games you dislike that everyone likes and vice versa

[psychospacecow]

I can't wrap my head around why the Final Fantasy games are so popular. It might be the fact that I never actually grew up with them (I did see one of my old friends play Final Fantasy X a long time ago, but my mom denied me from ever playing that series because the characters looked awful to her and it was a little too far from being family friendly). Even though I don't think that should bug her anymore, I still can't see myself playing those games anyway. Not only are the characters too anime-ish (for lack of a better word) for my tastes (I already get my fill of that from playing game series such as Pokémon, Kingdom Hearts, some Zelda games), but also there not much to do in battle and exploration. Sure, there's a lot to see and fight in the Final Fantasy games, but if you look at the Mario RPGs and the Kingdom Hearts games (especially the first one), they capitalize on interaction. Instead of just walking around and simply taping buttons to go through menus, you're jumping around and moving in more ways than one to overall progress through the game. Also, I know that Pokémon is not very different from Final Fantasy when it comes to battle, but at least there's a little more to do in the overworld when you use Pokémon abilities outside of battle. Plus, the concept of finding and recruiting countless creatures to aid you is unique enough to grab my attention.

I think I'm gonna try to see about saying a few things on this one if no one minds.

The primary reason why Final Fantasy became popular has a lot to do with the times it first appeared. Final Fantasy became a figurehead in an era where tech wasn't up to snuff to allow for longer games. JRPGs were very popular because they by their very nature allowed for many hours of gameplay. JRPGs were popular because you didn't finish them so quickly, in fact many people didn't finish them. Most people talk about Final Fantasy 7 when bringing up the series. It was the first 3D game in the main series. That stuck out to people who were still seeking out jrpgs at the time. The series actually started to lose favor as other genres started to take its place. That's why games past 10 are so different. They were chasing a gimmick in their combat.

Jrpgs as a whole are known for their emphasis on story. That makes the medium of Final Fantasy more easily palatable to different generations. You can play Chrono Trigger now. Its just as playable now as it was when it came out, if not more so due to its availability on different consoles. 2D jrpgs generally can fall into this, minus the rereleases, but I'm digressing.

This is where Final Fantasy 7 shines. It was the first 3D Final Fantasy, an already well known and accepted series. It was the first in the series designed for PC. That's right, it was designed with PC in mind. That's why you see Final Fantasy 7 HD re release on PC and 3 and 4 remakes. The first 3D final fantasy, which is brought up most out of the series is constantly made available on new consoles because they're essentially just PCs. So, the iconic game of the series is readily available, as is 8 for the same reason.

Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts weren't a thing when this series started and Pokemon is really as popular as it is for similar reasons. It is a series that started on a system with low specs, a simple battle mechanic with inherent logical but not technical complexity, and an emphasis on story with room to expand. Just personally, my favorite was 9.