With all the Upheaval of Mass Effect 3 supposedly bad ending (Charity Drives, seriously?...).

The many MMO's that came out. The Failure of XIV. Although XIII was successful, it had a lot of backlash.

I'm not hearing a lot of XIII-2.

There are 2 more titles of XIII that actually went in development hell apparently.

So I wanted you guys to provide your view on the Franchise Status these days.

No announcement of an FF15 was made. And we don't know if XIV is going to be the last of the Franchise or if the next games will go Japan Exclusive Titles. xD

Well, first things first Topo.

Only one of the Fabula Nova Crystallis titles is still in development (FF Versus XIII) - the other one (FF Type 0 - originally titled FF Agito XIII) has been already released, albeit in Japan only on PSP. SE announced an international release is confirmed, however not on PSP, but PS Vita. As for Versus, it's becoming the 'Duke Nukem Forever' of the FF series - it's now up to eight years in development since it's first announcement, and still no word from Nomura about when to expect it.

As for FFXV, the last I heard of it (this is going back a few years) was that SE were indeed planning a fifteenth title in the series, but it was only in the very beginning of pre-production (in other words, they hadn't even gotten to the initial brainstorming of ideas in the development team stage yet). Most likely XIV's failure probably spooked SE though and so they're deliberately taking their time before making an announcement about FFXV. But that's speculation on my part.

What mortifies me about the series as it stands now is the fact that the minds of the SquareEnix advertising department decided to go all out to make Final Fantasy an excuse to shill the latest "X-Factor" alumni output. I know that sort of thing was absent from FFX-2 (whew!), but the fact that the heroine of that cycle became a pop singer was the big warning sign of things to come. (Whether it's good or bad is a question of personal taste.)

...but the fact that the heroine of that cycle became a pop singer was the big warning sign of things to come...

Oh, ugh. I loved FFX and how Yuna was so delicate and yet so strong... And then X-2 came out and this happened to her. Biggest mood whiplash I've ever had in the FF series, and after a while of playing it... The 'girliness' got to me and I just stopped.

I wouldn't be too optimistic about Final Fantasy's future - I've listened to alot of criticisms about how Square-whatever used to be way better before it became what it is now. I've heard they've massively fixed XIV, but I have no interest in trying it regardless.

Hi enkidoh, i heard bad stuff about FFXIII versus.I heard about it being incomplete, and using dlc to fix the problem will be needed, any knowledge on that?
Mojo:Isn't FFXIV an mmo? Tell me about it please.I only tried FFXI on a temporary account, and i didn't like it on pc.I heard it was made for consol.

Isn't FFXIV an mmo? Tell me about it please.I only tried FFXI on a temporary account, and i didn't like it on pc.I heard it was made for consol.

I think FFXIV did have console versions. I'm not sure if I can insert a link to encyclopedia dramatica here, but it contains the entire compilation of fail on FFXIV, from quotes of universal panning by almost all game reviewer sites to how square's shares dropped due to how bad it was, to extreme fail interfaces and etc.etc.etc. Alot of the pictures are missing because the page was at its zenith right before the greedy fat Girlvinyl pulled the plug to make ohinternet *spits*, and until this day refuses to surrender the picture archives of the old ED.

Anyways, just google 'encyclopedia dramatica FFXIV' and pick the encyclopedia dramatica result right below ohinternet's. Trust me, the article will tell you way better than I ever can on FFXIV's fail.

P.S. The music's good though, many tracks worth shoving into an mp3.

Well, I've mentioned it before numerous times and I'll say it again - half FFXIV's problem was simply the fact it was rushed through to full service before being given a proper extended beta test. SE were so desperate to beat Blizzard's Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft to market they just did a hurried one month beta, fixed a couple of niggly bugs and then rushed out a half-complete game to release.

Hence, the last two years or so of service have basically just been SE fixing everything that was wrong with the game. The game as it is now is so much, much better than it was at release, but SE basically decided that it was best to cut their losses with it, and rebuild the game completely from the ground up - ala, the '2.0' reboot (now being touted as 'A Realm Reborn').

The other half of the problem was there was just so little to do in the game at first - other than endlessly synthing junk and doing boring 'guildleve' quests (basically, a quest to kill x of one monster and y of another in a certain area and in a time limit). Proper story-based quests have been introduced though which at least give variety, but at the beginning it was dull as anything. The storyline was also poorly implemented and developed - unlike FFXI there was never any sense of urgency with the story - it was all just far too slight and pointless.

Another silly idea was the attempt to come up with unique character 'classes', (and half of them aren't even battle classes - classes for item synthing or farming items, rather like those seen in FF Crystal Chronicles), completely forgoing the FF style Job system and coming up with what are essentially DnD classes with stupid names ('Pugilist' anyone?). This annoyed a lot of long-time fans to the point SE buckled and brought in traditional FF Jobs like Warrior and White Mage as a class 'upgrade', which makes it a lot better, but it still seems tacked on.

Incidentally, although the PS3 version was planned to be released six months after the PC version (in March 2011), this never eventuated due to the flak SE copped, so at the moment the only version available is the PC version. The PS3 version will be released early next year though (as the '2.0' version, not the current PC version - current PC players will have to download the new version free from the SE website when that happens).

As for 'Versus XIII' Nostalgia, FF Versus XIII; hasn't even been released yet. Little is known about this title other than what Tetusya Nomura has vaguely promised like an old-style explorable world map and an action-orientated battle system. But it's still very much the Duke Nukem Forever of the FF series, so don't expect this one still for quite a long time, as I mentioned in my earlier post.

Wait theres a ff14? lol, shouldn't they have finished with the ff13 franchise first? Not that I would play them, I couldnt get past the first ff13 game. I wish they wouldnt have so many spinoffs or whatever it is... part two/three/four. It just seems like the're milking it for all its worth despite the first game being pretty lame (so linear...). Well i dont really want to go off on another ff13 rant. I'm all for change and growth, I enjoy seeing different things done with each game but I would just like to be able to actually have some impact on the battle play than just pressing auto-attack each time -_-

The FFXIII tie-in 'Fabula Nova Crystalis' games are independent of the rest of the series, but their development has probably effected production of future titles (ala, FFXV).

And there most definitely is a FFXIV. (http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/) Although it's a moot point however as new account registration for the game has ceased for the time being in preparation for the new '2.0' reboot of the game in December (when the PS3 version will finally be released at the same time). But it most definitely does exist.

Not sure if i'd ever buy an online ff game.

Not sure if i'd ever buy an online ff game.

I was the same, but after trying Final Fantasy XI Online, there was something about it which appealed to me. Being able to create my own avatar and interact in a FF themed world with others appealed to me. The combat system, while similar to the console FF's, wasn't that difficult to get the hang of either.

I heard a little of the Final Fantasy XIV music last night at Adelaide Entertainment Centre... sounds like the music side is still going strong.

http://www.madman.com.au/fanzone/display/72380.img

Awww, you went to Distant Worlds! I was planning on attending that too, but alas, I had a family event already planned for this weekend so I couldn't travel east to Adelaide for it. Ah well, if they went to tiny Adelaide, hopefully that also means a Perth concert would be possible in the future as well *crosses fingers*. :)

And I agree with you about FFXIV's soundtrack. Although there are some dumb tracks (apart from Primal Judgement (the Ifrit Primal battle theme) and The Forest's Pulse (the Black Shroud normal battle theme), most of the battle themes in the game were uninspired, and The Twin Faces of Fate ~ The Theme of Ul'dah was far too grating), there are some absolute gems which surely rate up amongst Uematsu's best work.

Especially [i]Navigator's Glory ~ The Theme of Limsa Lominsa, On Windy Meadows (the former La Noscaa background theme) and Answers (the game's main vocal theme, which until this trailer (http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/meteor/index.php) was released when the original game service ended a few weeks ago, was only heard in small excerpts in the actual game itself.) are some of my favourites from the soundtrack, and the orchestral arrangements are even better - so much so that it actually inspired me to go back and sort out the payment issues that stopped me from playing the game at release and actually play it, when I heard the orchestral arrangement of Navigator's Glory. It was that good. ;)

Someone just posted a clip of One Winged Angel from last night's performance on Youtube:

Final Fantasy music live in Adelaide - One Winged Angel with Nobuo Uematsu - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nc9_q2WwiI)

and another clip of One Winged Angel:

One Winged Angel - rougher video from youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1_6y4E2ICM)

The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at the Distant Worlds concert performing 'To Zanarkand' from Final Fantasy X - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Da0lhl4fY)

Adelaide symphony orchestra feat. Nobuo Uematsu on keyboard - Final Fantasy VI - Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ywD9PVkvn4)