Musing about themes that tie video game series together
Essential elements of Final Fantasy: Crystals, moogles, chocobos, serious and usually quite dark plot, airships
Essential elements of Suikoden:
108 stars of destiny, lots of active party members in a battle, very intricate and well-written plot
Essential elements of Tales:
Fighting-game-style combat, plot dealing with _really_ heavy topics often including corrupt religious institutions, plot twists that make you question who the bad guys are, uncovering dark secrets of ancient peoples
Essential elements of Wild ARMs:
Rapid desertification and themes of environmentalism, world is much higher-tech than it seems at first, actually interesting out-of-battle sections with platforming and tools