A Rebuttal to "Sci-Fi Elements in Final Fantasy"

by Kelly St.Clair

Jacob Holloway asks why the RPG "traditionalists" are only complaining now, when technological elements have been present in Final Fantasy games since the beginning. I would offer that what has always been present is anachronisms - things out of their proper time - and that now, what is the anachronism and what is the overall flavor have switched places.

Robots, airships, hovercraft, MagiTech Armor, huge robotic Giants... all of these were dropped into an otherwise medieval-fantasy world. Often they were the products of some greatly advanced but now long-vanished civilization (see Xenogears, Crono Trigger, and other Square games for more examples). But despite the presence of these technological wonders, virtually all of the people of the world (including the Heroes) still live in villages and castles, fight with swords, bows and other pre-gunpowder weapons, are ruled by kings, queens and princes, and have no knowledge of electricity beyond a Bolt/Lit spell. Magic and the sword still decide combat.

In FF7, however, and now in 8, the magic and the swords are the things that are out of place in an increasingly modern world: a setting with factories, reactors, corporations, trains, cars, motorcycles... and guns. Except for the monsters, it's not that different from the world outside our window. And I suspect that is what some people, preferring to escape from that world for a few dozen hours, object to.

Let us not underestimate the effect of nostalgia, either. The games that brought us into this hobby will always occupy a special place in our thoughts, even if the graphics now look blocky, the music is mere chirps and beeps, and the plot a series of cliches. Cherished things shine brighter, by the light of younger days.

Any long-running series of games attracts a following who come to expect the next game to be exactly the same, only better. That's a hard thing to manage while staying fresh; indeed, some criticize Final Fantasy games for being too similar. Square must walk the line between not alienating their existing fans and keeping FF9 (and 10, and beyond?) from being mere rehashes of what has gone before. It's a problem with no easy solution.