Revisiting The Past

by Louis Bedigian 

Submitted by:	CasaDeJoey@aol.com (Louis Bedigian)
Spelling	2
Grammar	2
Coherency	3.5
Strength of Arguments	4
Presentation	2
Originality	3
Penalties	0
Total	15.5
Grade

On Monday, January 22nd, Square announced their plans to remake Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX for the PlayStation 2. Following this announcement, much speculation arose regarding how exactly these games would be remade.

Working Designs pleased a lot of gamers when they recreated Lunar: The Silver Star Story for the PlayStation, but Square decided to take the easy way out and re-release Final Fantasy IV, V and VI with few vicissitudes. No new story elements, no new bosses, no new songs...nothing but a few CGs. Will the PlayStation 2 remakes be any different?

Personally I'd like to see some big changes in Final Fantasy VIII. Other than a fully orchestrated soundtrack, I think a more heroic hero is in order. Squall was cool, perhaps a little too cool, but I think his lack of heroism really hurt the game. I'd like Squall to be more loyal to Rinoa (when she was hanging for her life on the side of Balamb Garden, Squall had to stop and "think" for a minute before deciding to save her -- what was THAT about?) and have them be more affectionate. For a game with the theme of love, it sure didn't have much of it.

I think Final Fantasy IX needs very little to improve it, mainly a longer quest. Its story certainly wasn't the most original ever told, but it was very entertaining. My main complaint was that it ended so soon. Zidane was an excellent hero though, so he, along with the rest of the cast, should go unchanged. A fully orchestrated soundtrack would be nice, too.

Final Fantasy VII. Of all the remakes, this is the one I want the most. If done properly, I feel Final Fantasy VII could become the greatest RPG of all time. Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Vincent, Aeris, Red XIII and especially Sephiroth were all great characters. Lots of people picked on Cloud, but I think he was great.

So why should an already excellent game be remade? Because FFVII ended without closure. When other Final Fantasy's came to an end, I felt satisfied [to an extent]. When FFVII came to an end, I didn't feel satisfied in the least bit. I wanted more.

That's because FFVII ends without really ending. Finding out that "life went on" wasn't enough. What happened with Cloud and Tifa? Did Barret ever find peace? What about Cid and Vincent? The characters we grew to love over the course of this 50-hour game left without ever saying good-bye.

I once thought that extending FFVII or solidifying its ending might ruin it. How many movies have you seen that fully ended, but with much disappointment? How many television shows were dragged out just a little too long? I guess that FFVII being left in question is better than it ending in disappointment.

Screw that. I only felt that way when the inevitable remake was many years away. Now it's here, it's coming, it's real and I don't want another copy of the exact same game, save for music and graphic upgrades. I want closure, a longer quest, more story developments and a real ending. And I know I'm not the only one that feels this way.

I can't name a single RPG more than a year old that is talked about as much as Final Fantasy VII. To this very day, gamers around the world discuss the possibilities of what a continuation to FFVII might be like. They write fan fiction, post on message boards and write dozens of essays explaining what they believe will happen, or what would have happened, if FFVII continues.

More than two million copies of FFVII were sold in this country alone. I presume that, given the proper remake, at least half of those two million gamers will go out and buy the Special Edition. Not too shabby for a game that's already sold more than seven million copies worldwide, eh?

Square, I know you have high hopes for your Final Fantasy revisions, and so do we, the gamers. Give us what we want and you shall receive the exorbitant amount of money you're craving. Then we'll both be happy. But it's up to YOU to make it happen. I'll be waiting...

Notes:
Well, we'd be foolish to think that Square's recent announcement wouldn't generate editorial fodder but this is rather more matter-of-fact than expected - a nice surprise given the potentially angry editorials I was expecting.

The editorial makes some very good points that, while they may be self-evident, can often be missed by the majority of people. As such, this editorial can be quite the eye-opener, but it could be debated (and this wasn't really touched on in the editorial) that some of the suggestions could change the games too much for a revised edition.

All in all, however, a thoughful, calm editorial on a subject that has inflamed many tempers.