Is this the end of Final Fantasy?

After the disappointment that FFXIII was and the flop that FFXIII-2 is also, can we expect the next production to be a brand new story, with the game going back to its roots and what made it so popular to begin with?

I remember a few weeks after FFXIII's release, the shelves of shops were littered with pre-owned copies of the game. I've never seen anything like it, ever.
A friend of mine could only get £6 for his copy he paid £45 for only weeks before, that's how bad it was.

XIII-2's sales have been really poor, especially compared to XIII's. I've already seen it being sold for £20, brand new, at a major retailer.


So do you think SE will abandon trying to cater to this alternative market and go back to the games roots, in the hope that old fans of the series give it another chance and the series be restored to its former glory?
Or do you think they're a few more experiments away from wringing-dry the name formed from the success of past FF games, before completely sinking it into the ground and wrapping up the series permanently?


Please only true veteran fans of the FF series need respond. No need for trolls. Thanks.

Someone who is clearly not a true fan, asking for true fan to reply only, ironic.

Now I may be wrong but from what I've heard 13-2 had been selling quite decently.

For the next final fantasy they are going to do what they have always done, something new. Each final fantasy has been different from the ones before and I love it. Yes 12 and 13 have had a bit more drastic changes and a lot of fans haven't been to happy with that. But the fans just need to accept change. I am quite sure that with the next Final Fantasy Square wont return to it's routes as in a classic turn based rpg. If they do though then great I'll buy it and probably enjoy it, if they do something new I'll still get it. You may think that Final Fantasy games are declining but that is only because the haters are so loud. There are plenty people that are just quietly enjoying each installment and awaiting the next.

To ultimately answer your question though, is no I don't think it is the end of Final Fantasy. SE won't pull the franchise because of all the haters, they will pull it when they stop making money, which is still a few installments away.

quote umgee

After the disappointment that FFXIII was and the flop that FFXIII-2 is also

quote Rabla

quote umgee

After the disappointment that FFXIII was and the flop that FFXIII-2 is also

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

10/10

I concur with this statement.


Also, I'll bite on the rest of OP's troll bait.

'True veteran fans' - what is that, what even is that? What separates a fan who started the series with XII or even X, went back and played all of the others, and enjoyed XII more than any of the others from somebody who's played since the first game? How does one's opinion make them a 'true' fan? A fan is a fan, and this whole 'true fan' bullshit is just something that nostalgia tards bring up when they can't argue the points somebody raises for XII or XIII being great games.

How does the fact that somebody likes one game more than another make them any more or less a fan of the series? Or hell, how does somebody who's only played XIII and XIII-2 and loved them to pieces make them any less a fan? Please, tell me. I'm curious.

I'm not even defending myself here - I've played every game in the series, but the stupidity of anybody who spouts this crap about being a true fan really gets under my skin.



I guess to close, I'll just take a quick look at a few statistics for Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2. Let's see...

Final Fantasy XIII scored primarily 8.5s and 9s.

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In March 2010, Square Enix stated that Final Fantasy XIII was the fastest-selling title in the franchise's history.[111] By April of the same year, American game sales for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 reached an estimated 800,000 and 500,000 units respectively.[112] As of May 18, 2010, Final Fantasy XIII had shipped 6.2 million copies worldwide.

HOLY SHIT, YOU'RE RIGHT, THAT GAME WAS A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT FOR SQUARE ENIX.


XIII-2 got mostly 8s with the rare 9 thrown in.

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During its first week of release in Japan, Final Fantasy XIII-2 sold 524,000 copies with the PlayStation 3 version topping the charts. The Xbox 360 version only reached 48th, largely due to the low number of Xbox 360 customers in Japan. Initial sales have been notably lower than what they were for the game's predecessor which sold 1.5 million units in its first week. By the end of the year, the game had sold 697,146 units, becoming the fifth bestselling 2011 game in Japan.

YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, WHAT A FLOP IT WAS!

So there's some numbers for you. It's clearly not the end of Final Fantasy by any means.

I like XII and XIII. As much as some of the other games in the series? No, but they aren't at the bottom of the list either. Squenix has been taking the series in a new direction, and I've been okay with that - it really paid off in XIII-2 because I love this game to death and it's still very different from its predecessors. No Final Fantasy is like another - that's what those funny little roman numerals at the end of each title mean.

The series is far from through - the fact that it's still topping charts, if not the VERY top, and still getting primarily positive reviews from sites and gamers shows that it's not just selling itself on its name.

It's far from the empty husk that nostalgia tards like to say it is.

Alright. Rant over now. Move along people, nothing to see here.

Corruption finally some actual statistics thrown in. It really proves that Squeenix is not failing. People just like to throw out empty arguments like that because they are mad that they didn't like the new games.

I think the next Final Fantasy will be amazing since they fixed their problems with XIII they obviously know what they are doing. So don't worry, I'm not.

quote Fraser

It's hilarious everyone says he isn't a true fan

Really? Everyone? Wow, let me go back and check...

quote

Someone who is clearly not a true fan, asking for true fan to reply only, ironic.

Well, there's one. And...huh. Wait a second, he's the only one. NICE ARGUMENT!

quote

because XIII and XIII-2 are, in his opinion, and mine too, crap. He has every right to complain

And you're quite right. Not everybody likes XIII and it's not a sin to do so. However, trumpeting around your complaints and saying it's the end of Final Fantasy is so wrong that it is hilarious.

quote

the series is nothing on the games from the early 2000's and 90's and it's almost betraying the older fans by releasing the watered down crap that is the last two installments.

Betraying the fans.

No wait, you're right. How dare Square Enix release a Final Fantasy game that isn't as good as all of the others (in your opinion). How DARE they try to take the series that they OWN in a new direction?

Those douches at Squenix should just go back in time and bring back Sakaguchi because he shouldn't be doing whatever the hell he wants; he should be back at Square making Final Fantasy games for us! Hell, while they're at it, they should bring back Uematsu as well! How dare he quit on us, the loyal fans!


I'm mildly curious, do you dislike XIII and XIII-2 because they have the name 'Final Fantasy' and they don't live up to your own delusions and (likely unmeetable) expectations of what a Final Fantasy game should be? Or do you actually have legitimate complaints about both games? Guess we'll find out, because...

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The problems from XIII were NOT fixed, they really weren't.

I'll bite. What were your problems with XIII and how were they not fixed in XIII-2? Furthermore, please, if you will, point out to me how your problems are not at all present in previous Final Fantasy titles.

quote

Oh and compared to XIII, XIII-2 did flop. The sales were dismal for XIII-2 compared to XIII. 500'000 is nothing to turn up your nose at but XIII sold a lot more.

Well, let's think of why that might be. Hm. Could it be that XIII had...four years of hype to drive up its sales? While XIII-2 had...barely a year?

I'm sure that doesn't make a difference.

Besides, as I quoted earlier, XIII was the fastest selling Final Fantasy game in the franchise' history. So even your (in your opinion) vastly superior 90's era games didn't sell nearly as well as it did. Are they flops too?

VII has sold roughly 10 million copies over the course of 13 years (hehe...13...)

XIII has sold 6.7 million copies in less than one year. lol?


But here, let's take a look at the only other game in the series to get a direct sequel (unless you want to count DoC as a direct sequel to VII).

X

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Final Fantasy X received universal acclaim by the media, and enjoyed high sales figures. Within four days of its release in Japan, the game had sold over 1.4 million copies in pre-orders, which set a record for the fastest-selling console RPG.[100][101] These figures exceeded the performances of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX in a comparable period,[102] and Final Fantasy X became the first PlayStation 2 game to reach two million and four million sold copies.[103][104] In October 2007, the game was listed as the eighth best-selling game for the PlayStation 2.[105] The game has sold 6.6 million copies as of January 2004.

Statistics are a little harder to compare since they aren't in a comparable time frame to other games, but let's see how X-2 did.

I suppose it's worth noting that XIII has sold 100,000 copies more in one year than X did in three.

X-2

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Within nine months of its Japanese release, Final Fantasy X-2 sold a million copies in North America, and nearly four million copies worldwide.

So, alright, not nearly as well as X. Could there possibly be a precedence for this sort of thing? I know a lot of people don't like X-2 - could that possibly, maybe, I don't know...be influencing people's hesitance to pick up XIII-2?

Talk to me again in 8 more months and we'll see how well XIII-2 is doing on its 9-month mark.

In all fairness, I've seen the price drop pretty quickly too.

But, people are ridiculously loyal to Final Fantasy, I doubt a little 'hiccup' (though I for one, adore XIII) would deter them from buying the next.

I think if they brought FFvXIII out, the sales would sky rocket, because people have been waiting for it for so long. Or, it could completely flop for the exact same reason... Hmmm...

You guys lets not turn this in to a flame war. Debates are good but no my opinions are better then yours crap please.

I liked the story for XIII and XIII-2 sure they could have been better but I thought they were pretty good.