Change

by Bary Dancer

If there's one constant in the world it is that things change. Humanity does things differently now than it did 1000, 100, and even 10 years ago. Why should things be any different for RPGs? More specifically Final Fantasy games. But linked with the constant of change is also the constant that humanity hates to change. This is where I thing all of these "Old School" versus "New School" arguments come from.

Can't you just hear all of the people in the early 80's bashing fuel injection and computers in cars? "What? There's no carburetor? Well, I'm not buying the thing. New-fangled junk. They just don't make 'em like they used to.? Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? Now apply it to Final Fantasy. "What? There's FMV instead of pantomime. Well, I'm not buying it. New-fangled junk. They just don't make 'em like they used to." Equally ridiculous? I think so, too.

What I'm getting at is instead of holding the old games over the heads of the new ones, judge them by their own merits. Each Final Fantasy game is its own self-contained universe. Treat them that way. You don't judge a man by his grandfather's actions do you? Then don't denounce the newer games just because they are different. In fact, every Final Fantasy game is different from its predecessor. The characters of I were nameless, faceless people whose only real distinction was what class you chose for them at the start of the game. II gave them names, faces, and introduced a different way of increasing stats. And on down the line the games changed. This doesn't make them bad, it just makes them different.

Sure, I miss the "golden age" of Square. I would much rather look at cute little sprites running around in a 3/4 overhead view world than 3D rendered polygons. I would much rather buy my characters new weapons and armor than junctioning magic to stats. And so on and so forth. But the fact of the matter is, you just can't do that anymore. Maybe they don't make 'em like they used to. So what? To quote the Eagles, "Get over it!"