Why We Need A New FFVII
This is far from the first article about the stagnation of the Japanese RPG, but when even genre grandfather Hironobu Sakaguchi thinks JRPG stereotypes are stale, designers ought to bloody listen.
The JRPG genre needs another Final Fantasy VII. And I don't mean it needs another entry in the dubiously titled FFVII 'series'. I also don't mean an HD remake of the original FFVII, or anything of that sort.
What I mean when I say We Need A New FFVII, is we need another game to come along that redefines the cultural impact of the genre in the same way FFVII did when it was released in 1997.
FFVII defined the RPG for many people. It certainly defined the RPG for western audiences, who pre-FFVII had largely not cared about what seemed like a totally inacessible genre of game. FFVII, by combining genre staples with lavish (for the time) production values and the kind of sci-fi storyline a western audience could just about digest, established the genre for the western market.
And the JRPG developers noticed this. Since then, they've largely been content to try and turn out clones of FFVII in a hope to emulate its success, and for a while it worked. However, 14 years later, when the genre has moved forwards so little, things are getting a bit desperate for the genre as a whole.
Think about the leaps forward other genres in gaming have made since 1997. Then think about how little the JRPG genre has moved on in that time. Genre designers are seeming unwilling to break away from design cliches, and as a result, the once-popular genre is now severely in decline.
That's not to say there aren't good examples of JRPGs that have left staple cliches behind and made efforts to bring the genre up to date. Demon's Souls is a JRPG, as is Monster Hunter. The fact that you wouldn't identify them as such from watching someone playing them only shows how successful they have been at moving the genre forwards.
These games have taken what works best from the JRPG genre and brought merged them with modern game design in ways that make them truly standout experiences, and two of the best games I've played this console generation.
You could say the Monster Hunter, with its phenomenal success in Japan and growing presence in the west, is the New FFVII. The surprising (even to the developer) success of Demon's Souls is also promising.
However, it is telling of the state of the Japanese games industry that even in the wake of Monster Hunter's success, few companies are trying to emulate its formula, with many preferring to stay mired in the familiar territory of menu micro-management and static combat.
Will there be a JRPG that truly shakes the world's perception of the genre in the way FFVII did? If there is, I'd say it's unlikely to come out of Square Enix (my previous blog post does a good enough job relaying my opinion on their recent output). Maybe Sakaguchi and Mistwalker will produce something truly marvellous in the coming years, or maybe someone else will step up and unveil the New FFVII.
Hell, if someone gives me a huge pile of money, I'll design the damn thing. I'll even give it to Square Enix so they can pretend its their idea, instead of releasing FFXIII-2. Even abbreviated, it is almost impossible to type the name of that game correctly on the first try.
