History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Brand new year, same old retrospectives.  What better way to ring in 2015 than with MORE Final Fantasy?  Well, I can think of a few ways, however it's time I got back to regular releases, so I'm releasing the last of the 16-bit Final Fantasy games.  The game so hated and reviled that it took Final Fantasy 13 to unseat it.  Final Fantasy Mystic Quest?  So, is it as bad as all that?  Watch and find out.

I intend to try and release videos a bit more regularly now.  At least once a week, if not more, but this is a side project, not a job, so...yeah, bear that in mind.

History of Final Fantasy: A Bravely Default Rant

So, I've started playing Bravely Default and...I feel angry.  Not with the game, the game is great, but with Square.  So, I put my anger into words and tried to explain why Bravely Default is good and why it shows how fare Square Enix and Final Fantasy have fallen.  Check it out.

Where Did Final Fantasy Go Wrong? A Fan's Analysis

            Well, this is going to get a few people angry.  Anyway, this discussion came about because recently I've been replaying Final Fantasy 5, which is a criminally overlooked part of the series.  It, along with other older Final Fantasys and certain games from yesteryear, are a breath of fresh air compared to the modern industry.  However, the thought occurs to me that we could face a very real possibility of a FINAL Final Fantasy.  Square has abused the franchise to a surprising degree, milking it for all its worth while overlooking what made it great to begin with.  More worrying is that other companies, good companies with strong games and smart designers, seem to be following their example, hoping for similar sales numbers.  Level-5, for example, maker of excellent action RPGs on the PS2 such as Dark Cloud, Dark Cloud 2, and Rogue Galaxy, recently released the incredibly frustrating, poorly controlled, and much delayed White Knight Chronicles games and the beautiful, but flawed, Ni No Kuni.  They're ignoring some of the same aspects of game design that Square is, and with disastrous results, at least from this fan's perspective.  During the PS2 era, Level-5 was a name I trusted.  I would pre-order any game with their label.  Now, I dismissively wave them aside, because they've lost my trust.  Same with Square.  So, to see how we got here, I want to examine where Final Fantasy went wrong.

A reminder of times gone by.  The glory days of Final Fantasy are long gone.

            Before we discuss where Final Fantasy went wrong, though, we need to outline what made it such a seminal series for RPG fans.  This can be broken down into four main categories.  Graphics, Music and Sound, Game design, and Storytelling.  These four aspects of the game series are what enraptured fans.  First, let's examine why that was the case, then, we'll examine how Square dropped the ball.

            Graphics: Final Fantasy has always focused on graphical fidelity to a degree.  Even during its time on the NES, it tried to be a powerhouse of graphical design, using complex sprites, a varied color palette, locations that were relatively unique at the time, and a style distinctive from other games of similar design, like Dragon Quest or Phantasy Star.  As the series gained steam and moved on to the SNES, this not only meant crisper, more detailed graphics, but an improvement in how they were used.  Character sprites could now emote to a huge degree, showing shock, concern, anger, disgust, etc.  Mode 7 was also a popular feature for giving certain sections, like traveling via airship or on chocobo in Final Fantasy 6 a distinctive feel.  The graphics served a purpose of not only making the game prettier, but also of making it more unique and distinctive and allowing the characters to connect to the player on a visual as well as narrative level.  There was a lot more, "Showing" instead of "Telling."  When Final Fantasy came to the Playstation, there were some graphical hiccups, with the blocky style of Final Fantasy 7.  However, it still offered, at the time, gorgeous cut scenes, a distinctive style which, love it or hate it, has not been replicated since, and a more varied range of movement for characters.  They could wield weapons outside of combat, stand awkwardly, slump in place, etc.  There were a range of emotions that could be told through body language.  And this trend continued through Final Fantasy 8 and 9.  The graphic styles were distinctive, the cut scenes beautiful, and the characters emotive.

From the very beginning, Final Fantasy featured colorful worlds that pushed the limits of its platform

            Final Fantasy 10 is where I argue that the series started to get lazy.  I did still greatly enjoy Final Fantasy 10, however with the advent of voice actors, emoting became less important, and so the voices, which could often be quite annoying, became more apparent as opposed to how character models could be used.  That aside, the graphics were still quite good and allowed a much more interesting array of monsters and summoned beasts to be called upon.  This is true through Final Fantasy 11 and 12, which each had distinct styles and graphics which were quite pleasing to the eye.  Cut to Final Fantasy 13 and its sequels.  The graphics here plateaued, in my opinion.  They were as gorgeous as they could probably ever be and didn't really need improvement.  The character models are painstakingly detailed, the environments crisp, and even the style of monsters was varied too, giving them a more mechanized look, even if far too many enemies were just soldiers in drab uniforms.  However, I personally believe that the characters lost much of their ability to emote due to the game's over abundance of cut scenes, which basically plopped a pre-rendered mess into the game at certain points, but graphically, there shouldn't be that many complaints for the game.  From a purely aesthetic standpoint, Final Fantasy started out attracting players with a more graphically engaging RPG experience on the NES and this trend continues to the present day.  Square does, if nothing else, create beautiful graphics.  However, they have reached a plateau where they may not be able to wow us with graphical design any more and will need to find a new way to attract players, either through interesting graphical styles, like Final Fantasy 9 or 10, or by allowing the characters a wider range of expression.  Not just facial expression, but full body expression.

Even if body language has fallen by the wayside, Final Fantasy remains a gorgeous series with graphics that never fail to impress.

            Music and Sound:  Music from the Final Fantasy series is iconic.  It is soul stirring.  Hundreds of thousands if not millions of people have been brought to tears by themes like the "Aria di Mezzo Carattere" from Final Fantasy 6 or "Eyes on Me" from Final Fantasy 8.  And this has warranted dozens of full symphonic tours.  If graphics were the body of the series, music was the soul.  It moved players and that is one reason the older games are remembered so fondly, even though their music was limited by the hardware of the time period.

This music was burned into my brain from childhood.  I replayed Final Fantasy 6 at least a dozen times just to linger on this sequence and this score.

            I do not believe, personally, that any one series should be defined or held up by a single person.  Games are built by teams, after all.  However, Nobuo Uematsu, the composer for Final Fantasy 1-11 deserves personal mention.  While the series has been helmed largely by Hironobu Sakaguchi, most often uses Yoshitaka Amano or Tetsuya Nomura for graphical design, and has had a slew of other directors, animators, etc.  Uematsu was an integral part of the series.  Music from Final Fantasy 1-11 ran the gambit of light hearted and fun, to heartbreakingly tragic, to almost scary.  The music appealed to gamers on an emotional level and kept them gripped from beginning to end.  And, as the series moved from NES to SNES to Playstation, the music improved, as the sound chips and tools available to Uematsu improved.  Even now, he is recognized as one of, if not the, greatest video game composer of all times.

This man was the soul of Final Fantasy and his departure from Square crippled the series.

            And when Uematsu left Square, Final Fantasy lost its soul.  Square still owned many of the popular themes Uematsu created, such as "Victory Fanfare," "Mambo De Chocobo," "Prelude," and "Final Fantasy."  However, Square took to retooling or just ignoring these themes after Uematsu's departure, with few of them used in FF 12 and none, save for the Chocobo theme used in FF 13.  And that theme is so bastardized it's barely recognizable.  I will not say that the music got significantly worse after Uematsu stopped composing for Square, however it never stirred or gripped players like it used to.  It was passable, competent even, however the music lacked the soul and emotion Uematsu gave it.  Instead, Square has chosen to use more modern pop themes, the most used theme from Final Fantasy 13 being "My Hands" by Leona Lewis, an X-factor contestant.  Nevertheless, these themes COULD have held a place in the series if paired with Uematsu's music as a nice counterpoint, however as it stands, they feel like crass replacements.  Musically, Final Fantasy has become boring.  And if Square ever wants to recapture the previous soul, they either need to contract Mr. Uematsu to compose for them again, since he is now an independent composer, find someone who can create similarly evocative music, such as Yoko Shimomura or Akira Yamaoka, or stick with themes they already posses.  Final Fantasy will not get better if they ONLY use old music composed by Uematsu, but it may at least slow the degradation.  However, musically, it can't get much worse.  Bland is even worse than offensive at times in video games because it is forgettable.  At least offensive music sticks with you. 

I cut Final Fantasy X-2 a fair bit of slack, but that was a one off.  We didn't need pop music or bland themes in every game thereafter.

            Game Design:  Here we come to the key part of Final Fantasy.  Game Design.  The series is well known for starting off using turn based combat, then an active time battle system, and after many tweaks, a system not unlike those of MMOs.  Looking back at the original turn based combat, it was very stiff.  Battles progressed slowly, but that was because each character needed to be assigned a move, then perform it, then enemies did the same.  The active time battle system improved on this by speeding up combat.  Enemies and players could now have their turns intersect and whoever was fastest got to move first.  It allowed a great deal more excitement and tension in combat.  Then the shift to an MMO style took control away from all but one character, while still retaining the basic features of the active time battle system.

Say hello to the Active Time Battle System, staple of the good Final Fantasy games from 4-10.

            Ignoring combat for a moment, game design also had a great deal to do with how players experienced Final Fantasy.  Starting out on an overworld which allowed for non-linear exploration, players were given a path, told to follow, but allowed to deviate to find hidden treasures, new monsters, or just goof off and play with their abilities.  There were distinctive divides between overworld exploration, town based exploration, and dungeons.  Dungeons were dangerous and had plenty of enemies, but also lots of treasure.  Towns offered players a chance to buy items, hear rumors from NPCs and become immersed in the world.  Overworld exploration was the bridge between these two segments, giving the player the feeling that they could control where they moved not just in towns or dungeons, but everywhere.  This general structure would remain consistent with the series from Final Fantasy 1-10.  However, after Final Fantasy 10, the series tried to wean players off these features.  Final Fantasy 11 only gave players one character to control while still allowing them to have a non-linear world and job system to explore and play with.  Final Fantasy 12 still only had players controlling one character and made the game more linear, but the world was large, interconnected, and had branching paths which led to hidden secrets.  Final Fantasy 13 only had players control one character through a linear 60 hour hallway.  Even when the game supposedly opened up for exploration, there was very little in the way of secrets, hidden treasures, or anything really interesting to find.

The MMO style of gameplay was not a good fit for Final Fantasy.  It robbed us of our freedom.

            What I want to make clear, however, is that linear exploration and changes to combat are not, in my opinion, what hurt Final Fantasy design wise.  The series has always been ready to explore and experiment with different styles of gameplay.  What irked me most was the general lack of control players had after Final Fantasy 10.  Control is what Square took away from players since Final Fantasy 11 and the series has never been the same.  Players controlled between 3 and 5 characters at a time before Final Fantasy 11, were given free range to explore wherever they wanted, and a wealth of other options were made available to them, from weapons and armor, to spells, summons, and personal abilities.  Final Fantasy 11 reduced the game so that each player controlled only one character.  To a degree, this made sense, as it was an MMO and the job system and constantly changing world allowed players to explore and experiment without the game getting stale.  However, Final Fantasy 12, which was not an MMO, also only gave control of one character to players, even though a party could have three characters and a guest.  The characters not in use by the player were AI controlled and had to be given orders beforehand using a series of logic loops called gambits.  While frustrating, at least these gambits gave players some semblance of control and Final Fantasy 12 had secrets to be found, like hidden summons, dungeons to revisit, bounties to hunt, etc.  Final Fantasy 13, however, was the nail in the coffin.  Only one character out of three could be directly controlled.  The others were handled by the computer.  While there is an illusion of choice, as you can select individual commands in battle, the computer is smart enough that if you hit auto battle, it will basically do what is necessary to win/survive.  There is some control in party layout, as each character has a few "jobs" with different abilities, however it all comes down to auto battle in the end.  Worse, players are given a 60 hour linear hallway to explore, with no secrets, no branching pathways, no towns, nothing that is not scripted.  It is like playing a 60 hour movie.  There were some attempts to restore control, like when players are allowed to explore for the first time some 40 hours in, but by then it was too late.  Gamers had already resigned themselves to the hallway.  Final Fantasy 13-2 seemed to understand this to a degree, and there are more places to explore nonlinearly, but the game still only allows control of one character at a time.

Here's a typical map from Final Fantasy 13.  A long hallway, with no branching paths, no exploration, no control.  This hallway was the nail in Final Fantasy 13's coffin.

            Final Fantasy was, at its core, a role playing experience and control is the heart of that experience.  You have to role play.  To feel like these characters are under your control and so their fates and yours are intertwined.  When you explore, they discover and when you make a mistake, they suffer.  Removing control essentially removes all elements of role playing from Final Fantasy.  A ROLE PLAYING GAME.  In previous iterations, job classes which players could customize to their taste were available.  Summons could be swapped, mixed, matched.  Skills could be learned and experimented with.  In Final Fantasy 10, the most enjoyable addition to the series was the ability to CONTROL summoned beasts, as well as swap out party members mid fight.  The level of control was staggering and it made players invested in seeing these characters succeed.  But, if control is removed and a computer can do the job of the player...why do we even need to play the game?  Where is the tension?  Where is the investment?  This is, in my opinion, the biggest misstep of the Final Fantasy series.  But not the last.

When it comes down to game design, control is the name of the game.

             Storytelling:  Storytelling is a prickly issue for Final Fantasy.  Despite how beloved the games' characters, stories, and twists are, they are also rather silly.  Nothing is too out there for Final Fantasy games, which frequently included steampunk elements, alien invasions, cloning, time distortion, dimensional travel, crossdressing, gods fighting mortals, etc.  I believe that one of the reasons people find the stories so enjoyable is because they were paced well, kept a decent mix between high tension and comedy relief, and offered a different story each time from what was expected.  True, many of the stories in Final Fantasy boil down to "Kill the evil wizard/swordsman/whatever" but the tweaks and twists added kept it interesting.  We dealt with something we knew, but in a manner that was wholly original to us.  How do you spice up a kill the evil wizard plot?  Throw him into the past so he can absorb ancient monsters to become a god and create a time loop.

Time Travel.  A sure-fire cure for boredom in a kill the evil wizard plot.

            Personally, I believe that the stories started to degrade in quality when voice acting was introduced.  It created a disconnect between player and character where if you didn't like a character's voice, that was too bad, you were stuck with it.  And while a player's imagination could fill in the gaps for a bad joke or an emotional moment in the previous games, from Final Fantasy 10 onwards, that job fell to the voice actors, and if they flubbed a line or made something awkward, that was how the story was.  There was no wiggle room.  As the games continued, voice acting was not the only problem.  Scripts generally became less coherent and focused more on melodrama rather than on actually telling a story that made sense and held together.  Worst of all, however, it would seem that the newer staff who replaced those working on the earlier Final Fantasy games, particularly the staff who worked on Final Fantasy 13, simply did not have a unified vision for the story they wanted to tell.  A number of times, there were leap of faith plot twists that were impossible to ignore, infuriating plot conveniences, and revelations that were head scratching.  Also, an encyclopedia was added to hammer out story details they couldn't bother to put in the narrative itself.  When you need an encyclopedia to explain a character's motivations or history, you are failing at storytelling.

This is not good storytelling.  This is the antithesis of good storytelling.

            What is truly a shame, however, is that most Final Fantasy games, even up to 13, had some interesting ideas to explore.  Interesting themes to be brought to light.  Final Fantasy 6, for example, looked into the idea of what would happen to the world if a capricious and nihilistic god ruled over it.  This outlook allow players to explore the issue of "if life is so short, so fragile, so fleeting, why bother?" and find some interesting viewpoints and reasons for why humans continue living.  Final Fantasy 10 examined how a world ruled by a corrupt theocracy could ultimately live in blind ignorance of the real monsters, even when it was being menaced by a creature the size of Godzilla as well as exploring the ephemeral nature of life and the power of dreams.  Final Fantasy 13, loathed though it is, looked at ideas of prejudice, how stereotypes and hatred can ultimately ruin a world, rotting it from the inside out, to where anyone associated with the accused are viewed as less than human by others and acts of brutality against them are deemed justified.  The true disappointment in Final Fantasy's storytelling was not that there were no good ideas.  The insane ideas and the deep themes practically made the story.  No, the true disappointment was in how poorly executed the story, and script, became over time.  They went from being a bit quirky and insane to almost totally nonsensical.

 

Final Fantasy 13 did have some amazingly powerful, moving character moments, exploring complex and mature themes...pity the story itself was so poorly told.

Conclusion:

            Looking at the data, it should be pretty clear what the major stumbling blocks for Final Fantasy are and why it's becoming less and less relevant to fans.  Graphically, there aren't really any problems.  Characters may not emote or use their body langauge as well in the HD age, but the series has always had a fairly high graphical pedigree and that's continued on into the current generation, with absolutely gorgeous vistas and backgrounds, interesting character and enemy design, and just tons of beautiful eye candy to amuse players. 

            Musically, the series lacks a strong hand to give it direction.  Uematsu provided that hand before and they haven't found anyone else to give it the necessary soul to match the onscreen events.  It hasn't become terrible overnight, but the slide has been gradual, with Final Fantasy 10-2 moving into more j-pop, Final Fantasy 12 trying to recapture the feel, but ultimately being a little forgettable, and Final Fantasy 13 being often times boring, annoying, or just confusing.  Why did they include an American Idol singer as a selling point?  Why license a song like that instead of having one made for the series by a strong composer? 

            From a storytelling perspective, the scripts seem to have gotten poorer and the over reliance on voice actors seems to be pushing scripts and dialogues into certain directions that ultimately make them less reliant on clever wordplay, body language, or situational context and more reliant on the talents of the VA.  This may be the world we live in, but you need a balance of those things, since not all VAs are created equally.  The nonsensical parts of Final Fantasy are, for the most part, fine.  The series has always had some goofy elements that don't make too much sense.  The important part is having a script which keeps players engaged until the game is over and they start realizing how damned goofy what they just played was.

            However, most importantly, Square needs to give players back control.  When you take away a player's control in a game, it stops being a game and becomes a movie.  Final Fantasy offered a huge amount of variety and control options until it hit 11, which limited it due to that game being an MMO.  After 11, though, all the single player games have been lacking in options.  Now, the norm is to only control 1 player where before a party of 3-5 could be under your control.  Restricting control is not a good idea, as it will remind players they are going through a very linear, scripted, and stifling experience.  Give players back the ability to make mistakes, since mistakes help us grow.  Give them the ability to explore, to talk to people, to shop, for god's sake!

Ironically Final Fantasy 13 sold very well...then, people realized it was crap and so sales dropped like a rock.

            And, there you have it.  They need a strong musical hand, a more balanced script that relies less on voice and more on context, words, and body language, and they need to give players back their control.  So, do I think Final Fantasy can recover from these pitfalls?  Well, it can, but I'm not sure it should.  Final Fantasy has always been a sort of industry standard for what an RPG is.  If people see this poor standard, they can at least learn from it.  Besides, Final Fantasy has already alienated a ton of fans, not just with flaws like the above in its main games but with numerous money grabbing schemes from its spin offs.  The brand is pretty weak right now.  It might just be better to start fresh, so to speak.  For example, Uematsu and Sakaguchi, both Final Fantasy Alumni, worked together to create The Last Story and Lost Odyssey, games which had a Final Fantasy feel, but which were not Final Fantasy, strictly speaking.  These games won over audiences with their graphics, music, storytelling, and above all else, their control.  So, a Last Story 2 or Lost Odyssey 2 might not be such a bad idea.  Start a new legend and let the Final Fantasy series have a break.  Better to let it rest in peace with over a dozen good titles than slowly wither and decay until there really is a "Final Fantasy."  And maybe someday, it'll be ready to come back.

 

It's possible that Final Fantasy has gone too far and will never be as it once was.

 

Even if Final Fantasy is gone for good, however, worthy successors have stepped forward.  The Last Story(Top image) and Lost Odyssey(Bottom image)

            Before I sign out, I would like to remind people that I am not an expert.  Just a gamer who knows what he likes, what other gamers like, and where the industry seems to be heading from my perspective.  This is just my opinion on what the hell happened to Final Fantasy.  Take it, leave it, or argue if you like.  Let me hear what you think happened.

Ouya, Oh Yeah, Oh No!

            The Ouya.  I know that a lot of people have talked and speculated about the Ouya and joining a bandwagon isn't exactly my style.  But if the Ouya succeeds, it will have repercussions that many may not realize.  You see, provided the Ouya works, I think that it could well be the future of video gaming.  A middle finger to the bloated, expensive, frankly deplorable AAA video game market and just the shake up console gaming needs.  So, for the sake of the indie market and for how this new console could affect the video game industry, I've decided to take a moment to explore what the Ouya promises to be and what that means for the industry and gamers, good or bad.

Behold the Ouya.  The next big wild card in the console wars.

            Hardware.  The Ouya is an interesting machine, hardware wise.  It has an NVIDIA quad core processor, for moderate graphical prowess, certainly no match for a PS3, but at least as strong as most android or Iphones, possibly stronger depending on how it is used.  1GB of ram provides speed comparable with decent laptops for streaming or gaming.  8GB of flash memory allows for storage of games, which, while comparable to the PS3 and Wii U at launch, is still a rather small amount.  It can be expanded via USB storage.  It has full wifi, ethernet, and bluetooth capabilities, allowing internet connections of all varieties and wireless connectivity.  It has USB ports for porting programs from other systems and a relatively unique controller.  The Ouya controller resembles a Playstation Dual shock controller, with the face buttons changed to spell out O-U-Y-A.  There is also a touch screen included which can be used as a touch screen or to mimic a mouse, allowing for internet surfing and exploring the Ouya's stores or software.

If that controller's touch screen works out, this might be the make or break feature of the Ouya.

            What does all this mean?  Well, the Ouya is basically an iphone made into a console, though I think that's a gross oversimplification.  It shows the basic features of a video game console without any unnecessary extras crammed in.  No backwards compatibility with other systems, no DVD or blue-ray playback, no slots for CDS, etc.  It is a console that aims at digital distribution, streaming audio and video, and with the basic capabilities of a phone or medium range computer in terms of gaming.  The graphics of the Ouya will not be top of the line, however they will match and probably exceed those of top of the line Iphones, since they will not need a number of extra components which other consoles or phones would need for them to function properly.  The controller in particular seems steps above what the Xbox720 and PS4 are offering, by providing something sleek, which still has touch screen capabilities, making it even more attractive to some than a Wii U controller.  Thanks to it's supposed ability to mimic mouse movement, the controller has great potential for bringing PC games and console games closer together.

            Based on what can be gleaned from these specs, the Ouya seems to be aiming at gamers less interested in graphical fidelity and more invested in fun gameplay experiences, with the ability for it to be expanded into a digital multimedia system down the line.

            Price.  The Ouya aims to do what many console gamers have been dreaming of for decades.  Make a console that will not destroy their credit rating.  The Ouya aims to debut for only $100 at launch and one can assume that used versions could be sold for cheaper.  This proposition is a bit eyebrow raising.  True, many computer components are much cheaper if bought wholesale or if the company using them is in a contract with the manufacturer, but the price seems too good to be true.  Something that, as the software previews have shown, is at least as powerful as a low end PC with the capability to stream video from Onlive or Twitch TV that even a minor could afford simply by saving his allowance for a few months seems like a fantasy.  So, many are skeptical of the Ouya's ability to deliver on its low price promise considering the promised hardware and software involved.  I can only say this.  Is it possible?  Certainly.  It is possible to build a working console for that little, provided you have the capital to develop the necessary OS, get the manufacturing process hammered out, and to maintain manufacturing for an indefinite period of time.  And with the Ouya's pre-orders, successful kickstarter campaign, and any personal investment those behind it have made, I'd say it is possible to get the process rolling and make the Ouya with only a small loss for each machine sold.

The Ouya's managed to ship out its developer consoles already.  Will the commercial ones be as easy?

             However, price doesn't only figure into the hardware.  The Ouya's manufacturers have outlined that any software sold on their system will be split 70% to 30%, with the 30% going to the manufacturers, allowing them to feasibly continue producing Ouya consoles indefinitely, provided there is a strong software base.  More surprisingly, however, is that the Ouya requires at least one aspect of every piece of software on it to be completely free.  This has been dubbed, free-to-try.  This system can include whole games, demos, level packs, etc. but it ensures that any person who buys an Ouya will always have something to fiddle with even if they don't pay a penny over the $100 price tag.  I am not certain is this particular aspect of the Ouya is sustainable, however if the programs use in-game advertisements or other means, this business model could prove successful.

Seems too good to be true, doesn't it?  Still, cut out all the fat and just maybe the price can work...

            On the whole, the price point for the Ouya seems too good to be true.  Cheap, with free content being released constantly from both professional and independent developers.  What can this mean?  Well, it could mean one of two things.  It could mean that there will be much price gouging.  That free to play games with 90% of the content as purchasable DLC could become the norm.  This is a depressing thought, however if the market stays competitive on the Ouya, this may not be an issue, as price gouging games that are free could be beaten out by reasonably priced games that are complete, offering a free demo.  Conversely, it could mean that the Ouya is trying for an entirely different market than the bloated AAA console gaming crowd and will be aiming to make its money back through smaller products, but greater sales numbers, not unlike Steam.  Offering both a service and a price that makes gamers feel as if they are being respected, I can only hope that this is the case since it shows intelligent design with the marketing of both the console and the software.

            Approachability.  The price point already makes the Ouya approachable from almost any developer or gamer, however it seems to have far more than price going for it.  In their FAQs, the Ouya's manufacturers claim that a store similar to an app store will be set up to sell the software.  This can mean that anyone who develops a game for Ouya can sell it without the need of a publisher, beyond the Ouya's manufacturers, of course, without licensing fees, and without need for excessive testing from either the Ouya's manufacturers or the development team.  This could mean that the Ouya will have more experimental games, that it might be an open door to fledgling designers, or that it could be a playground for scammers.  The marketplace seems to be aiming at as low a barrier of entry as possible.  This could be solved with refunds provided for broken products, self regulating product reviews that shut down scams like those that appear on other app stores, or by regulation from the Ouya manufacturer, such as people releasing a scam being permanently banned from releasing on the console again.  Approachability is a double edged sword.

This is a mock up of what the Ouya app store could look like.

            This approachability seems to go beyond just a business model, however, with the Ouya being easily moddable without punishment from the manufacturers and with all the tools necessary to develop games for the Ouya included with the console.  It has been years since anything beyond the PC has allowed for such approachability and flexibility.  The Commodore 64 springs to mind with homebrew games being capable of being ported to a floppy disc and sold commercially.  What does this mean for the Ouya?  Well, let us do a little math.  Let's assume that 100,000 people buy an Ouya in the first year.  And of those 100,000, let's speculate that at least 1,000 develop a game to completion where it can be released on the Ouya's marketplace.  Now, assume one last time that of those 1,000 games, 100 are successful financially.  If we follow this model, then the Ouya could release at least 100 quality home brew games yearly.  This means that the Ouya could be a self sustaining gaming platform, without the need for support from large publishers or developers.

This is the Ouya taken apart.  Four screws.  That's all it takes to mod this baby.

            The Ouya seems to be a very approachable console, but it may end up being too approachable.  Releasing a scam game on an Iphone doesn't require as much effort as one might think and the same could be said of the Ouya.  Games with so many bugs or glitches that they are unplayable could also become a problem.  However, if the app store is properly regulated and decent games are released, both from professional designers and from regular people making homebrew games, it could become a timeless machine, where one does not need a $10,000,000 budget to make a game.  They just need the time and the will.

            Focus.  This category seems a bit odd, but just stick with me.  You see, the Ouya appears to be focusing, at the moment, on gamers.  Not simply hardcore or casual gamers, but gamers in general.  Developers like Mojang and Square-Enix have made promises of having Minecraft and Final Fantasy ready for the console, while any number of android apps which captured the imagination of casual gamers also seem to be lining up to be ported.  The promise of Onlive streaming services for games as well as Twitch TV, which showcases competitive video gaming, seems to further demonstrate the Ouya's focus of being a cheap, accessible console that all gamers can enjoy.

What does it take to make competitive video gaming relevant again?  Get it to the people!  The Ouya can do this.

             The Ouya also seems to embrace its limitations, with its conservative design and ambitions.  This means that the focus will be on smaller game development from teams of tens or even only a few people, without the bloated design groups of a AAA title like Dead Space 3 of Final Fantasy 13.  I have already explained how both illusion in gaming and how limitations can enhance a product, so hopefully recognizing this will allow it to avoid the excessive costs of the AAA console market while still delivering a solid product.

How gamer focused is the Ouya?  Someone has already developed and SNES emulator for it.  Nuff said.

            The Ouya's marketing also seems to rely heavily on indie game designers embracing them as a more cost effective way of getting their games out there and making money for their teams.  A more indie focused console could create a niche for itself that will either supplant mainstream console gaming or live alongside it as a niche.  Either way, the Ouya seems to win.  I believe that its focus, at least in this department, is admirable, as it does not aim to compete with the unique features of the Wii U or the graphically superior Xbox360/720 or PS3/4.  Instead, it aims to create a place for itself.

            Game Development.  Honestly, the Ouya's impact on game development is what has me the most excited.  They aim to streamline the development and release system while creating a more symbiotic relationship with developer and publisher.  Ouya games can be created on the Ouya or created separately and made to work on the Ouya, then submitted to the Ouya store and published with none of the hassle.  While I have said that this could lead to shoddy or buggy games, it also allows genuinely good game designers to release their titles without jumping through hoops for larger publishers, allowing them to remain small and independent, making a career out of their game design rather than being tied to a publisher for their paycheck.

Cryamore is PC Kickstarter JRPG.  That has promised Ouya support.  THIS is what you might expect from indie game designers for the Ouya.

            The Ouya seems to be aiming to put the power back into the hands of the developers rather than in a shareholder meeting asking the question "Is it guaranteed to sell?"  I am excited for the prospect because the Ouya could work alongside crowd sourcing websites like Kickstarter or Indiego to allow gamers to choose what gets made rather than a group of businessmen.  With any luck, this will also have a sort of self regulating effect.  Under this kind of system, gamers vote for games, sequels, genres, etc. with their wallets, allowing them to regulate the market based on demand.  If there is a demand for a JRPG, then one can be put on the Ouya and it will be successful.  Complemented by the free-to-try model that the Ouya is adopting, it would seem that gamers will be allowed to have all the choice in a game.  If they like the first level, or the demo, or the free game, they can throw money at it and be rewarded with what they want.

Some big developers have promised Ouya support, but don't expect Final Fantasy 13 on the Ouya.

Final Fantasy 3, though?  Yeah, I can see this on the Ouya.

In terms of game development, the Ouya could revolutionize the industry.  With the over bloated, often disrespectful, price gouging methodology of the modern console gaming scene, a crash like the video game crash of 1983 seems all but inevitable.  The Ouya, however, favoring the indie scene, could survive that crash and become a beacon for gaming culture, much like the NES did.  However, that is only one possible scenario.

            Conclusion.  The Ouya still has a lot to prove, to be honest.  The price point needs to be proven, the software support needs to be proven, the ability for developers to quickly and easily release products for the system needs to be proven, and some form of quality control will need to be exercised.  There are a number of ways the Ouya can fail, from internal bugs in the OS, to support falling through from its partners.  However, this is true of any product.  I am cautiously optimistic about the Ouya, thanks to being an avid member of Kickstarter.  I did not support the Ouya during its time on Kickstarter, but I have supported a number of indie game designers who promise Ouya support and seem excited at the prospect of a home console tailored for them.

This is every gamers dream.  As Jordan Mechner put it, a game console that's $99, plugs straight into the TV and has a huge library of games ready to try out of the box for no cost?  Yes, please!

             The Ouya may not revolutionize the games industry as I have said it could in my more extreme predictions, but I believe that it will be, at the very least, a moderately successful console.  If it can maintain a low price, stay in touch with its fans and supporters, exercise quality control to cut back on any would be scams, and truly support those who use the console as a development tool, I believe that it will be able to breathe some new life into the games industry, bringing casual games to a wider audience than before and giving indie developers a place they can call home.  If the information that is available to the public about the Ouya is true, then I am 100% confident that it will at least achieve some level of success.  It could become a mega hit which every console gamer will buy as their second or even first console after their main one becomes out dated.

            So, will I be getting one?  I'll have to wait on the game library to become more concrete before I decide on that.  And for a bit more information on how certain things are handled.  Computer technology isn't black magic, it's science, and computers, even supposedly plug and play machines, are often finicky.  I may wait till the Ouya gets some of its bugs or details hammered out before I jump into the Ouya pool headfirst.  I can say this, though.  It's a damn sight more likely that I'll buy an Ouya than a PS4 or Wii U.

            More information about the Ouya can be found at it's website, here, and at its Kickstarter page, here.

Ignorance is Idiocy. AKA, Use it or Lose it

Well, crap, it's been over a month since my last post.  Life has basically given me a swift kick to the nether regions in this absence, but, hey, I'm back with more insight into the wonderful world of video gaming.  Enjoy.

Ignorance is Idiocy.  AKA, Use it or Lose it

            In the current era of console and even PC gaming, there is little that holds more power than a sequel.  Sequels are signs of success and comfort for many gamers, as they bring back stories and game concepts that enraptured players from the start.  Sequels are not free money...however, they almost always have an audience, no matter how small.  They do not need to prove themselves in the same way that original property does.  A Bioshock sequel, no matter how poor, has a greater audience by far than an original property which uses the same concepts, even if it is superior.  However, in this era of sequels, there is a disturbing trend.

My thoughts exactly.

            Halo.  Call of Duty.  Far Cry.  All of these games are, in their own right, very well made and with a specific audience in mind.  They cater to gamers who enjoy war games and in sequels offer them more of the same.  They have proven themselves.  However, countless other games mimic and copy the successes of these titles, but without even a modicum of the same originality, polish, or passion.  In fact, as sequels keep going into larger and larger numbers, many gamers collectively grown because there is stagnation.  They do not bring back great gameplay or tell epic stories, it is merely more of the same.  A game such as Fracture or Turok copy from the Halo formula in hopes of cashing in on its success, but ultimately glut the market.  Ironically, however, this glut is not, in and of itself, the trend I was speaking of.  What I refer to is the tendency to ignore one's own property in favor of chasing after someone else's.

Damn right

            Let us return to my previous example.  The original Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was a Nintendo 64 game about a time traveling and dimension hopping Native American warrior, equipped with outlandish weaponry fighting aliens and dinosaurs with everything from probes that bored into enemy skulls to magic tribal arrows fired from a regular bow.  The newer version of Turok rips off countless things from Halo, such as regenerating health, guidance markers, character archetypes, etc. It makes Turok a space marine, removes his interesting character traits, and gives him samey, boring weapons.  It is essentially, a clone trying to cash in on a previous game's fans.  No different from the atrocious Golden Axe: Beast Rider game for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 or the mediocre Altered Beast game for the PS2.  They take the original game's concept and completely alter it to fall more in line with modern trends, hoping that name value alone will sell titles, ultimately creating a generic experience with a thin veneer of the original coating the property.

Believe it or not, this is the good one.  This is the FUN one.

            And that is really the biggest shame of all.  Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was not a smash hit, however it garnered a cult following and earned a sequel on the Nintendo 64.  However, many of the fans probably felt betrayed by this new game, which used name value only to try and sell its property.  This is one of the bigger problems in the game industry.  Ignorance.  Many companies either forget what made their titles superb and beloved in the first place in favor of following modern trends.  Or worse, game companies forget that they even own said properties and leave loyal fans who are willing to pay money out in the cold.

Say it ain't so!

            There are a number of examples for this.  So many it is actually quite depressing.  Capcom is perhaps the most egregious offender.  Capcom is often known as the house that Megaman built.  However, when Keiji Inafune left the company, so to did much of its love for the blue bomber.  Megaman has been around for over two decades, yet lies almost completely forgotten of late.  The main series, Megaman X, Megaman Zero, and the countless spin offs are things of the past.  New Megaman games are practically nonexistent past 2010.  There was talk of Megaman Legends receiving the third game which fans had craved for almost a decade, however it was canceled at the last moment.  Capcom is letting the franchise that built them die.

Capcom...with all due respect...are you out of your damn mind?!

            To be fair, if a franchise has outlived itself or grown stagnant or had a satisfactory conclusion, it may be fair to allow it to rest.  The Shadow Hearts series created a nice little timeline for itself and ended with a satisfying conclusion, having only  one spin off that was mostly inoffensive tacked on at the end.  However, Megaman fans still cry out for sequels.  And Capcom ignores them.  It is not only Megaman, however.  Breath of Fire, a staple RPG series from the SNES era into the Playstation 2 era has withered and disappeared, last seen as a poor PSP port of the third game in a series of five.  Other series get drowned before they have a chance to flourish.  The Okami series had room for sequels, but after just one it seems a lost cause to hope for more.  The same can be said of Viewtiful Joe.  This habit of abandoning the properties that make game companies money is baffling to me.  There are fans.  Megaman has fans.  Breath of Fire has fans.  Viewtiful Joe has fans.  Yet save for cameos, these series remain dormant.  To release a game with one of these names would guarantee at least a few thousand sales, if not tens or hundreds of thousands, which is more than many original properties can guarantee.  So, why not revive them?  Gargoyle's Quest was a series which only lasted for three games, but which disappeared after the SNES era.  Why not bring it back?  Fans remember.  And fans are loyal.  Not to companies, often enough.  Capcom has proven to be quite ruthless with on disc and frivolous DLC releases, lock out procedures, and policies meant to enrage their own customers, but fans are loyal to games.  If you make them, they will come.

It's been almost 18 years since Firebrand's last solo game.  Isn't it time for a comeback?

            However, like developers following modern trends, game companies seem bound and determined lately to forget what made them so successful to begin with.  While not as apparently blind as Capcom, Konami has let Castlevania rot, of late.  Castlevania has always been popular in its 2-d iterations, yet there has not been a 2-d release for years, unless you count the storyless, rehashed multiplayer fair that is Harmony of Despair.  Instead, the closest thing we get is a "reboot" called Castlevania: Lords of Shadows, which is more interested in stealing ideas from God of War and Shadow of the Colossus than rewarding the loyalty of fans.  True, it had unique ideas and was a fine game in its own right, but it is following the trend of cramming what sells into any game with fan recognition.  And this is a terrible idea.  Betraying fans means losing potential sales in the long run.  Sales in the long run are everything for game companies.  Short term sales are needed to keep it afloat at the moment, but to have any longevity, game companies need to think in the long term.

Remember when you made games like this, Konami?  Fun, colorful, insane games?

            Perhaps worse than sequels which betray the concept of the original, however, are sequels that only aim to tease the fans, rather than placate them.  Franchises often build up a large shared universe, with rules that must be followed.  Even the disconnected Final Fantasy series has many elements in common, such as the character Cid, summoned beasts like Bahamut, and monsters such as Tonberries, Behemoths, and Ahrimans.  However, trying to copy these elements into a bastardized version of a game may only enrage fans rather than placate them.  They ask the question "Why isn't this in the world or in the style that I know and love?"  And when that question is asked, the game is already lost, no matter how fine a product.  Suikoden Tierkreis is a fine example of this.  It is not a bad game on its own merits and stays true to some of the styles of the Suikoden series, however it is set in an alternate universe.  There are none of the alliances or relationships, none of the recurring characters or elements, and no continuing story from previous games.  This is almost like a slap in the face to fans of the series, who wait patiently for a new iteration to a favorite series of theirs only to be rewarded with something that looks similar, plays similar, but isn't what they want.  It is akin to trying to buy a Halo game but coming out with Turok.  All the elements are there, but it is still lacking.  This plays into ignorance of what made the game in the series enjoyable to begin with.

What don't I see here...ah, right, Tierkreis.  Take the hint, Konami.

            In that same vein, I must reluctantly point out that Square Enix has followed a similar pathway.  Final Fantasy has seldom been a sequelized property.  Each new game has additional numbers beside it, but each is its own story.  The games have evolved with the times, keeping a strong story, music, and gameplay that the fans have recognized.  However, Square, after its merger with Enix, ignored all that and started fresh.  Final Fantasy 11 and onwards have followed the gameplay of MMORPGs and while financial success has followed, it has been with even more bloated development costs, critical pandering, and the scorn of long time fans.  If you wanted to make a new game series, why not make a new game series, rather than enrage fans?  The point I wish to make to all game companies is to ignore your properties, either what made them good to begin with or to ignore them entirely, is rank stupidity. 

Go back in time ten years.  Would ANYONE have thought this was a Final Fantasy game back then?

            Many games have fans slavering for a sequel.  The Legacy of Kain series, which Square now owns, ended after five games with several plot lines unresolved and a canceled game to follow.  If fans were shown that they still matter with a collection or a finale, then it would doubtless be at the very least a modest success.  However, the time for sequels and franchises passes quickly.  Legacy of Kain as a series was released in the 1990s and held power into the early 2000s, but has been dormant a long time.  Many of the voice actors who provided the performances that made it so memorable are either dead or growing too old to wait for a sequel.  The same is true of any franchise.  There are still many who yearn for Megaman, for the old Final Fantasy games, for Gargoyle's Quest, Breath of Fire, and Suikoden.  However, these gamers are getting older.  They are doggedly staying loyal to old favorites or they are moving on with their lives.  If Capcom, Konami, and many others do not move soon, they risk losing the power their franchises once had.  In twenty years time, the name Megaman may be worth less than nothing, when in the 1980s, it sold games without a second thought.

Time is running out for this Legacy, sadly.

            Many game companies have horded rights to franchises or sequels through acquisitions.  Through mergers, seizures, and purchases, many of these companies have a large library of names that they simply ignore.  And some defunct companies, like Quintet, have great titles that are fondly remembered whose rights could be bought for a pittance.  However, if these rights are shelved and sat upon, waiting for their value to appreciate, then eventually...they will stop being worth anything at all.  An Action Comics #1 is worth a great deal these days...but only to those who are willing to pay for it.  If the companies wait too long, people will give up hope on a Megaman 3...or build one themselves.  And then where will Capcom be?  They will have lost fans and by extension, lost sales.  Worse, they will be hated by their fans for not being more faithful to them, the people who pay their bills.

Hording rights is like hording comics.  They're only worth a crap if someone actually wants to pay for them.  Wait too long and eventually...no one will care.

           In the world of game development, modern trends can be useful.  Showing what is possible and what is profitable, they can be a great way for smaller companies to follow the big boys while still making something that is theirs, something special and enjoyable.  However, ignoring past successes just to chase modern trends is utter folly.  When it comes to game franchises, names, and sequels, you need to either use it...or lose it.