After years in the wilderness, pandering to western audiences and making JRPGs that their fans don't really like - are there signs that Square-Enix are about to go back to their roots?
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth publisher Square Enix has declared a $140m loss based on a shakeup of its internal development pipeline.
What are they doing over there? Sounds like they canceled something big. I read a rumor a while back about ff9 remake . Here "Final Fantasy IX has gone through a very challenging development, the game is still in progress but may undergo changes drastic enough that we won't hear about it for a couple of years."
This could be one of the reasons if the rumor is true. That was Silknight i don't know how credible he is but it's something and it would make sense.
The industry implosion is continuing. Sky high budgets, prolonged development windows, stagnant sales numbers, and falling currency values (inflation) are wreaking havoc on the legacy industry. AAA games will slowly become the rarity.
Saad from eXputer: "After suffering from massive financial hits, Square Enix & Bandai Namco appear to be turning over a new leaf but I'm still unconvinced."
I was talking about games with some Japanese guys here in Japan, and it seems like around here Bandai Namco has a fame of making low-quality games, with the occasional gem.
About Square Enix, I believe they lack the capacity to improve. They should learn with Capcom (although even Capcom still makes some bad mistakes), but I don't think they ever will. They keep chasing whatever is new at the time (blockchain, AI...) to say "we innovate", without considering the public perception and if these things actually improve the games or not. Them releasing too many small games with no advertising also shows a lack of trust in its own products. Even with their biggest games, like turning FF into an action game with XVI and the very divisive plot changes regarding whispers and timelines in VII Remake, shows them trying to attract a new generation of gamers without understanding what made the series so big in the first place.
I don’t know why NOW they decide on this, but I guess later is better than never.
Saad from eXputer: "I'm glad I don't have to choose between Square Enix, Atlus, and FromSoftware due to bad release windows and Shadow of the Erdtree."
What a word vomit, rambling, turd of an article that simply states the obvious. Classic exputer.
I hope so - Westernising their content has really damaged both Square, and Capcom in particular. Kinda hard to see Square ever getting back to the golden age though...
Not to mention what happened to Final Fantasy. Really interested to see what 15 is like though - hopefully we'll see more at E3.
Capcom and Square need to realize that trying to combine fighting games with RPGs is a mistake. Bring back the true JRPGs that so many people enjoy. Playing an RPG that only lasts for 2 or 3 days not only ruins the game itself, it's ruining the genre. This is the one genre that is built on depth, story telling, variety, immersion, and length. These days gaming companies are trying too hard to cater to casual gamers who usually have short attention spans. If a particular game doesn't have online multi-player or spectacular graphics, casual gamers usually pass on it. RPGs have never been designed to be time wasters or something to do when you have idle time on your hands. RPGs are epics and sagas that draw the player into the role of a main character. Casual gamers don't buy games like Final Fantasy 14 or Bound By Flame, casual gamers by games like Thief, COD, or Amazing Spiderman 2. Wake up Capcom and Square! Casual gamers don't represent the majority of console gamers, THEY ARE THE MINORITY. Let them have the sports, online multiplayer shooters, beat em up action, and the hack and slash games. Give real gamers the hardcore RPGs! Rpgs like Suikoden, Chrono Trigger, Star Ocean, and Phantasy Star, games that help to define a genre and not the weak, watered down versions of rpgs being offered today.
eh we'll see with FFXV. Granted I was pretty ok with the XIII series they weren't rlly amazing or mind blowing. However I'm very hyped for FFXV that looks better so far in most aspects.