Since the death of my 60GB PS3, I’ve
been a little burnt out on games. None of my newer games have been able to pull
me in. Trouble was, I wanted to play something. Anything. But the God of War
games my new machine came with just couldn’t hook me.
So, one day I thought, Why not an old game? I switched on my old-school PS2. And I popped
in Final Fantasy X.
It’d been just long enough since I’d
played it that I forgotten enough about the gameplay for it to be interesting.
It took a bit to adjust my vision to the lower graphics, but then I was off,
immersed in the story and enjoying some turn-based battle. As I played, I
started thinking about the reasons I was enjoying FFX so much more than I had
newer Final Fantasy games. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
Random Encounters
They can be annoying as hell when you’re
rushing across a map to reach a destination, but they add a sense of danger
that non-random encounters lack.
Random Encounter—I’m just gonna stroll
across this wide plain. *Screen shatter* Great Moogles! A behemoth! Get it, get
it, get it! *Win battle* Whew, let’s get the hell out of here before another
one shows up.
Visible Enemy Encounter—What’s that? A
behemoth lumbering around on a grassy knoll? No, I don’t think I’ll chance
that. I’m just going to roll over here with these fluffy sheep.
Story
I’m all about a good story. That’s what
drew me to Final Fantasy VII and RPGs in the first place. The text-driven
scenes of early FF games gave it all a feel of an interactive book. I became
attached to characters, and when things happened to them, I cared. If you’ve
played a Final Fantasy game, you know they like to hit you with a cliffhanger
and leave you pitching a fit until after the credits—or longer if they’re
making a sequel. I’d sit through the ten minutes of scrolling names, waiting
for that last short scene that would give me a sweet burst of closure.
I haven’t felt that connection to the
characters since FFX. When I played FFXII, I couldn’t have cared less if Vaan
dropped into a cockatrice’s nest and never surfaced again. I didn’t squirm in
my seat as I waited through the credits to see if there was one last scene.
Summonings
They’re a staple of the Final Fantasy
franchise, but since FFX, they have felt more like an accessory rather than a
useful ally. I didn’t have much use for them at all in XII, and I didn’t care
much more for them in XIII.
Battle System
I’ve played a lot more action RPGs
recently, so when I popped in FFX, I wasn’t sure if I would be bored with the
command selection of a turn-based system. Happily, I haven’t been bored a
minute. The variety of enemies keeps me on my toes, and the ability to switch
teammates, weapons, and armor mid-battle keeps things interesting. Overdrives
are awesome, and the summons are not only beautiful to watch, but pack a punch
when I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.
Newer systems try to be more active, but
in XII, I could set my controller down and make a sandwich while my people
battled it out. In FFXIII, battle was better with the paradigm shifts, but
still lacked something. Could’ve been the scrolling through paradigm sets. In
XIII-2, the button-mashing during cinematic scenes was irritating as hell to
me. I want to watch the excellent graphics that I’ve come to expect of Final
Fantasy games, not hunt for a button command and miss the action.
In my humble gamer opinion, the Final
Fantasy series doesn’t have to stay turn-based. It’s a trademark of the game,
yes, but more important to me are the stories and themes that make it Final
Fantasy. I’m perfectly fine with hitting R1 to summon Bahamut to slay my
enemies. Turn-based is fine with me, too, if I’m not bogged down with lists. A
classic menu with a job-class or weapon/armor modifier system (such as the material
system in VII) are cool, too. Even the dress spheres of X-2 allowed for a
flexible and quick alteration when the battle called for it.
Whew, I’ve had a lot of thoughts on
this, and I could probably add a few more. How about gamers out there?
Thoughts? Hit me up in the comments.
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