That said, one common complaint about the 7th generation of video games (roughly translatable to 360, PS3, Wii, DS and PSP) was a perceived decline in quantity of Japanese RPGs, accompanied by a sharp rise in their western counterparts. You'd rarely find a PS2 library without a copy of Final Fantasy X, while a 360 library without Mass Effect felt similarly empty. There certainly were JRPGs on the systems, games like Lost Odyssey and Final Fantasy XIII were released, but to little fanfare or mixed reactions. Final Fantasy remains a huge presence in gaming, but serves as an exception to prove the rule in many cases.
At this point, I should mention that the handheld systems, both DS and PSP, served as a safe haven for traditional JRPGs, with a variety of remakes from the old guard and a smattering of new titles, but people were longing for home console RPG experiences with beautiful art backed up by grand processing power like Final Fantasy VII and X did for their respective systems. It doesn't take a financial genius to point out that utilizing more powerful hardware to any extent becomes more and more expensive as time progresses.
As David Cage revels in the number of polygons possible on screen at once, the time devoted to each model and texture is constantly growing. In a lot of ways, Final Fantasy both popularized and killed off its own genre; it told beautiful stories with innovative battle systems and superb soundtracks, yet the focus on graphical horsepower has created a gigantic money-sink, so only a few games can be made. Go big or don't bother seemed to be the message, and even the mighty Squaresoft has felt the wrath of this risky practice. Final Fantasy: Spirits Within was such a bust, it led to them being bought by former enemy Enix.
This is coupled by a perceived decline in quality in Final Fantasy entries. While I know there are those who earnest like the last decade's Final Fantasy games, these do not reflect the general opinion. Final Fantasy X-2's ridiculous plot dressed in a superfluous skin, Final Fantasy XII touted a massive world, but a horribly padded story with underwhelming characters, and Final Fantasy XIII was one long corridor with little room for deviation from the prescribed path. I will go on record now and say I somewhat enjoyed each of these entries; they all had something new to offer the series, but I also feel they each had significant drawbacks which held them all back from greatness. Yet I don't think there is nothing that can/has not been learnt from these experiments.
What I find most interesting about the lack of embrace in Final Fantasies XII and XIII (Hereafter called FF12 and FF13), is how the failings of one are provided in abundance by the other. FF13 is probably the most actively disliked Final Fantasy by modern fans, because it offers an almost complete lack of freedom. Until Chapter 11/13 (i.e. the best part of the game), you are on a linear path from A-B with many cutscenes peppered through your journey, where the characters exchange dialogue about who killed who's mother or who is getting engaged to who's sister. Many also complained at the lack of a clear objective; our characters do not know their Focus (objective), and spend the opening 20 hours meandering in personal drama.
The opposite can be said in FF12; the game is arguably best right away, a huge open world is accessible to explore almost right away, and you get to experiment with a shiny new battle system. After a few hours of small tasks, you encounter the plot with Princess Ashe, who had disappeared after the assassination of her father by the former Captain, Basch, except it wasn't Basch at all, he was framed, and it is up to you to clear Basch's name and return Ashe to the throne. A simple premise that sound genuinely interesting, except it is dragged out over a 70 hour game, with multiple false objectives padding it out. "What's that? the plot device you spend the last 10 hours getting doesn't work? Well, I know of another one in a far off land, go get it!" sort of writing, it gets old really fast. This not helped by only half the cast having personalities; Ashe, Basch and especially Balthier are great characters, but Fran, Vaan and Penelo are empty vessels, leading to uninteresting dialogue that just makes you ask why these people are here. The customization of fighting styles was also flawed; you get almost no idea what items certain licenses will gain you unless you are right next to it, meaning you could not plan things out long term without resorting to a guide.
An overly padded story with fake objectives, or a meandering plot the only gains direction in the third act? Yet FF13's characters are all notable personalities and quirks, while FF12 offers huge amounts of freedom in its world and character battle system. Two incomplete experiences that could have been great, but both end up lacking; at the time, people criticized FF12 for being "too open ended", which is an interesting claim, and brings me to the idea of choice in JRPGs (yes, we're finally getting to it).
Back in the good old NES days, RPGs (and The Legend of Zelda) were games famed for being open-ended, you had the "choice" of going to this town now, or battling some monsters, or being a certain class. What's interesting is in a modern design sense, a lot of these wouldn't be considered choices, strictly because there is a "right" answer. You NEED to go to this town eventually to proceed the narrative, you NEED to defeat these monsters because otherwise the boss will be needlessly difficult. The only real choice is in the character class selection, but even then, there is technically an optimal solution; if you choose a team of all white mages, you're gonna have a bad time. While it can be fun for self-imposed challenges, a typical playthrough is best served with a well balanced team with at least one member able to cast each type of magic.
The Super Nintendo is oft heralded as the Golden Age of JRPGs, and for good reason, it housed greats like Final Fantasy IV and VI, Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger, yet these games are certainly linear experiences for the most part. Final Fantasy IV and Super Mario RPG especially followed very strict sets of events. The "choice" of differing equipment isn't a choice at all, there are right choices because the one with the higher number is objectively better. Even during the magnetically charged cave, you must not use metal equipment, it is the wrong answer.
Final Fantasy VI and Chrono trigger were early attempts to offer certain freedoms to the players; you could choose to develop certain characters in Final Fantasy VI with Magecite learning different spells, and in both games you can chose who to use in battle and when to enter the final battle, leading to Chrono Trigger's 12 different endings. These are actual choices, none are necessarily more valid than another, leading to a personalized experience. In a typical Pokémon playthrough, there is no right answer between Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle. Originally Bulbasaur would give you an easier ride during the early sections and Charmander would give you a harder one, but the player would not know that, it is simply "which do you prefer?"
The criticism of the linearity of FF13 inevitably boils down to two points, the story being subpar (which it was) and a lack of choice. Choice is an interesting idea, in a genre as traditionally linear as the JRPG; it was where the "But thou must!" trope after all. People want at least a limited amount of freedom to participate in the story as they wish. We live in a post-GTA3 world, a game which allowed for potentially dozens of hours of gameplay without ever requiring one pays attention to the main storyline, but rather providing a world to play around in. This was relatively common in PS1 and PS2 era RPGs, with trade sequences, side quests and often a card game to distract, when you weren't interested in saving the world. Final Fantasy XIII-2 introduced a casino area (mirroring FF7's Gold Saucer) for that specific reason.
It's not like these personal freedom's need to come at the expense of the narrative either; If Mass Effect has proven anything, its that one can take time to soak in the game's world, it will make the journey more memorable. One can find fun in the combat, or by talking to that one bystander to learn just how everything went down in that part of the world. It's how the lore in the Metroid Prime games remain engaging, or the books littered throughout the Elder Scrolls game, yet FF13 hides its details within data-logs, almost afraid to take time developing its world in front of the player, for fear of boring them, instead throwing drama in at every opportunity.
Yet not all choice in RPGs is the choice of hanging around or proceeding in plot, personal freedom of expression is a viable, and potentially profound, way of engaging the player. The oft forgotten Final Fantasy V, while offering a bare-bones plot, provided players with the freedom to customize their party to a hitherto unseen level. At the beginning of the game, you are a freelancer, and as you progress throughout the story, you gain the ability to partake in new job classes. It permitted experimentation with different types of parties, and ultimately the party you finish the game with will be unique to you. Other Final Fantasies have attempted to provide this level of freedom since, but these games have always been marred with other issues (i.e. 8, 10-2 and 12), it emphasized an idea in people's head that we need a limited narrative or limited choice, which simply is not the case. The most popular games in the franchise, 7 and 10, both offer a degree of character freedom in character personalization, but not to the extent of the priorly listed.
This leads me to make a point I probably should have mentioned at the beginning, Final Fantasy and JRPGs are not synonymous. For a long time now, the series has diverged into uncharted grounds with new mechanics, gameplay styles and mythologies. It would be like claiming Lady Gaga is a typical Pop star or Madoka Magica is a typical Magical girl anime. Final Fantasy is the oddball JRPG series that has a mixed track record but usually remembered for its high points.
As mentioned earlier in this article, the DS and PSP were a safe-haven for RPGs; lower budgets allowed for a freedom that the HD market never permits, for both remaining true to the traditions of the genre, as well as pushing forward with new ideas. Dragon Quest IX was able to introduce multiplayer to the conservative series, Radiant Historia was a more in-depth look into the time traveling mechanics of Chrono Trigger. The World Ends With You is a great example us choice in a linear narrative; while in universe, each task has a time limit for Neku and his companion to achieve, the player has as much time as they want to experiment and play around with all the different options; all the different fashions and badges provides room for experimentation and personalizing your battles to your taste, and this was a game published by Square Enix, they can still do this!
But the best examples of this would be Atlus' recent Persona games; you are given a year in game to do what you wish, within certain parameters. You have 8 days to save Yukiko from the TV, but you can spend the first 6 days building bonds with your classmates, or doing a part-time job, or participating in a club, or grinding levels. Persona gives you a deadline, and leaves you to pursue the target at your own pace. I'd argue the very best example of the series from a choice perspective is Persona 3 Portable for PSP, which added the ability to play as a female protagonist (which SHOULD be standard, you dropped the ball with P4G Atlas!), which opened for new stories and romantic options within the stories. All this choice, while still providing a strong, memorable and stylish narrative.
We're living in a world where personal choice is a huge contributing appeal towards games; if the receptions of games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds verses Final Fantasy 13, the importance of player agency is one that seems key to an evolving RPG and gaming landscape. What's fortunate is that Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII looks to offer just that; a wide open world like FF12's, personal customization like FF5 and 10-2 and a given deadline like Persona, loads of freedom to perform tasks how the player wants, when they want. Hopefully the game holds up to expectations, I'd love a new great Final Fantasy.
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