The gaming and technology industry continues to expand, reaching new peaks that we 15 years ago never thought would be possible. While technology keeps growing, the gaming world has seemed to be in a steady decline over the past few years (or so some hard core critics may say). There doesn't seem to be an idea, a trick, or a gimmick that hasn't already been used. Graphically, it's difficult to make a game look any better, unless we were to delve into the world of 3D and virtual reality. Every "hero" and "adventure" cliche has been seen time and time again. Even revolutionizing motion control in an attempt to get people more "involved" seems to be failing. Every element in creating a perfect game seems to be fading. What do you do when you've run out of ideas? You build on to a beloved franchise that has a loyal following, in hopes that you've created the next masterpiece of this generation.
Over the past few years, one of the definite trends has been sequels or newer titles to some of the biggest titles in the gaming world. Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Zelda, Silent Hill, Fable and Mario are just a few that I can think of. Logically, one would think that taking a cherished franchise from your childhood and upgrading it would be great. But the reality is that the majority of people in the gaming community are stuck in the days of old. All they can think about is how great Resident Evil 2 was, and how different and almost estranged Resident Evil 6 is from the franchise. The new generation and the old generation are at war. Developers fail to please the loyal fan base by rapidly changing something that they once loved, and fail to please the newer generation by failing to change something enough. Critics and gamer alike have no issue expressing their opinions on all of the rapid changes.
But please, put down your torches and pitchforks. As a person who has been passionate about video games for over half of my lifetime, I've seen my fair share of changes to some of my favorite game titles. I'm not even that old and sometimes I feel myself saying, "They just don't make games like this anymore," when I pick up one of my most treasured childhood games. While older games will always have a special place in my heart, I've always tried to remain open minded and positive to the newer generation of games that have been released over the past few years. I want to enjoy gaming just as much as I did 5 or 10 years ago. So I ask myself, what is it about this game in the series that I love that this newer one in the series is missing? I've challenged myself to change the way that I think.
Enough of the comparisons! Too often do people compare games simply by title, rather than looking at the game for well.. the game. If you're comparing games within a series instead of looking at the game on it's own, then you're already setting yourself up for disappointment. It would be silly to say that Snow could ever replace Cloud, or that there will be a Mario game that will ever live up to the name of Super Mario Bros. But if you look at a character, a scenario, or a game as an individual, you can form a somewhat unbiased opinion, rather then being stuck in a state of nostalgia or stubbornness of how a game with this title "should be."
I recognize that Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy VII are two completely different games, although they share the same name of "Final Fantasy". I enjoyed them both for completely different reasons, and was able to look at them as a game, and not games in the Final Fantasy series.
My point is this: decide whether or not you like a game for how the game plays, and not how it plays or stacks up against other games in the same franchise. You may have more fun that way. :)
Enough of the comparisons! Too often do people compare games simply by title, rather than looking at the game for well.. the game. If you're comparing games within a series instead of looking at the game on it's own, then you're already setting yourself up for disappointment. It would be silly to say that Snow could ever replace Cloud, or that there will be a Mario game that will ever live up to the name of Super Mario Bros. But if you look at a character, a scenario, or a game as an individual, you can form a somewhat unbiased opinion, rather then being stuck in a state of nostalgia or stubbornness of how a game with this title "should be."
I recognize that Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy VII are two completely different games, although they share the same name of "Final Fantasy". I enjoyed them both for completely different reasons, and was able to look at them as a game, and not games in the Final Fantasy series.
My point is this: decide whether or not you like a game for how the game plays, and not how it plays or stacks up against other games in the same franchise. You may have more fun that way. :)
