Is Final Fantasy XIII-2 the Van Halen of Video Games?
I think the point being made isn't that Final Fantasy should be more like Skyrim, or
that time travel should be more faithfully represented in video games. I think it's
that, in trying to appeal to both a wider audience as well as their established
fanbase, Square thought that they could offer freedom to the player while
maintaining a focused story, but they shot themselves in the foot by choosing time
travel as the means to explore the world of Final Fantasy XII-2 - something that, by
nature, creates unprogrammably infinite possibilities. By falling short of such a
monumental goal, they seem to be highlighting the artifice if this supposed freedom.
It's the symptom of a bigger problem, really. Square just doesn't have confidence
any more. There aren't any more visionaries like Sakaguchi, and the smart guys like
Kitase and Tokita are too busy producing Final Fantasy IV ports. They seem to make
everything with committees now, which explains the wholesale misunderstanding of
current design trends and the mixed-up fear of being too alienating or not being
Final Fantasy enough.
The truth is that we're never going back to the days of IV or VII or X. Square can't
focus on this mysterious ideal of Final Fantasy that they or their fans feel obliged
to resuscitate again and again, because it's not working either critically or
financially. They need someone who know what they're doing to take charge and make
something because THEY WANT to make it, not because people on the Internet are angry
or because some board decides its about time for another one.
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