What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

I love Final Fantasy like most of us here all do and rpgs in general.

For me what I love about these games is the different types of people from different walks of life who come together to fight a common cause (the evil that is threatening their world).

They all have their own abilities and outlooks on life which compliment each other. I also like the redemption thingy e.g cecil on ff4

I also love the strategy involved in these games.

Thats what draws me in.

What about you guys?

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Much of what you have said Dappa. The whole package really. The story within each game, with all of it's messages. There are many things within the series, that compel me to play them, some I don't quite understand. It's that inner feeling you get, that just keeps you comming back to the series. Because, after all, it truly is never a final fantasy.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Story. Soundtrack. Innovation. References to mythological cultures all around the world. Battle system before FF12 (I know FF11 has the same battle system, but it is great for an online game). The characters.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

This was a very deep question for me...I'll try to give an answer worthy of such a question... :p

- Adventure: The BIGGEST reason I play RPGs is to get absorbed into a different world. To escape reality for a few hundred hours into a parallel universe as it would seem - with an array of baddies and bosses to fend off and pwn. I think this speaks to the heart of every man (and some women.)

- Relatability: The next reason I play RPGs....at least most, is to be able to relate to the characters and their struggles. I can remember LOVING Squall's character because I thought he was just like me when I was younger. EMO, a loner and wanted to be the best. (Its been a while, but I know that EMO and loner are right.) ;) To explore is only one side of the coin - everyone deep-down wants to know they aren't alone in the fight...better yet - everyone wants someone to fight besides. I would love to be partnered with X's cast of characters most of all! <3

Enemy - This plays off of our spiritual side I believe. To KNOW that there is a powerful foe that is out to destroy us - and to attempt to (with every last ounce of courage and strength) to fight until the death to decide the outcome of our fate.

Endorphins - =^__^= May sound silly, but I love the 'high' you get from pwning an uber-boss or completing a challenging puzzle...etc.

....I may update this. Still doesn't seem quite accurate. But that'll do for now.

Good question Dappa!

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Another one is that rpgs have a moral behind them aswell.

"Everyone is different, yet they all have something to contribute"

There is something really compelling about a bunch of people teaming up together to fight a common cause.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

RPG's, including Final Fantasy games, to me always seem to have this 'mystic' feeling about them...something like a mystery you just need to solve, the story being all of the puzzle pieces putting everything together...I especially felt this way with the Xenosaga series, with it's controversial religious elements. Things like that intrigue me, and I get deeply involved with the storyline...

Characters and their relationships to certain events, places, people, and their involvement with the overall story also draw me into whatever game I'm playing...

But that's only how I feel with a few RPG's. With others, the games are just alright for a good story.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

I tell you another one. Square seems to create such good characters that the user starts to care about the characters and empathise with them.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Again, good Doctor - I think that this plays to our spiritual nature. ****not necessarily religious****

Whether or not you believe in God - the Devil - or angels and demons, I am overwhelmed by the sense that there is real, profound warfare going on all around us...'Good-vs-Evil' kind-of warfare. Unless you are insane (or have just taken upon yourself a malicious, insatiable desire to show cruelty towards others) everyone would agree that destroying the planet and all the life on it is a BAD/EVIL idea or plan....this is part of the reason why those who have played FFVII - while it may not be their favorite game - can connect with the characters...including Sephiroth and Jenova in a unique ways. In the same way, Chrono Trigger also owes a lot to Lavos - the destroyer of planets.

Despite what religious values we may or may not have been exposed to, Good-VS-Evil is a reality in our day-to-day life that we should be aware of...and its this reality that draws me into the world(s) of FF.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

^^ Wow amazing what a game can do to one. Another thing I love about Rpgs, is the fact all the fans they creat, and in a way, like on this forum, fan's can come together, and talk about what the games mean to them, and what they like, and do not like about the game. I wish I could more, but basicly what I think has already been said ^^

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

It is not necessarily the 'good versus evil' factors in religious elements that interest me, really. It's a lot more than that...the people who created Xenosaga and the game's storyline stirred up controversy amongst other people and even themselves by putting different views on religion. Not to say that any of those views are REAL--but it upset some people overall. I'm not religious in the least bit, however, so none of it affected me, really. The only thing that I thought was surprising was their view on Mary Magdelene and Jesus Christ (who in episode three they called Yeshua, Jesus's Hebrew name.) But I'm not going to spoil anything--I would rather have everyone else play the games and see for themselves.

Now on the topic of Final Fantasy games (which I should be talking MORE about, seeing as this topic is in general Final Fantasy...) I have noticed that a few of the games have also set their own examples of religion, although somewhat subtle. FFX is a good example of this; in the world of Spira, people worship Yevon, and believers cast hate down upon the Al Behd, who are supposedly disobeying the teachings of Yevon by using forbidden Machina. And the whole Yevon thing itself has secrets, and lies in itself, made even more twisted by the high priests and whatnot...those of you who have played the game already know this. The facts are made even more apparent in FFX-2--although many people thought that game was pretty much fluff, it DOES have deeper elements that make it a good game, if you play it all the way through and pay attention to the story. FFX makes a statement that there is a higher entity out there, but not in the form that we may think it is, and that religion can corrupt our thoughts and make us believe what it only WANTS us to believe.

FF7 was interesting in a way that there is a sort of explanation in how the 'circle of life' works. When people die, they return to the earth, body AND soul, into the never ending lifestream. The lifestream in turn gives itself back to the planet, and supplies all the remaining physical life on the planet. However, there is little or no indication of how the physical life got there on the planet in the first place--unless this theory is implying that the lifestream also replenishes souls and reincarnates them. But FF7 doesn't TOTALLY point out the fact that there MAY be a God--at least in that universe.

But these are just some of the deeper elements that I'm thinking of--the main point is just most likely that there is good and there is evil, and the good exists to fight the evil, and blah blah blah blah. What Reason said. >>

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

I would have to say the story line and the wanting to get to know the new characters. Not to mention its the past games that we have like all played that draws me in to. I know that the last FF games were amazing and I want to see if the new ones will be just the same. I also like that they characters you know are either really mysterious and you don't find out like anything about them until the end of the game and they finaly open your eyes to what has been going on the whole time. Or theres this villian that you just absolutely can't stand! I love that, when something that isn't real can make you "hate" it. Thats good game play. Or a character that you bond with so well its like you have known eachother at one point or another and don't quite remember meeting, but of course you never met...its only a game character.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

I think the stories are great its like and activity/e-book thingy the story are so big and so well constructed you just get sucked into it next thing S**T its 4am!!!!

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

For me, the characters, storyline, setting, and character/monster designs are what draw me into a good FF game.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Another thing I like about final fantasy is that everyone of them is unique in some way.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

yes they it was exciting when you had a new party member like in ffvii it was big gaps in between when you have the characters unlike the newer ones you seem to gain your full party fast like XII and X but i suppose it does make better training thata way

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Yeah. it used to be a lot more fun spending a lot of time going through the story before you found EVERY main party character. I didn't like it when you had pretty much everybody from the beginning in X (except for Rikku, she didn't come that fast. XP ) 12 took a little more time to get everyone, especially Ashe and Penelo, but yeah, you pretty much met everyone right off the bat.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Yeah I know what you are saying and I would have to agree, I like working my way to the people you are suppose to meet and fight with instead of meeting them like right at the beginning of the game. It gives me something else to look forward to.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Dappa gave me the notion to put this here:

My argument for playing them is they're a LOT longer than a movie, and if you play RPG's like we do - they're a lot less expensive per hour too.

XII's cost me < $0.25/hour so far XD

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

What? It cost you to play the game?? I am really confused now.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

You HAVE to buy the game - right?! :rolleyes:

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

What Reason means is that, new, you would buy a game like FF12 for 50 bucks, tops, right? Well, you get 15 times MORE fun and entertainment out of an RPG (assuming that it would take you 50 hours to beat it--it took me WAY longer, because I wanted to get the most out of the game. =} ) A normal film, on the other hand, which can cost 20 bucks or more, provides far less entertainment--only 2 or 3 hours to enjoy it (not counting DVD special features and whatnot.)

But getting directly to the point, when Reason says that per hour of the game it only costs .25 (cents), HE means just how much that you get out of it by what you paid for the game. But you're not really paying for it as you play, silly. XD

Argh, rambling sure is fun. :D

Which now brings me to something on a similar notion; I have noticed that in a lot of RPG's today, they like to drag ON cutscenes a lot of the time. It feels as if I AM watching a movie sometimes, rather than actually playing the game. And then there comes a long droll point where you're going through the game without ANY storyline, or cutscenes whatsoever. And I have to say, it does get boring and tedious doing nothing but going through places and leveling up, without anything else interesting happening with the characters until you get to a certain point (which takes a very long time to get to.)

I know, I KNOW that in some older games there WAS a more perfect balance of cutscenes and gameplay, and even a cross between the two (where you get to do something during a cutscene, like move around.) Whatever happened to that balance? Or is this all just me? @_@

*another edit* I'm a guy = 3

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Don't 'ya mean reasoniamalive?

But I understand his logic, and you certainly get your fills worth when you pay. o_O

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

....*edits, then bangs head on the wall several times*

Yeah. Yep. Better than a 2 hour long movie, I say...I think that overall, games are better than movies, length-wise (and often story-wise, too. >^ )

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Oh yeah okay now I get what you are saying lol. Wow...that went right over my head some how lol.
I like looking at all the unique costumes to that the characters have. They make great cosplay if you have the time :P

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Even if you don't have time to cosplay (which sadly - I do not) sometimes their costumes can be RLY awesome, I agree.

Yes, What the good Doctor said was correct about paying $50 (or more) and playing the heck outta the game means you actually pay less and less [per hour] than you would if you watched (went to/bought) a movie....unless you buy Waterworld and watch it over and over again (like I do.) = 333

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

That catchy theme song...it gives me goosebumps!

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Yes, AWESOME MUSICKS FTW!!! ^ ^

When I get bored I still sometimes hum the LoZ theme song. :p

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Loz...if only he was a real man. I would already have him for myself! *cough* lol
I like the music and all but don't you kind of think that it can get a little corny from time to time?

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Depends on the music/game/situation. The Dun-dun-un-dun -duh duuuuun...normal battle music in X can get annoying because that's the only non-boss battle music they play. =( But I could never tire from hearing the 'To Zanarkand' song. <3

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

lol Yeah. Boss music can get annoying especially when you hear it over and over again because you can't seem to beat em. lol

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

...the amazing characters. @_@

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

In a lot of final fantasy games and rpgs there is a common story where some evil force or empire has enslaved the world and the worlds citizens bury their heads in the sands to the situation, not daring to do anything about it for fear of persecution or death.

Out of nowhere a small group of people against the odds go on a quest to stop the evil and put a stop to it and come out on top. Now that is a brill storyline or what!

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

...Plot twists and turns.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

I think rpg's are awesome because you get to equip your character with everything from armor, to weapons, to magic and get to control aspects of the game. You have free reign to go almost anywhere you want and you can see your characters grow stronger and better. Getting a level up is one of the best feelings ever

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Ah...it's been a while since I last looked at the topic.

I always look for a great musical score in an RPG. A soundtrack can easily play out every event, every emotion and feeling coming from a character...just so many things can come out of a song that speak to you with indiscribable words. Although, it's very rare that an RPG's music is even on a competent level--it takes something really amazing to impress me. And, even though not always, most music from the FF games never ceases to make an impression on me every time I listen to a song. =]

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

"What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general? "

That is one of the most interesting (to me, that is) questions I've heard in a long while. I'll answer in two parts:

What draws you to final fantasy...

The very high quality and intuitve user friendly aspects of the games. (Although, after FFX and after Sakaguchi san left Square, that quality did decrease).

and rpgs in general?

Well with the battles and exploring towns/dugeons etc and interacting with many NPCs and buying, selling, etc, I feel there is a depth to RPGs that other games don't always match. Sometimes RPG stories are VERY immersive. It seems many (NOT ALL) non RPGs are not as good at this. (Immersive stroies, that is).

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

Final Fantasy VII has driven me to RPGs and to Final Fantasy series. It's really that easy.

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

i must admit that before i played my first final fantasy which was ff7 i had only ever played two other rpg's. I found these other 2 games stepping stones to final fantasy 7.

I really loved final fantasy 7 so much that it drew me into thinking to myself "that one was good lets play em all"

I'm glad i did play them all

Re: What draws you to final fantasy and rpgs in general?
 

They get my mind off of my harsh reality. Escapism, plain and simple.