Will Final Fantasy Save The RPG?

You may remember last week's unveiling of the new Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailers, both of which are visually amazing. Granted, there is no gameplay in either, but the technical achievement on display is undeniable and it got us to thinking...will it fall to the legendary FF franchise to rejuvenate the ailing RPG genre?

We all know that the days of the JRPG are probably long gone, and although Western developers like Bethesda and Lionhead have delivered gems like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Fable II, RPG fans certainly miss the good ol' days of the PS1. It wasn't just about JRPGs, either; dare we forget the late '90s when the Forgotten Realms experiences made a huge splash in PC land? But this generation has seen a serous lacking in the role-playing category, and only two or three great tiles per year isn't satisfying for long-time fans. Eternal Sonata and Valkyria Chronicles have helped a great deal in the past few months - I won't deny that - but we all know the sales of such titles have basically tanked, which means we'll be less and less likely to see similar games in the near future. Then you've got Atlus, who will eventually make RPGs for the PS3, but although their products are often excellent, they're almost never "hits." We not only need quality, but we need something that can be considered a blockbuster, and at this point, the responsibility seems to fall squarely on the shoulders of Final Fantasy.

FFXIII will probably lead the way simply because it'll be available on both the PS3 and 360, thereby giving the game a much better chance of becoming a massive sales success. While we do believe the 360 version will essentially be the poor man's version of FFXIII, it still gives 360 owners the opportunity to play it. And if Versus XIII is fantastic, that will not only boost PS3 sales, but also give gamers a reason to trust Square-Enix once again. The Last Remnant didn't cut the mustard and so far this generation, S-E hasn't really done much of anything for console owners. But they're clearly putting a whole lot of effort into the two titles mentioned here, and it's long past time the RPG genre found a savior...or two. So do we put all our faith in FFXIII and FF Versus XIII? Do we even have a choice? The next Bethesda game likely won't be that much different than Oblivion or Fallout 3 and Fable III probably won't be that much different than its predecessors, so perhaps we're talking about both sales and innovation.

It's a tall order for FF, but it may be our last hope.

Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII

12/22/2008 Ben Dutka

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Comments (43 posts)

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BeezleDrop
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 1:41:47 PM
Reply

If this game cannot, then what can?

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seismictech
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 12:28:20 PM

what about white knight chronicles?

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crapreviews
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 1:44:43 PM
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yeah lets just hope this game comes out in 09 lol.

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King James
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 1:47:26 PM
Reply

Doesn't Final Fantasy always save the day?

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Tim Speed24
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 2:09:04 PM
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Can someone please tell me what the difference is between FFXIII and Versus FFXIII. Is Versus a limited edition of FFXIII?

Both trailers look awesome but I'm confused.

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HUSO
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 2:17:24 PM

dude which shell have u been under ?? versus 13 is a completely different FF thts not related to the original ff13(meaning different characters, story but possibly based in the same world). and apparently its PS3 exclusive.

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King James
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 5:21:26 PM

and FFXIII, FFXIII Versus, and FFXIII Agito will have totally different gameplay. FFXIII is suppose to be RPG, Versus is suppose to be more action/adventure style like Kingdom Hearts or GoW, and Agito is supposed to be for portable gaming.

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Tim Speed24
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 7:31:35 AM

If it is 2 totally different games then why is it called FFXIII Versus instead of just Final Fantasy Versus?

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Shatterday
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 2:26:22 PM
Reply

Or they could kill the entire genre! Argg.. uuhh... I'm dead.

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Alienange
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 2:57:48 PM
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That's a laugh. Fallout 3 saved the genre for me. FFXII was good if it hadn't been for that soft main character. Hard to related to that one...

Long live Bethesda!

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Shatterday
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 3:04:16 PM

12 was interesting... not a favorite though.

1 up, 0 down

K ASH
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 3:06:49 PM
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If i were to save the jrpg genre i would maket sure to commit 80% into the development of the story and presentation the japanese can tell some insane stories.the rest i would interegrate as much gameplay into the story & have 2 system for powering & leveling up which wil be a automatic and manual for tweaking freaks.i hate complex and demanding growth systems.

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seismictech
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 12:29:51 PM

yes, we got the pun. thanks for stating the obvious...

1 up, 1 down

smileys_007
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 3:24:38 PM
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i'm a big final fantasy fan. i'm sure FFXIII and FFXIII versus will be a massive success once they're released! its 100% guaranteed!!

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Alienange
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 3:24:46 PM
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FF is definitely legendary in it's ability to pull people into it's story time and again. I mean 13 games? It's genius really. But why can't someone else pull out a blockbuster jrpg? As for Bethesda and Bioware, those guys put out gold, but as for jrpg, what else is there? Come on Atlus!! Come on Level-5 !!

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Zaben
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 3:30:59 PM
Reply

The Japan release of XIII is late 09 right? So we probably aren't going to see it until 2010...
Anyone know the estimated release date for VersusXIII?

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www
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 3:32:37 PM
Reply

OF COURSE!

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CH1N00K
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 3:33:45 PM
Reply

Why did S-E decide to do 2 seperate final fantasy XIII games? Does anyone know the reasoning behind it? Is XIII more geared for the Xbox, and Versus XIII more geared to showcase the PS3's power? Or is there more reasoning behind it? Just curious.

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Aftab
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 3:49:59 PM

I guess M$ paid enough to make things interesting for Square, and Square had to give something exclusive to their Sony fanbase to retain them.

2 up, 0 down

King James
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 5:45:25 PM

To answer your question Ch100k, S-E wanted to do something that they never did b4. They call the project, "Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII" meaning New Tale of the Crystal. Three games, not two.

Square-Enix wants to do to FF13 what was done with FF7. Remember FF7 has like 6 or 7 games/films. Expect this time, Square wants all the FF13 games will delivered at relatively the same time (13, Versus, and Agito). This is the reasoning behind the whole "hold the PS3 English version until the 360 version is finished" move and most likely why FF13 is multi-plat.

Anyways, Fabula Nova Crystallis is so far 3 games all releasing at relatively the same time:
FF13 (multiplat, RPG style)
FF Versus 13 (PS3, Action Kingdom Hearts style)
FF Agito 13 (PSP, i think FF7 Crisis Core style)

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smileys_007
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 3:47:46 PM
Reply

Both games were initially geared for PS3 until S-E decided to make FFXIII multi-platform. Maybe S-E just decided to expand FFXIII and make FFXIII versus just like they did on FFX in making FFX-2.

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LCF
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 4:13:00 PM
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RPGs take up alot of the CPU's computational power,just all the calculation involved that are not even related to the graphics.But to make a a great exp. on a RPG you need all those elements.Take WoW for example,with the cartoon art style and its simplicity in the graphic department(yes its a old engine this even proves my point further) The game mechanics is very complex with all the varibles involved.

I just hope S-E dont just go the graphic route only.Last Rem. was just a mess on the X360.However if infact S-E is making on the PS3 and porting it,we prolly wont see this.But Im still holding S-E to its word.They stated that the white engine(crystal tools) will maximize the PS3.So if the PS3 and X360 look the same I know they are full of shyt,end of story.

Last edited by LCF on 12/22/2008 4:13:35 PM

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WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 4:57:08 PM
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With the news of WKC (which might be meaningless), FF might be our only hope. It seems like no big RPGs come out on a console until AFTER the first FF iteration.

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Arvis
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 1:24:18 PM

What WKC news? What did I miss?

-Arvis

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Banky A
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 1:50:52 PM

The score Famitsu gave to it

:P

1 up, 0 down

Banky A
Thursday, December 25, 2008 @ 3:28:15 PM

27/40

:(

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Banky A
Thursday, December 25, 2008 @ 10:55:01 PM

29/40 I think?

:(

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Dante399
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 5:10:11 PM
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Yeah SE might save half the day but it's up to Sony to save the whole day by start making "Blockbuster" RPG games asap!

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cowboynwo
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 5:47:00 PM
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rpg are not going to die any time soon
final fantasy rocks

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Strifewind
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 6:33:27 PM
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I have no doubts that all of the FFXIII games will be masterpieces. But I also want to see some PS3 Kingdom Hearts.

And my guess about the lack of good JRPGs is that they cost too much to make, especially for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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NetheRealm
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 6:43:51 PM
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When FF7 became a PS1 blockbuster it started a craze & many jrpgs followed. I expect the release of FF13 to repeat history.

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Strifewind
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 8:13:02 PM

Yeah, I was thinking that as well.

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orangpelupa
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 8:48:17 PM
Reply

save rpg from what... rpg is not dead. try playing Eternal Sonata. its a good RPG ;)
Valkyria also look good. (have not played it, it look good but i dont know its really good or not)

Last edited by orangpelupa on 12/22/2008 8:48:54 PM

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Arvis
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 1:25:32 PM

Valkyria Chronicles is the best game on the PS3. So yeah... it's good. :)

-Arvis

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Riku994
Monday, December 22, 2008 @ 8:57:27 PM
Reply

Righto, look at the wikipedia page, it says effin June 2010 for NA, and Oct 2010 for Europe. Now I know these are probably "errenous and should be disregarded" (lol) it's still a bummer. That means FFv13 won't be out for longer, that means we can forget KH3 for the next 2-3 years. BBS probly won't be out here until holdiays 09 or later. I think the only thing we can fall back on early in 09 is WKC, despite the epic failure Famistu gave it, WHICH by the way was only because of technical issues online. It's still gunna be an excellent game, I don't care what they say.

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Wage SLAVES
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 12:47:09 AM
Reply

I didn't like Fallout 3. It was an uncomfortable mix of FPS and RPG. I didn't like it...I want my turn based. AWESOME visuals though...

Final Fantasy is definitely the last gasp in the serious appeal of mainstream RPG's. And as gorgeous as it is...it'll sell.

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weeee
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 2:30:16 AM
Reply

stupid S-E should just f*ckin give them xbox ppl 2 discs and half the game. when they finished both discs give them a third disc and it says,

"ok good now your done the xbox ff version,
now go buy a ps3 to finish the game"

3 up, 0 down

Banky A
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 @ 2:01:20 PM

ROFLcakes :P

I was nearly thinking the same thing. Just a different message.

xD

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shadowpal2
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 9:48:55 AM
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Hmmm...what can save the JRPG....well are we talking about JRPGs created for the new generation of consoles or just JRPGs in general??? Because last time I checked umm...Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4 - KICKED FU**ING ASS.

But for new generation, looks like we are going to have count on FFXIII and FF Versus XIII. I question FFXIII as to how it's going to be. Is it really going to be "new generation" - like a totally new awesome feeling of Final Fantasy like the one you had when you bought your first Final Fantasy for the PS1 and the PS2 and the PSP??? If that's the feeling you get, then yea it will save JRPGs. Because remember, we didn't see many JRPGs rolling in for the PS2 until FFX came in.

However again I'm not sure about FFXIII. I have a strong feeling about FF Versus XIII though. To me Tetsuya Nomura is doing an outstanding job on that. And trust me I'm not saying that because "OOHHH HO HO!!! SCREW FFXIII FF Versus XIII is exclusive SO IT'S BETTER!!!"

Trust me, if FFXIII was an exclusive to PS3 and FF Versus XIII was an exclusive to the Xbox 360 I would still say FF Versus XIII beats FFXIII for now. If you guys don't know already, the ending of the FF Versus XIII trailer shows Stella and Noctis. Well that was all IN REAL TIME - so is the game coming out well?? Yea pretty well indeed. The music is great. The plot line looks much more serious, gritty, mafia, gangster, tragic, and just much more fu**ing emotional in general. The battle system will be fun considering it's being developed by the Kingdom Hearts team and Advent Children team. Also...it's directed by Tetsuya Nomura - expect loads of fun.

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 10:23:00 AM

I've been seriously considering buying Persona 4. The reviews have been off the charts...

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kreate
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 @ 2:59:11 PM
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final fantasy rules cuz theres no other rpg competition except some mediocre rpgs thats thrown laying around.

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Deadman
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 @ 9:38:56 PM
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Final Fantasy games have always pushed the boundaries for RPG's with great visuals and Square usually doesn't disappoint. The trailers are ment to sell games I'm not really a fan of RPG but if I find one that appeals to me I will play and FFXIII and FFXIIversus look fabulous and I havent seen a game trailer to get me that excited over a game ever not even the GOWIII one got me going. Will save the RPG I think so

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Ragnarokio
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 @ 8:05:36 PM
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I have a feeling for me it will be an epic fail. Really to me every final fantasy after final fantasy 10 was a fail. They started declining after final fantasy 5 and made a short recover with 10 (but 10-2 was an extreme fail with trying to add a billion features and using the rediculous battle system) Final fantasy 11 i just completely ignored because it was an MMORPG (EXILED FROM MY DEFINITION OF FINAL FANTASY) and ff 12 crossed the line when they made it not turn based. Honostly what i loved most about the final fantasy games are being ripped away. I like Strategic "Often Hard" Turn Based Battle systems with up to hundreds of hours of side quests trying to get all the bonus gear and summons and job changes and spells and everything. Alot of people say Final Fantasy 7 defined the rpg genre and proved that an rpg didn't have to be set in medieval times where you are a brave warrior trying to rescue a damsel in distress. I Highly disagree with this statement. Chrono Trigger is a prime example. A Great portion of the game is spent in an post-acopalyptic wasteland, in a secret underground military base, and on a giant space ship. NOT TO MENTION ALL THE TIME TRAVELING. Really i think the main reason final fantasy 7 was so popular was first because it was easy, second because of the returning fans, and third because of the momentum effect ( Everyone liked it and reffered it to there friends) Because of this it grew and it became cool to like the game. Personally the main reason i didn't like it was because of the easiness of the battles. You can beat most of them just by closing your eyes and mashing the X button. I feel that real RPGS are a dying breed. I'm talking about Strategic Turn based, hundreds of hours of side quest rpgs. Really the stories are unoriginal. The only reason Final Fantasy 7 had a popular story was because it was the first POPULAR rpg with the futuristic setting. In my mind all the new uber graphic can do 1000 differan't things chain amazing looking combo's while jumping off walls rpgs are the new breed. A new type of rpg is being born and my type of rpg is dying forever. I think that final fantasy 13 will signify the birth of this new rpg and the death of the old ones. I will be dead inside.

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