R P G A M E R . C O M   -   E D I T O R I A L S

Not Worse, Just Different

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Nicholas Ferriola
FAN EDITORIALIST

While there are certain things I can certainly agree with Justin Cronin on, the vast majority of his editorial sounded like yet another fan of “The good old Days” trying to say that things have only gone downhill. The evidence he uses, while present is very selective, and hardly indicative of an entire genre. I’ll start with music, and move into story.

To start with, he says that the industry is focused on only the graphics, and not story or sound. While in some cases that may be the case, I c simply cannot agree that such has become the rule of the day. Yes, Graphics improve. No, that does not automatically detract from the rest of the gaming experience. He first compared Final Fantasies VI and VII to X and X-2. This is all well and good, but first take a look at the game setting. Could you imagine them using the music from Final Fantasy VI in Final Fantasy X, Or vice versa? Of course not. The feel wouldn’t even work. Personally, yes, FFVI did have my favorite score, but that has not detracted from my enjoyment of later, their stories, and their soundtracks on their own merits. The magic in a game like Final Fantasy X’s soundtrack is in the emotions, and the locations that they can bring to mind. We have the tranquility on Besaid, the bustling activity in Luca, the solemn reverence of the temples, and yes, I DO remember Seymour’s theme, just as I remember Terra’s theme, Shadow’s theme, Lucca’s theme, Frog’s them etc. etc. Perhaps I am in a minority, but I LOVED the Xenosaga soundtrack, at least what there was of it., and maintain that Mitsuda is a great composer.

At one point you wrote this:

“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.”

When you say something like that, you lose much credibility. You neglect that there are many scenes of this sort in many games. Final Fantasy VIII had a great scene with Rinoa and Squall in space near the end of Disc 3. Eyes on me demonstrated the emotion involved perfectly in conjunction with the Graphics. Xenosaga had some incredibly heavy scenes where Albedo’s theme played prominent, evoking the dark sinister nature he represented. Even FFX-2, which had much pop-styled music in it had it’s moments, and for the vast majority of the time, the music was perfect for the scenes they were used for. Music in games has not gotten worse, it has simply changed.

Now for story. Once again: Not worse, different. Games these days have many different takes on stories. You go from plot light, simple games (FF Crystal Chronicles), up into the massively huge cinematic epics (Xenosaga). Is any style better? No. Simply different. Similarly I would argue that while games like FFVI did indeed have great stories, that has by no means stopped.

“The sad truth is that our beloved classics have fallen to games with stories that could hold up against something I wrote kindergarten.”

Do you seriously believe that? In terms of FFX (by no means my favorite game), you’ve simplified the plot to an unrecognizable level. Sure, Tidus was a “dream.” Was that the point of the story? No. Nor was it even the bulk of the story. The story was Yuna’s journey, and the effect an outsider has on it. When Tidus does not accept things that the rest of Spira takes for granted, he changes the course of the world. His being a dream is inconsequential to the rest. Sure, he had whiny times, but a protagonist is by no means a story; the protagonist is only one character in the wider whole. Additionally, if people bought FFX-2 expecting a serious game, they weren’t too bright to begin with. From the first screens and art, the game was obviously geared to a more light-hearted story. It’s a Gaiden, a side story; not necessary to enjoy the original. It was not intended serious, nor was it. I bought it expecting something fun and different. And that is exactly what I got. Comparing games considered serious, with FFX-2 is absurd. They are not even the same genre, even both being RPG’s.

Games change. They evolve, and grow at the whims of the creators, and based on the demands of the market. A market demands games that look good. We live in a society that for better or worse heavily values Aesthetics, and thus we get things that are pleasing to the eye. Just because graphical quality is there does not detract from the quality of the stories. It seems to me that Mr. Cronin simply has the problem where he compares the games he plays against each other too much. One must play a game and enjoy it on it’s own merit, and not on the merit of it’s predecessors. If you saw advertisements for FFVI today, and it was a new game, unconnected to the F series, exactly the appearance it was when it was originally released, would you have bought it? I for one doubt it. Looks have appeal, regardless of what you might want to believe, and to say that the downfall of the genre is due to graphics is absurd. There is no downfall due to graphics, and never will be. Graphics increase the storytelling and immersive potential of a game, they do not diminish it. Games are not better or worse, they are simply different.