Expectations for FXIII and FFXIV

Over the last few weeks I've been reading a lot of the little previews that 1up has been writing. I just finished listening to the podcast they released yesterday (Feb 25th, 2010) and there seems to be common theme and fear that Final Fantasy XIII isn't as good as people had hoped. The general complaint in the podcast was that the game was too liner, basically a straight line from start to finish. This is interesting, I haven't played the game, but these complaints are not going to keep me from doing so.

This got me thinking, why would Square-Enix talk about how this is a different game, that the focus is on the story, and how it's not like an RPG, rather they wanted this to create a new genre? Well I feel they are trying to set expectations, so that when there are cries, they can say, we told you that was the game we were making.

Now, I can't look into the development cycle of Final Fantasy XIII and tell you what the game would have been, should have been, etc... But I have to say I'm pretty pumped about Final Fantasy XIII. In every Final Fantasy game they change it up, whether that is one thing or a hundred, and for those who might expect one thing I can see how that can be upsetting. We all have our favorite Final Fantasy game, and because of that it will be hard for anyone to create another that surpasses the joy you got with your favorite in the series.

The big trouble facing XIII is that people where hoping for another Final Fantasy VII. I know I was, but while I don't remember the source, I remember reading that others were hoping for that as well. I don't know about you, but those are big shoes to fill. I've gone back and played Final Fantasy VII a bit and I have to say that the memories I hold in my mind make the game bigger and better then it was. In fact, if I judged any game now by the level of my excitement then, I would have to say that most games don't compare.

The troubling issue that I see is that people might write the game off, or go into it feeling let down before they even have a chance to play and enjoy the game for itself. Sure we can nitpick, but let's do that later, after we enjoyed getting the game home, playing it for hours and then deciding for ourselves if it was worth our time. I say it is, while I have my favorite games in the series. Each new game opens up a new world and story to delve into, and for that I am excited.

This kind of "setting expectations" and "overall changes" also applies to Final Fantasy XIV (and thus the reason I'm posting it to this site). In our case most of what we had to go off of is Square-Enix's current MMO Final Fantasy XI. For me, I have high hopes that this game will be everything that I have wanted in XI for years and more. Perhaps that's not realistic, or at least not at game launch. But I'm more worried about hard core old XI fans that might see something they don't like and then storm off without giving the game a chance. I feel that most people who saw that XIV was online wrote it off because they were burned by XI and didn't want to be burned again. However, we are at a good time for news about XIV. And hopefully that will win some people back over to its camp before the game is released later this year. Now, XIII is almost here in the states, and there is that vibe that the game isn't perfect, so people will want to look towards the next Final Fantasy game for hope that it will surpass their favorite and become their new one. And that’s OK too.

There really isn't any solution other then blocking out any media about a game. However, in some cases it's more fun to read and analyze every little bit of information trying to figure it all out before the game is released. I for one will be enjoying XIII when it comes out and searching for every last bit of XIV information out there I can find. So watch out for others who are trying to set your expectations, as well as be careful of how high you set yours. After all, it's just a game. :)