02/03/00

Okay, so what DID happen to Square?

I was just readin' some of Brad's rants on these pages. Love 'im or hate 'im, you have to admit that he sure makes a lot of valid points while he's on the soapbox, Buutttt... opinions are like, uh, nostrils, as everyone has AT LEAST one (or more, but only if you're a wishy-washy politician that loves the one they're with). Brad hit the nail on the proverbial head with "The Sad state of game reviews" (posted Jan. 28th). If you're afraid of scads of black text on a white page (I'M BLIND!!), it says in a nutshell that far too often reviewers who don't like a certain type of game are the ones that always seem to review them. Take example, me, reviewing a Spice Girls album. Sorry, it sucks. I hate it. The words "utter S**t" come to mind. Guess I shouldn't be reviewing it, should I? Geeky on the other hand, LIKES the Spice Girls (I know....I know), so maybe he'd be better qualified to review the album for those who are interested in it. Okay. This is a very valid point.

However, he then parlays this into reviewers making a political statement by sort of bashing games that are 'obviously great', such as, say, Final Fantasy 8. While I'm not really forming a "rebuttal" on Brad here (I agree with most of what he's saying, but I do have my own slant on a lot of it), his article got me thinking: I never did review FF8 myself, but I did play and complete it (including the vast majority of extra stuff), and frankly, I didn't like it too much. I didn't let other reviews sway me, I rarely do. So I sat down and thought about why I didn't care for it: This is what I came up with.

Now, I'm not gonna go so far as to say that Square, or Sony, or Sega, or Nintendo, or anyone (though all of these game makers most certainly have their ups and downs) out-and-out SUCK, since they all earn respect (and a whole lot of money), but I will say that not only the Final Fantasy series, but Squaresoft as a whole, is changing their focuses, which is improving SOME of the aspects of their new games, but leaving other sorely lacking.

I mostly agree with Brad's assessment of FF7. The Story was full of plot holes, The super-deformed characters you ran around with on the main maps were crude and annoying, and the whole game was all flash and almost no substance. Graphics galore, Animation like you've never seen in a Square game before, and FMV cutscenes that should have shown expression and angst like NO square game ever did before....only it didn't. Anyone who REALLY played FFVI (what the HELL, Brad? FFIV was on your top list but NOT FFVI? Your op, I guess) knows what I'm talking about. These crude, 4-5 frames of animation, smaller than your pinky-type characters showed more emotion than the multi-polygon, beautifully rendered characters of Final Fantasy 7 OR 8. I'm not kidding. When Celes tries to kill herself when she thinks all her friends are dead...when Gau's father rejected him, but Gau was just happy that his dad was actually still alive...I remember this stuff clear as day. It was DAMN powerful. So here's my question: What happened?

Let's fast forward to Final Fantasy 8. Yes, the graphics are MUCH better than 7. Gone are the crude polygonal super-deformed characters, replaced with highly detailed human figures. The FMV scenes are much better as well. But is the STORY better? This is just my opinion, but....Hell NO! A lot of people seem to think Squall is cool with his brooding, aloof attitude, but...he's JUST LIKE CLOUD from FF7! NO DIFFERENT! What else do we have? a hollow-eyed bimbo, a Tekken reject, a short skirted floosie, a glasses-wearing, bun-haired chick that changes her personality Several times as much as she changes her uniform, a wannabe cowboy punk (some of the best scenes in the game involve him, but he's still pretty stiff), and occasionally, a bad witch turned good witch (cliches abound). Occasionally, you take the identity of a stupid gun-toting punk, a big stupid muscle-dude who has no personality whether he's talking or not, and a knife-wielding Michael Jackson wannabe. The villain you ultimately fight is one of the most anti-climactic final battles Square's ever done. Everyone seems wooden, and sterile. And the music? The music in this one is AWFUL compared to FF 4, 5, 6, or even 7. Nothing but whiny, tinny, poppy garbage. FF6's deep, booming themes put this game's music to utter shame. It's almost like Nobuo Uematsu's going through a mid-life crisis. What else can I nitpick? Not the card game, that's more interesting than the whole rest of the RPG! The Chocobo catching game is crap compared to the Chocobo raising game in FF7. Their new "battle system" is HARDLY progressive. Square simply changes that with every game. The "sucking magic" from your enemies approach is original but flawed, and while you have to collect several items from defeating beasts or trading cards to upgrade weapons, Taking away the ability to buy armor and shields is NOT what I call progressive. While I suppose you could use strategy in defeating your enemies with magic and "GF"s, All you REALLY have to do is get all of Squall's sword attacks. You do this, the game is laughingly easy, no matter who you fight (yes, even the vaulted Omega Weapon, which is tough, but a wuss compared to the Emerald and Ruby weapons in FF7). One last thing: The flashy lightshow graphics every time you use magic in this game are impressive the first few times. But after that, I find myself bored out of my MIND waiting for these overly long and tedious animations to end. A simple option to SKIP the animations would be greatly appreciated, though most likely it would cut this game's playtime by at least half.

Again, this is all opinion. Many people really enjoyed this game, but obviously, I didn't. In my view Square is concentrating SOLELY on aesthetics: How the game looks. Wow the player with graphic effects galore. They're not smart enough to really want a good story, and good music? Hell, it's wasted here, this is just a video-game! Who cares about that? Well, I do.

I guess I am an old-school RPG player. Back when Square couldn't depend on flashy eye-candy and Disc-filling FMV, they relied on good storytelling, great soundtracks, and interesting play elements to bring their games to the legendary status they are today. Flashy graphics alone is NOT progress. Now, if Square can get back the great music, the great stories, and combine them with the wonderful graphics they can produce now, this jaded gamer will be one of the happiest of all.

The Final Fantasy series is not the only one that seems to have suffered: The first Saga Frontier for the PSX is convulted and dull (Take note, I haven't seen the sequel yet, so I'm hoping it's better), and while some liked Parasite Eve, It simply didn't hold my interest long enough to finish it (you gotta beat it TWICE to actually see the true end? But I'm having enough trouble keeping my eyes open the first time through!). Hopes are very high for Chrono Cross. It looks like it has great potential, and it may finally be the game that brings the Square of old together with the new Graphical Square.

The rather roundabout point I'm trying to make here is that maybe Final Fantasy 8's, and some other overrated games, complaints are not totally unfounded. There is NO such thing as a game company that can do no wrong. I am an ardent fan of Square and I want them to do well (and believe me, they're doing just fine), but I just had to call FF8 as I, myself, saw it. I'm not laughing at them, and I'm not trying to put them down out of spite. Maybe some reviewers are, but many do have legitimate gripes about what they see. Ultimately, YOU are the final judge of what you want to play. If you like FF8 and everything it is, then my opinions on the subject are not important at all. Dismiss them, and have fun. Don't let my, or anyone else's opinions stop you. But I do have one request: If you don't like something about a game, let it be known, and don't let ANYONE tell you to shut up. If you don't, you, and all of us will just get more of the same. A lot of the latest news on Final Fantasy 9 indicates that Square will be going back to a Fantasy (not sci-fi) environment, and the new game will have more in common with the classics of the FF series. Why is this? Well, maybe some people let their opinions be known....

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