Yeah but you know, Final Fantasy was always about western stereotypes. I mean it's rooted - like Dragon Quest - in D&D. On the flipside, Transformers is adapted from a japanese invention, and the Gundam/Robotech/Macross thing is very essentially japanese. More importantly though, the reason SMT can be unique in the way that's unique is that it dares - and can afford - to be niche enough to look inward to actual asian mysticism and religion. Things that just aren't being explored a lot in the mainstream apart from maybe The Matrix. Final Fantasy on the other hand has a ton of mainstream responsibility to shoulder, and even its new elements and attempts at being unique have to be somewhat familiar and safe.

But yeah, I get your sentiment, but personally I kinda like the sillyness of this. I think silly is a stroke of japanese design that is inherently off putting to irony hating westerners, but for me it works out to be its own kind of cool. Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, No More Heroes - all relentlessly silly, aware of it and better for it. I think with this stuff, FF has a better jumping off point to really resonate better emotionally too, as opposed to just being a gloomy emo fest.

Hell, it's why I think Joss Whedon is a complete genious. The willingness to consciously do the silly so that it contrasts real emotional gravity instead of just becoming monotonous.

I realise that I might be reading too much into transforming bikes here, but these are at least my hopes in regards to how it turns out. :D

Done and done.

It's not something silly like you're denying the site cookies, is it?

I hope it's at least on par with Aion.. Aion isn't that impressive. The new lighting engine (like, brand new) does put it on the same page as more modern games though.