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Which/what subseries do you want to see in the future?

  • Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

    Votes: 2 20.0%
  • Ivalice Alliance

    Votes: 2 20.0%
  • Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy (and derivatives)

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • Other/Original

    Votes: 5 50.0%

  • Total voters
    10

SonOfEtro

Warrior of Light
May 2, 2016
1,036
1,192
#1
I think everyone whose had contact with the Final Fantasy series this century knows that their attempts at subseries have met with decidedly mixed responses due to a variety of circumstances. Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy (and by extension the Final Fantasy XV Universe) - or FNC for short - and the Ivalice Alliance. These are the subseries that Square Enix has most prominently created, and reactions to them have varied wildly. Despite this, they have also proven relatively successful commercially, so I think Square Enix will continue to experiment with the form. Below are my opinions on which existing or potential subseries are more likely to be continued or created.

Compilation: This is something that I'm slightly doubtful of, but the likelihood has increased with the development of VII Remake. The team may decide to create new games around this project, likely delegating to smaller or external studios for the technical and gameplay elements while handling the story themselves. Or they may decide to leave it alone once VII Remake is completed.

Ivalice: In the wake of The Zodiac Age's potential success, the team may decide to either bring back early entries as re-releases or remakes, or they may decide to create new games. This would give the biggest potential second chance for classics such as Vagrant Story to return to glory.

FNC: As much as I like this one, it's been a problem child for Square Enix for a number of reasons, mostly related to development difficulties and poor explanation or translation of the lore. Once Final Fantasy XV and its additional media have been released, I doubt they would return to it unless a very special opportunity arose. But on the whole, with sadness, I think this particular project is nearly dead.

The strongest possibility is that Square Enix will create a different subseries, using lessons learnt from earlier explorations of the form. This will allow them to bring the best aspects, fan feedback, and new ideas to a new generation of gamers and Final Fantasy fans. The boom of the portable and mobile markets, together with their recent success with the high-quality Mobius Final Fantasy, can enable them to plan out a large multi-platform subseries project while doing their best to avoid the spiraling budget and hardware problems that beset FNC.
 

DrBretto

Warrior of Light
Mar 18, 2016
1,605
1,436
41
#2
Big, big fan of everything Ivalice, but I'd be wary of anything there without Matsuno.
 

Lulcielid

Warrior of Light
Oct 9, 2014
3,826
2,826
28
Argentina
#3
Re Compilation: Outside of the Remake I don´t believe we will be seen more expansion to the VII universe.
Re Ivalice: I´m not too sure about re-releasing other games from the Ivalice Alliance, the only game outside of FFXII that might have any chance of being re-released would be FFTactics and Vagrant Story due to their positive reception but I think re-release of Tactics is more likse since it carries the FF brand on its name unlike the later.
Re FNC: I would argue that this one was over the moment VSXIII turned into XV and with the release of the final game in the FFXIII trillogy, at this point I consider XV to be its own separate "compilation".

Making a new subseries is likely the safest course of action at this point.

Big, big fan of everything Ivalice, but I'd be wary of anything there without Matsuno.
I a firm believer that any idea can live without its original creator, a new Ivalice game without Matsuno could do fine if Square can find someone interested in that Universe.
 
Likes: SonOfEtro

DrBretto

Warrior of Light
Mar 18, 2016
1,605
1,436
41
#4
I a firm believer that any idea can live without its original creator, a new Ivalice game without Matsuno could do fine if Square can find someone interested in that Universe.

This is true. I would totally give whoever took it over a chance, BTW. It's just that what I tend to like about the Ivalice games isn't so much the world itself but the gameplay in the three major ones, Vagrant Story, Tactics and XII. So I'm not totally sure it's Matsuno specifically that I like or not, that's all.
 

Storm

Warrior of Light
Oct 26, 2013
3,351
6,012
32
Switzerland
#5
ivalice have that charm/flavour that you can't find anywhere else, really; the art direction and OSTs are very unique, i can instantly recognize a yoshida or sakimoto work.

the fabula nova crystallis is the best lore of the series for me, the one that makes you think about the story weeks and weeks after you finished it; i wouldn't mind another game using that lore, but what i really want is a XIII trilogy remaster (LR is really in need of it lol).

(don't know which one to choose lol).
 

LeonBlade

Administrator
Administrator
Moderator
Site Staff
Oct 25, 2013
2,026
1,864
32
Blossvale, New York
#6
As much as I love VII, I don't want any more games surrounding it. I hope the VII Remake does a good job of explaining the story/universe better so you don't even need to care about those other games.

Ivalice I can't speak on as I don't know much about it.

FNC was a mistake for SE and I hope they realize that they should never do something like this again. Taking only one year to try and create lore for all future FF games was a joke, and they didn't even do a good job at what they had. Not only was FNC poor, but it also goes against what makes FF so different from other series... each game can have its own universe with its own mythos and its own rules. Yes, SE borrows from real world mythology, but there are references of things to pull inspiration from spanning over thousands of years from all over the world... SE tried to recreate this with a team of a few people in the span of a year... I'm not sure what the fuck they were thinking when they made FNC...

If they are going to make a new sub-series, I think it should just be completely original but recognize its boundaries for the rest of the mainline series. Something like FNC but without trying to make it serve all future FF games... and not be crap. The root lore of FNC is decent, but given that it's mainly used to be interpreted from, it ultimately doesn't mater what the underlying lore is when the material that uses it doesn't have any real guidelines.
 
Likes: Tornak

SonOfEtro

Warrior of Light
May 2, 2016
1,036
1,192
#8
Speaking for myself, my experience with Ivalice is slightly mixed. I don't like the mobile direction it took, and I;m very sad that Fortress didn't get off the ground. I also don't like the way Revenant Wings went. But XII stands as one of my all-time favorite Final Fantasy stories, FF Tactics has an anazing scope that holds up even today, and Vagrant Story has just one of the most impressive atmospheres, storylines and localization of any Japanese game for the PlayStation, and I think stands as one of the best games of all time.
 
#9
Ivalice is less of a proper series to me and more of a setting with a loosely established lore (according to wikis, Final Fantasy Tactics is set centuries after XII) that changes over time (as real world religions are also wont to do). Approaching it from that angle might work in a new Ivalice game's favour, but I don't see them revisiting that setting anytime soon (unless the XII TZA team is working on a new Ivalice title). That being said, something like this is possibly easier to work with since you can play a little fast and loose with stuff and change up things from title to title (the Ivalice lore after the IA games was, mostly, retroactively interpretable).

I don't think much of both the Compilation of FF VII and FNC at all. The latter had some neat ideas, but went nowhere and the former comes across as little but a cynical cash-grab.

In theory, I'd love to see them make a subseries spinning off of a Final Fantasy game, possibly doing the same thing they did with X to X-2 (or XIII to LR), but, before that I'd like to see them make one completely self-contained experience. Making a continuous subseries is, at least from my gut feeling, harder to do, because it requires more foresight/planning than having something thrown in into a ficticious timeline where you can handwave things away more easily. It also, imho, requires the characters or the lore (or, preferably, both) be interesting enough to make the player want to play the sequel (which to me was one of the things that put me off of continuing to play XIII-2... I just didn't care about either), yet at the same time have the main game (and sequel(s)) be wrapped up in a manner that makes the player feel like they've accomplished something. Establishing new lore details is also fine, but it has to fit into the framework of what has been built up before (something X-2 did okay at) and not look like the creators just pulled something to fill the sequel with out of thin air.

EDIT: Also, skip mixed media stuff. By all means.
 

SonOfEtro

Warrior of Light
May 2, 2016
1,036
1,192
#11
Also, skip mixed media stuff. By all means.
I agree with you there. I can understand spreading a subseries on multiple game systems, but I'd rather they didn't go the same route as Halo, where you need twenty pieces of additional media to understand one game, and the entire catalog to understand the series.
 

Tornak

Keyblade Master
May 18, 2014
718
421
31
Madrid, Spain
#13
I'm not the biggest fan of FF subseries (beyond Ivalice, but that's a special case in its own conception even). No sequel shit, no spin-offs for me (the small fanservice-y ones -and Dissidia- are cool, I guess).

I've enjoyed all the Ivalice games I've played (really fucking liked some, like XII), disliked every single iteration from the Compilation (enjoyed the fight scenes in AC and the gameplay in CC; that's about it), and think that the FNC thing was fucking stupid (in hindsight, that is! I agree with LeonBlade's opinion on it), and just merely had an alright time with XIII (not interested at all in 2 or LR).

I understand why they do these things and that there are many who like them, though.

Now, if I really had to choose, I'd definitively go for a new world, whether existing already (VIII, my favourite FF world along with IX's) or brand-new (XVI?). And BTW, I'm totally sure we'll see more things from VII relatively soon (and, if you trust Verendus, he already talked about it, I think).
 

yeah_93

Warrior of Light
Sep 27, 2013
1,512
570
Venezuela
#14
Ivalice is cool.

VII Compilation just needs the remake and that's it.

But please, just kill the FNC. I don't want to hear about l'Cie's ever again.
 

Mistwalker

SOLDIER Second Class
Sep 20, 2014
313
161
38
Santiago de Chile
www.youtube.com
#15
Sincerelly, I'd like an original, new subseries. Or, in case of a sequel, something related to FFXV.

I've always wanted a sequel to FFVIII, but it's very difficult I'm ever getting that, so FFXV (which aestetically is very reminicent of FFVIII) is the next best thing. I liked Kingsglaive a lot. I'm sure there's a lot of lore and backstory SE can work on.