SPOILERS FOR: Final Fantasy Series
I have become lost in this world of Playstation 2s, Xboxes, and high powered graphics cards. The current formula for RPGs has changed from a well supported story and soundtrack to being strictly dependant on the graphical aspects of the games. The new focus seems to be misplaced as most RPGs of late have been spawned from text based RPGs and the mother of all Role Playing Games, Dungeons and Dragons. It seems our beloved days of concrete stories and captivating music has come and gone, we now live in an age of visual flash and awe. Most developers have lost sight of what makes a good console RPG, story and sound.
Now, to where the focus of the modern RPG has gone, graphical appeal. I can honestly say that games have looked amazing recently. Ten years ago, I would have never dreamed that we as gamers would be experiencing what we are now with the visual aspects of gaming. Yet, as breathtaking as it is, a Breath of Fire V holds up against Breath of Fire II as well as cubic zirconium holds up against diamond. As well as a Final Fantasy X-2 does not hold up against a Final Fantasy VII. The games may look amazing, but by the end, or even halfway through, looks are not what matter, it’s the story that keeps players coming back. Pretty graphics, 3D rendering, CG movies, they are all like a quick fix of a potent drug, the high lasts for about an hour or two, but by the end of it you just end of unsatisfied and craving more.
Story, as we all know, is the essential element to a gratifying RPG experience. What is the point of playing a forty plus hour game if the story is as bland as a rice cake or torturous as listening to a Michael Bolton album? Somehow, over the past 5 years, the overall story quality of RPGs has plummeted. Final Fantasy just happens to be the best example for this case. In October of 1994, the U.S. was treated to a masterpiece, Final Fantasy VI. The game had everything, an antagonist that held no hesitation in poisoning an entire castle’s population, including women and children, and then continued by casting the world into a world of ruin while ruling with and iron fist from his throne. The protagonist role in the game was so complex that the main protagonist actually switched in the middle of the game. Final Fantasy VI some how took a cast of over ten playable characters and intertwined them into a tale of magic, war, deceit, and cruelty, and did it amazingly effectively. The next gift from Squaresoft was Final Fantasy VII, the ultimate mistaken identity story. Although something like mistaken identity sounds kind of dumb, it was taken and molded into another priceless gem by Square. I look at these games and just shake my head, because what does the Final Fantasy series have to show for itself now? Final Fantasy X and X-2. Now, most people say that Final Fantasy X was a breath of fresh air, and of course it was, compared to VIII and IX. What we basically have in X is a whiny protagonist that has a daddy issue. Then, just as he seems to turn around, and be somewhat tolerable, Square decides to pull the oldest cliché in the world, he is just a dream. Wow, now that’s original…….. Then, if you were fooled into buying X-2, then you were just in for another disappointment. All we got was a Charlie’s Angels rip-off that chronicled three skanks and their travels to fight what? A ghost. Once again, completely original… (I hope you can detect the sarcasm) So, even though these games looked outstanding, they just did not hold up in any other way. The sad truth is that our beloved classics have fallen to games with stories that could hold up against something I wrote in kindergarten.
Next are the soundtracks of current games. Many people associate songs with a certain memory in their lives, a girlfriend or boyfriend, wedding, or death in the family. The same should happen with a game. A gamer should be able to hear a song and their mind should be flooded with memories of that moment of a game. A song should set the mood for an entire scene. To continue with the Final Fantasy example, Final Fantasy VII’s death scene of Aeris is a classic example. When Aeris is impaled by Sephiroth’s ten foot blade, the player is treated to the greatest musical arrangement for a scene ever. The song somehow captures the sorrow of the scene with the deep love and emotion connecting the two characters, Cloud and Aeris. Xenogears’ long cut scenes and dialog are easily tolerated with the mixture of calm and soothing tunes as well as one that do nothing but send an ice cold chill up your spine. Yet, if you look at these games’ counterparts, Final Fantasy X and Xenosaga, the feeling you get with the soundtracks just is not the same. The songs just do not capture the moment anymore. Final Fantasy X-2 sounds like the player is listening to a Top 40 station rather than playing a Final Fantasy game. There has not been a theme like Magus’ in Chrono Trigger in a long time. Just ask yourself, of the top of your head, can you recall the theme for Seymour in FFX or the battle theme of Xenosaga? No? How about the battle theme for Chrono Trigger? Get the point now?
Modern games are not awful, and I do not intend to dictate them to be, but they are not anywhere near as good as they used to be. The perpetrator, modern technology is being utilized, but the human mind and imagination of the writers are not. It is easy to see the current correlation of current games pertaining to a rise in graphical quality and a plummet in story quality and soundtracks. Gamers and Production companies alike must stop obsessing over visuals and remind themselves of what this genre of gaming was based off of, story and sound.
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