Lusipurr.com – Presenting the Sundry Opinions of Lusipurr and Friends

So, reportedly, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series has sold 85 million copies since its debut waaaay back in 1987. Unsurprisingly, this makes it Squeenix’s best-selling franchise, with Dragon Quest hot on its heels and Kingdom Hearts bringing up the rear.

My goodness, but isn’t the staying power of the series remarkable?

I know it’s more and more popular these days to bash the series. In my eyes, this is largely due to the domineering mentality of “hate on any product/franchise/individual that’s successful because it makes me feel less insignificant.” But, in the defense of said haters, in the last eight years we’ve only been given two true Final Fantasy games to sink our teeth into. The numerous spin-offs and remakes, despite how good a few of them were, don’t really count. (And no, Final Fantasy X-2 doesn’t count either.) Final Fantasy XIII seems to be moving right along in development, but God knows when we’ll actually see it here in the states. (Hell, if it actually hits Japan this winter, I’ll be very surprised. I’m just skeptical like that.)

But the fact of the matter is that you just can’t keep a franchise like Final Fantasy down. There are two very important reasons for this: first and foremost, it’s impossible to deny how solid the main series is. Maybe it isn’t your cup of tea, but you’d be hard pressed to find another JRPG series that has so consistently displayed such pristine production qualities. Fans will always squabble back and forth over which ones suck and which ones don’t, but that’s just another one of the series’ beauties – when it comes to Final Fantasy, one man’s trash is another’s treasure.

The second reason is, perhaps, of equal importance: if I’m any indication, the Final Fantasy fanbase is composed of a bunch of spendthrift morons.

What makes me say that? Well it kinda just slapped me in the face recently when I spent EIGHTY DOLLARS on an imported copy of Advent Children Complete. Why didn’t I just wait for the (much cheaper) North American release? I’m sure you can guess; I wanted the Final Fantasy XIII demo included in the Japanese release. That’s right; I effectively paid $80 for an hour-long demo. Somewhere, a seedy corporate figure at Castle Squeenix is laughing. (IN MY MIND, they have a castle.)

I could go into detail about how many stupid FF-related purchases I’ve made, some of them more painful than others. *cough*DIRGEOFCERBERUS*cough* But I won’t. The fact of the matter is that, simply put, Square Enix has created such a powerful, name-recognized franchise, they could release a FF-themed Mario Party knockoff starring Big Bird and get away with it.

Oh, wait… they did that already?

Whatever. I love Final Fantasy. I always will. And now, just for fun and flameage, I’m going to list my favorite Final Fantasy games in descending order:

1. Final Fantasy VII
2. Final Fantasy XII
3. Final Fantasy X
4. Final Fantasy VIII
5. Final Fantasy VI
6. Final Fantasy IX
7. Final Fantasy V
8. Final Fantasy IV
9. Final Fantasy X-2
10. Final Fantasy III
11. Final Fantasy
12. Final Fantasy II

So, readers… how much respect have you lost for me after reading that list? And have you made similarly zombie-like purchases?