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How many of us remember the game Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring? How many of us remember being so excited at the prospect of playing a fighting game with our favourite Final Fantasy VII characters? I remember being a kid playing this game and thinking there was nothing cooler than playing as Tifa Lockhart and beating the crap out of Cloud Strife. To me, Ehrgeiz was a game that could have spawned fantastic possibilities.
The game itself had some unique elements outside of the use of Final Fantasy VII characters, such as a Quest Mode, a simple "hack-and-slash" action RPG where upon entering different areas the player had to fight someone from the Ehrgeiz-verse and collect items. The game's battle mode differed from other 3D-type fighting games because it focused more on a Japanese wrestling-type style as opposed to traditional 2D fighters. Oddly enough, while the game had decent reception, it did not bring about a trend of creating RPG-franchised fighting games.
In 2008 Konami and Square-Enix shared with gamers two new twists on everyone's favourite RPG franchises with Castlevania: Judgment for the Nintendo Wii and Dissida: Final Fantasy for the PSP. Both titles show promise on how to change otherwise stale franchises, although because of these changes the games have been received with a lot of skepticism. While some might see the two titles as a disgrace to their respected series, others such as myself are intrigued by the idea that some of our favourite games are being transformed into something "different", even if it was not "new".
When gamers hear about RPG franchises being "out of their element" there's usually a resounding groan that the new title will be a disaster. With Castlevania: Judgment and Dissida: Final Fantasy it is interesting to see these two popular franchises being almost stripped completely of their RPG roots and adopting a new genre. However, this has the potential to be something great, or to be a complete track wreck. For hardcore lovers of both franchises they may protest the idea of seeing their beloved series changed, seeing as how even the most minor changes tend to make fans throw their arms up in the air. The problem is that we as gamers are spoiled and we have expectations that we demand be met when dealing with certain “beloved” franchises.
When Castlevania: Judgment was announced, it was a game that looked like every other fighting game. When I think of the Castlevania universe, there are not a lot characters to create a well-balanced fighting game. Unlike Final Fantasy where there is ample amount of characters to choose from. Castlevania is a franchise while known for some popular characters, does not have enough memorable characters to build a solid roster for a fighting game. Why create a fighter on a series where fans would recreate the same epic showdowns from the original games? I can only stand to see Dracula versus Simon Belmont so many times in a row. Regardless, the game has been described as clunky and more of a fan “disservice” rather than tribute by many reviewers.
While Castlevania: Judgment has swelled up nothing but a negative response from the gaming community, Dissida: Final Fantasy attempts to be beacon of hope for the otherwise stale Final Fantasy franchise. The concept alone for Dissida should essentially be a Final Fantasy fans dream, and like Ehrgeiz promises players the ability to pound the crap out of our most hated Final Fantasy protagonists and villains in the ultimate RPG-fighting game showdown. While this seems like a fun concept, it is important to recognize that the RPG elements have been stripped bare, but that's not the point now is it? While Dissida shows great promise to the genre of fighting games, I cannot see in the future this spawning more sequel titles. Like Ehrgeiz, the appeal is limited, because people would rather see a main title entry into the already long running Final Fantasy series.
On one hand, Castlevania: Judgement and Dissida: Final Fantasy show both the pros and cons of how one can react when seeing a favourite franchise be pulled out of their roots. For fans of these epic franchises the issue lies in the fact that these experimental attempts are trying to rejuvenating the series or provide something “different” to the fans. To be honest, we as fans seem to like the formulaic method of our games because we're use to it. We are use to these games being RPGs. As RPGs they make us feel comfortable and not as though we've entered the Twilight Zone.
However, as I ponder all this, I cannot help but think back to what Ehrgeiz was. Sure, it was no Street Fighter or Tekken, but the game was unique in its own right. Obviously one issue with the game is that the Final Fantasy characters served nearly no purpose in the plotline other than to draw in more appeal in the fighting game market, and the game was able to work that to its advantage. Still, while it was exciting to see Final Fantasy characters outside their RPG norm, the fact that this did not spawn anymore games, and it was a stand alone game that could have created even more potential greatness.
Still, I cannot help but be excited at the prospect of being able to once again beat the crap out of Cloud Strife.
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