As an avid follower of the Final Fantasy franchise myself, in particular the FF7 ( Final Fantasy 7) series, I was overwhelmed at the way the game manipulated my emotions into caring for these fictional and virtual beings, so much so that I was spurred to play on until the very end. FF7 kept me hooked by employing interwoven, complex and non linear narratives that all pulled together during the finale to make me feel apart of fighting for the common goal of the characters. After the game came to a climatic end and the last few scenes of cinematic scrolled past my eyes I was left slightly at a loose end. I still had many questions I felt were left unanswered by the game.
In the subsequent years since Final Fantasy 7 was released a total of 3 console titles, 1 feature length film and one animated film have been released, all expanding the universe and developing the characters to new levels. Its arguable that these sequels and prequels were made to validate the original game in the eyes of its massive multinational fan base. In an interview with IGN about the latest FF7 title, Crisis Core, Yoshinori Kitase, Final Fantasy 7 & 8 developer stated "Obviously as part of a beloved series, part of a popular world, there's immense pressure to produce". Kitase goes on to to talk about how essential it was that the new title in the series didn't pay homage to it's predecessor, but instead made a vital overview from past events in the universe that as a whole linked the series. Crisis core was released in 2008 throughout Europe and details several key events that were mentioned but never f
ully explained within FF7. Crisis core also develops on the character Zack, who had a minor yet vital role within ff7. This prequel of a game in enlightening to the events of FF7, however if a new, unbiased gamer would play the game they would have little or no understanding of the in depth storyline, or indeed who the characters really are. Due to this it can be argued that the subsequent games and feature films to the FF7 series were only created for the current fan base.A further member in the FF7 family is the long anticipated film, Advent Children. This movie focuses on events set some time of the those that occurred in FF7, and satisfied the fans yearning for answers to any loose ends left from the game. Reviews of this movie made by non fans often state that the film left them feeling confused. One review states
"Here’s the thing: “
Advent Children” was made entirely for hardcore fans of “Final Fantasy VII” - and nobody else." However a review from a FF7 paints a different picture; "If you're a fan of Final Fantasy VII, then this is the next best thing to a full-fledged sequel. If you aren't a fan, you'll still probably agree that it's an amazing visual experience" From an unbiased point of view the FF7 franchise seems confusing and unforgiving to outsiders, making very hard for the series to expand their fan base. However Advent Children and Crisis core were not created with the ideal of drawing in new fans, but to please and reignite the interests of the massive fan base to this game series that they already possess.It can be said assumed that Square Enix are under massive pressure both self imposed and fan initiated to bring out products to support the FF7 universe. This is confirmed by the constant stream of transmedia titles all aimed at informing and pleasing the fans. The ever enthusiastic community has also placed pressure upon Square Enix to created a remake of the original FF7 game, claiming new technologies would increase the games capabilities and draw in a bigger crowd. Fan community rumors also speculate that this project has been undertaken by Square Enix. No official confirmation to a remake has been made, however Square Enix have made a few unassuming hints that there could be a possible remake in the future.
It would be foolish to just consider one game out of the entire Final Fantasy franchise to pen the b
asis for this assumption on. A further title with a similar story would be Final Fantasy 10. Again, as with FF7, FF10 was thoroughly immersive and tugged on many emotions with as much success as FF7. As the game drew to a close it was almost left open ended in order to include a sequel if one was demanded. A further interview with Kitase for IGN stated "Fan reaction was larger than we expected and we decided to continue the story of Yuna and surrounding characters in a sequel" Producing a sequel purely on the demands of a fan indicated that Square are under an uncertain amount of pressure to feed their fans with new information on the virtual worlds that they have grown attached to.To summarize on this section it is naive to believe that Final Fantasy sequels are produced entirely on the basis of how successful they are in terms of how much money they take on launch day. Instead we need to consider how the series develops within the fan community, and how pressure placed on big corporations buy the people that love their games leads to certain avenues being followed.
References used;
http://uk.ps2.ign.com/articles/442/442025p1.html
http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=14321&reviewer=392
http://www.elecplay.com/reviews/view/?article=11284
http://videogames.yahoo.com/news-1208351
392
No comments:
Post a Comment