You’re right - people try to compare other games to their favorite for some unknown reason and I personally just don’t get it. It’s like comparing Killzone, Haze, or Gears of War to Halo (another favorite of mine) just because they seem alike or were touted as a “Halo-killer”. It’s silly, and people should try to take games for what they are instead of trying to compare them.

I think comparing your favourite games to other games is natural thing. I mean, when I try some kind of new food I will typically compare it to how good my favourite food is, same thing with books, cars, sports teams, etc. The only problem is when fans take their fandom to a level that can only be described as religious zealotry that it becomes an issue. Especially when said fans haven’t even played the game they are putting down. I remember fervently arguing with my friends why Halo sucked and why Half-Life rocked, even though I had never played Halo. Well, I felt like such an idiot when I finally sat down and played Halo 3 and, despite my earlier proclamations about the series, enjoyed it.

Joking, so incredibly joking. While I will fully admit to being under the control of the square-enix hive mind and will buy whatever next iteration of the final fantasy franchise comes out, there is a point that people need to realize that games, like every other medium, are in some ways flawed. I love most of the thematic elements of Final Fantasy like spiky hair, airship styles, etc, but not so much on the not clothes of Van in ff12. I love the Xenosaga games, and enjoyed them much more after they lost the chibi look of the first one. However, because of the way fandom works, these are probably the things that draw people to those games and make them love them as much as I do for different reasons. Fandom around any particular venue is going to be pretty diverse because the fans themselves are diverse.