[Ginkasa]

I mentioned in my previous post regardng a "gameplay/story" pattern that is supposed to be evident in the early FF titles. Basically, the odd games were supposed to focus on the gameplay while the evens simplified the gameplay while focusing on story. I also mentioned that I believe this pattern is complete dung. In the extreme delusion that anyone cares I will expand upon this belief. Please note, I did consider that maybe this pattern was dervied from the American I-III rather than the Japanese I-VI (which would completely change the dynamic, although I still think it wouldn't work), but I don't think 3 games is really enough for someone to ascertain a pattern.

So, I'll be breaking down each game and explaining why it doesn't fit the pattern. Remember, odd games are supposed to have simple stories with a greater focus on gameplay while even games are supposed have simple gameplay with a focus on story.


I: Really, since this is the first game its really hard to try to say whether it had an agenda in regards to a proposed pattern especially since there was not initially expected to be a sequel. Granted, it does have the simplest story of all the FF games and tells its story pretty poorly compared to to other jRPGs at the time, but I still don't think you could say it was the start of the pattern.

II: In the pattern's defense, II does have a more detailed and better told story than I. However, it also implemented an entirely new and different gameplay system in terms of stat increase. It also changed the gameplay around by switching up the 4th party member constantly throughough the game. Yes, you can say II has a larger focus on story, but you can't say it doesn't focus on gameplay (no matter how broken it is).

III: Its hard to really compare this one since I've never played the original Famicom version, but I still think it doesn't really fit the pattern. Sure, it introduces the Job system so there's definitely a focus on gameplay. I think the story, however, is no weaker than II's. Sure, you have nameless and faceless heroes in the original, but I feel that changes the tone more than quality. Basically, I think III comes off more as an epic poem whil II comes off more as a fantasy novel. Just different, but not inferior.

IV: This game, honestly, is the game that most closely fits the pattern. You have no choice over how your characters develop or who is in your party. Abilities are decided solely by level rather than purchasing them or levelling up jobs or whatnot. The story, of course, is the best one so far in the series. It has the best developed characters and the richest story at this point. However, it also introduced the ATB system which is the mostly widely used purely gameplay system in the series (and other series!) that wasn't initially introduced in I and is also the only game in the series to allow 5 characters in battle at once. I'd say they definitely had an eye on making it an exciting gameplay experience as well as story.

V: Once again we have the Job system. Perhaps the pattern was simply thought of because the odd games always use some form of the Job system which could be argued was pretty indepth for its time. Of course, they're ignoring that using the same system multiple times was probably easier than creating something from scratch. I'm not saying that there wasn't effort put into V (there are certainly refinements and adjustments and additions to the system from III), but I can't see how it shows the devleopers were focusing more on gameplay than story. While the story isn't as fantastic as IV, its still much better than the NES titles and has its moments. Let's just say Galuf's moment is better played than Tellah's.

VI: Yeah, arguably the best story in the series. You got me there. But it also introduced the Esper ability system (which spawned the Materia system in VII, certainly partially influenced the Junction system in VIII, is very similar to the ABility system in IX, etc.) and introduced Desparation Attacks which also influenced other similar systems in later games (most widely known are Limit Breaks from VII). It also has the most playable characters in the series each with their own unique abilities that may or may not be inspired by the Jobs from previous games. There's no way you could say the story came at the expense of the gameplay.

So, there you go. Sure, you could maybe argue that the evens games had the best stories, but I don't think you can argue that it was at the expense of the gameplay or that the odds have bad stories. Basically, people were just reading patterns into where they didn't belong.

Tune in next time as I rant on another random topic in the middle of the night!