20 Years: Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy

It’s not every day that a game series turns 20, infact its more often for a company to turn 20 than for a series to remain for as long as these two have. These two heavy weights are among some of the oldest gaming series of all time, and two of the biggest and most diverse as well.

While watching these two evolve over time, you wouldn’t know that they were the same age, while MGS seems to have grown quite well and honorably, I cannot say the same for the Final Fantasy series. A series that was so regarded and accepted seems to be changing into a washed up recycled gimmick… keep in mind I say that with the utmost respect, I love Final Fantasy, I do… but the fact that formula hasn’t really changed much in 20 years is sort of depressing. Its obvious that the series has borrowed from the advancements of technology, but it doesn’t mean its always been for the better. A game that used to be so timeless and memorable is gradually changing into the sunday morning cartoon fix of our youth. I get my fix, but it doesn’t mean I am enjoying it like I used too, and with 13 titles pending release, (or maybe 1 or 2 has been released for the psp since I first heard that number) thats a lot of milking going on.

However the direct opposite would be the Metal Gear Series, while some of the titles we received were questionable they always surprisingly delievered. Take the unique card based game that everyone thought would be a total failure, which turned out to be a half-decent game. But despite that Metal Gear has stayed true to its genre and instead of adding on gimmicks and milking it they have remained quite reserved, and when gamers questioned one of the titles greatness, Kojima took it to heart. I mean who here hated being Raiden? I think everyone did, so instead of just giving us another badass Snake game, Kojima decided he would make Raiden so badass that we would be pissed if we didn’t get to use him this time :).

In all… the main differences in these two series may not be their genres, but the continual changes in management, with the original Final Fantasy Master leaving the stage to start his own company it would seem that much of the RPG direction the company has taken has been met with bumps in the road. While both companies do make great games, its worth wondering which will be remembered in the long run.

With that said, I wonder how you guys feel about the future of these two series, so diverse and different in substance and so timeless and memorable to our gaming culture at the same time. With one about to release one of the finest looking action-stealth games to date, the other is set to release 13 titles for platforms across the board. Should be interesting :P.