So, Final Fantasy XIII has been on the lips of everyone around the old geek watering hole. From the semi-suprised showing at E3 to the videogame mags continuing coverage, it is fast becoming a ultra best seller...while still being over a year away.
With Final Fantasy XII, S-E long awaited continuation of the series finally hitting the shelves in October, it seems to me that the idea of XIII might not be a great idea off the bat. Actually, it seems like they are getting ready to make up for a failure with the newest title.
When released with the Dragon Quest VIII game, the demo for 12 met luke warm reviews. taking away the old style ABS (Active Battle System) from XII seemed like a dangerous gambit. After all, that is one of the key fatures of the RPG for the consoles. It is like deciding to remake the Space Needle in Seattle because they can.
With a decidedly FFXI feel to it, I couldn't say that I was impressed much. Once again, S-E pulls out all the stops for story and visuals, but something was missing. It felt like too much action in my RPG.
But a year has a funny way of perverting one's ideal....now that we are appraoching the launch date, I almost feel propelled to pre order it and take some time off work for it. It is interesting all the systems that they have in place, from the Gambit ot the License feature. It feels, now, like a solid RPG.
But why XIII already? And why 3 titles?
Final Fantasy is a product of a long, prestigious lineage that shouldn't be tampered with. Look at X-2...
It is a money grab at a market or brand name that S-E feels won't continue on in the future? I guess time will tell on this one.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have a japanese FFXII to play through.