Final Fantasy: bold and different
Now we come to a completely different topic: what’s really unusual about the Final Fantasy saga? That’s right: it constantly redefines itself. In each episode of its RPG, Square Enix tells a completely new story, a perfect hybrid of turn-based, real-time combat. Without Final Fantasy VII, Japanese RPGs would never have made it out of blocky graphics. Without Final Fantasy VI, there could be no loving, expansive, forbiddingly beautiful story sequences that blur the line between game and movie. And it’s all succeeded thanks to the series, which now has 13 sequels and countless remakes and spin-offs. But it’s also worth saying straight away that Square Enix is straining the patience of its fans like hardly any other manufacturer.
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Criticism has intensified of late, particularly for the fact that episodes one through six have been re-released so many times, or that one part or another is simply too far removed from the original core of the series. The pinnacle is the idea of sequels: with excesses like Final Fantasy X-2 or Final Fantasy XIII-3, you have to ask yourself where it’s all going. Ultimately, one wonders if we can even talk about a “series” when, apart from the role-playing aspect, the title and the ever-repeating designations (from Sid to Chocobo, from Masamune to Bahamut), there are barely any tangible similarities. And it speaks volumes when an action layer, originally conceived as a spin-off, constantly introduces fresh conceptual elements and even ventures into one experiment or another. Furthermore, the series has also benefited from console cycles on several occasions, which is particularly noticeable when comparing the sixth and seventh episodes.
Initially, Final Fantasy wanted to do nothing more than follow in the footsteps of Dragon Quest, which was extremely popular in Japan, and celebrate similar success. Because of this, the first part is considered one of the “most ordinary”: you roam the world and numerous dungeons with your four-man squad, knock out lots of monsters, get stronger and save the world at the end – as usual. . But the direct successor has already introduced an idea as unusual as it is peculiar: game characters don’t get the classic experience points, but rather improve in the areas they use during their battles. So if a character primarily attacks their opponents with their sword, at some point their maximum strength value increases – as a kind of “reward for effort”.
The third part of Final Fantasy introduced character quests, the fourth first part embodied soap opera characters, the fifth part refined the quest system, and the sixth part combined these concepts into a hardware-destroying audio-visual masterpiece that was groundbreaking in terms of character design and storytelling in its day. Final Fantasy VII for the first Playstation made radical use of the then “huge” size of the CD and flooded players with breathtaking (for the time) backgrounds and cinematic cutscenes. The eighth episode replaced the cuddly little characters with modern teenage stickers, and the ninth evoked an “Oh, how cute!” from even the most avid gamers as soon as they first saw Vivi strolling across the screen.
In a nutshell: each installment has something different and something unique, whether it’s gameplay, graphics or story-related. Many of the recently introduced conceptual elements are considered ambitious, and some are even retrospectively groundbreaking. Had it not been for Final Fantasy IV, we might not have known about Active Time Battle, the perfect hybrid of real-time and turn-based combat. Without Final Fantasy VII, Japanese RPGs would never have made it out of blocky graphics. Without Final Fantasy VI, there could be no loving, expansive, forbiddingly beautiful story sequences that blur the line between game and movie. And it’s all succeeded thanks to the series, which now has 13 sequels and countless remakes and spin-offs. But it should also be said straight away,
Criticism has increased especially recently, for example that episodes one through six have been re-released so many times or that one part or another is simply too far removed from the original core of the series. The pinnacle is the idea of sequels: with excesses like Final Fantasy X-2 or Final Fantasy XIII-3, you have to ask yourself where it’s all going. Ultimately, one wonders if we can even talk about a “series” when, apart from the role-playing aspect, the title and the ever-repeating designations (from Sid to Chocobo, from Masamune to Bahamut) there are hardly any tangible similarities. And it speaks volumes when an action layer originally conceived as a spin-off constantly introduces fresh conceptual elements and even dares to experiment one way or another. Furthermore, the series has also benefited from console cycles on several occasions, which is particularly noticeable when comparing the sixth and seventh episodes.
Initially, Final Fantasy wanted to do nothing more than follow in the footsteps of Dragon Quest, which was extremely popular in Japan, and celebrate similar success. Because of this, the first part is considered one of the “most ordinary”: you roam the world and numerous dungeons with your four-man squad, knock out lots of monsters, get stronger and save the world at the end – as usual. . But the direct successor has already introduced an idea as unusual as it is peculiar: game characters don’t get the classic experience points, but rather improve in the areas they use during their battles. So if a character primarily attacks their opponents with their sword, at some point their maximum strength value increases – as a kind of “reward for effort”.
The third part of Final Fantasy introduced character quests, the fourth first part embodied soap opera characters, the fifth part refined the quest system, and the sixth part combined these concepts into a hardware-destroying audio-visual masterpiece that was groundbreaking in terms of character design and storytelling in its day. Final Fantasy VII for the first Playstation made radical use of the then “huge” size of the CD and flooded players with breathtaking (for the time) backgrounds and cinematic cutscenes. The eighth episode replaced the cuddly little characters with modern teenage stickers, and the ninth evoked an “Oh, how cute!” from even the most avid gamers as soon as they first saw Vivi strolling across the screen.
In a nutshell: each installment has something different and something unique, whether it’s gameplay, graphics or story-related. Many of the recently introduced conceptual elements are considered ambitious, and some are even retrospectively groundbreaking. Had it not been for Final Fantasy IV, we might not have known about Active Time Battle, the perfect hybrid of real-time and turn-based combat. Without Final Fantasy VII, Japanese RPGs would never have made it out of blocky graphics. Without Final Fantasy VI, there could be no loving, expansive, forbiddingly beautiful story sequences that blur the line between game and movie. And it’s all succeeded thanks to the series, which now has 13 sequels and countless remakes and spin-offs. But it should also be said straight away,
Criticism has increased especially recently, for example that episodes one through six have been re-released so many times or that one part or another is simply too far removed from the original core of the series. The pinnacle is the idea of sequels: with excesses like Final Fantasy X-2 or Final Fantasy XIII-3, you have to ask yourself where it’s all going. Ultimately, one wonders if we can even talk about a “series” when, apart from the role-playing aspect, the title and the ever-repeating designations (from Sid to Chocobo, from Masamune to Bahamut), there are barely any tangible similarities. And it speaks volumes when an RPG originally conceived as a spin-off of Final Fantasy XIII Versus is suddenly called Final Fantasy XV. The series has undergone so many changes that even a tangible genre change probably doesn’t matter anymore.
From evolution to revolution
And that brings us to very bold sequels that are so different from their predecessors that we have to talk about a different genre. Then again, the aspect of technical development from generation to generation of hardware isn’t exactly innocent, such as when Super Mario 64 becomes so complex because of its three-dimensional world that some talk about an action-adventure game rather than jumping and running. But beyond that, one developer or another might have thought while brainstorming an upcoming sequel, “Hey, let’s do it a whole different way… because we can!”
One of the most beautiful and successful examples was provided by Konami in 1997: until then, the Castlevania series had been considered a solid bank for fans of sharp jumping and running, in which you jumped and battled from one level to the next. provided with a dashing whip. As a rule, the games were strictly linear, though the rigid corset was occasionally loosened by individual forks in the road (see Castlevania 3). The only real exception was Castlevania_2: Simon’s Quest, which on the one hand shone with a large, fairly freely accessible world and a rare day and night change for the time, but on the other was annoying due to unfair playthroughs and boring areas.
When Konami introduced the new Castlevania episode exclusively for Playstation with Symphony of the Night, hardly anyone suspected the extent of the changes. On the contrary: at first glance, it seemed very similar to its direct and conventional predecessor Rondo of Blood, because some graphical elements (such as isolated opponents) were carried over one-to-one. But at its core, the game design has changed radically, because Konami has abandoned the level divisions. Instead, you walk around a huge castle whose various areas are linked by numerous paths. Some obstacles and doors can only be opened after pressing various switches or learning skills. The result: for the first few minutes of the game, you still have the feeling that you’re playing a classic linear action game.
But in reality, the castle lives on through an extraordinarily branched out structure that will be revealed to you gradually. Without the extremely useful overview map that the game automatically draws for you, as well as several teleporters that serve as shortcuts, the player would be completely overwhelmed by the complexity of Symphony of the Night’s game design. It’s all strikingly reminiscent of Nintendo’s Super Metroid, except that Konami has added some classic RPG elements. The result is a kind of adventure sub-genre, affectionately known to fans as “Metroidvania”.
