Fantasy has no end —— Counting Ten Generations of Final Fantasy

With the launch of Final Fantasy15 DLC "Love to Listen", this ups and downs game finally came to an end. Now think about it, if SE can hold its horses and don't release FF 15 prematurely, I believe it will never be the result now, and the player's evaluation of this game may even be close to masterpiece. However, the quality of semi-finished products is accompanied by endless DLC, which finally kills the patience of players, and people can't help but question this series: How far can final fantasy go?

Since the original works of 1987 debuted, FF series has gone through 32 years. In these many years, too many people have fallen in love with this wonderful fantasy world, and the fantasy space originally created by Sakaguchi Hironobu and others has become a classic memory. In this issue, let's start with the origin of the series, recall the glorious history of the first ten generations of Final Fantasy and look forward to the future!

Final Fantasy is Squawell's first RPG milestone. Its worldview is different from many games in the same period, and the setting of combining fantasy and fairy tales has left a deep impression on people. FF's game quality is better than most of the works at that time, and the types are relatively rare, which is very in line with the preferences of players at that time, because there were too many action and shooting works at that time, and the games with rich plot content and long customs clearance time satisfied many people's pursuit of freshness. FF is a surprise for the majority of players, but also for themselves. Since then, this series has a large number of loyal players, and the team is also growing. As for the brand "Final Fantasy", it has become a golden signboard of role-playing games.

The greatness of the first generation of Final Fantasy mainly lies in that it laid a series of world outlook structures in the future. The original work is set in medieval Western Europe, and draws a gorgeous fantasy picture, that is, the world of "sword and magic". The whole world consists of three continents, dominated by four forces: earth, water, wind and fire. These four forces are enclosed in four crystals. As the crystal gradually dimmed, the world began to face the threat of extinction. As the protagonist, Warrior of Light comes from another space, but in the ending, he implies that the protagonist who saves the world is the player himself. There is no need to say more about the bizarre twists and turns here. Players will definitely have a very deep understanding after trying it themselves. Although there is no connection in the story, the later works basically continue this "fantasy" in style.

Compared with the current sequel, which is often four or five years apart, FF2 is only 364 days away from its predecessor. In such a short time, can the sequel really surpass the previous one in all aspects? Of course, it is impossible to improve the quality of the formation, but after seeing this work, we can feel that Skull really wants to make this fantasy world better. FF2 tried to adopt multi-system for the first time, and its "analog growth system" replaced the original "digital growth system", which made the growth of characters more real, and this change also affected future works. In addition, in terms of game content, this work also tries to make the plot development full of dramatic elements. From all aspects, Squawell is really trying to make this series develop in a more mature direction and make it more like a blockbuster. Compared with the first generation, this work is full and mature.

The background of this generation is still medieval Europe, but ancient stone houses and high-tech flying boats exist. However, high technology is only used in the military. For ordinary people, it can't be approached casually. The contradiction between high-tech war and primitive life is very obvious, and destructive aggression endangers everyone's peaceful life. The protagonist of this play started his adventure for the purpose of revenge, and the companions who joined later fully showed the dramatic plot of the game. Compared with the previous work, FF2 is more ups and downs in the story, and can make players deeply understand the importance of peers, so the whole game process can make players throw themselves into it, as if they were in a fantasy adventure. FF2 is in the initial stage of the whole drama, and its role is not critical, but it is an indispensable part of the drama's growth. It is precisely because of the exploration of this generation of works that FF3 will achieve great success.

FF3 is a series of important game works, which have matured and created many unique elements. Players familiar with the final fantasy series will definitely not forget this milestone. For example, the summoning beast in the combat system and the job change in the role growth can be seen in today's FF 14, which are the two most distinctive elements in the series (FF 15 is a mystery, so let's not mention it for the time being). Based on these important meanings, FF3 is regarded as the origin of this series in the eyes of many people.

As for the story, this work is somewhat similar to the first one. It is not a cliche like revenge, but to restore the light and darkness of the world and make the world more fantastic. The main characters are four teenagers with special abilities selected by the crystal of the wind. At first, they just worked hard with their own courage and wisdom, but as they approached the truth step by step, they gradually understood the true face of the world and the enemies that should really be destroyed. This work is the last work in FC era, and its quality is even inferior to that of FF4 later.

In the SFC era, the game has a different look, and the quality of the game has greatly surpassed the previous FC. Therefore, diehard players in FF series expect the fourth generation of works to bring more surprises to people. Having high expectations does not mean that this series will definitely surpass its predecessors in all aspects. The most obvious qualitative change is the picture. First of all, the enhanced color of the new host makes the game screen very delicate. Secondly, SFC has the ability to zoom and rotate, which makes the game feel more powerful and real and natural in the process of space transformation. The work of this generation is obvious to all, but there may not be much improvement in other aspects.

The world view of this book has changed greatly, and it consists of one earth and two moons. Moreover, the earth is divided into the ground world, the underground world where dwarves live and the lower fantasy world. With a broader world view, I think this work will bring us more imaginative plots. But the theme of this work is still to save the fate of mankind, and there seems to be no big breakthrough in the thinking expansion of the plot. FF4 has some special significance in the whole series. It is the first role-playing game on SFC, and it is also the first work in the series to replace new hardware. Since the Five Dynasties, FF has really developed in the direction of "super masterpiece", and FF4 is the last touchstone in this series of growth. Although not much was done on the new platform, it paved the way for later evolution.

199265438+On February 6th, the arrival of FF5 verified SQUARE's further understanding of SFC functions. The artistic modeling described by Mr. Yoshitaka Amano still matches the fantasy romantic style of FF5 with the fantasy style, creating a brand-new romantic air world on the SFC platform. Before the Five Dynasties, the plot of the final fantasy series was always too ethereal, but the plot of FF5 made the lines of the plot clearer on the basis of fantasy and overhead, the depth of the script was first-class, the plot was completed in one go, and the player's game substitution reached a new high.

The ups and downs of the plot, the large capacity of 16mb (at that time, 16mb was already very large), and the extremely evolved pictures and music performance made the IP of Final Fantasy truly a superb work, and the final sales volume of 2.45 million also proved its commercial value.

At that time, both the combat system and the overall picture performance were full of new ideas, and FF5 completely became the representative of the new RPG works. The novel job-hopping system, role ability training system and many innovative elements all appear in this work, and the settings are extremely mature. FF5 is a work that shocked the whole world, and it is the cornerstone for the subsequent FF series to continue to be the trump card.

Blow! Nowadays, it is not an exaggeration to evaluate Final Fantasy 6 as the final form of 2D RPG. This 16-bit platform masterpiece, which was launched on the SFC platform that year, has become one of the RPG masterpieces in the SFC platform by using the ultimate 2D rendering technology in the SFC platform to combine a brand-new world view with profound plots.

At the same time, the picture quality and music quality of this work have been greatly improved, and the depth of the whole script has reached the peak level of RPG at that time, the complex feelings of Locke and celis in FF6, the brotherhood of Cecilia, Tina's early inferiority complex and her courage to finally overcome herself. Even Kevlar, the first villain, said it was thought-provoking. Being transplanted by the empire, his spirit completely collapsed. As a victim, he also pushed the world to the brink of collapse for revenge. The innovation of world outlook is completely different from previous works. First of all, FF6 abandoned the important symbol of crystal series and replaced the previous magical world with a special overhead environment dominated by mechanical civilization and supplemented by magical power. But because of the god beast and divine power, it perfectly retains the inherent style of FF, which is amazing. FF6' s amazing image quality and the vast world created by the large-capacity cassette have attracted more people to participate in it and become an immortal classic in the traditional FF series, which has been sought after by fans so far.

FF7, which was reborn on the PS platform, pioneered the standard of the next generation platform 3D RPG, and now it is full of revolutionary and innovative spirit. Although it is still a Q version of the characters, and the role modeling is slightly simplified from the current point of view, such three-dimensional modeling appeared in the orthodox RPG at that time, and with the elaborate multi-perspective three-dimensional switching, the visual shock was overwhelming.

In fact, FF7 doesn't completely use real 3D rendering, and many maps and backgrounds are supplemented by traditional 2D maps. However, this method does not destroy the picture coordination of the game, but allows traditional players to find the sense of control of the FF series. The game makes full use of the large-capacity characteristics of CD ROM, and the high-quality CG interspersed at the critical moment of the plot plays a key role in setting off the plot, which makes the players who have just stepped out of the 16-bit hardware platform feel the evolution.

While the hardware index of the work is improved, the establishment of the world view of the game itself makes the overall operation structure of the game extremely complete. Especially in the world outlook, it breaks through the traditional world outlook structure, and the life in the plot revolves around the magic sway. Friendship, love, God's dictatorship and Luo, etc. It shows the pseudo-real overhead world, and besides this seemingly real world, it also focuses on depicting the psychology of characters and Safiros' psychological world. This dual structure of reality and illusion enriches the whole world view, and is closer to the expression of the film, and the narrative method is more acceptable to players. It is precisely because of this that many experienced players think that this work is a work that expresses the character almost perfectly after FF6, and the plot is even more thrilling.

FF7' s innovative stunt start-up system and sorcerer's stone control system (the sorcerer's stone can be embedded in weapons and armor to change skills, and different kinds of sorcerer's stones will produce different effects) greatly increase the research of the game.

In fact, FF7 should have the deepest and widest influence on today's players. Even light players who haven't played the Final Fantasy series should have seen the CG movie Final Fantasy VII: The Son Arrival, which was adapted from the 2005 sequel. Such an excellent FF7 is now remastered (Grandpa, your game hasn't come out yet). As the pioneering work of 3DRPG, "FF7" has set the coordinates for later works, and its value is immeasurable in the history of RPG development.

SE, I beg you to release the FF7 remastered version quickly. )

After FF7, SQUARE made a movie alias similar to Parasite Eve, which was also a success. Due to the improvement of hardware capabilities, SQUARE seems to be unable to stop the pace of making games into movies (and has since become a CG manufacturer). The release date of FF8 was set at1February, 998, which continued the production style of SQUARE at that time and became a luxurious work full of commercial elements.

In fact, FF8 is an extremely romantic film. Although the work itself even broke away from the RPG elements in many elements, the cinematic production style of the game attracted many non-RPG players to participate in it, which greatly deepened the cross-industry popularity of Final Fantasy. In the game, exquisite CG animation is made, and charming romantic music is listened to, which brings players brand-new game enjoyment. The theme of the game is romantic love. In the plot, the romantic love story between Skoll Rheinhardt and Leonia Hartley touched the players all over the world. The true scale modeling and the artistic rendering of PS function to the limit realized for the first time in FF series catered to the cinematic and romantic production style, and the aesthetic character design was sought after by many players like virtual idols.

From this point of view, such a game full of popular elements and cinematic expression is bound to succeed.

In addition to the memories brought by the classic process of the game itself, the classic segment of "Dancing Encounter" in the game and the theme song "Eyes on Me" sung by Faye Wong all reflect the unique value of beyond the game.

Although the game itself has created another commercial success, FF8 has been controversial by orthodox series players because of its gorgeous packaging and slightly weak operability. In this work, the armor system is completely abolished, there is almost no hierarchy, money can't be obtained from fighting, and magic no longer consumes MP but relies on a brand-new "extraction". These earth-shattering gameplay changes make it difficult for old players to feel the feeling of traditional FF series when operating games.

It is true that there are too many CG in the game itself, and the plot design is too commercial and theatrical, which makes the game somewhat neglected. But it is precisely because of this ultimate pursuit of production that the world influence of FF8 exceeds the value of the game itself. Some players even think that FF8 itself has surpassed the RPG game type itself and become the embryonic form of interactive movie. This breakthrough and innovative production spirit should be affirmed by every player. As a pioneer of the game and a successful filmmaker, FF8 is destined to leave a brilliant page in the history of the game.

Before the merger, SQUARE was a miracle club that people would never understand. When people all over the world were immersed in the romantic atmosphere of FF8, FF9 was actually produced at the same time. In fact, FF9 was planned as early as FF8 development. When many hardcore players are worried about SQUARE's forgetfulness after contacting FF8, no one expected that the secret FF9 developed at the same time turned out to be the other extreme completely different from FF8. This game did not continue to take the road of film and commercialization, but completely returned to the original style of FF6. The theme of the game has returned to the crystal and professional system, and the character modeling has also returned to the traditional Q version. The character setting was re-undertaken by Mr. Yoshitaka Amano, and the traditional fantasy style of the series was reshaped.

The romantic fairy tale sense and faint fantasy sadness in this plot run through the whole story, and this sincere emotion gradually shows SQUARE's frank skill in controlling the script. The traditional classic architecture of game operation architecture, such as magic, professional features, crystal, etc., combined with the excellent 3D rendering ability of PS, allows players to experience the traditional essence elaborated under the production of new technologies. The return and nostalgia of this style has achieved unprecedented success, and many old players are deeply moved by it. Of course, the author is one of them. ......

As the last classic in the PS era, although there is no amazing breakthrough in image quality, it strives for perfection in details. Such a well-crafted and even nearly perfect work has set off another climax of ff culture.

If FF7 is the creator of RPG specification in PS era, then the appearance of FF 10 is the RPG symbol in PS era.

At that time, many players were thinking about the revolution that FF7 brought to the whole RPG architecture in the PS era, and they were also looking forward to seeing FF 10 launched on the PS2 next-generation platform, expecting what miracles it could create. In fact, before the launch of FF 10, there was no such heavyweight work on the PS2 platform, and the harsh development environment of PS2 also caused many game manufacturers a headache, and the quality of game performance was generally mediocre, which also caused FF 10 to stand out. Many game developers only admire such pictures and sound and light performance, which sets a new standard for game production.

At that time, the game had made full use of the hardware functions of the PS2. First, the role modeling of the game re-uses the real proportion, the color and texture rendering of the role itself is close to reality, the facial expression is more realistic with a brand-new production engine, and even the mouth shape of the role corresponds to the actual dubbing, which is not achieved by the previous RPG and AVG works, and also reflects the meticulous professionalism of SQUARE. The game is full of real-time computing scenes made by using the hardware functions of the game, which not only saves the production cost, but also restores the cinematic expression, killing two birds with one stone.

The amazing picture performance in the game is also reflected in the scene rendering. The previous 2D maps have been replaced by full 3D scenes. The horror is that such a real 3D scene is not dry at all, and the delicate and soft texture completely exceeds the previous texture background. It is an admirable feat that brand-new technology is used properly again. Although the proportion of characters in the game itself is real modeling, FFX combines the magical fantasy world with real role modeling, making players feel like they are in it, and the level of overhead worldview has also evolved, and the sense of game substitution has reached a record high. In the plot, the trans-temporal relationship between our Millennium summoner, the lovely You Na, and the guardian Tita becomes the climax of the whole story, and the narrative method is more touching.

The operation of the game not only maintains the excellent structure of the series, but also has subtle evolution. In the new game system, summoning animals no longer appears only once like magic in the series, but completely replaces characters and becomes a member of turn-based attacks. It seems full of inevitability that such a breakthrough work will succeed again in business. The game became the first masterpiece of the PS2 platform with sales exceeding 2 million, which made great contributions to the global popularization of the PS2. Due to the super success of the work, SQUARE released the rumored work "FFX-2" many years later, which made a certain supplement to the previous work in terms of plot, "continuing to make up for the successful series and launching a series of continuation works". This intelligent concept of continuous production also comes from the best quality of FF 10.

Because these works (1 1- 14) are relatively close to our times, their influence on players is not as obvious as the above ones, so I won't repeat them here, and I will introduce them in detail later.

Finally, briefly talk about Final Fantasy 15. By the end of 20 18, the global sales volume of this work was as high as 8.4 million sets, which is the highest-selling work in FF series, and the sales volume may be higher now. However, this sales volume does not mean that the book is a success. At that time, Tian Shutuan once said that "Final fantasy 15 needs to reach/kloc-0 10000000 copies for life to succeed in SE". Of course, with the launch of the PC version (plus various homemade MODS), the sales volume of100000 may not be difficult to achieve, but according to the propaganda at that time, the sales volume of100000 should have existed long ago.

FF 15 itself is not a "junk game". The touching part of the plot will still make the macho man cry, and the fun part will last for a day, but why is this book not well received? As the article said at the beginning, players can wait a few more years for a masterpiece, but you are selling a semi-finished product, which is SE's fault. As a starter, you can say responsibly: the game experience at that time was extremely poor, whether it was the plot or the gameplay. Coupled with the dazzling of various versions and DLC, even the loyal fans of FF series can't stand this sales method of SE. Of course, if you haven't experienced this work, it is still worth a try. FF 15 full version is a veritable final fantasy.

I hope SE can learn a lesson, don't let Final Fantasy become Final Fantasy, and polish the sequel and Final Fantasy 7 before releasing!

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