How To Fix Final Fantasy

While I don't mind 8 myself (Though that's mostly because of the world and the music), 9 is FAR, FAR superior to it.

To give a real comparison, it'd be like comparing Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest to Symphony of the Night. While nostalgia and some minor elements of CV2 can be appreciated, there's absolutely no way it stands a chance against SotN.

I don't see how that comparison has any relevance, but whatever.

Final Fantasy 9 was okay, but the story tanks pretty hard in the second half of the game. I also was not a fan of the characters looking like deformed puppets.

Having played most Final Fantasy games, including XIII (which I quite liked) and XIII-2 too, I think the "problem" with Final Fantasy is that some of the games in the series where "the right game in the right time", and that cannot be replicated anymore. For most people, Final Fantasy IV, VI, VII or even X where their introduction to games with deep and intense stories, and to cinematic presentation (in case of VII and X).

As for now, they are just "another game" in a crowd of games with deep stories and high production values. And they lose many points in the west for being from a genre not very popular nowadays and being on the fence, trying to cater to both Japanese and Western audiences.

Since Final Fantasy never had the "religious devotion" some series enjoy, it is facing the hurdles of every series that had peaked in the past and now struggle to survive as the tastes of the audience and the reality of the market changes.