Secret to the Success

Last weekend a friend brought it to my attention, years later, both Final Fantasy 7 and Ocarina of Time are still as popular as ever. They’re still highly rated and this popularity shows no signs of abating. Some may say this is because both games are kept in public eye through the DS revamp (for Ocarina) and SqueeEnix milking Cloud and co for all their worth but others may attribute the principle that a game that has lasted due to it doing everything right.

Which now brings forth a new question: What do we do now? The enduring popularity of Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7 may suggest that the greatest game(s) of all time have been made and there’s little point trying to best them. And it would seem many other people agree.
Both games were essentially the end of a long period of evolution: Final Fantasy evolved over six games, developing things that worked and ditching things that didn’t. As a result, Final Fantasy 7 was the breakthrough hit and brought mass awareness to the end result. BUT! Whilst Final Fantasy 7 was a mass seller unlike any other, it also made millions aware of the formula. Indeed, once played Final Fantasy 7 one can’t really go back to the previous games as the formula is now obvious – and in the games since, the formula has been tampered with to mixed results. The evolution of the formula, and the pioneering spirit it comes with, is more or less now irreverent. Once you know what works, it kind of shapes the perception of future endeavors.

The same goes with Ocarina of Time. The original Legend of Zelda was, at the time, ground-breaking of it’s open-ended gaming. Link to the Past revved it up a notch with expanding the formula and introducing new concepts (not least the Dark World). Does this mean anything? Of course not. Why? Because the formula reached it’s zenith with Ocarina of Time. It made the formula work and sold like hotcakes. That’s not to say that both Oot and FF7 were doing anything new (the former expanded and improved the experiments of Super Mario 64 and the latter eschewed medieval/steampunk setting for cyberpunk) but in the end it was the result of years of evolution that nothing can possibly follow it. Thus every Final Fantasy game since has polarised opinions and people have been treating both Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess with more apprehension than eagerness. Maybe once people know the secret to one’s success the mystique surrounding the product tends to dissipate.

It does raise an interesting point though: Which is more important: The game that introduces a new idea or the game that actually make the idea work? Personally, my money is on the latter however reluctantly. It’s a fact true but not one I’m happy with. Think I’m wrong? Okay then: hands up who’s heard of Aerith Gainsborough. Right: now hands up who’s heard of Nei – yes all five of you.