[Blade Raider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kickback

I haven't been a fan of Nintendo, or Legend of Zelda, in over 10 years. I understand the idea of reinventing your franchise, but it feels like when the Nintendo 64 took over some 15 years ago, Nintendo changed their entire process of games.

It's kind of like Linkin Park. Yeah, the old stuff is timeless and will forever be amazing, and the new stuff has its own appeal ... but it's not what I grew up with, it's not the Zelda (or Linkin Park) that I remember and enjoyed, and because of that, I just don't find myself enjoying it.

Look at the Final Fantasy franchise ...

I? Classic retro.
II? New twist but same overall style.
III? The best of I and II
IV? Totally reinvented story-telling and gameplay
V? Totally reinvented gameplay with the "job" system
VI? Took what made IV awesome and expanded on it.
VII? Simply epic. A sci-fi version of IV and VI.
VIII? Take VII and reinvent the gameplay again with junctions. Awesome.
IX? Now take what you've done in VII and VIII and make it retro-feeling. Awesome.
X? Totally reinvented gameplay and story. Began to lose steam though.
XI? Online, doesn't count.
XII? Uh ... first game to NOT feel like Final Fantasy at all.
XIII? Took the same thing from XII and made it more sci-fi, also not feeling Final Fantasy at all.

I just ... the games of today hold nothing to the games of yesterday. It's all about "show" now, and in my opinion, that ruined a majority of all the great classic games from growing up. Take me back in time where all I can play on my SNES is: Final Fantasy II (IV), Final Fantasy III (VI), Chrono Trigger, Lufia & the Fortress of Doom, Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, Romance of the Three Kingdoms II and III, and some Mario Kart for good measure.

The thing I've learned about Final Fantasy is that it stopped feeling like Final Fastasy around the time the creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, left Square (during XII). Hironobu Sakaguchi founded Mistwalker Corporation after leaving Square. While I've only been able to play one of Mistwalker's games, The Last Story, it felt more like a Final Fantasy then FF has felt like in over a decade. The Last Story plays nothing like a FF, but the setting, characters, and storytelling all feel like a classic FF game.

Basically, I'm saying that the Final Fantasy we know and love left Square with it's creator.


PS IX is a glorious game and I hate myself for not getting to it until 5 years ago.