How Materia Was Born: The Game Design Evolution of Final Fantasy
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Final Fantasy VII's Materia didn't come from nowhere. Let's examine the game design evolution of the series, and how its most intriguing and elegant system emerged...
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Videos referenced:
• Final Fantasy 35th Ann...
• Final Fantasy 35th Ann...
• Assassin's Creed Mirag...
Mass Effect 2/3 stills from Mass Effect Wiki: masseffect.fan...
All gameplay footage captured by me unless otherwise noted.
Concept art scans from "The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy" by Yoshitaka Amano.
Stock footage and sound effects from Storyblocks.
#finalfantasy #finalfantasy7 #finalfantasy6 #gamedesign
As someone replaying through the main series and just started 7, your timing is perfect!
I appreciate that you touched on how the materia system high plasticity removes much of a character's identity beyond their weapons and limit breaks.
Couple that with Cloud being a mandatory party member (for most of the game) and therefore always being over leveled compared to everyone else, and it felt like my party comp choices didn't really matter.
I have a similar issue with 8, and I much prefer 6 and 10's mixture of rigidity/plasticity in their systems.
Loving the past two vids! Can't believe I didn't sub after the last one!
It would be so nice if my subscription feed actually showed me videos from channels I've subscribed to.
I'm a bit late, but looking forward to sitting down with this.
My favorite game mechanically in the series is Final Fantasy VIII, which is such a remarkable examination of Karl Marx's theory of space-time annihilation through ludic form. Definitely looking forward to writing something about that in more depth someday.
ff6 will always be my favorite for a variety of reasons, but - and hear me out with this - i really enjoy 10-2’s battle system! I liked the dress spheres and how they allowed for the player to switch jobs as needed despite the limited playable cast. the abilities were fun too. 10-2 is a weird game narratively, but the battle system always stood out as an interesting twist on mechanics.
It's been a while since I played 10-2, but I remember really enjoying the Dress Sphere system and how it was another stab at a III/V-like Job System. So yea, it's a perfectly good choice here. :)
You should analyze Xenoblade series.If you like final fantasy series.
I don't like plasticity in story-driven games.
The problem with plasticity systems in RPGs is that you lose narrative and thematic cohesiveness when your characters are too plastic. It's usually a disservice to the story when characters can be anything, they have no set place and/or goals in the world and leads to general dissonance.
There's exceptions, like FF6, where the Esper system ties in extremely tightly with the story, but even then it leads to dissonance. Take Sabin or Cyan for example, who spent their entire lives perfecting their physical combat skills only to be completely overshadowed by Magicite abilities. This should lead to major character crises for both of them, yet it's not addressed in the story at all.