Question for an article on Final Fantasy

[Alicepire]

Hi everyone,
I'm writing an article on the stories of Final Fantasy and I thought it would be good to include quotes from a few fans.
My questions to you are:
Since there is no ongoing story arc, or continuing characters, or familiar worlds, what makes you a fan of the Final Fantasy series? What keeps you coming back?
Are you a fan of the whole series, or just individual games in the series?
What connections do you find between the games?
Should new players have a working knowledge of the previous games before playing FFXIII? What do newbies need to know?

Thanks for your help guys, if you could please include your first name (or the first name that you'd like me to use) and what country you're from in your post, that would be awesome. My deadline is in around 6 or 7 hours, so there's not a lot of time to get answers..
The article will be in the Sunday Herald Sun in Melbourne, Australia this weekend.

Thanks again,
-Alice.

[ViviMasterMage]

I'd be happy to help, Alice!

Since there is no ongoing story arc, or continuing characters, or familiar worlds, what makes you a fan of the Final Fantasy series? What keeps you coming back?

Well, I think it's the music, story and characters. Every game has likeable characters that remind you of characters from previous title or are just loveable in their own way such as Selphie from Final Fantasy VIII or Rikku from X.

The music is always fits the game extremely way and any fan just loves to here recurring themes such as the Chocobo Theme or the Moogle Theme. It seems that music always fits the situation, which emotes people a lot more.

The storyline of each game seems to completely different and the gameplay along with it. I don't understand why some people are against Final Fantasy XII and XIII. Variety and change in the games is inevitable because as you said, the story isn't ongoing.

Are you a fan of the whole series, or just individual games in the series?

I am a fan of the whole series. Everytime a see the title "Final Fantasy", I have to buy the game straight away. Spin-offs as well!

What connections do you find between the games?

Well, there are always a lot of references to previous titles in Final Fantasy games as well as recurring character names like Cid. For instance, in Final Fantasy IX, you can enter a weapon shop and Zidane will reference Cloud by saying "I remember a guy with spiky hair who carried a sword like this..."

Should new players have a working knowledge of the previous games before playing FFXIII? What do newbies need to know?

I don't think that it has anything that will make newbies confused. The new battle system is even hard to master when you're a seasoned veteran. There are a lot of save points in the game which makes the game easier and you regain all your health after a battle. Newbies should be able to play without having any knowledge of RPG games and I think it'd be a good game if you want to dive into the RPG genre.

- Kyle.

[Alicepire]

Thanks so much for that excellent response Kyle, I really appreciate it.

[Meier Link]

I normally don't help out things like home work assignments and what not but this has a different feel to it and I like your structure.

Since there is no ongoing story arc, or continuing characters, or familiar worlds, what makes you a fan of the Final Fantasy series? What keeps you coming back?

Actually the lack of simularity is what draws me in. Other series, such as Suikoden, get a little repetative over time and loose a certain amount of luster over time. Square-Enix
tends to try and add something revolutionary that the gaming industry hasn't seen before. The stories are always compeling and SE makes sure to take the time to draw you into it along with making the main characters relatable.

Are you a fan of the whole series, or just individual games in the series?

Pretty much the whole series, there are a few (limited to 1-2 titles) that I am not as fond of as other titles but over all the FF series in a whole is something completely different then what other games are.

What connections do you find between the games?

There are some carry over characters, creatures, summons, items and what not that carry over for most of the titles; other then that there are few simularities when speaking of the series as a whole.

Should new players have a working knowledge of the previous games before playing FFXIII?

No, not only is the story independant from other FF titles the whole mechanics and game play has changed once again. Any new player can pick up any of the main series FFs and feel comfortable that they are not only getting a good game but also something that is new, fresh and independant from the rest of the series.

What do newbies need to know?

With tutorial systems set up at the begining of each title a new player to the series has little to fear when it comes to the unknown. FFs are generally set up to be very controler friendly and have a progressive path heading from easy to more challenging. Also with most FF titles you can make the game as easy or as hard as you want it to be and can make them last for a short 20-30 hours or you can take the time to actually complete the game (not just beat it) and add many more hours of fun and adventures.

Thanks for your help guys, if you could please include your first name (or the first name that you'd like me to use) and what country you're from in your post, that would be awesome.

That would not be a problem but I do have 1 request which is to add where you got your information from. Meaning credit not only the person but also the site. It is a give and take situation and a little free publicity never hurts.

Name: Westley
Posting as: Meier Link at theFinalFantasy.com
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma USA.

[Zargabaath]

Since there is no ongoing story arc, or continuing characters, or familiar worlds, what makes you a fan of the Final Fantasy series? What keeps you coming back?

The freshness and change that each installment brings to the series is what draws me to the franchise; the next game will be different from the last and have some uniqueness to the overall series. Finding out what is the latest Final Fantasy story/characters is another reason why I return to the franchise; the series has had many a great stories and characters and I would like to see what the latest entry has brought to the franchise. The unique and different battle systems hold my interest as well - all of them have been good to great.

Are you a fan of the whole series, or just individual games in the series?

I am a fan of the whole series; I may have started late getting into the series but I went back and beat each game in the main series and a few spin-offs.

What connections do you find between the games?

There are references found in the games, mostly the newer ones, of past Final Fantasies and sometimes there are plot similiarities as well.

Should new players have a working knowledge of the previous games before playing FFXIII? What do newbies need to know?

The good thing about the battle systems of Final Fantasy is that new players don't really need to have knowledge of past games because in each installment the battle system is changed up; there are similiarities between them but the battle systems are easy enought to understand but have some complexity to master them. In Final Fantasy XIII's case there are quite a few tutorials spread out in the first few chapters allowing the player to familiarize themself with the new feature, plus there is the datalog which allows the player to bring up the tutorial screen in case they need to look it over.

- Matt, U.S.

[Alicepire]

That would not be a problem but I do have 1 request which is to add where you got your information from. Meaning credit not only the person but also the site. It is a give and take situation and a little free publicity never hurts.

Name: Westley
Posting as: Meier Link at theFinalFantasy.com
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma USA.

Sounds reasonable. I will definitely put links and give credit to the websites I use in the copy I submit and I will ask my editor to leave them in, but I can't make any promises about what he will leave in. The sucky thing about journalism is that once it leaves your desk you have very little control over what shows up in the paper. But I will do what I can to make sure it gets through.

[Mokkan Brushtail]

well I will answer your last question first...
I have not played many of the recent Final Fantasy games, but when i was a newbie, be careful it's newbie not noob, I was able to pick up on the one's I started with real quick. They are very user friendly games, sometimes complicated but there is always an explanation on how to do stuff somewhere, be it in game or in the user manual, a lot of games have different mechanics so generally just playing the previous one is not always much of a help, but it's nice to know your roots and is a great way to figure out the recurring items (phoenix down) and weapons (blood sword) to be sure.

What keeps me coming back?
Well I believe that storyline is very important in a game, kind of something I got from having only a super nintendo for games right up untill the ps2 came out, even more so then graphics (gasp) and Final Fantasy has yet to let me down in that sense, and the newer ones also had pretty cool graphics, and awesome music. Oh and I can't help myself I need to see who Cid will be in the next game whenever one comes out

I like the series in general, but tend to favor the more strategy oriented tactics and tactics advanced branches.

What links do I find?
There is Always a Cid in each game, and of course Chocobos and Moogles show up in most as well. Usually you get an Airship. A lot of enemies are recurring monsters. Oh and much of the music is also re-used (the crystals or main theme, the battle theme, the victory fanfare.)

Chad, Of Quebec Canada

[Robbo]

Since there is no ongoing story arc, or continuing characters, or familiar worlds, what makes you a fan of the Final Fantasy series? What keeps you coming back?

I think this is one of the reasons i keep buying final fantasy games because everything is always new and the characters are always different i think a big part of the game is the opinions of the characters you build up yourself. Also i know that with the final fantasy series i can expect a exceedingly good storyline and excellent FMV imagery.

Are you a fan of the whole series, or just individual games in the series?

I have only played 6 final fantasy games but all of them apart from 1 i enjoyed thouroghly but i would still say i am a fan of the series because i have looked at all of the final fantasy even if some i just researched a little because of dissidia i wanted to look at the characters the game could offer.

What connections do you find between the games?

I find that some of the characters are quite similar but i like the character attitude that is usually repeated an example i think would be Cloud from Final Fantasy VII and Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII i think they have a similar attitude towards their friends and they were both soldiers at one point and now fight against what they used to be part of.

Should new players have a working knowledge of the previous games before playing FFXIII? What do newbies need to know?

I dont think that Newbies need to know anything about the franchise particularly because each final fantasy has tutorials on how to battle and each storyline is entirely different from the last which is why it is astonishing that there have been 13 released new storylines but. And that is why Final Fantasy is regarded as the best RPG series in the world and why it has such a remarkable reputation.

- Mark
- United Kingdom

[bahamuts heir]

For me it's that each final fantasy is something completely new but still has that"I can take this dude, I just have to keep trying" or "holy crap this dude is hard I have to think of a way to beat him and fast"feel of an excellent rpg. Another thing is the recurring elements are so memorable.
People shouldn't worry about getting into ff13 as it has it's own battle system, and as meier said it is a very user friendly series. Also my advice to all the newbies is don't bother trying to inflict status ailments except for slow only decent one and the only one that works.
What keeps me coming back is the story line, I don't really care much for graphics.
Recurring themes...eeto,(lemme think) all I can think of is what meier stated+tonberrys(if you ever have to fight a tonberry, run!)
watashi wa Devan desu(I'm Devan)
americajin desu(I'm American)
excuse my Japanese o and Squall~dissidia, lighting is based of cloud, the idea of her is a female cloud.

[Aerif]

I'm strangely drawn to surveys, every time my Uni sends out surveys to it's game students I feel the insaitiable need to complete them. It makes me sad when the survey is only for certain demographics though

Hi everyone,
Since there is no ongoing story arc, or continuing characters, or familiar worlds, what makes you a fan of the Final Fantasy series? What keeps you coming back?

In my eyes, Final Fantasy has a winning formula that just can't be matched by any other franchise. The way the various elements of traditional RPGs are modified in a Final Fantasy game is one of the main reasons I keep playing. Basically I like the mechanics of the game.

There's also a sense of brand loyalty, the first Final Fantasy game to be realeased in Europe was FFVII (as far as I'm aware), and when it came out I randomly chose the game to supplement a multi-buy deal. What a stroke of luck to pick out one of the greatest games of all time! (And for the low, low price of £20!)

Are you a fan of the whole series, or just individual games in the series?

I've played from FFI - FFX-2 and I have to say I'm a big fan of most of them. The only ones I'd have to say would never appear on my favourites list would be FFII (for the re-hashed mechanics) and FFIX (which I just don't seem to like).

What connections do you find between the games?

Aside from all of the games having similar mechanics, there's also the occasional in-crossover that appears within the franchise. Most Final Fantasy games contain a character named Cid, and although all of these Cids are different people they tend to share a common love for science/flying.

Should new players have a working knowledge of the previous games before playing FFXIII? What do newbies need to know?

I've yet to actually play FFXIII, but I would say back-tracking is completely unnecessary. It's not very easy to get a hold of some of the older FFs since they're aging a bit, so it would take some devotion to find older games.

I'd say that the newbies should play FFXIII first and then if they like it, look into the other games (especially the high-rated ones, i.e. FFVI, FFVII and FFX).

Thanks for your help guys, if you could please include your first name (or the first name that you'd like me to use) and what country you're from in your post, that would be awesome.

Chris, from Scotland.

[Ashelia]

Since there is no ongoing story arc, or continuing characters, or familiar worlds, what makes you a fan of the Final Fantasy series? What keeps you coming back?

Exactly the fact that it's not an ongoing story. If it's too long about the same thing (like many sequels) I get easily bored. Also I like the characters, the music, the gameplay, and most of all every time a new story that keeps me hooked up.

Are you a fan of the whole series, or just individual games in the series?
What connections do you find between the games?

There surely are some connections, like the Espers/GFs/Aeons (each time different name and background for basically the same thing), and some references to earlier games. Still, many things change in each new game (like the way you get skills, and improve your characters).

Should new players have a working knowledge of the previous games before playing FFXIII?

Definitely not. Each game has a new story of their own, and can be played as your first FF. I started at 8 myself, didn't play some earlier ones until later.

/edit Oh yeah, I'm from Belgium btw.
Since it'll be hard for many of us to see an article in an Australian magazine, would it be possible to see it online, or for you to show us a copy? (if it's not against any rules, that is)

[chikala95]

Originally Posted by Alicepire
Since there is no ongoing story arc, or continuing characters, or familiar worlds, what makes you a fan of the Final Fantasy series? What keeps you coming back?

That's what makes it so great! Having one storyline and the same characters get boring, eventually. I love it that they have so many ideas for each plot and I have noticed that Square Enix slips in a small similarity in the characters or the plot. It amazes me on hoe many ideas they have, too!

Originally Posted by Alicepire
Are you a fan of the whole series, or just individual games in the series?
What connections do you find between the games?

I like every game, since they are all unique. The creatures are similar, but differ in appearance and the summons, GFs etc are similar, too.

Originally Posted by Alicepire
Should new players have a working knowledge of the previous games before playing FFXIII?

I haven't played FFXIII, but from the trailers, I see that it is different in several ways. If I were to start with FFXIII, I would have no problem with getting used to how it is played. In every Final Fantasy, the story-lines get rather complicated and confusing, but they have no proper connection between one another.

I hope this helps!
I'd be happy to help you in the future (even though I'm not an expert.)
-Natassia (I have a peculiar name, I know.), from Scotland.

[Alicepire]

Hey guys,
Thanks again for all your help. The piece went into the paper yesterday and the website credits did go through. I can't find it online, but I'll see if I can try to scan it?
-Alice