Final Fantasy games are imperfect and sometimes flawed games with a lot of merit. Final Fantasy VII used to be one of the more highly regarded games because it really did strive to be different from previous titles and conventions in the JRPG genre in general. And while it was far from perfect, it really did move away from the dragons and castles that Final Fantasy couldn't seem to escape with even VI. It also made a much greater effort to provide depth, especially with the much loved and loathed Villain Sephiroth, who is the most developed Villain out of the first 8 titles and possibly more. Regardless of how we've seen him far too much and it was time for him to retire years ago.
Since VII Final Fantasy games have been providing unique locations, characters, and scenarios. And while the games have been far from perfect, they're far from mediocre because they execute so many original features. By the time VIII hit the market the gameplay was severely outdated and until XII there was little improvement as far as the actual battles themselves went. Son games were more balanced than others. While they struggled with gameplay mechanics, they shined in presentation. The problem is that Square became so focused on the presentation aspect of the Final Fantasy games that was all that many saw - and still see today. It doesn't help that Square is developing flashy movies like Advent Children and is capatilzing on sequels and prequels that should never had been made in the first place.
Even if XIII is an extremely high quality game that executes an original, interesting plot, with a great battle system, and a great presentation it will still be called "mediocre" and "generic" because it isn't an Atlus game.
Log in to comment