Final Fantasy: How Many Until It's Truly "Final?"

I really have to hand it to the Final Fantasy series for having the most contradictory title in all of gaming. Despite the fact that it's been going on for well over twenty years now, the series simply will not end -- despite some horrible trends that have irrevocably changed the series, mostly for the worst.

Yes, I know all about the story of the original title's development: It was supposed to be the "final" game that the fledgling development house SquareSoft was going to make before going broke, and it was a "fantasy" game heavily inspired by Dungeons and Dragons. (Don't believe me? Take one good look at the character classes and bestiary.) That first game -- much like its contemporary, Dragon Quest -- feels incredibly archaic by today's standards. Again, like Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy's basic style of play involves little more than grinding levels until the party is strong enough to advance to the next area of the world, then repeating the process until eventually confronting the end boss. There was little to no story of which to speak, the characters were generic and generally devoid of any sort of personality beyond that implied by their huge sprites, and combat was largely repetitive (not to mention the fact that the characters apparently couldn't differentiate between living and dead targets, causing characters to have to waste an action if their target was slain before their turn).

However unplayable it may be today, though, the original title was a huge success that laid the foundation for the series that would eventually become synonymous with "role-playing games" for a great number of console gamers. For instance, the Super NES's RPG Renaissance yielded such beloved entries as Final Fantasies II and III (IV and VI for the Japanophiles), which took the series beyond its humble beginnings into the realm of greatness. The characters still adhered to specific classes to some degree -- though III did not really label them as such -- but they were so much more than their skill sets. These characters had personalities that were well-developed and believable (well, except for II's Kain -- how many times can one person betray allegiances?), which really allowed the player to develop a special connection with certain characters. The additional flexibility accorded in III to customize the four member adventuring party only enhanced this aspect -- players were able to bring along their favorite characters and develop them as they saw fit. This emphasis on characters and their relation to the player allowed for some very sweeping and moving plots -- without a doubt the shining point of the series. Add in high production values and some of the best music of the 16-bit era, and you've got a recipe for success.

However, it was not until the behemoth Final Fantasy VII was released that the series became the flagship title for console RPGs. Ironically enough, it was also the beginning of the series's descent into inanity -- what I like to refer to as "Nomura-itis." I won't elaborate too much on this point, as GameSpite.net's Jeremy Parish has already hit the nail on the head in his excellent article, but it will suffice to say that the emphasis shifted to overly broody amnesiac heroes portrayed in all their full and poorly-articulated glory by way too many cutscenes. The PlayStation-era entries in the series are the prime culprits of this infraction, as their stories are jumbled messes (even more so than Xenogears -- quite an accomplishment), and the characters are largely uninteresting and above all interchangeable. VII's Materia system and VIII's Junction system, in their attempts to bring limitless customization to players, instead made the characters themselves largely worthless. VII's characters, for example, were defined not by their character traits (however based on blatant stereotypes they might have been), but rather by the equipment and Materia they carried. Likewise, characters in VIII were defined by how many spells they had junctioned to their equipment, as well as which Guardian Forces they had equipped. Despite their popularity and the fact that these two games are largely responsible for the massive following that the series has, these two games are my least favorite of the series for all of the things that they did wrong. It is particularly telling that Final Fantasy IX, the final PlayStation entry, took three steps backwards as far as story and character customization is concerned, yet holds up much better than its two immediate predecessors.

The PlayStation 2 entries, X and XII, were largely creative and original though, despite failing in one of the two areas of character customization (XII's license grid, which basically results in a party of über-clones) or story (X's sub-par effort despite interesting characters and an excellent gameplay system). XII in particular was a huge leap forward for the series, moving away from some long outdated abstractions such as random battles and separate battle screens. Everything in XII takes place seamlessly, thanks to a (mostly) well thought out Gambit system. To be fair, X also did away with the abstraction of a world map, and XII continued in that vein. XII's amazingly detailed world of Ivalice stands as perhaps the most vibrant and engaging world in the entire series.

Unfortunately, Nomura-itis appears to be the forecast for the franchise's foreseeable future. Final Fantasy XIII appears to be headed back down the dark and detestable road of ruin. Perhaps it's a sign that the series truly should live up to its title, but many gamers weaned on the stylings of VII are eagerly awaiting their next venomous dose of Nomura. The series will not be ending anytime soon, that's for certain -- an old dog living well beyond its prime.