I think a lot of gamers will echo what you are saying here, Leigh, and while I don't have a copy with me at the moment, I think Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" has half of your answer.

In the book, he explains that people imbue simple characters (such as a smiley face, or crude sprites) with aspects of themselves. That circle with two dots and a curved line is effectively "us," so we are able to project ourselves into the story that way. I think this is why many older gamers look back at the NES and SNES days with rose-tinted glasses, because those adventures truly were "our own."

As characters become more defined, they become "the other," and we no longer project ourselves onto them, but are detached. This doesn't mean that becoming emotionally attached to a defined character is impossible, it just means you need to have a capable creative team at the helm.

Perhaps the "problem" isn't with you, then. One question you didn't ask: "Is Final Fantasy XIII an example of good story-telling?" I'd argue, "no." I think that our tastes as adults have matured, but the emotions of the Square-Enix team have, inexplicably, remained rooted in an adolescent view of the world, even as their expression of it has matured into graphical splendor.

You're right; it's almost certainly true that both the audience and the games have changed. However.

As a nearly-thirty-year old game developer, I'm clearly a little outside of most target demographics. I don't have the head-space to devote to video games anymore. Most of my "play time" is closer to research than recreation. Having said that, a few games stand out. Portal. BioShock. Dead Space. I can honestly say that the characters in these games were important to me. I actually cared. I was lucky enough to play FFVII as an adult, long after games like Gears had become old hat, and after I'd stopped considering games as 'entertainment' and started considering them as 'project'. And I can tell you right now that I cried as hard as anybody when Aeris died.

I'm also only just barely started FFXIII (3 hrs in - nearly completed the tutorial). I haven't picked the game up in weeks; when I do, it'll be out of a sense of professional interest. I just can't get behind the obvious lack of innovation, both narratively and mechanics-wise.

Having said all of that - some movies are blessed with a good story. Others aren't. Some books have engaging characters. Others don't. I don't expect every piece of fiction I pick up to be Harry Potter, and I don't expect every movie I see to be Casablanca. Moreover, whether or not these movies and books have good narratives is almost entirely unrelated to how good the cinematography/cover art is.

The point I'm trying to make is: Why would you expect every video game to have an equally compelling story, regardless of the franchise it's associated with? Perhaps more importantly: how does the quality of the narrative relate *in any way* to the number of polygons the character models have? As the industry matures, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be some crashing narrative failures. Just like books and movies. I can also guarantee that you will one day discover another video game that will make you cry. So don't be so quick to blame the packaging - there's a whole heckuva lot more to come yet.

I'd agree if it weren't for Sazh. He's an interesting sticking point in the tale because he's a father, and he's also the most sympathetic character in the game. Otherwise, yes: adolescent melodrama.

I feel the same way about the game. I feel zero attachment to the characters, though I think a large part of that is that the story and character development in FF13 were probably an afterthought next to the visuals. I too am an old-school gamer who used to get completely immersed in these stories, largely because my imagination was so vivid and so effective an escape from being an awkward kid with a shitty life. While my imagination has atrophied a little bit over the years, I think that I am still able to apply a bit of it to new game experiences. Take Cave Story, for an example. That game gave me the same amount of awe and wonder that I remember Super Metroid giving me back when I was a kid. It gives you just enough information, and your mind fills in the blanks.

It's the same reason why people get so immersed in books. You make the story and the world your own. If the world is already fleshed out, we don't need to use our imaginations. And if that fleshed-out world proves to be poor-quality (like ff13) then we end up with an ultimately disappointing experience. I don't think that it's that we're old. I think that Square Enix just refuses to give up the idea that they think that their customers want these mind-blowing CGI cutscenes. I want a world to lose myself in, not a world to hold my hand through a pre-scripted experience.

This is such a critical point to be made regarding modern gaming. An artist and family friend of mine told me that in order to make something appear more realistic, you have to "smudge the edges and leave some detail to the imagination." I remember playing through FF3 (US) for the first time on my Super Nintendo and every time Locke was denied his feelings for Celes (most notably the Opera House scene) my friend and I would choke up and get misty-eyed. Even FF7 failed to grab me emotionally the same way.

I must say that FF13 has been a vast improvement over the last several titles released in terms of character development and (more importantly) presentation of this development. The translation is well done, as is the voice acting. But in world of HD big screens and PS3s, little is left for the imagination to grasp on its own -at least in the way we are used to.

Playing an RPG use to equate to playing through a book; yet now, you turn on FF13 and instead of finding yourself unable to put down a good book; your eyes cannot be peeled away from a spectacular movie that you are playing through..for a good 50-60 hours. I think FF13 succeeds where their past titles have failed because they have gone to the extreme of leaving nothing to the imagination (quite literally).

I also think, however, that graphics and cinematography are not the only changes to the series to prompt this sort of "desensitized" feeling that existed in so many ways for FF9-12. The concept of choice, for example. In FF3 (US) you had a choice early on about which of the 3 parties you played and in what order. You had "open world" map exploration almost immediately in the game. And although you know its leading to the same conclusion, the earlier final fantasy games gave the gamer the sense of an "unknown" in getting there - that the journey was of their own making. I feel like the original feel that our sentimental writer above is missing from RPGs can be recaptured - not by abandoning linear story telling completely - but by "smudging the edges" a little and making the player more involved in the story itself and not just the gameplay.

With great power comes great responsibility. The developers are so overwhelmed by the power of computers these days that they are forgetting about the more important parts of a game.

No, I think this pertains most to RPGs, which have been vaguely defined over the years in the video game industry. In fact, a lot of titles are starting to say "Action Adventure" instead of their original defined RPG genre. RPG as a genre is about to die, but that doesn't mean we can't use the many mechanics that it has grown up on.

In my opinion, the only way Square can redeem itself is if it manages to make use of all that power and create a truly immersive world the depths we have ever seen before. Imagine being able to play Seiken Densetsu 3 in the same graphical power that exists today. I would enjoy the artistic value of being able to stop in the middle of Golden Road and just gaze upon the surroundings for a moment, while still having the enthusiasm to continue in both the story and the characters that drive it. What's more, the gameplay will always be there. I will ALWAYS be playing a game, and not sitting there watching a 40 minute cutscene. That way, I won't be bored, and I'll let the environment around me do the storytelling for me.

Give me the budget to make an AAA PS3 title, and I'll show you how it's done (yes, I'm being a little ambitious here, but I'm serious about the lack of quality for this particular genre).

This is a two-pronged problem -- Leigh and I discussed this a bit before she wrote the piece.

The problem is simply that the story of FF13 is confusing and flat. As a fan of the series, it's still relatively uninvolving. An acquaintance who beat it recently described it as seemingly "perpetually an hour away from getting good", which is apt.

Crisis Core, which is two years old -- so you can't cite the age thing -- has much more engaging, well-told story and interesting characters. It's simply a better-paced game with a better story and better characters. And that's all aside from it resting on a better, more inventive universe (FF7).

This, taken in concert with the youthful enthusiasm for games and imagination that many adults lack, is creating an issue with this specific game. The approach is more challenging, the audience is more discerning, and the content is less satisfying this time around.

Great topic! I slightly disagree with some points though. I am the aging rpg gamer - old enough to get Adventure on the 2600 as a new release. FFVII was the peak of the series for sure, but it had all the elements in place.

FFXIII is not FFVII. It is the best title since that, and has the best battle engine since VII, but the writing is frankly pretty bad. The charachters are very 2D, unlike some past FF titles that had outstanding writing, and the music is sub-par - definately not Nobou. While I enjoyed the game it roused no emotion whatsoever, and this only has to do with the writing itself, not any lack of excitement on my end.

I didn't played FF XIII, but I think, the main reason, why the death of Aeris had such an impact on players was, that it came surprising. At least for me, who never played an FF before, it was an absolute shock, that the designers took away this character in such a way. I had her in my party for countless hours, I get used to her, learned her story, etc.
This element of surprise can't be easily repeated. After FF VII every character I walked into was a possible death candidate. The death of Aeris was for me comparable to the death of Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man #121. Marvel never managed to repeat something like that in Spider-Man and I think it will be hard for Square/Enix to do so.
When a death of a character gets me by surprise, I still get emotionally moved.


*SPOILERS AHEAD*
When I played Fragile Dreams on the Wii lately, I was really moved, when my PC suddenly died, just after the first chapter, I expected that the intelligent device will be my compagnion throughout the game and now, suddenly my character, I, was alone again, in this moment the game managed to let me feel the lonelyness of the protagonist.

"I'd love to grab some young teens, sit them in front of FFXIII"

Maybe a more telling exercise would be to sit them in front of FFVII and see their reaction. I doubt it would be the same as yours was since they have been spoiled by more evolved games their whole lives.

Thought I love VI, spent crazy amounts of time flexing gambits in XII, I have to say that about 15 hours into XIII the experience changed from 'meh' to 'cool!' Argue all you want about the initial investment, but I don't regret it at all (even though I could have used that time to play Starcraft 2!).

I really enjoyed the character development of Hope and Lightning. They really make Cloud seem 2D by comparison.

The story in FF13 does get better the more the game moves forward, even with the "save the world" theme. However, I don't think the story is unique or compelling enough that I would want to play the game a second time for at least a few years. There just wasn't any real narrative advancement that makes me want to pick up on new subtleties (like in FF7 understanding why Aeris let Sephiroth kill her). I think that is what is missing from many of the RPG narratives today - little things that influence a character's motivations that only make sense on a second or third playthrough.

With FF13 in particular though, the characters that you think you will hate because they start out so annoying you end up really liking as they mature (the two kids). Meanwhile, characters you start out liking to some degree fall by the wayside due to a lack of development (Lightning). Sazh is a great character though, and there is a powerful scene with him.

I can still lose my imagination in these more graphical RPGs. I think I end up imagining what it would be like to be other "non-hero" characters in the world. But I can easily get wrapped up in even a mediocre plot if there are other interesting parts of the game (combat, advancement, achievements, etc.).

Of course I'm aware that that FF13's story can't compete to THE FF-Games VII and VIII but I have to say: I enjoyed my time with it anyway. I really liked the story and the whole "obscure magical/technological world"-atmosphere. The storytelling isn't anything brand new but there aren't so many flaws either - it's a solid, motivating and for me also emotional story with an interesting character set-up.
I think the reason why I liked FF13 so much is the length of the title: Having almost played it through I'm feeling really "nostalgic" about the hours spent in the game. I remember all the scenes I've played, all the different areas I've visited, all the story-developments I have enjoyed so far and all the tactical considerations I made buying components to make my weapons and accessories better. It's the sum of all these things that make me feel "close" to a game (-world) and it's story.
Concerning the story in detail: Of course it is no FFVII or FVIII - but I think it's also truly epic and intoxicating. Call me old-fashioned and cheesy but especially the scenes between Snow and Serah were really moving to me.
Having said that I think FFXIII is quite on the same level as FFX is story- gameplay- and atmosphere-wise - and FFX is a really great part of the series - always after FFVII and FFVIII of course.

I'm in the same boat. As a long-time gamer pushing the big 3-0, I found that I can't bring myself to care about the stories or the characters in modern games anymore. As others have pointed out, this is a combination of both, our own changing sensibilities, but also the games waning quality. Speaking specifically of Final Fantasy, we're pretty clearly not the intended demographic, according to the game's own producers. It's pretty depressing to feel like I've outgrown games, despite my best attempts against doing so. 30 is the new mid-life crisis for gamers? I only hope some long-time industry vet will realize the same, and make an effort in drawing us back in. A truly mature game, for us old-timers who can appreciate it.

Desensitization is the culprit here, and we all know that the only way to psychological desensitization is through exposure. Ageing is a sure way to increase your exposure.

In the magical past of game development, the way the graphics would evolve from one system to another meant that broad new frontiers in expression were constantly opened. It is in this realm of the optimistic unknown in which the creative imagination flourishes.

I feel that this sense of detachment described by many is a manifestation of an attitude of irrelevance toward the act of creative imagination. Simply put, there were no distinct new realms of possibility opened with this latest Final Fantasy release that weren't present in previous games, aside from a higher polygon count and more complex shaders.

On a less abstract note, I feel the series is incredibly burdened by that fact that players are expected to immerse themselves in a brand new world every few years. This leads to an inevitably shortened life-span for the typical Final Fantasy. I would even go on to suggest that a large portion of complaints about this new game are from “retired” Final Fantasy players who are now playing it with a “Show me” attitude in the vain hope that the “Feeling” (Optimistic Imagination) will finally return.

I have generally speaking enjoyed j-rpg's but seeing this game, i found myself truly turned off by the character design that seemed to scream more stereotypical rather than interesting and fresh. Other than lightning with her mysterious vibe i found no interest in the spunky bandanna-guy, the black-afro guy, or the lonely emo kid. On top of that the choice to have a party based story makes the attachment to a single character. Many rpg's have parties but there is a clearly-defined main character.

Well, I'd like to offer a somewhat different view based on decades of experience globally (both Western and Japanese games, I played Pong and Atari 2600 when they were first released, etc).

I never cared for Final Fantasy and, in fact, prior to FF VII and the explosion of interest in the PlayStation, the market for FF in the English world was very minor, even amongst fans of Japanese entertainment. Instead, my favorite classics are Ys, Phantasy Star, and various action franchises such as Valis, and hybrids such as Langrisser (and the newer Growlanser). I'd like to offer a correction to Leigh's comments about the nineties, anime characters, and emotional attachment. In fact, this was exactly why I followed and studied Japanese entertainment from the 1980s onwards (and still do... it has been and is a focus of my academic research as I work through my doctoral program in technology studies). I still find Japanese (and East Asian, in general) games (as well as other forms of East Asian entertainment) to actually engage me emotionally because I see myself as the characters. Western entertainment, including games, do not do this no matter what their other qualities. In fact, I mentioned on Bioware's forums that I wish that we could have an RPG where Bioware wrote lore and Japanese artists did the artistic design, and other people agreed. The artists in our market generally place a focus on "realism" but that's a mistake as far as creating attachment for the player.

This is not to say that story writing is poor in Japanese and other Asian works. On the contrary, I find their stories to be far superior to the so-called "mature" writing that I see in Western works. But of course, this is all a matter of subjective taste and how we see ourselves (or want to see ourselves).

Dr. Matt Thorn, associate professor of manga studies at Kyoto Seika University and a person who did his PhD. dissertation on shoujo manga in Japanese culture, wrote avery good essay about the importance of visual aesthetics and the unfortunate tendency for Western audiences to view Japanese works with an ethnocentric lens. You can read his essay, "The Face of the Other," at the following link:

http://www.matt-thorn.com/mangagaku/faceoftheother.html

Personally, as far as newer RPGs releases are concerned, I cry playing Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Tales of Vesperia. I also enjoy playing Mass Effect and Dragon Age; Origins (despite the bugs in the latter title) as well as Fallout 3, Morrowind and Oblivion, but I have never even come close to crying in any of the Western titles. I also cry very often when experiencing the wonderful Japanese adventures, visual novels, and simulations such as To Heart, or many types of manga and anime (and live drama, of course) focused on coming of age, romance, etc. My three favorite stories of any kind of all time are Marmalade Boy, Ai Tenshi Densetsu Wedding Peach, and Idol Densetsu Eriko, and I still love many Japanese stories from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s regardless of genre.

I think perhaps it comes down to what speaks to you emotionally. Not all Japanese works speak to me (Final Fantasy doesn't, for example) but many do. It's interesting to me that some Japanese titles that are popular in the West do not create emotion within me, and many titles that are popular in Japan do even if they are unknown outside their native market. That's just my experience.

I've always been a gamer that focuses more on the gameplay than the stories, graphics, or anything else pretty much. I think this has enabled me to continuously enjoy the latest RPGs more than some other aged gamers. I don't have a problem with change like some people; I would rather the games continuously at least try to find new gameplay elements rather than rely on the same ones for every game. RPGs have gotten better as far as gameplay goes in my opinion. FFXIII's combat and character customization is just as deep, or deeper, than other FF games. It is missing a few things that could have improved it (gambits or mid-combat character switching), but I bet these things will be added in the upcoming games, 1 step at a time.

I think the graphics are so close in real-time to the CGI that those cut-scenes aren't really rewards anymore like they used to be and that's why we don't feel as drawn into the game as before. With that said you also can't ever recapture that because graphics are too good now to ever allow CGI to trump it as it used to. Those rewards have to be included in different ways. I think the only way to infuse this feeling back into an RPG would be to allow more choice, and not the illusion of choice most RPGs use, but real choice that affects the game world and characters.

We used to be the manufacturer's target audience. However, we've gotten older, grown, learned, and experienced life. The target age for games, however, hasn't changed a whole lot. I find that a lot of times the stuff that everyone else is going "OH THAT WAS AWESOME" to, I find to be droll and trite. The "emotional connections" that get touted are, for me, bland and overdone. Us older gamers have the equivalent of the thousand yard stare of a seasoned war vet. We've seen it all, done it all, and it's rare that a game comes along and really gets us involved in any meaningful way whether it be via the characters, the plot, or just the action.

On the other hand, finding a game that manages to do that, even though I've been gaming for a good 20 years now, is still a great experience, made even more so because I know that game really is something special.

Let me first say, I enjoyed the article, even though this is a bitter-sweet topic for me. While I lament the loss of some of the sensibilities that made for some of the greatest games of my past, I do feel that we as gamers have a responsibility to evolve. I was very excited to unwrap my copy of FF13, and like you, after only a few hours in, I found myself struggling to maintain the excitement. I couldn't shake the feeling that it was all just trying too hard... FF13 is, without a doubt, the greatest technical and visual achievement in the series, but I'm not really sure where it went wrong. I wanted to play the game with the same fervor that I played 4,6,7,8,9, and 12, like a man possessed! However, I started feeling like I was playing 13 out of some sense of obligation. So I, too, began to analyze what went wrong....

I think there is something to be said for the imagination commitment that is part and parcel with games that were not so visually developed. I also think there is a little of the age factor there. However, I think for the most part, 13 is just a game that tried to be too many things for too many people. It is not a game for the fans alone. It is there to attract players from beyond the RPG gamers. The first 20 hours or so are proof of this: completely linear, capped upgrades, limited to no choice of characters. It essentially holds your hand through the first half of the game. Supposedly, after that it gets better, but I'm now 45 hours in, and I still feel the same. So, in essence, the game is a beautiful attempt to attract more and new players to its's arena, while forsaking many of the diehard fans.

I'm still enjoying it. And while it will never be what some of the greats were for me, I can always pick FF 6 or 8 again if I feel the need. And while this may mark a point at which Final Fantasy games have lost there effect on me, there are other games that are filling the gaps. For instance, Mass Effect 2 was one of the most immersive, emotional journeys for me yet. So, while some of the good times may be past, I firmly believe that there are more to come.

I felt the same way as some of you and thought the story was flat and more geared for a mainstream dumbed down audience...it does gain some steam..enough that I finished the game, but my heart was never in it. Also, like one of the other posts said: I too was annoyed by the characters and thought they were stereotypical...I don't understand why all the characters have to be supermodels with perfect hair, white teeth, and beautiful faces...I bet they don't even have to use deodorant..lol! How about a character like Steve Buscemi in a supporting role or some dude with a giant honker for a nose and is heavyset and not what most people would consider an attractive person..but is a good fighter and wins your heart through his gentle nature hidden underneath the rough exterior. Also, I'm a big fan of George R.R. Martins Ice and Fire books, starting with, "A Game of Thrones", and think that characters like Martin created, with depth and dirt under there nails, would be really refreshing to see in a rpg game like FF...that would be sweet seeing the dwarf Tyrion riding for his life on a chocobo..lol!
I think Bioware's Dragon Age is a good example too, of the kind of characters that I would like to see more of in RPG's.

Anyhow, FF 13 is not a terrible game in my opinion and my biggest complaint isn't the characters or story...it's the lack of freedom and ridiculous linearity of the game...point A to point B for 20 some hours; they won't even let my avatar make a side quest to the bathroom..argh! To each his own though : )

W Cordero posted, "With great power comes great responsibility. The developers are so overwhelmed by the power of computers these days that they are forgetting about the more important parts of a game."
Well said : )

I wish we'd get some fresh perspectives from adults who dont really know anything about RPGs or games in general, maybe the soccer player Zidane, or Ren and Stimpy creator Kraflausky, hell i'd even love to hear what David Blaine thinks about RPGs. 'Silly illusions' he might say. As a joke he might pull a Jesse James and make you 100% every RPG ever made. I'd rather have a cow shit in my mouth than go through that ordeal.

I got about two hours into Final Fantasy XIII, after which turned off the console and downloaded Avernum 5 for my Mac. Maybe it's my age (pushing 40 - I'm quite depressed to see that people pushing 30 are considering themselves old!), but I find Jeff Vogel's games to have better story, gameplay, and world building than any super-polygoned 3-D RPG extravaganza I've tried in the last 10 years.

I'm not sure that RPGs have really lost their ability to affect those of us who are older and grew up playing Earthbound, FF7, etc. For example, I adored Suikoden V, which came out around the tail end of the PS2 days, and while it wasn't flawless, I really enjoyed my time with Lost Odyssey as well. Lost Odyssey may have sufferred from something that seems all too common in games now, which is trying to force the emotion by having the *characters* cry (especially as a result of the death of another character), but it did have some genuinely touching moments and characters that I cared about. So maybe the problem is really that Final Fantasy just isn't the most interesting RPG series anymore.

I do think, though, that what Ted Brown mentions is very much true, and it's something that I've thought about myself. Final Fantasy 7 and 8, my two favourites in the series, do have interesting and creative worlds; I'd say that the floating Gardens of FF8 are among the most interesting aspects of any work of fiction I've encountered, game or non-game. I can still walk through Balamb Garden room-by-room in my head, which isn't something I could say about a lot of game locations (or real locations, for that matter).

But I digress. I think a big part of what makes FF7 and 8 work so well for me is what Ted was talking about - that the graphics leave a lot of the details out, and your mind fills them in. The graphics in those games *suggest* really interesting places, but it's in the imagination that those places are really constructed. The best proof of that for me is how much I like the characters in FF7, but I don't like the characters in Advent Children much at all; the Cloud and Sephiroth of Advent Children just aren't the Cloud and Sephiroth that my mind created while I played those games. I think older games benefitted from not having super-realistic graphics for exactly that reason.

>>> We've seen it all, done it all, and it's rare that a
>>> game comes along and really gets us involved in any
>>> meaningful way whether it be via the characters, the
>>> plot, or just the action.

Am I the only gamer left who doesn't give a damn about making a meaningful connection in a game? I've gamed continuously since my dad brought home a Magnavox Odyssey in 1974 which means I trump just about everyone except someone who played space war on an oscilloscope or something. :)

You know what I look for in a game? Fun. Yeah, that's it. Fun. If I get a meaty story or a game with something to say, that's a fine bonus, but all I care about at the end of the day is a fun time.

I'm having fun with FF13. The paradigm system is interesting and original. I'm also having fun with Demon's Souls and Mass Effect 2 and No More Heroes 2 and even Heavy Rain, an impossibility if these discussions of demographics and target audiences are to be believed. FF13 is linear? OK. So? And I can say that despite the fact that open world games are like crack to me.

>>> I think older games benefitted from not having
>>> super-realistic graphics for exactly that reason.

and

>>> better story, gameplay, and world building than
>>> any super-polygoned 3-D RPG extravaganza I've
>>> tried in the last 10 years.

Piffle.

This has too much of a "get off my lawn" stink to it. Cripes, someone is going to be singing the praises of text adventures next. Mind you, Zork and all those were great games for their time, but, seriously, let's move on.

Embrace the future, my fellow gaming enthusiasts, both players and creators alike. The technology pushes forward and allows the designer to bring ever more elaborate worlds to life. Me? I'll be 80 years old some day and happily inhaling that PS9 virtual reality information dust.

I think some are missing the most important element. Ask yourself, what is the game doing to create that emotional attachment? Believe it or not, mechanics play a huge role in this. If the game's design and structure can illicit the emotional attachment, that emotional (often subconscious) response from the player, then the narrative can effectively create that desired effect.

So perhaps then, bad game design is the real culprit. Rather, I would suggest in an age where image saturation and less depth are considered selling points for the mass market, the older ideals of strong game design have been forgotten or pushed aside to appease the mass market.

Great write up. Some interesting thoughts... I'd like to thank you for prompting me to remember a special time in my gaming life as well!

Abstraction can make a game more emotionally impactful, but so could better stories, writing, and direction. I think we'll get there. The 'gamer' demographic is still evolving. Hopefully we'll soon have games that cater to a crowd that demands more sophisticated stories in games.

(Also - I agree with many of Bob dillan's comments above)

The 90's were a high-point in video game RPG's for all the reasons Leigh Alexander lists. Newer games in the genre are fun, but when I want to feel more emotionally attached to a game I'm playing, I sit down with friends for some old-school pen and paper role playing. That rekindles a lot of the feeling I had as a kid playing FFVI and FFVII, so I believe aging has less to do with it. We've advanced some aspects of game development at the expense of others.

@ Bob dillan:

Bob, I am part of the target market for FF-type of games because I am a very hardcore RPG player, and specifically Japanese RPGs, as I explained in my post. I replied because Leigh's article was about RPGs in general, and used the latest FF as an example to generate discussion.

Of course, I am also part of this community, and replying to posts related to my area of study and research in order to offer additional information and insight would seem to be appropriate for any community member. Why did you reply to my post in such a manner as to suggest that I should go away? That's not a very positive way to behave as a member of a community.

"Action" is not needed for a game to be a game, nor is it needed for a game to be an enjoyable, excellent experience. The examples I mentioned from older titles to more recent examples demonstrate this fact in the RPG genre. Some have a lot of cut scenes, others do not. Some have real time combat, others do not.

You may want to read Brenda Braithwaite and Ian Schreiber's book, "Challenges for Game Designers" or even the IGDA's document for game design, creation and study in education. An important point raised in both sources is that one should not attempt to force your ideas of what is "good" or what "games are about" onto others because that is what kills the market and diversity in general.

i just read the title of this feature and i can really say: thank god iam not alone iam 30, studied media informatics... and what i can say for certain about the FFXIII story and characters is : i can not connect to them, in no way.. thank you gamasutra i will read the full feature asap

@ Jonathan Osment:

You make an intriguing point, but I think it is a bit oversimplified. To tie the emotional response a player may or may not have to any one of the myriad of factors that convene to elicit this response is doing the debate a disservice. Also, while I believe there are some poor design decisions in Final Fantasy 13, I don't think the overall design is bad. Do you? If so, I would honestly like to hear your thoughts on why.

@ Charles Forbin:

While I agree with many of your points (I'm having fun with all of the games you listed as well), let's not forget that a connection to the characters or story is a very desirable thing for a lot of people, especially in the RPG genre. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the pursuit of this connection has played a very big role in shaping what our games look like today. This, I believe, is what is at the root of the statement that the game industry and the people who work in it often refer to their work as a "labor of love." This does not mean that fun isn't also a very important, if not THE most important part of the puzzle. It's why casual games exist that have no story, even sometimes no characters to speak of. However, I think we should be careful to dismiss any important human element as unimportant as we move into the future of gaming.

Also, I believe there is a differentiation in argument here. I won't dispute the fact that Final Fantasy 13 itself is fun. But it depends on whether or not we are analyzing the game alone, or analyzing it in the context of its' predecessors and why they were successful.

Thoughts?

@Matt Zeilinger

I wouldn't say its "over" simplified, just "conveniently" simplified, in part due to the fact I would rather it be a comment rather than a lecture, article, or discussion. I believe the reason anyone cares for the characters they play or play along side is due to design that increase and or create the emotional attachment to the game's characters. Do you think anyone would have cried for Aeries if she died before getting a chance be a part of your team? What mechanics and design choices resulted in her being liked? You make villains hated because of their actions, non linear usually, but ones that the player actually feels as though their play is hindered by them. How does it become personal to the player and not just the character? Choice, when players are given more choice, such as where to go in a open world for example or with dialogue, you can increase the attachment due to ownership of that choice.

I personally haven't played 13 yet, but I have noticed an increase in linearity and simplification for the sake of mass market appeal. I constantly hear from gamers that there is too much text in older games, that certain elements should be done for you by the computer, that if they have to stop and think, it creates impatience... the problem with this is that those elements that create further interaction between player and game are what help increase the attachment to what goes on in the game. Of course if the computer does it all for you, you wont feel the same. From what I hear, 13 is fairly linear in design, which cant be good for the genre, nor the desired effect.

Just my 2cents on the topic.

Frankly, a lot of this discussion has the stink of solipsism about it. Final Fantasy's producers have explicitly stated that they continue to aim their games at teens. Not thirty-somethings. Why would you expect the game series to "grow up with you"? The people who made Final Fantasy VII that you loved so much when you were 14 weren't 14 when they made that game. They were adults. The people who made FF XIII were also adults. The series comprises iterations on their attempts to reach a set demographic: you are no longer in that demographic. The game wasn't made specifically for you, any more than FF VII was.

I don't know how much I would've liked XIII if I'd played it when I was 13 (as I played, and loved, FF VI when I was that age). I suspect I would have absolutely loved it. The characters, story, gameplay, graphics, music, etc. are not clearly any worse than those in VI. Playing it at 29, I enjoyed XIII a good deal. Best battle system in the series, likable characters, cool world (those who are saying VII's world was more interesting conceptually: seriously? Gaia vs The Corporation is more interesting than a primitive-futuristic instantiation of the Roman idea of genius locii? Really? Well, to each his/her own, but I find it very hard to believe anyone would make this claim w/out a healthy dose of nostalgia). XIII wasn't the huge emotional event that VI was when I first played that. But why should it have been? I've been down this road before. It still leads somewhere nice, but it can't be a revelation the tenth time.

The ceaseless whining on the net from old-timers re how FF XIII didn't give them the tingly leg feeling FF VII did is ridiculous. You know what doesn't give me the tingly leg feeling now it did when I was four? Mobiles hung above my sleeping location. I mean, it's like I've grown up but the mobile makers haven't. For shame mobile makers. I want fewer muted colors and more mature themes in my mobiles. Further, Baby Einstein's core demographic at time of instantiation no longer comprises babies. Where are the toddler and pre-adolescent Einsteins?

None of this is to say FF XIII is a perfect game, mind you. Just that I'd be very curious what young people (the people it was explicitly made for) are thinking about it. More so than what a bunch of disenfranchised 30-year-old mopers who are only interested in recapturing the past are thinking about it.

^Er, make that "fewer PRIMARY colors..."

@Jonathan Osment
I just created an account to respond to your post. I couldn't agree more, the characters just aren't as memorable as they should be and it does feel like over simplification is somewhat to blame here. If i were to guess i'd say its because the characters are constantly in high stress situations. Theirs no real banter, humorous moments, embarrassment, betrayal, love interest. The characters go from chapter to chapter repeating the same window of their personality. If 13 had memorable characters I don't doubt for a second that it would have received the same praise as 7. One of the things that makes Aeris so memorable is the little moments she shares with cloud. As clouds holding her in her arms while she's dying the player has memories of the time the two spent with each other. It wasn't just about how awesome cloud is or how sweet and girl-next-doory Aeris's personality is, I think its because their were moments during the game where all the stress of midgar and shinra were put on hold. While I respect SE's decision to exclude towns and I would have agreed before playing it that it makes sense on paper, I think the a game needs to have that kind of slowed down pacing to give the characters a chance to develop personalities outside of their turmoil.

But to get back to the point I think the fact that they oversimplified the process influenced what kind of pacing they went with, and while FF13 stays very direct and keeps the characters on task, I think it makes it harder for the characters to display their full potential of human emotions that help bind the player to his character.

In short FF13 plays out too much like an action movie and not enough like a novel, focusing too much on the characters struggle and how they deal with it than developing an authentic and humanistic character depth. Sorry for the rant but I hope I made my point clear and I think that strong characterization/humanization is overlooked too often in being able to pull a player into the game.

Maybe part of the detachment from the characters is partially due to the voice acting. I see a lot of comparisons between FF VII and FF XIII, and one huge difference is one game had voice overs and the other didn't. It could be that some folks don't like some of the voice acting in the FF XIII for one reason or another, so right there's a reason for disconnecting from the characters. Especially when delivering certain emotions, the player might not relate because they would never sound like that if faced with the same circumstances.

In FF VII, the player was the voice actor for each character in their own mind. Since the characters where delivering the lines the way the player wanted them too, I could see that as reason to become more attached to the characters. If all the characters in FF VII had Rosanne Bar, Gilbert Godfrey and Ben Stein doing the voices, I'm pretty sure that people wouldn't be as attached to the characters.