The Final Final Fantasy?

by Eidolonslayer

The Final Fantasy series has, through time, become synonymous with the RPG genre. With ten major installments spanning throughout console gaming history, the last four of which have been wildly successful, not to mention a number of spin-offs, from Chocobo Dungeon to Crystal Chronicles to the Tactics line of games, and even re-releases such as Origins, Chronicles and Anthologies, and of course, lest we forget, that Square Enix is the second best-selling company in terms of software sales, behind only Nintendo and its numerous franchises, there is quite simply no argument against this fact. So, as we in the U.S., or possibly Canada, look forward to Final Fantasy X-2's and Final Fantasy XI's North American release, not to mention eagerly stand by as Square Enix creates Final Fantasy XII, it becomes apparent that a question needs to be asked. Will Final Fantasy ever be, or really have, just that, a final, and strong emphasis on final, fantasy?

The first thing that needs to be considered is that Square Enix is, quite obviously, a profit-driven company. Therefore, as long as we RPGamers continue buying Final Fantasy games in droves, the idea of the franchise fading into obscurity is all in all ridiculous. The time comes, however, when these purchases need to be looked at very clearly, and every RPGamer needs to question whether or not they will buy the next Final Fantasy.

I bring to your attention a franchise that can be considered very similar to Final Fantasy, and that is Pokemon. Despise me if you will for comparing it to Final Fantasy, but the comparison needs to be made. When Pokemon first came out, it sold in huge numbers and became the craze of the day. The next installment continued the success, and now Ruby and Sapphire live up to the legacy of large sales. So, in that aspect, it is quite like Final Fantasy. The most startling similarity, however, is the root of all evil in games, and that is unoriginality.

As just about anyone who has played the Pokemon line of games knows, the entire series is really the exact same game. Yellow was Red and Blue with a bit more color, Gold and Silver introduced a number of new Pokemon, and Ruby and Sapphire introduced yet more Pokemon and the two-on-two battling system. And yet, the types are mostly unchanged, with several uninspired types introduced, and the battle system is the exact same. Now let's look at the Final Fantasy line of games. The original Final Fantasy was, despite being the first in the line of games, rather unoriginal considering that Squaresoft was merely tweaking Dragon Quest. Next came Final Fantasy II, and that is the Japanese Final Fantasy II, which showed new innovation. The plot was actually existent, and the characters had default names. The experience system was dropped, and the proficiency system was born.

The next installment that anyone in North America has easily had access to is Final Fantasy IV. Once again there was change. The experience system returned, plot became yet more central, summons were added, and the active battle system became the way of battling. After Final Fantasy IV, change basically became non-existent. A few new summons were added or subtracted, the villain changed, the name of the summons was changed from your Espers to your Guardian Forces to your Eidolons to your Aeons. Up until Final Fantasy X the ATB system reigned, and in the PSX Final Fantasies the resemblance between the games became near unbearable. Always there was the sullen, moody, and mysterious character, the chain of final fights that left you constantly praying that it actually would be the final battle, and there was always the notoriously difficult hidden boss, from Emerald Weapon to Omega Weapon to Ozma. In fact, there were pretty much always the exact same things, with some minor change that would convince people to spend another fifty dollars on a doctored carbon copy of the game preceding it.

So, as we draw nearer to the conclusion, I'd like to point out once again that Final Fantasy sells by the millions, which means Square Enix is very happy with their profits from the games, which in turn means that signs point to the very large possibility of Final Fantasy XX. However, considering the lack of any true difference between the various Final Fantasy games, it can be said that there is a Final Fantasy. It started with Final Fantasy IV, and goes on to this day with Final Fantasy X, for no new fantasies appear to be created in Square Enix's collective heads, they are merely content to sit idly by and make hundreds of millions of dollars with the same template. Unless they change that, even the biggest fans of Final Fantasy will begin to be disgruntled for the lack of change, and sales will drop, and the Final Fantasy "pillar" of Square Enix will collapse.