"You're not having much luck with Final Fantasy lately."

That's a quote from OMGJeremy, in response to a complaint I made about Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core being a bit repetitive and tedious in parts. I'm not going to disagree in general, I've been playing FF7:CC and Final Fantasy 13 lately, and my comments to him (and anyone else who will listen) have led people to believe that I'm not really enjoying them. These same people must think I'm the biggest idiot they know, since I keep buying these games despite bitching about how I find them to be in some way horrible. So, let me explain what I DO like (and a little of what I don't like) about the Final Fantasy games.

The first few Final Fantasy games are really why I even tried the other games in the series. The first Final Fantasy is nothing outstanding now, but when it was new it was the best console RPG I had ever played, and I played it non-stop. Final Fantasy IV (which would be the US part 2) was the first JRPG I played with pre-set characters, instead of an open create-a-party. As a result, it had the best story that I can remember. FFVI (US part 3) continued that trend, and was also amazing. These three games alone sold me on JRPGs as a kid, and along with the Lunar series and the Ultima series, it's really what led me to spend most of my early teen years of gaming playing RPGs.

Final Fantasy VII was the biggest RPG ever when it came out. The graphics at the time (original Playstation) were amazing, and the setting was interesting-- sort of a cyberpunk feel, but with standard fantasy cliche. I enjoyed it, but it was also the first Final Fantasy that I can recall where I felt that there was more watching the game than playing the game. Still, I liked it enough where I looked forward to part VIII. That's where I quit playing JRPGs. I hated it. I didn't even make it far. The setting was sort of lame, some sort of school where you learn to fight monsters by killing monsters for their magic, with girly looking characters, and a sword with trigger on it that still seems incredibly stupid. I will admit I didn't give it a fair chance, but that's where I stopped.

Then I played FFXII on a whim, and fell in love with them again. Since then, I've gone out and found pretty much all the games again except FFV and FFVI, and I'm pretty sure I can download FFVI for Wiiware or something when I get to that point. Even the bad ones (except 8 which I STILL haven't played enough to like) have something in them that I enjoy -- and I think I have figured out exactly what it is. The Final Fantasy games (and other JRPGs to be fair) just have a flavor of ridiculousness that I miss in some better playing RPGs (like Dragon Age or Skyrim). In both of those games, you will go out into the wild and kill skeletons, bandits, random animals, and a few other humanoid races. It's fun, but after a while you want something a little more fantastic. The Final Fantasy games deliver fantastic by the bushel.

It's a double edged (and most likely way too oversized) sword, however. Sure, it's cool that there are a larger selection of cool looking monsters to fight and weapons to find, but it's the same process that makes every character look like they belong in Cirque de Soleil. Everyone has spiky hair, tassles or other embellishments on their clothes that are not just silly looking, but would also be completely useless as armor. Every Final Fantasy becomes some ridiculous god-plot at some point-- some shlub merging with some magical spirit from eons past to become a giant killing machine that you need to stop, and you determine this has occurred through a series of long and increasingly hard-to-believe cutscenes. By the end of all of these games I could care less why I'm fighting a giant flying demon-machine-- I'm just happy that it's not ending like so many other games, with a dual-style swordfight against the comparatively realistic evil king / monster.

I like that these games at least try to do something new, even if it all feels sort of the same in the long run. All the FF games (after 7) are flashy spectacles with questionable plotlines and annoying characters, but at least they all try to tweak the formula. And, most importantly, there's no way I can guess how any of the games will really end (without getting it spoiled online), because by the end of each of the games I find myself completely unsure of why I was even in the space castle fighting off a half-angel / half-robot individual who was determined to crush me with boulders. So, even though most of these games have tedious leveling parts, I'm still driven to keep playing just to see what will happen, and watch the next flashy cutscene that is supposed to explain what is going on around me while I kill endless amounts of random monsters.

Sure, I'm probably going to end up disappointed in the logic behind all of it, but it will be fun to watch.