"FINAL FANTASY" GAMES - CREATIVE OUTLET OR DERIVATIVE DRIVEL?

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Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
I have a pretty hefty personal bias against anybody who makes a game and titles it "Final Fantasy Somethingorother" using a fully original cast of characters, an original world, etc. To be blunt: I think it's completely retarded. If you're going to be so original about that stuff, but simply build the game in a very Final Fantasy style, why don't you just brand it something more personal? I've played at least three "Final Fantasy" games that have nothing to do with anything in the actual FF series - including things like Espers, Materia, Moogles, Chocobos, etc nowhere to be found. Why does it HAVE to be a "final fantasy" game and not just your own creation using FF as a style guide?

What are your thoughts on this, RMN designers?

(Note that this particular opinion does not include remakes or direct sequels; I give a little more leeway to those, as they are both actively being creative and using the source material, as opposed to branding their game with the source material's name to make it seem more commercial or something.)
Yeah Final Fantasy games are pretty shite. As far as I understood Final Fantasy 13 didn't include any player creativity at all but was a linear slog that should have been a movie.
Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
author=Shinan
Yeah Final Fantasy games are pretty shite. As far as I understood Final Fantasy 13 didn't include any player creativity at all but was a linear slog that should have been a movie.


I was referring to player-MADE games :D
author=Shinan
Yeah Final Fantasy games are pretty shite. As far as I understood Final Fantasy 13 didn't include any player creativity at all but was a linear slog that should have been a movie.


I think the OP was referring more to home-made games as opposed to commercial FF efforts.
Although it makes perfect sense both ways.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
This is probably a bad time to link you to my Final Fantasy MUD
Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
author=LockeZ
This is probably a bad time to link you to my Final Fantasy MUD


No I love MUDs :D You have a LOT more flexibility in terms of campiness factor, etc. Plus, do you actually use Final Fantasy conventions, as opposed to just making up your own game and CALLING it Final Fantasy?
See also: my URL in my profile. It is a MUD based on being a mash-up of other games.
I prefer the "FF as a style guide" approach for any game that doesn't adhere to the FF conventions of Moogles, espers/materia/whatever, chocobos, having a guy named Cid, etc...

But, on the other hand, other than those somewhat common items, what really makes an FF game an FF game beyond the name anyway? Is it even enough just to include a chocobo and a guy named Cid to make it an FF game?

I've only really played FFIV, V, VI and VII so I probably don't have enough experience to even say.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
The Unofficial Squaresoft MUD - link: http://uossmud.sandwich.net
Oh, we use more than just the naming conventions. We have very accurate worlds based on the worlds of Final Fantasy 5, 6, 7, Chrono Trigger, and Secret of Mana. I mean, you could open up maps of the original games, and use them to navigate the MUD, often right down to the placement of the furniture. Our combat system is based primarily on the Final Fantasy Tactics job system, with some additions from other games such as FF5 and SaGa Frontier. And there are missions that let you play through a lot of the original games' events; for example, the first time you enter the Rabite Fields near Potos in Secret of Mana, the Sword of Mana starts speaking to you and asking you to pull it out...


But, on the other hand, other than those somewhat common items, what really makes an FF game an FF game beyond the name anyway? Is it even enough just to include a chocobo and a guy named Cid to make it an FF game?
Squaresoft seems to think so. Every new FF game gives me new and exciting reasons to wonder how the hell they thought it had anything to do with the series. Oh well.
Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
author=kentona
I prefer the "FF as a style guide" approach for any game that doesn't adhere to the FF conventions of Moogles, espers/materia/whatever, chocobos, having a guy named Cid, etc...

But, on the other hand, other than those somewhat common items, what really makes an FF game an FF game beyond the name anyway? Is it even enough just to include a chocobo and a guy named Cid to make it an FF game?

I've only really played FFIV, V, VI and VII so I probably don't have enough experience to even say.


That is an excellent question. Obviously, every final fantasy has SOMETHING in common with a previous incarnation. This extends to weapons, even - the Octagon Rod exists in no less than four games, etc. My major beef is, why would you even bother to call it Final Fantasy if you DON'T have, at least, a chocobo and a guy named Cid? It just seems like laziness, or a move for cheap popularity points by attaching it to a well-known and well-liked game series.
Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
author=LockeZ
The Unofficial Squaresoft MUD - link: http://uossmud.sandwich.net
Oh, we use more than just the naming conventions. We have very accurate worlds based on the worlds of Final Fantasy 5, 6, 7, Chrono Trigger, and Secret of Mana. I mean, you could open up maps of the original games, and use them to navigate the MUD, often right down to the placement of the furniture. Our combat system is based primarily on the Final Fantasy Tactics job system, with some additions from other games such as FF5 and SaGa Frontier. And there are missions that let you play through a lot of the original games' events; for example, the first time you enter the Rabite Fields near Potos in Secret of Mana, the Sword of Mana starts speaking to you and asking you to pull it out...


Oh yes, I am QUITE familiar with UOSS. (Your Chakra ability is turribly b0rken.)
And this is exactly the opposite of the problem I was describing. You did, in fact, make an actual Final Fantasy game, or one that couldn't reasonably be dismissed as 'having nothing to do with the series.' :)
Adding Final Fantasy to your title is a double-edged Buster sword.

It may draw in a larger crowd to view your game, but it also brings with it preconceived notions of what should be contained in that game, and if it doesn't match up, then people are going to be off-put.

Its some psychology stuff I was reading about.

If the media (game, movie, book, etc..) doesn't match up to the preconceived expectations, there is an inherent repulsion, despite the quality level of the actual media.

I think the example used was the new Robin Hood movie - by all accounts, it was a decent movie, but it WASN'T a Robin Hood movie, and that put off a lot of people.
Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
author=kentona
If the media (game, movie, book, etc..) doesn't match up to the preconceived expectations, there is an inherent repulsion, despite the quality level of the actual media.

I think the example used was the new Robin Hood movie - by all accounts, it was a decent movie, but it WASN'T a Robin Hood movie, and that put off a lot of people.


I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head for why it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I'm not necessarily influenced by preconceptions of what the game should include, but it does baffle me when it seems like they chose the title for no other reason than to seem appealing.
... Which I guess means I AM influenced by preconceptions of what the game should include. Aaaahh!
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
To me, a perfect example of this is the Resident Evil series of movies.
If you hadn't played the game before, they would seem decent, as you have no real connection to the storyline or characters.
But if you HAD played the games prior to the movies, then well, the movies just seemed like shitty butchering of the games best aspects.
But that's just my opinion.

The same could go for most things.
Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
author=InfectionFiles
To me, a perfect example of this is the Resident Evil series of movies.
If you hadn't played the game before, they would seem decent, as you have no real connection to the storyline or characters.
But if you HAD played the games prior to the movies, then well, the movies just seemed like shitty butchering of the games best aspects.
But that's just my opinion.

The same could go for most things.


But, did someone make a movie having nothing to do with zombies, a mutating virus, any of the previous characters or locations... just a general 'horror' theme... and THEN call it Resident Evil?
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
author=Versalia
But, did someone make a movie having nothing to do with zombies, a mutating virus, any of the previous characters or locations... just a general 'horror' theme... and THEN call it Resident Evil?
Thank god no one has!

I was more responding to the point kentona brought up, about preconceived expectations.

I honestly don't think someone could get by with slapping the RE title on something that has nothing to do with the RE series.
Mainly because the FF series never held a solid storyline throughout all the games, like RE has.
Which I think made it reeeeaal easy for Square and anyone else to stick "Final Fantasy" in the title, even if it had nothing to do with the other games.
Cosplay Crisis is probably one of the few that's perfectly justified I guess
Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
author=xeilmach
Cosplay Crisis is probably one of the few that's perfectly justified I guess


That one actually did pop to mind, though I have no problem with it. It's a sort of subversion as opposed to an in-genre addition :)
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