Change

by Zabuni

A familiar cry to pages of RPGamer and other fan based pages of the consoles we so know and love is "Why can't games be like they used to be?". People write editorials about how Square, once the golden king, has been dragged done to new lows with each game they produce, giving in the market demands of flashy graphics and massive quantities of FMV. They pine for the days of 2d graphics, and plot lines they really mattered. I'm not saying they're wrong, just a bit misguided. Although I don't believe that Square has gone down the hill, let's just assume it has for the sake of argument. I believe the transformation of RPG's, espcially Square's, to meet more mainstream expectations is a good and necessary part of the evolution of genre, and for all of the grumbling and moaning of the purists, it helps even them.

Let me explain. I'd like to set the wayback machine to the year.....1992. The Super Nintendo was still the reigning champion of RPG's everywhere. We were playing FF4, and probably enjoying it quite heartily. Think though, what other games did you enjoy back then? You can start to list them: FF6, Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Breath of Fire, Lufia, Legend of Zelda, Chrono Trigger, even Phantasy Star 3. A nice list, but notice something, it's not very long. This supposed golden age of RPG's seems sparse when compared to the avalanche of titles that seem to grace the consoles of players' today. The reason is that RPG's were not as popular back then, especially in the US. Subsequently, titles did not get made, and when they did, they often didn't get translated. How many times, did you, as a kid, open up the latest issue of Nintendo power magazine and see the great new RPG that came out in Japan. Tales of Destiny anyone? How about Seiken Densetsu 3, Final Fantasy 5 or even Terranigma? Didn't they look so enticing? Did we ever see those games in the US? No. Why? Not enough market to support them. RPG's were marginized to the back corners of shops.

Flash forward to the year 1997. The year it all changed. Final Fantasy 7 was released. This was the first crack in the dam. Soon it would be followed by flood of titles, more RPG's being released in the US than in any other time. Now, we could debate the good and bad aspects of the post-SNES RPG's till we were blue in the face, but it does not change the fact that we get more RPG's, both good and bad, now than we ever did back in the cartridge era. Could anyone honestly say, that if FF7 had done poorly, that other games, like Final Fantasy Tactics, and Xenogears, would have ever washed up on our shores? Probably not. If this does not satisfy you, how about this fact. Enix has come back. They actually want to produce games for the US! If this doesn't say something good about the direction of which RPG's are now taking, almost nothing does.

RPG's, like most genres, can either grow or die. I have had personal experience with a genre that's dying. I am also a fan of computer adventure games. They are in quite a dilapated state as of now. Classics, some of the great games of the genre were released, and met both critical acclaim, and piss poor sales. Take a stroll through the shelves of a computer store. You can find Grim Fandango, adventure game of the year in many magazines and websites, on sale for $19.95, while Diablo still sells for higher. I am now going to have to import an adventure game from Europe because a certain developer can't find a publisher in America. Does this sound familiar?

So even if Final Fantasy is not as good as it used to be, it still is important. Why? For every FF7 or FF8 released, we also get a Grandia, or a Tactics, or whatever games you like. Don't like Square? Don't buy their games. Unlike some eras, you can actually buy a good amount of game from someone else besides Square. With the titles coming to the Dreamcast, you don't even have to buy a playstation! Yes, games have become more mainstream. Yes, this means changes. The alternative is not as rosy of a picture. We could either gripe about the new Final Fantasy, whether it will suck or rule, or we could be feverently hoping that they would release it, or any other game they have. This is the price, and the promise of popularity.