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Final Fantasy XIII is launching next week, and I’m geeking out like a six year old waiting for Christmas. It’s amazing how I still anticipate the launch of an FF game. My age, my few years in the games industry, my bitterness about sequelitis and the popularity of the FPS have beaten down the excitement I generally feel about game launches. I’m a skeptic, at times even a cynic, about The Next Big Thing™. But when Square Enix see fit to unleash a new numbered Final Fantasy title upon the world, my negativity dissolves and I turn into the same raging fanboy I was in July of 1991, 11 years old, begging my parents to take me to Toys R Us to buy Final Fantasy IV.

I hear a lot of hate for the FF games in this business. Maybe it’s just the people I surround myself with (I seem to have a knack for landing jobs with PC-centric, FPS-loving studios), but I usually feel like the odd man out for loving these games, and I really have trouble understanding where the hate comes from. I’ll admit, they’re not the deepest games ever made. Their stories are pretty linear, they don’t give you much choice, their art style tends to borrow a lot from the previous games and there’s LOTS of story, mostly told through cinematics. But I’m willing to forgive these elements. Why?

When I pick up a new, numbered Final Fantasy game (as opposed to the numerous spinoffs), there are a handful of things I can always count on:

An Amazing World
The FF games always have fantastic worlds. Beautiful, lush environments with lots of variety. Stunning visuals, amazing lighting and effects, a deep back story, creative architecture, wild character and creature designs and a general dislike of the mundane all make their worlds interesting places to explore. They’re not realistic, but who cares? I’m playing a video game. I don’t want realism.

Attention to Detail
The experience is always strong, and you can tell that the developers pore over every detail with a fine-toothed comb. Nothing is broken or alpha in a FF game. Everything gets its final polish. I’ve read that one of the big motivators for the removal of towns in FF13 was the concern that they didn’t have the time or resources to deliver them at the level of quality they wanted. So they cut them rather than ship something below par.

A Well-Written Story
The stories of Final Fantasy sometimes wander, but they always come together by the end. Despite the melodramatic dialogue, annoying characters (Squall ffs), weird plot turns and dead ends, they always deliver by the time the credits roll. There’s something to be said for this. Most games can’t manage to keep my interest for eight hours, but FF games can consistently hold me in their grasp for 40+ (and 120 in the case of FF12), and this is due in large part to an interesting story. And yes, there are those cinematics. Some gamers despise them, but I’ve never been bothered by them. I’m not a purist, my games don’t have to be ALL game and nothing else. I’m content to be passive for a while and watch, as long as what I’m watching is interesting.

Bang for Buck
As mentioned above, I spent 120 hours working my way through Final Fantasy 12. That was spread over two years, because I was quite busy with work. Generally they take 40-50 hours, but still, that’s a hell of a lot better than most games these days. Batman: Arkham Asylum was a solid eight hours, which comes out to $7.50 per hour. Final Fantasy games are generally in the $1 per hour range, and the gameplay and story are more interesting, at least to me, than the majority of AAA releases these days. I know they will deliver a game that’s going to entertain me for a long, long time.

Nostalgia
The Final Fantasy games know where they came from. They’re always full of fan service, and their fans appreciate it. Recurring characters, themes, types of environments… some accuse them of failing to innovate, but I disagree and point you to their battle systems for proof of innovation. There are always chocobos, summons and a guy named Cid. It’s nice to know that, despite being thrown into a new world with new characters, environments and systems, you can count on a few familiar faces to be there by your side.

Innovation
The FF games have always excelled at experimenting wildly within the confines of a formula they know works (and occasionally creeping outside the lines just a little bit). The draw system of FF8, the MMO-style gameplay of FF12, the broken as hell Materia system of FF7 and the job system of FF5 are all examples. While they’re all JRPGs and remain true to the style, they always bring something new to the table.

I wonder if the negativity aimed at this franchise by some western developers is truly a dislike of the game style, or simply envy. A Final Fantasy game is always a big budget affair with a mind-blowing level of polish and attention to detail, and their effort is rewarded in critical acclaim and sales. XIII currently has a GameRankings average of 82.9% (PS3 version), making it one of the lowest scores ever in the main franchise. Some devs may hate these games, but when 83% is your low point in a franchise that has spanned thirteen titles so far, I’d say you’re doing something very, very right.

I’ll be at GDC next week. I’ll be at various audio gatherings and sessions, so if you see me, say hi! I’m looking forward to it, haven’t been since 2006. There are some interesting audio sessions this year, including a keynote from one of my biggest professional influences: Akira Yamaoka. It’s going to be an amazing week. If you want to bump into me, shoot me an email, give me a ring or just stalk me. Whatever’s clever!

Also, Singularity is making good progress. I’ve spent the last week addressing platform consistency issues. That should tell you how close we are. The mix is shaping up and I’m very excited about how the game has come along in recent months. I think everyone’s going to dig it.

No more for tonight. I’ll post some about GDC after I return.

Four and a half months since my last post. Wow. Sorry, been busy! Crunch will do that to a person.

In that time, two new games have been released that I had involvement. The biggest of the two is Forza Motorsport 3, the newest iteration of the acclaimed racing franchise from Turn 10. The game has done incredibly well since its release in late October, achieving an average of 93 on Metacritic. This is the highest rated game I’ve ever been involved with, and I am ecstatic about its reception.

The other recent release is Gearbox Software’s Borderlands, a hybrid role-playing/shooter with more than a hint of Diablo-style gameplay. It too has done well, floating around the 84% mark on GameRankings, and selling strongly. I spent some time on this project before I made the move to Raven.

There’s a demo available for Forza 3 on the Xbox Live Marketplace. No word on a demo for Borderlands yet.

In other news, I recently spoke to two groups of students from Flashpoint Academy in Chicago, discussing the basics of what game audio people do every day and how to get a job in this particular field (ProTip: hire a hitman, then apply for the mark’s job). I’ll be part of a panel of game audio professionals at the November 19th IGDA Madison chapter meeting (7PM at Roman Candle in Middleton), discussing some audio topic that is yet to be determined. So if you’re in the area, stop by!
I’ve also been spending a lot of time in Visual Studio lately. Programming is a new addition to my skill set, but I’m doing well so far. I’ve been able to add some interesting and useful audio functionality to the Unreal engine, and I’m learning and doing more amazing things every day.

That is all! I’ll try to update again before March!

last updated 11 April, 2009