What Makes a Final Fantasy, According to Square Enix

[SOLDIER #819]

Developers make Final Fantasy LOL

FFVII ended the recurring medieval theme they had up until FFVI. FFX-2 happened after Sakaguchi was filtered out (probably because Spirited Away did so badly or something), ending the whole tradition of keeping each entry as a standalone title. FFXI became the first MMO entry, and with FFXII they started outsourcing the titles to completely different teams.

Other than chocobos, moogles, allusions to old monsters and an antiquated class system, there's not much left to tie the games together.

I suppose the one thing that hasn't changed is that there will always be diehard fans that do nothing but praise the generation they were born into and say that it has mostly degraded since, like with every other hobby out there.

[Incognitus]

To me, what constitutes a Final Fantasy is:

• Nobuo Uematsu's genius music (most important identifier to me)
• A handful of ragtag heroes
• Turn-based battling
• Chocobos
• Loosely-linear world exploration
• Airships
• Your staple summoning magic
• Seeking crystals or other Shiny Plot Devices
• Chocobos

And saving the best for last...

• Memorable villains

But wait, there's more:

I suppose the one thing that hasn't changed is that there will always be diehard fans that do nothing but praise the generation they were born into and say that it has mostly degraded since, like with every other hobby out there.

What a cynical take on older-generation gamers! Even the most hardened die-hard fan can see that things generally degrade over time, especially when piles of money, mass popularity and target audiences inflate the equation! Come here so I can smack some sense into you with this staff---that's right, a staff! This isn't a cane, boy! Back in my day we called it a WOODEN STAFF. We had to walk uphill, downhill, then up-hill both ways through giant forests and grassy terrain just so we could find enough imps to bludgeon for G! Then we had to go back through the same forests and MORE imps to spend a hard-earned 5G! For EACH staff wielder! It was pitiful weapon---a stick, really---BUT WE EQUIPPED IT AND WE LIKED IT! Feel the unbridled wrath of 6 ATK!

You take 6 DMG! You cry!