STACK NZ Dec #80

GAMES FEATURE

visit stack.net.nz

Words Mark Ankucic

Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy An age ago, in the time only known as 2006, Square Enix announced that there would be a series of games within the title of FFXIII. The titles included FFXIII, FFXIII Agito and FFXIII Versus, which would go on to be FFXIII (and its sequels under the umbrella of ‘Lightning Saga’), Final Fantasy Type-0 , and FFXV. Meaning ‘New tale of the crystal’, Fabula Nova Crystallis could have been considered a soft reboot of the series. For gamers who haven’t gracefully slid into the mature bracket just yet, it might seem like there was no need to reboot a series where the games were arguably very similar. All of them featured turn- based combat, epic adventures and overwhelming themes. However, the wizened and experienced gamer would have noticed drastic changes since the release of the first Final Fantasy , noting the transition of nameless avatars to fully-fleshed out characters, plot points becoming more and more complex, and the shift away from the original core theme of Final Fantasy – crystals. In an interview with Wired.co.uk, Hajime Tabita, director of FFXV, described the theory behind Crystallis: “The original idea was to create a series of games around the 'Crystal Legend' mythology, but not restrict developers to a single direction. We wanted it to be quite a broad idea. It was like the mythology of ancient Greece and how

Whether they’re diving down the rabbit hole of an elevator conversation to create Kingdom Hearts, or letting Tetsuya Nomura know he’s the director of the FFVII remake after the project was already underway, Square Enix has a tendency to chase the dreams it’s barely woken up from. It’s a peculiar kind of brashness that has accompanied Square and Final Fantasy since its inception, the tale almost mythos now in the gaming world. A developer on its last legs puts all of its efforts into one last title, and dubs it their ‘Final Fantasy’. They then go on to keep producing Final Fantasies for the next 29 years. The stakes have changed and the brashness has evolved alongside it. On the one hand, their success is undeniable – they’ve had a hit on nearly every major platform, they’ve created some of gaming’s most iconic characters, and they’ve pushed every boundary within the medium. However, the other hand is often trying to juggle more balls that it can handle.

GAMES

Enter Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy

20

DECEMBER 2016

jbhifi.co.nz