Because it is FF XIII thread.

By "They" I was referring to Square-Enix, not the posters. I'm merely questioning their (Square-Enixs's) decision over their priorities.

I do not have a problem with change, the issue is that the changes were just bad in this case. Are you honestly trying to say FFXIII was not targeting to be a RPG? That is ridiculous.

FF Versus XIII is meant as an Action RPG, XIII is suppose to be turn based with a new age twist, I get that. Like I said, I like the Paradigms. Motomu's story in FFXIII has to be the stupidest I have ever experienced. It goes nowhere. SPOILERS!!!! At first the team says they will not be the destroyers of cacoon, then they are, then they won't, then they are going to save Orphan from being destroyed, then they are the ones that kill him. It just goes back and forth to create a false sense of turbulance. And very little in XIII is original seeing as it borrows heavily from different entries.At least those Anime tropes are sorta interesting to follow. I miss the days of having a REAL Antagonist, in RPGs not this me vs the literal world crap. Antagonists used to be the series's driving force. Some of the best FFs always had an actual Antaganist (Seph,Kefka,Kuja,Vain,Ultimecia).

And the saddest part is, I am not even the game's harshest critic. I am fairly lenient as I did still enjoy FFXIII .

I am assuming you are some sort of Non-Conformist Conformist who prides themself on the fact they love things other people hate. I don't really care. Regardless, general consensus says the game was Bad for many of the reasons I stated, it is the worst rated FF game bar FFIVX. It also suffered some of the worst sales in series last decade(It barely did better than XII but I assure you its productions far outstrip it which means they made very little on it). The game was bad, XIII-2 is worse and most people don't like them. Get over it.

Well, you can stay dissapointed and let us enjoy FFXIII for what it is.

It's not juvenile to compare and contrast a game with other products in the field. The criticisms are valid and I think you're giving the developers too much credit. I suggest reading some articles on the development cycle. For a vast majority of the game's development the developers didn't even know what they were going to do with the game. It was only after the Japanese demo that shipped with Advent Children Blu-Ray that they focussed on actually creating a coherent game experience.Previously they

So saying it was intended as a hybrid "action/RPG strategy" and as "story driven and closely directed" is only partly true. Lots of splinter groups in development had a range of different ideas that simply didn't make it into the game because by the time development ramped up, they didn't have the time to implement them.

I understand that they need to push FF forward, but how exactly did they acheive this with FFXIII? What's actually new or forward thinking about FFXIII? I'd say only the battle system and that everything else they did was backward. The storyline was actually quite dull, not because it differed from the cliche'd anime tropes (I'd argue it actually still adhered to some of them) but because in a character driven plot you need to make the player/viewer relate to the characters. On paper, the events the characters go through should enable this (issues such as father and son, love for a partner/fiance), but when the dialogue is as cliched and poorly written as it is in XIII, it's very difficult to relate to the chracters at all.

The worst part though, is how the story was told. Storytelling has moved on greatly in the video games industry. FFXIII relied on two things to tell the story; Cut scenes and an encylopedia sized datalog. These are normally acceptable for an RPG, but not when they're the only factors used to tell a story. Even previous Final Fantasy games had ways to tell story and impart lore via the world, side quests and exploration. Other games use player interaction to help move the story along (most WRPGs, adventure games) or impart a small layer of control to cut-scenes (MGS4). Even FPS' use the interactive medium of games to tell the story (Half-Life 2 and even CoD4).

Anyway, my point is that the criticisms of FFXIII are completely valid. Just because you enjoyed it doesn't make the criticisms any less true or juvenile.

@ bolded

This is just wrong. Square-Enix make tons of money on remakes (on DS, PSP etc.). They re-released the 90s games and have had them reach the top 10 downloaded games on PSN, FFVII (released 1997) is the most popular FF game and has spawned a range of spin offs and they even used the game to promote their new PC based digital download service. So... faded to obscurity?! I don't think so.

Yep, I got banned for 3 damn days for saying the article I intended to write was sure to get some heat. I did not use the term flame bait, someone else did, and I explained why it is NOT flame bait.

I know a lot of you people hate me for (justifiably) shitting on Final Fantasy XIII, but the difference between me and MOST people is that I am willing to explain in detail WHAT about it sucks, and WHY it sucks, not just "bleh, it doesn't appeal to my tastes, therefore it sucks." See, I don't just hate on any game, it REALLY has to earn it. I can tell the difference between a bad game and a game I do not like.

For example: I do not like Fallout 3. This does not mean it's a bad game. in fact, I BOUGHT the game simply to support it because it is in fact a very good game. it blends shooting and RPG elements well, the world is well developed and engaging, and the humor is quirky and unique...the reason I don't like it is the setting, mood, and atmosphere; I find it very depressing, and therefore not fun. This is a great game that's simply not for me.

As a counter argument, Final Fantasy XIII is a bad game, and I hate it BECAUSE it's a bad game. I don't think it's a bad game because I hate it. People often confuse the chain of causality. While it looked and sounded great, there were significant design and storytelling issues in virtually every other aspect of the game. i COULD complain about how linear the game is, but Final Fantasy X was just as linear and I loved that game. No, the issues with that game mostly had to do with the battle system and the storytelling. there are very poorly done key elements in a JRPG or any story for that matter that had their balls dropped. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but when I DO write the article, I'll be doing what I can to avoid or minimalize the the more commonly used complaints in lieu of my own reasoning.

when I do it, I will MENTION the linearity, as it is a legitimate concern, but it will be a footnote compared to the other issues I bring up. Basically, you've heard it all, I'm going to focus on the aspects of the game that most people don't really think about, and explain why they're so significant to the overall enjoyment of the game.

Apparently, accepting that such an article, logical and fact driven as it is, will garner heat is akin to screaming "FINAL FANTASY SUCKS AND YOU SUCK FOR LIKING IT HERE'S WHY!" I was sure to write a strongly worded, very angry letter explaining why the decision to ban me over that was a very poor act of moderation. I'll probably get banned for that, too, but I checked the rules: Nowhere does it say you can't criticize a mod for fucking up and making a bad call.

...
Bravely Default is the new FF people. ;) (Though I do like Lightning, but come on...)

You keep saying the same thing. We know FF13 was not designed within an RPG template. The developers have discussed this in the past.

I'm making my point very simply:

If Final Fantasy 13 is not an RPG; then what gives the developers the right to put the words Final Fantasy on the box?

If they wanted to created a new IP, why didnt they call it 'Soap Opera Hallway"?

And the monster hunting thing. Yeah fine, you enjoyed that, but is the monster hunting better than something like Pokemon? i dont think so. If I wanted monster hunting I would buy Pokemon.

Lastly I'm glad that the Final Fantasy reputation has been tarnished. Why? It means that Sony can no long rely on Final Fantasy to sell their consoles. It means that they have been forced to renew their trademark for The Legend of Dragoon. RPG fans should be thanking Microsoft for paying for FF13's multiplatform release. Now hopefully it means Sony will give us a Legend of Dragoon sequel.

And Runa, dont be ridiculous. That ban was unjustified.

I know, thats why I posted a lengthy retort about it to the dude who banned me. 

Also, where am I being ridiculous?

You said a lot of hate you for (justifiabily) shitting on FF13. I think its ridiculous that you would say that.

Even if someone dosent like you for your personal opinion, its not your problem, its theirs. And honestly, that opinion is shared among many fans. In fact many have been far more vocal about it. Anyway, I look foward to reading the article. I agree its unfair to bash the game relentessly, but there are reasonabily justifiable points that a lot of gaming journalists have not explored.