from how much I've written on it so
far I sorta love XIII. So many of the complaints people toss at it
miss out of some of the beautiful work that's been done here. Most
people see a linear adventure for instance but what's remarkable is
how the environments match the current tone of the story. At first
characters are often running towards or from something along narrow
paths. Once they begin to loose their way the environments slowly
start to open up until Gran Pulse ties in with them being utterly
lost, allowing for free roam. Once they gather their senses and
discover a new goal the game begins to shrink back down. The game
offers a different take on a classic series, something that's always
driving forward and I loved that change of pace along with the
fantastic presentation and such a wild story that essentially
culminates with you fighting an evil god pope. Imagine my smug
pleasure then when the haters lost out and a sequel was announced.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2011) Dir. Motomu Toriyama
For the sequel, Square kept
much of made XIII so excellent, namely the battle system and
outstanding presentation, and then they went about altering aspects
like character upgrades & exploration. The goal was finding a way
to provide some of the freedom many players sorely missed while
keeping everything focused enough to still tell a strong story.
Shifting away from the core cast of the previous game this adventure
focuses on Serah, who was sidelined through much of XIII as she teams
up with a time-traveler named Noel as they search through time to try
and stop a great disaster while searching for Lightning, the heroine
of XIII whose been transformed into a Valkyrie in service of a god.
Yeah it's nutty but it's also a good bit more fun and lighthearted
than the previous game despite some really heavy themes.
Gameplay had likewise been made a bit more fun by first lowering the
challenge level. In place of a third permanent party member there was
a sort of pokemon style monster raising element with swapable
critters taking the third spot in formation. Upgrading had more
choices to be made but was still streamlined enough to not break
completely from what had come before. Exploration involved warping to
different spots in time on a criss-crossing chronological map with
some locations having multiple versions in the past or future. The
game used this method to provide some alternate endings, most of
which were fun gags, though the game still had a concrete ending, and
that's something we'll have to talk about.
By and large I had a great experience with XIII-2. Serah and Noel
were a fun duo to saunter through time with, finding how the other
characters had struggled or succeed after the events of the first
adventure was always interesting, and the new villain was one of the
most memorable to grace the series in some time. I enjoyed this
outing both a little more and little less than its predecessor but it
was still a total blast. It was also one of the biggest shocks in my
time as a gamer.
The night I finally took on the last boss was terrific. A tacky
balled played as so many plot points converged and the very fabric of
time was seemingly saved. Then came not one but multiple major
twists. And as my jaw began to drop a black screen appeared with the
words “to be continued.” “What!” I shouted in disbelief. Note
at the time there had been no announcement of further entries to
this line of games. Was the conclusion going to be based on the
success of this title? Would it be a series of DLC outings? There was
more DLC, which has sadly never been collected on physical media, but
even that didn't wrap this tale up. Months passed as I waited
anxiously for word. Looking back there's the nice comfort of knowing
where the story goes. At the time however an FF trilogy was unheard
of, especially when the first game had received so many complaints.
Turns out miracles do happen.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (2013) Dir. Motomu Toriyama
For part three of this
sub-series the developers choose to shift more towards an open
gameplay-focused approach with the heavy presentation and
storytelling taking a bit of a backseat. This proved invaluable as
many of the concepts introduced here can be traced to newer entries
like XV and the VII Remake.
Taking place five centuries after
XIII-2 players are once again in control of Lightning who has just
thirteen days to travel across the remains of civilization to free
souls so that god may bring them into a newly remade universe. This
setting is nutty even by FF standards featuring characters who
haven't aged for hundreds of years due to the events of the last
game. As it is more free-roaming approach some of the story threads
can be oddly paced but what really matters is the ending. After the
madness of the previous outing Lightning
Returns wraps everything
up with what is without a doubt one of the best endings in video game
history.
Gameplay is wildly different. While the general flow of combat
matches with the other XIII titles alterations had to be made to
account for only having one playable character. To that end the
paradigm system was intermingled with concepts of X-2's dress sphere
system so that Lightning could change outfits and battle abilities on
the fly. Combined with different equipment and skill systems plus the
fact that the passage of time actually mattered, a character actually
dies because I didn't return to their town that night. It's a unique
experience even by the standards of this series.
Seeing as I was such a fan of this sub-line of games the change to a
timed experience with weaker production values made this my least
liked of the XIII trilogy. That being said it was still a majorly
memorable experience topped off by an unforgettable finish. On the
whole this trilogy may get a lot of flack but for those willing to
dig in and undertake the full adventure the rewards are great.
Final Fantasy XIV (2010) Dir. Nobuaki Komoto and Anoki Yoshida
Bet you're tired after all
that XIII talk and just begging for a brief respite. My personal
shame has just become your lucky break. For how much I adore this
franchise there is in fact one primary numbered entry I've never laid
hands on. From it's rocky launch to beloved status as a heavyweight
of MMO gaming life has never offered the much needed time and space
for me to even think of starting XIV. Perhaps one day this issue will
be remedied...maybe.
Final Fantasy XV (2016) Dir. Hajime Tabata (plus the Royal
Edition)
XV is a weird game to talk
about. I've seen many argue that it is an outright bad game, which it
isn't, though it is a profoundly messy one. The game began its life
as a side-project to XIII before disappearing and reemerging as the
fifteenth proper entry. The game itself attempts to blend aspects of
open-world action gaming with traditional FF elements while relying
on a continued life of DLC to supplement the core experience and fill
in gaps so that the development team could finally get something out
on shelves. The result is that different players may have had vastly
different experiences due to the vast number of changes made to since
release.
Being a hardcore devote of the franchise I naturally picked this up
on day one and played through it in fairly short order. Back then
players only ever got to control Noctis, the car drove mostly on auto
and had zero off-road capabilities save for once you unlock flight,
and extra modes like online play weren't even on the radar. If you
were to pick up the game now it's possible to try out the different
battle abilities of the four leads, or to choose alternate paths
during controversial sections like chapter 13, which some people
though was difficult despite it being a total cakewalk. Even the
endgame has been extended with a larger final dungeon more bosses to
contend with. Then there are character specific episodic adventures,
a whole online mulitplayer campaign, and virtual reality fishing.
Accounting for all of those
differences let's just focus on the original core experience. The
story concerned a young prince off on a road trip with his three
childhood friends in preparation for his royal wedding. Just a day or
so into the trip their nation is overtaken by an invading army and
the group must seek out ancient powers in order to restore some
version of peace. The story is at its best when it focuses on the
friendship between these four friends as other aspects can come
across as underdeveloped or just downright odd.
There's a lot of good in XV along with some very sloppy elements.
The majority of the game takes place in one country that is
absolutely wonderful to explore but it makes for a stark contrast
when the ending portions of the game take away all that freedom and
lock the player into scripted action events. The battle system is one
of the most straightforward within the whole series and decent fun
though the magic components are kinda awful with spells functioning
more like grenades. One of the most interesting choices was how the
party could only gain levels when sleeping which meant players had to
decided between the pros and cons of camping and eating good food or
earning an experience multiplier from hotels. You better believe I
manipulated that system to cheese through a few bosses.
All in all the bulk of XV proves to be a memorable adventure with
the greatest failing being the method of delivering the game as some
living experience meant to be played for years. It seems Square has
already learned from this mistake as it painted XV in an unfair light
and damaged the reputation of the franchise. Not to mention the weird
vacuum it created where late adapters to the game where able to
easily get the full experience through the Royal Edition whereas
dedicated fans who showed up on day one had content slowly trotted
out. This resulted in players like me setting up plans for a
full-revisit one day to compare memories with the new reality. I
imagine history will be nicer to this based on its own merits once a
more improved version pops on on Switch or PS5.
Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV (2016) Dir. Soichi Masui
Due to the long and messy
development cycle for XV many plot elements were moved around to
different media projects so that the game could actually be finished.
Part of the lead-up to the games release was this small, four episode
anime series offering looks at how these characters grew up and came
to befriend each-other. Admittedly I can't recall a ton about these
as it has been quite some time since last viewing them. I do remember
there being some very nice plot elements in the Prompto episode that
helps to establish his relationships with the others, including
Lunafreya which explains his weird excitment over her wedding dress.
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2016) Dir. Takeshi Nozue
Much like the game it's
based off of this third FF film is earmarked for a revisit. During
the first viewing it slotted into my least liked of the three movies
with its odd style almost like a fantasy version of the Bourne
filmes. The story is a little bit prequel but mostly showcases the
events that occur in the city of Insomnia right after the main
foursome leaves. This of course means that, save for a couple of key
figures, the primary cast of made-up of total strangers right down to
a villain who just barely appears within the game itself, think he's
in the background of one scene.
On a purely technical level the film is a beauty to behold. The CG
is flat-out gorgeous and I recall it having a solid soundtrack and
solid voice casts for both the original Japanese and English dub.
Still; it's an odd film that doesn't perfectly mesh with the source
material yet can't stand fully on its own. Perhaps another viewing
might offer better insight.
A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV (2016)
Before starting this
article series I had totally forgotten about A
King's Tale.
It's only natural given the titles origins as a bit of promotional
DLC for pre-orders of the main game from different retailers. I
hadn't ordered XV from such places but I'm thankful to report this
little spin-off is freely available these days. As expected the
actual product is very short with a playtime of an hour or so.
The idea is that King Regis is telling bedtime stories to a young
Noctis where he embellishes, or outright invents, an adventure where
he and his friends must stop Ultros from taking the power of
Leviathan. Don't expect meaningful revelations here as the story is
simply a framework.
Gameplay takes the form of a single-player belt-scrolling brawler
with surprising depth for something made as a promotion. Regis has
three different attacks that can link and combo in different ways
alongside a rolling dodge, magic, and the ability to enlist help from
his friends or a storm of flying swords called the Armiger. This is
vital as each enemy reacts differently to attacks with some
countering attacks, others being mostly reliant to physical attacks,
etc. Taking into account the added depth of how magic effects battles
such as how ice slows enemy movement or fire can create burning
hazards alongside the challenge of maintaining combos to unleash
friendly and armiger attacks makes for a hefty brawler.
Sadly the level-design, if you can call it that, is a total joke.
The story mode has maybe ten levels or so but in truth it's the same
three with different color palates. Those three layouts are dull as
dishwater with virtually zero obstacles or traps to contend with.
Still; I doubt there was much time or money for a project like this.
Taken on its own merits as a nifty little extra, A King's Tale
manages to provide an interesting diversion even if it's not
something you'll frequently return too. Frankly I was amazed at how
deep combat was for a game of this type and would love to see the
development staff produce something with a deeper well of resources.
Final Fantsy VII Remake (2020) Dirs. Tetsuya Nomura, Naoki
Hamaguchi, Motomu Toriyama
As
I said earlier there will be no major details or spoilers about
Remake found here. More than anything I want to stress how the modern
state of game journalism and blogging is really failing to express
how unique this project turned out. Essentially what the game is
revealed to be at the end washes away all the worries about a
long-term remake project and encourages new players to seek out the
extended world of FFVII content. So even if you never played VII or
Crisis Core there's still just as much reason, if not more, to go
back and enjoy. We're gonna talk about this one a little further down
the line but as it stands my assessment is that I grew from enjoying
the game to swimming in a haze of love for that nutso ending and
feeling proud that I'm better at it than paid gaming journalists.
And that's it! We made it all the way though. Dunno if this article
series did much for anyone out there but it was nice to finally talk
about a topic I've neglected for so long. For all the ups, downs, and
weird experimentation I can't wait to see what comes next for the
series though I have two big hopes. One is that we get at least two
numbed entries in the next console generation, I'd prefer three like
the old days but two will suffice. Also I hope Square can make at
least one of them more traditional. I've been happy with the quicker
action style of recent games but every once in a while it'd be nice
to have a slow thoughtful title to remind folks this series isn't
stuck to a single mold and can embrace different styles.
I was thinking of ranking the series but once I saw how long this
was, well I'd say that can wait for another day. I hope you've
enjoyed these posts. I'm gonna take that runners high from finishing
Remake and try to take on couple unfinished games. If anyone's
feeling frisky share some of your thoughts on the series even if they
don't match with my own. I'll tell you why you're wrong but it's
still fun to share.
