Each iteration of Final Fantasy (with the exception of IX) has seen an increase in technology. The first games on the NES were the purest fantasy, though they set the fantasy/technology blend the series is known for with things like airships. Final Fantasy IV took it a step further, though the overall level of technology remained the same. VI was the first of the games to really change this, being very steampunk in nature. VII really took a jump, with Midgar, a highly advanced city. It's progressed until the latest non-MMO Final Fantasy game, XIII, which barely resembles fantasy at all.

So, my question to all of you: where should the setting be in terms of technology? Should airships be the most advanced technology in the game, or are you cool with impossible floating technologically advanced cities cities?

Personally, my fondness for Final Fantasy IX makes me partial to a more classic setting. Even scaled back, the Final Fantasy universe is very unique among its genre counterparts. Keeping the series more focused on fantasy makes the world more... believable, I'll say. It's harder for me to accept wild magical technology similar to that found in later games. To be honest, I think some of it reaches the point of absurdity. I'm ok with it to a degree; X seemed to hit that fantasy/technology blend right on the mark.

So, what do you think?

Whatever it was in FFX-2. Dress spheres? Si señor.

I don't want Final Fantasy to be tied to any one technological age. Mix it up I say.

I want just enough technology as is required to combine guns with swords.

@Spoonman671 said:

I want just enough technology as is required to combine guns with swords.

This

@Spoonman671 said:

I want just enough technology as is required to combine guns with swords.

How does that "gun" shoot? It's barrel seems to have been replaced by a blade.

6 VI if i have to choose, but that is because it is my favorite FF game

@spazmaster666 said:

@Spoonman671 said:

I want just enough technology as is required to combine guns with swords.

How does that "gun" shoot? It's barrel seems to have been replaced by a blade.

There's a hole at the end for the bullet to come out. Granted, the barrel's long enough that the bullet will be sluggishly traveling at the speed of rock when it comes out, but at least that answers your question.

I want just enough technology as is required to combine guns with swords.

@Video_Game_King said:

There's a hole at the end for the bullet to come out. Granted, the barrel's long enough that the bullet will be sluggishly traveling at the speed of rock when it comes out, but at least that answers your question.

I know the answer is "hey it's video games" but why not just attach a bayonet to the revolver since you're obviously not going to be swinging that "sword" around. I'm not usually one to criticize ridiculous video game weapons but that gun/sword makes no sense whatsoever.

Just as Final Fantasy's gameplay and story focus varies greatly from game to game, there should be no limitation on the technological level present in the games' universes.

@spazmaster666:

Which one looks more awesome, though?

I like the variety it adds. I am more for the blend of Sci-fi and Fantasy though, much like in FFXIII (the only one I've played). I just think it has a certain charm to it when I can dungeon it out in huge futuristic cities and then play around in a lush fantasy environment all in the same sitting.

I don't care. Any level of tech can work. Stone-age? There were crystals back then! There would be surprisingly little difference. Cid in VII has a spear, Tifa fights with fists, clubs are pretty damaging too. There were cities and kings and gods in those days. Imagine a prehistoric Chocosaurus.

Suppose humanity is so advanced that they've evolved into beings of pure energy communicating via telepathy. I think they'll still hang out with Mogs and Chocobos. Also, they'll need crystals for home decor. With good enough writing it could still work. I think orbs of energy would still squabble. War never changes.

@Video_Game_King said:

@spazmaster666:

Which one looks more awesome, though?

I dunno, this looks pretty awesome:

Also, I think they made Lightning's gunblades look pretty awesome in FFXIII while also making them look like actual functioning guns.

@BoG: There are two robots in Final Fantasy 1 that would like to have a word with you. The games almost always seem to have advanced precursors. My favorite tech setting was the "dirty" Magitek of FF7 and FF8.

@Voxel said:

@Spoonman671

I want just enough technology as is required to combine guns with swords.

Lightning's weapon in Final Fantasy XIII is a a combination of a gun and a blade.

If I remember my lore correctly, the gunblade from FF VIII did NOT shoot bullets, but rather caused the blade to vibrate at a high speed. However, the gun blade featured in parasite eve 2 actually fired shot gun shells, but I believe this is non cannon (not to be confused with hand cannon, which that weapon is).

So closes another chapter in "Things I remember from my teenage years that remind me I really am a huge nerd and no amount football games watched or issues of GQ read will erase"

@spazmaster666 said:

@Spoonman671 said:

I want just enough technology as is required to combine guns with swords.

How does that "gun" shoot? It's barrel seems to have been replaced by a blade.

There's a hole at the end for the bullet to come out. Granted, the barrel's long enough that the bullet will be sluggishly traveling at the speed of rock when it comes out, but at least that answers your question.

I've been entertaining the idea of every Final Fantasy taking place in the same world/timeline, so as far as I'm concerned it can keep progressing tech wise.

The fantasy steampunk aesthetic of FF VI was my personal favorite

I like when they have that Space Egyptian sort of technology thing going on.

Civilization in Final Fantasy has always been totally crazy to me.

When you think about FFXII's Ivalice, for instance, with our understanding of linear technological progress, it doesn't make any sense. Ultimately, I think they approach world-building from a purely aesthetic standpoint - which I can respect, if not necessarily agree with. No one at Square is asking the hard questions about if the rifles used by Archadian soldiers implies a discovery of gunpowder, and what impact that discovery has on ground warfare. No one is asking why a world filled with giant metal airships is simultaneously empty of automobiles. They do it just 'cause.

As for your question, I'd rather they stay away from the super high-tech future settings, because I don't think they do that as well - or at least, they don't do what I want them to do in that space. The best sci-fi stories, at least to me, are those that actually address the effects of new technologies on human society, and Final Fantasy is just not interested in that. Even the most futuristic ones, like FFXIII, are mostly just reinterpretations of common fantasy tropes in a different setting - which isn't bad, just not what I want.

I've got it. They're all AIs born in and stuck in the internet. It's like Tron.

The gods were the original AIs, who created an MMO-like world for their children. When humanity dies off, they've already computerized the infrastructure to make the net self-sustaining. It's like an electronic ecosystem. Bandwidth is the lifestream or something. They live in an MMO world that's real to them, like the Matrix, except they could never really handle the real world outside of a trance-state. But what if some greedy and misguided corporation/emperor starts abusing bandwidth to the point that the natural systems of the "world" start to slow down?

@Turambar said:

Actually the gunblade doesn't shoot anything. Or at least not Squall's Gunblade. The bullet is meant to serve as a catalyst that causes the blade to vibrate, increasing its ability to cut thought stuff when triggered.

So it's essentially a giant, gunpowder-fueled, sharpened dildo?

I know Versus XIII isn't out yet, so I'm not exactly sure of the actual setting of the game, but from the trailers, it looks pretty contemporary. I like that.

@Encephalon said:

Civilization in Final Fantasy has always been totally crazy to me.

When you think about FFXII's Ivalice, for instance, with our understanding of linear technological progress, it doesn't make any sense. Ultimately, I think it's all aesthetic. No one at Square is asking the hard questions about if the rifles used by Archadian soldiers implies a discovery of gunpowder, and what impact that discovery has on ground warfare. No one is asking why a world filled with giant metal airships is simultaneously empty of automobiles. They do it just 'cause.

As for your question, I'd rather they stay away from the super high-tech future settings, because I don't think they do that as well. Or at least, they don't do what I want them to do in that space. The best sci-fi stories, at least to me, are those that actually address the effects of new technologies on human society, and Final Fantasy is just not interested in that.

Yeah, it should be a given that no one is expecting linear progress of technology. FFVIII did have cars, though. I totally agree with everything you said, though.

it should be pre-hairstylists

I personally like a fantasy medieval-steampunk setting for my Final Fantasy games. It needs to be a time period where swords can still be a viable weapon and still have some cool things (both manmade and non manmade) that you can't find in the real world. So pretty much IX is the standard time period that I liked my Final Fantasies.

I like that in IX airships are widespread enough that the Waltz assassin had a personal craft. Cool beans.

@Turambar said:

Actually the gunblade doesn't shoot anything. Or at least not Squall's Gunblade. The bullet is meant to serve as a catalyst that causes the blade to vibrate, increasing its ability to cut thought stuff when triggered.

So it's essentially a giant, gunpowder-fueled, sharpened dildo?

@Spoonman671:

That's more like a giant, gunpowder-fueled, sharpened strap-on. Or dick-claw. I haven't seen Se7en.

@Spoonman671 said:

@Video_Game_King said:

@Turambar said:

Actually the gunblade doesn't shoot anything. Or at least not Squall's Gunblade. The bullet is meant to serve as a catalyst that causes the blade to vibrate, increasing its ability to cut thought stuff when triggered.

So it's essentially a giant, gunpowder-fueled, sharpened dildo?

No, you're looking for something more like this.

If you hadn't mentioned anything, I could have mistaken that for another of Voldo's crazy costumes from Soul Caliber.

As for the topic, I like X's style. Mostly because they have a story reason to be so behind in technology, but I don't mind more sci-fi looking stuff either.

FF VII was basically modern times and it worked really well by playing on real-world issues of the day.

Of course, I thought XII was great for doing the same thing in a different world and time-period.

And both had Chocobos.

I liked the FF6/FF7 kinda steampunk cities with outlying areas closer to traditional fantasy, that way you got the best of both worlds. Not a huge fan of FFXIII's setting but that probably has a lot to do with the amount of that world you actually get to explore, by which I mean none of it. Ditto X, though it had some nice memorable environments.