How Square Enix Can Fix Final Fantasy

John Ferrell of GeeksPodcast explores some of Final Fantasy's later sins and how Square Enix can get the series back on track.

[crosstrigger]

Less "Enix" more "Soft"

[DarkLordMalik]

Less Toriyama, more Itou, Nomura and Tabata

[MightyNoX]

This!! For the love of Bob, GET RID OF TORIYAMA!

[The Killer]

i would say:

1: get ur act together and stop the BS business focused strategy.

2: get the guys who made FF 7,8,9,10 and let them make new games,

3: make it exclusive for ps4, or at least time exclusive, so they can focus on polishing the game.

4: and release 3 FF full and new games in ps4 life cycle!!

i think then we will see millions of sales and popularity.

ow yeah,

5: stay focused on the japanese style and make it less westernized. if we want westernized RPG there are plenty!

6: make it at least one FF game that uses turn base style RPG.

[rextraordinaire]

Actually, Enix published many great RPGs before they merged with square. Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, Dragon Quest (Warrior), ActRaiser...

I really don't feel like Enix's the problem here...

[crosstrigger]

All I'm saying is that since the 2 paired, it has been a travesty for this franchise.

[brettski]

Why can't they make a game that plays like FF6 - FF9 but has next gen graphics?

[zerocrossing]

Stop making FF-IIIX games would be a good start.

[Kamikaze135]

Just do what they used to do with older FF games:

- Make it "feel" more open world
- Allow players to explore and reward them for exploring the world
- Give players little things to collect
- Mini games
- Side quests with stories to them

[josephayal]

FF 13 destroyed my faith in Square Enix to make another good FF game

[CLOUD1983]

Why they can't just remake FFVII but leave story/gameplay intact & just enhance the visuals/sound/FMV etc ??? it's more than obvious they can't do a new FF as good as the KING OF JRPGs so just remake this legendary game already that's your only saving grace anything else is going to fail anyway don't loose your time trying to surpass it, it's pointless.

[Asuka]

as much as i like ff7, i would much rather want a new ff game. granted it does seem as of late that they have lost their magic and cannot produce quality titles for this franchise. however, if SE is to grow as a company it needs to look forward and correct itself instead of relying on past ventures. If SE is unable to grow and still hold onto what made the franchise great, then it needs to die and let what was once a great franchise continue to be so without having a possible remake ruining that.

[TRGMatt]

I am going to continue to post something in every article that I see on the subject...

Final Fantasy XII and XIII/2 were phenomenal games in their own right, largely overlooked and dismissed by many. I understand FFXII was a large departure from the previous games but it was and always will be one of my favorites. XIII caught flack for its linearity but the brilliance in just about every other area of its design is completely ignored.

Square does not need to "fix" a damn thing. They need to keep making games that are inspired and evolutions that buck the trends in the RPG genre. The characters are memorable - admittedly less so in FFXII but Fran and Balthier are awesome - the stories are interesting, the gameplay is varied.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I have always felt a sense that later FF games are a victim of bandwagon hate by people who didn't even give the game a chance or maybe the genius of those games just misses them completely.

Please Square...keep doing what you're doing with Final Fantasy. You're progressing the genre more than people realize.

EDIT: But yeah...fix those DLC policies :p

[Theferrell]

Actually, I agree with you, for the most part. (I'm the dude who wrote the article). The past few titles in the series were the victims of those who didn't either A. understand the battle system or B. really have dark areas of their hearts they like to unleash on decent games. I think too many have such a gargantuanly high bar set for this series and anything less than it gets sent packing like a fat kid in Dodgeball.

Trust me, I don't hate the series and plan on purchasing any and all future titles. I wrote this to point out a few items that, if left unchecked, could completely wreck the series for the non-hardcore fans.

[Hellsvacancy]

They've kinda fixed it for me by releasing FFXHD, i'll be happy enough to playthrough that again, my second favourite FF game

[ramza04]

Everyone is gonna have to start answering with their wallets if we want SE to stop releasing garbage. I for one have little hope the next final fantasy is going to be even remotely as good as some of our favorite ffs. Maybe just once they could listen to their core fans instead of just trying to appeal to the masses by westernizing the crap out of final fantasy. How hard is it to make an interesting over world, a proper leveling/progression system, rewarding side quests, and some challenging bosses to gear up for post game. These are just a few things out of many that have been either completely or partially abandoned that highlights why previous FFs stand above the newer titles.

[EXVirtual]

Square Enix Japan IS fixing FF in my opinion. I don't know about you guys, but to me, Final Fantasy XV looks like the most ambitious out of all FF's. It's being directed by Nomura, who is very skilled at making characters who aren't your anime stereotypes and the KH gameplay is awesome.

[Crystallis]

After all these years its still my most anticipated title.

[tontontam0]

Do not show a game and release it after 10 years.
might as well make the development a secret for as long as you can.

[Theferrell]

Actually, they didn't release XIII-VS.... they released XV :P

[Klonopin]

Square Enix wants to appeal to all the weeaboos and not their own people.

[Nerdmaster]

It can't fix it. Now Square created the same problem that Sonic has: if the future games keep the direction of the latest newer games, old fans will complain. If they go back to the way they were before, the new fans will complain.

[ramza04]

I think it's possible for them to find an appropriate balance. It's impossible to please everyone but they can at least try and appeal to both audiences IMO. Recent iterations have almost completely abandoned old school fans.

[Pennywise138]

Bringing back the world map and the ability to fly the airship would be a good start. I also miss the old style of the more medieval setting and the traditional turn based fighting. I liked seeing the big spectacle of a summons spell or big magic attack.

[Theferrell]

I agree with you. The lack of a legitimate world map is a drawback, but I think they justified the lack of a "adventuring world map" is the fact they have more areas to explore than just towns and dungeons.

[ErryK]

Not sure why it needs fixing, FFXIII does really well globally despite what many people might say.

[titans9999]

Only way to fix the franchise? Close their doors, shut down, give up making games, and try the auto industry instead!