OMG this thread has become enormous!

1/ If you check worldwide sales, you'll see that the PS3 version of FFXIII alone outsells Mass Effect 2, so Mass Effect or any western RPG has not become the dominant reference. (yes I know I'm getting stubborn with this)

2/ Dragon Quest is not half as popular as FF in the west, so not a chance to see it overtake FF in the near future. Besides, no detail has been released about DQX so far...

3/ It's the same thing in every FF debate : some see the series collapse at FFX, others left after FFVIII, some didn't like FFIX... I do believe that FF has in fact not really changed over those years (even if XIII sees somewhat big changes). The values are the same throughout the series, the battle system is every time different and better, characters design is always on top, story telling is still excellent and echoes to our societies' problems (racism, religion, dictatorship, etc.). The thing is that... PEOPLE change. Many players abandoned the series after X or XII, because  they found more attractive software elsewhere  : that's just normal. But people who ditched FF because of a few mishaps here and there shouldn't call themselves fans. Personally, I will support the series even in the depth of hell : THAT is being a fan, because FF is far more than just a game you play for some time. It is something that drives you all your life long.

If you read some of the dev interviews they paint a horrible picture of the development for FFXIII. The sheer volume of artwork in the game is astounding and this is because the art team spent years making art assets to the point where large amounts were left out of the final game.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30640/Exclusive_Behind_The_Scenes_of__Square_Enixs_Final_Fantasy_XIII.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: GamasutraNews (Gamasutra News)

This article also suggests that the developers didn't have any clear focus of what was going to be in the final game, even at late stages of development. Who knows what different features the teams were toying around with? Even after the trailer (which was a proof of concept) the team didn't have a clear focus of what direction to take the game:

"However, it became clear that, at the time, there were actually very few members who saw the trailer as a representation of what we wanted to achieve with Final Fantasy XIII. This lack of a shared vision became the root of many conflicts that arose later in development."

It was actually only after the demo was released that the team gained an insight into how the final game would be:

"Even at a late stage of development, we did not agree on key elements of the game, which stemmed from the lack of a cohesive vision, the lack of finalized specs, and the remaining problems with communication between departments.

What enabled us to conquer this line of seemingly endless conflicts was the development process for the Final Fantasy XIII demo, which was included in the Japan-only Blu-ray version of the animated film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete. The demo was not in our original plan, so we had to make adjustments to the overall schedule to accommodate it. Whatever effects creating the demo had on the schedule, once it was complete we realized it was just the panacea we needed."

The article also talks about how trying to develop a universal engine to use accross multiple platforms and multiple games negatively impacted on development and how international player tests came too late for many criticisms of the game to be addressed. All these factors point to a highly inefficient development process for the game and poor leadership/decision making.

I don't think that making a game with the depth of previous Final Fantasy games is impossible, but it is if your development procedure is as inefficient as the development of FFXIII was. I hope the lessons learnt from FFXIII development translate to efficient development of future titles leading to more depth.

Alright thanks to the both of you!

If you do not know anything about Famitsu then your opinion on there scoring system is null and void.  

the only way we'll see Matsuno's boys come within 50 feet of the FF series again is if

A. ONLY Matsuno's team is allowed to work on it to keep the tone and vision consistent.

And B. If they PROMISE Matsuno that there will be little to no executive meddling like last time that led to changes in the narrative and direction that shows through in the at best heavily flawed final product.

This dosent seem unreasonable, they gave this to Modern Warfare 2 and GTA4, games that Japanese reviewers might not like, and games not imho deserving of those scores. so its possible that they give this 39/40 score to highly hyped games, despite any faults, to maintain their high status reputation.

Sadly from Wada's comments in the recent past i'm highly doubtful anyone except for Kitase and PDD1 will be in charge of another mainline installment. and although i'm upset with the way FF12 was treated, i'm fed up with PDD1 and fed up with the series. i'm willing to move on and forget about the series.

things havent been right for a very long time with FF. a lot of the staff from the orginal FF have moved on, including Sakaguchi, i'm sure many fans have done and will do the same. its simply not FInal Fantasy anymore. if there is a small chance the other production team is working on something, i'm willing to support that product, but i highly doubt it considering the amount of resources they need for FNC and whatever is left to finish the FF7 compliation.

I know, which is why Matsuno will never touch the series again (unless it's another FF Tactics) and therefore doom the series to mediocrity that sycophantic critics will use kid gloves on. But so be it, he has better things to do than deal with executive meddling and bass-ackwards man-children still endlessly regurgitating the faux-FFVII bs they have been since 1997.