[Garland]

The main fact is Spira, that XI made a major bypass from the series. Yes, it is true that over time the series has jumped and nested from one console to another, but FF was still due on the ps2, ruling that XI came before XII and yet XII was placed on the PS2 in the same style that X was. This explains the creation of X-2, which served as a filler for those not willing to subscribe to XI between X and XII. This also explains why XI has generated so much income for the company, because of the very fact that it is a subscription based MMO. If we were to determine income simply by the level of buyers of the original game itself, i'm sure that it would be much lower than most.

Final Fantasy I -was- very much influenced by D&D. Monsters such as "Mindflayer" are examples of this. It was only later that the series began to branch out and expand, and become more original in it's theme. Most people who talk of the "true final fantasy" usually refer to the fantasy swords and magic element in some of the titles and not the tech heavy, sci fi style, maybe it is you who do not know -what- it is -we- were talking about.

As for Crystals, Geno's right, they had save crystals/ teleport crystals, i believe there were crystals used for putting up shield barriers and Giruvegans Great crystal. Infact, the "great crystal" is reffered to in every series dating from the original, Spira was made from the great crystal, and the spheres were a by product from it. VII's Materia is told in a similar manner, which adds as further evidense that X and VII's worlds are linked. Though this was debated, it is explained in X-2, that is, if you actually played it.