Square Enix, Where Are The Gems?

DualShockers writes,

"I'm one of those people that's played enough games to make the lot of you cry. If I'm not pounding away on the keyboard on some code for the thousandth database application I work tirelessly on, I'm abusing my console ferociously with long hours of playtime. Gaming has become therapeutic, in some forms. I definitely enjoy going old-school and playing old RPG's from the era of SNES and PSX - when RPG's had stories that put movies and books to shame. As I sit there and play these relics, I am constantly baffled at how some games never received the attention they deserved.

Have you ever played a game that was so good, that you constantly regurgitate the thought of a sequel, or prequel, being made? Hell, I see people creating petitions online for games that have become cult classics. The shit that people would do to see their favorite game(s) spawn a new chapter in a game that has, in some way, touched them."

[GWAVE]

Square Enix is the modern-day Activision of the RPG genre. They know they have fanboys. They know they have your favorite franchises under lock and key. And they know they can release ANY game and people will buy it...well, that isn't the case so much anymore. Gamers are getting wise to S-E's horrible quality control and greed. It was obvious the day FF13 was announced for the 360 that they cared more about money than about making a high-quality game.

[Godmars290]

Thank goodness we have Atlus and NIS on the other scale. I'm sure I don't even have to bring up any examples.

Said it once and will say it again: if there was some way they could get real live catgirls/demon girls to deliver their games to their fanbase - they'd do it!

Are probably making deals with the ultimate demon lord as we speak.

[menoyou]

Square-Enix is a garbage developer that hasn't produced any games worth a damn since the PS1 days. All their games involve ridiculous costumes, transexual heroes, etc. They don't even try to make a great product. They are definitely satisfied with the user base that buys any turd they come up with.

[Ravage27]

Years ago, anything with the Square brand on it deserves respect and is immediately associated with quality and excellence. Unbelievable i know, considering SE is more likely to conjure up images of dumpsters now.

Nowadays,SE is all about milking the sh*t out of fans and going multiplatform. And all this comes at the expense of quality and old Square tradition of 'Going the extra mile' is forever lost. Look at the amount of crap games SE have published so far. Look at the increasing 'Western' influence of their games, all in the name of achieving mass market appeal. That retard wada doesn't understand that is precisely what will kill them off.

FF is their last hope now and even that amazing series has lost the aura of excellence. 6 years in the making, with a budget size 10-15 times that of their rivals, and i still haven't seen anything that is worth that amount of resource.

Nothing SE makes will ever be the pinnacle of gaming anymore. Forget about seeing anything remotely close to gems like Kingdom Hearts this gen, just hope that SE don't screw up FF.

[SupaPlaya]

FFVI HD remake and Chronos Trigger HD remake!

[Godmars290]

As good as Xenogears was, if they put it out in the West as DLC I really wish they update the sprites and flesh out the story on the 4th disc. the bit that was like a 30-minute cut scene that ended with the Macross sized mech fight.

[iiprotocolii]

Agreed. Xenogears was a spectacular game. Of course, such things is just wishful thinking. What I wouldn't do to see a Xenogears remake...

[PLAYSTATIONGENRATION]

Xenogears is a treat for a rpg fan much better that ff7...but ff7 got all the fame

[iiprotocolii]

Personally, I also felt that Xenogears was a far better game than FF7. FF7 is a great game, but not as in-depth or as appealing as Xenogears. And, I also believe that Id/Idolo would put a beating to both Sephiroth and Cloud... by just winking.

[Redempteur]

Also there is not 4th disc ..xenogears only had two ..

[Godmars290]

The only thing that makes that more shameful is that still own the game...

[Grevan]

You had to bring up the past. I tried to forget about these games because my system broke. You know how hard it is to get these systems now? Oye!

[SpoonyRedMage]

The reasons those franchises weren't continued is because they couldn't bring in the sales like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts can. Vagrant Story was a big flop saleswise and whilst the Chrono games did well, it was hard to justify the team(it was made up of all their best people at the time) and Chrono Cross is hated by a lot of people(Cross wasn't made by the dream team either).

If it's new IPs you want then Square Enix have made The World Ends With You, Blood of Bahamut, Cross Treasures, Sigma Harmonics, Nanashi No Game, The Last Remnant(which wasn't so good), Nier(well it's not out yet) and the insanely addictive Yosumin this gen.

EDIT: Funnily enough The Last Remnant is the best selling of those new IPs I mentioned, which is a shame, I like the game but those other franchises should have left it in the dust(especially TWEWY).

[iiprotocolii]

Although it's appreciated that they release new IPs this gen, a lot of them have been as in-depth as past games. I'll definitely be getting Blood of Bahamut, Nier and Yosumin. The problem is, as the writer says, most developers nowadays are more worried about delivering the best visual experience rather than the overall experience of the story (although there are a couple of next-gen games that accomplish both).

Vagrant Story sold well. It didn't sell to Square's expectations in the past, but it sold well despite being overshadowed by FFIX and Cross. The reason why Vagrant Story didn't get the attention it deserved was because of the titles just mentioned, and because folks were not familiar with that style of gameplay - hence, it didn't attract them. The game was praised by Famitsu, IGN, and a couple of other publications; it just didn't see the light of day like everything else, unfortunately. The game wasn't aimed for "beginners" as the battle system was a little complex and pried away whatever potential consumers it could have had.

Personally, it just doesn't feel like Square Enix has the passion they once had to make great games. Comparing games from back then to now shows me this. Not saying that all their games suck, but when I sit there and think about it, back in those days 9 out of 10 Square games were amazing. Now, 3 or 4 out of 10 are good. That says a lot.

[SpoonyRedMage]

I kind of agree with you there but really the only Square Enix games pushing graphics are FFXIII, Versus and XIV for now anyway. I'd say that they've actually put less emphasis on looks than last gen.

Well Vagrant Story didn't do too well because they made changes to XII to try to avoid the same fate, some bad decisions too(Basch should have been the main character!) but FFIX and Chrono Cross didn't too great either. FFIX sold significantly less than FFVIII and FFX and I think FFXII may be the only main FF to sell less than it.

I actually think that Square Enix's quality has been quite good but the games considered major by us(probably not by SE) are the ones on the HD consoles of which there hasn't been a great one and that's shaped the perception of them.

I also think plain and simple a lot of people have been looking in the wrong place. The people who played TWEWY are in the minority, even on this site and that's one game I definitely think is up to the standard of classics like Vagrant Story.

I think a main problem with the lack of direction is the fact that a lot of people have left, Sakaguchi left, Ishii left(no more mana probably), the guys who formed Monolith, the guys who formed AlphaDreams(Mario RPGs), Matsuno(Vagrant Story).

Which reminds me, all the people clamoring for a new Xenogears, if it was to happen, it would most likely be a Wii game(or actually more likely a DS game). They'd probably get Monolith to handle it and Monolith are Nintendo first party.:P

EDIT: I'd also advise people to check out Crystal Bearers, it's got charm, humour and it's trying something new and I think you can feel that there was a lot of effort put into it. It also looks to be one of the best games on the Wii, graphics and gameplay wise.

[Godmars290]

Still, nothing stopping them from putting them on PSN unless they lost the Western versions.

[tdrules]

The World Ends With You...

if you want a good game from Sqenix this gen don't own a HD console simply put

[Da One]

Crisis Core
Dissidia
KH:BBS
Star Ocean 1
Star Ocean 2
FFT:WOTL
FFT:A2
FFIII
FFIV
TWEWY
KH 358/2 Days
Chrono Trigger
DQ 4/5/6/9

Hell own the handhelds if you want a good JRPG in general

[PLAYSTATIONGENRATION]

I and many others want this game either remade or re-released

[iiprotocolii]

I'd punch a nursery full of newborns to see this title remade, my friend. A nursery full of newborns.

[Miraak82]

i would have a heart attack if they remade xenogears ... Best rpg ever ...but i'm playing demons souls right now so i'm content and extremely satisfied . its actually the first rpg that i've played since FF12 . which considering I used to be a rpg junkie back in the days.. xenosaga was good but it didn't have the same flair and emotion impact as xenogears

@edit --- lol iiprotocolii
we can tag team those little shlts ... I think I would kill for it

[Blaster_Master]

A current gen sequel to Xenogears makes my mouth drool.

[Godmars290]

The current squeal to Xenogears is Xenosaga.

Still, they didn't have the bad@ss-ery of a guy standing on the shoulder of his mech while piloting it from sher will alone.

[Redempteur]

Well you do not see a guy taking out 3 gears ( robots ) bare handed AT THE SAME TIME without taking damage that much ..

but if they put a team to remake this title and the second disc ..it would be sooooooo great ...

[johnmark1982]

i remember playing all of those games vagrant story i had a huge save had all the best maxed the stats had plus plus plus plus armor made me dam invincible... i regret ever parting with it and with xenogears it was truly a unique game. i once had chrono cross on suer nintendo it was very good but now i have it on psx still got my copy. parasite eve was very good as well. back in psx era games square released alot of very good games that had alot of heart and story to them.

i hope RPG's never die they are a great genre of gaming if not the best

[Crystallis]

"Square Enix, Where Are The Gems?"

They are to busy making shovelware for the 360....ooops!!

[BROOKLYN N-M-E]

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[iiprotocolii]

Quality over quantity was their motto before. Now, it's just pumping out games for the sake of potential sales, from what it seems. Square Enix has REALLY fallen off the map with bringing in good games. But it could also be that they are afraid of originality now being that they are really trying their hardest to cater to the western crowd nowadays.

[KingItachi]

Xenogears is my favorite RPG of all time I remember back in 99 you could not find a new of it I got it used in great condition from one of my shopping spots, I would love a remake but only if the original people came back because they left Square years ago.

[kewlkat007]

but not all of them are of TOP quality. Ok there is the FF franchise, then what else?

Whatever happened to the Xeno/Saga series and others? Them games have some of the best music known to JRPGs.

Face the facts and move on. Squeenix is no longer "Squaresoft" when Nobou and the Gooch was there, pumping out great games and tunes.

To tell you the truth, I liked it when there was good competition in this genre. "ENIX" was also a great JRPG beast. What we have now is "Squeenix" the all mighty with others in the background making decent games that are selling like sh!t..Watch when FF13 comes out. ("Yes I'm also getting it)

[SpoonyRedMage]

Oh, they haven't forgotten SaGa just yet, they just released a remake of SaGa 2 on the DS. But The Last Remnant was pretty much a SaGa game, and it was a lot better than Unlimited Saga... and it has awesome music too!(possibly the best thing about the game).

Akitoshi Kawazu seems to be focusing on Crystal Chronicles now though, which to me isn't a bad thing, I love the games. I know a lot of people don't though.

EDIT: The competition was good though, I definitely agree there and I'd love Namco Bandai, Sega or Level 5 to get a rivalry going.

[Knightofelemia]

The gems vanished when Squaresoft became SquareEnix. I remebr when Squaresoft games were worth playing because they put the time and effort from the story to the music that made you feel the emotion of the character. Those days are gone when I pulled late over nighters on one game I still do but with another company. If you have orginal Squaresoft games in your basement hang onto them dust them off and play them once in a while because those games are worth more than gold itself.

[BROOKLYN N-M-E]

Agreed, everything went to crap as soon as they became Square Enix!

[PLAYSTATIONGENRATION]

We still got kingdom hearts..who fate remains unknown..but it needs to be on ps3 only...but they will somehow think it needs to be n the wii and it will sell miserably then we get a ps3/360 version and the ps3 it outsells the xbox 360 version by volumes ..because xbox and kingdom hearts not a good mix

[Tex117]

Xenogears is excellent, but my fav is Chrono Trigger.

Chrono Trigger and FFVI FTW
Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Secret of Mana in a very VERY close second.

These games mentioned are better than any other RPG that has come out on any console ever.

That being said...I really am digging Demon's Souls...Alot.

[PLAYSTATIONGENRATION]

needs a true next gen sequel and/or a proper remake those DS one does not count im talking 3d sprites

[Becko]

Sadly the only thing SE knows to made good are FF and DQ... the rest of the new games (or spin offs) are laughable... gone are the golden years of Squaresoft

[foreverflame]

There on the 360,Where all the great jrpg's go for comfort.

[immmmtheking]

awesome article. im gonna try to aquire those games to replay.