Back off Final Fantasy fanboys, Leona's FFXIII tune is allright

I've not previously mentioned this is any of my earlier posts, but I am a diehard of a Final Fantasy fan. My favourite game of the renowned series is, like most, VII.

Final Fantasy XII was a bittersweet disappointment to me. It had the graphics and a decent gameplay system, but the story, the most important part of any FF game, was very uninvolving - I never once found myself caring for any of the characters.

XII also lacked those magical Square Enix moments that pulled you into a story. Like the time when Cloud jumps from the train in VII and your're thrust straight into a battle with the security gaurds, or the moment Faye Wong's Eyes on Me kicks in when Rinoa finds Squall or even the time you first meet Vivi as Zidane in FFIX.

But this blog isn't about how bad FFXII was, it's about the legions of Final Fantasy fans lashing out at Leona Lewis and Square Enix.

For those of you who don't know, Final Fantasy XIII's western release date was announced last Friday and so was the fact that the western versions would be be using the Leona Lewis track, My Hands as the game's main theme instead of the Japanese track Kimi ga iru kara, performed by Sugawara Sayuri.

Traditionally Square Enix will use the same Japanese track for all versions of a Final Fantasy game, however this time they're obviously going for the moneyspinner and that's what seems to be hacking these fans of.

There's even 341 signatures on a petition demanding the removal of the track from the game.

Most are complaining that the modification of the original to suit a new audience will totally derive from the quality of the game. Others reckon that this move will alienate diehard fans of the series. And some warn that they'll boycott the series because of this.

Why though? This can only be a great thing for Final Fantasy. I'm not the biggest fan of Leona but if there's anything the series needed was a breath of fresh air after the bitter dissappointment that FFXII was. She has a very mainstream appeal and is hugely talented. Listen to her version of Run or Bleedin' Love and you'll see what I mean.

Plus they're probably going to use the track in their ads and marketing campaign and this'll only attract more gamers than ever before to the Final Fantasy series.... we may even get more female FF gamers.

And by the amount of dudes at current Otaku/Videogame/Comic book conventions that's never a bad thing!

- R