What If Final Fantasy XIII Fails?
Final Fantasy XIIITypically, I despise the word "flop." I refuse to put it in any headline for any reason. It's just another one of those massively overused slang words that dominate the worst gaming forums on the planet, but in this particular case, it seems to fit the question.
Seriously, what if Final Fantasy XIII simply doesn't live up to expectations on both the critical and financial side? Square-Enix keeps saying they have "no singular aim" for the next official installment in the series (that's FFXV, not the MMO known as FFXIV), so might we see a drastic departure? If the game falls short of Square-Enix's lofty sales expectations in North America and Europe, what might they do with FFXV? Sure, about half of all the PS3 owners in Japan has FFXIII by now - not much of an exaggeration, either - but let's face it, we're talking about a very different audience. Perhaps the NA and EU audiences won't be so forgiving and if that happens, it may in turn result in lower-than-anticipated sales, and then...well, I'm not sure I want to know. I keep having nightmarish visions of some bizarre mutation of Final Fantasy combined with Call of Duty. I guess I'm just worried that it'll cease to even be an RPG, that the franchise I fell in love with all those years ago will become entirely unrecognizable to me.
But perhaps I'm overreacting. Maybe all this negativity surrounding FFXIII is only taking the limelight because it's so rare to see it in regards to the series. There's still plenty of glowing praise out there for the game and indeed, it vastly outstrips the admittedly vocal minority of those who say FFXIII isn't worth your time. I have little doubt I'll have fun with the game but I am concerned with the future direction. Oh, and I also want to know more about Final Fantasy Versus XIII; we really have next to nothing in the way of official info, and I'm waiting on that big unveiling. Even so, the idea that FF will become a very different animal in a few years is just a tad...unsettling.
http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/6685.html
