Studio GRIN a game company that teamed up with Square Enix to do a project that was going to be a game called: Fortress. Fortress was going to be a game similar to Final Fantasy XII. However, Square Enix reclaimed the project without paying GRIN, due to concerns over the quality of the work.
RPG Site says: "Ever since evidence leaked of a cancelled Western-developed Final Fantasy XII spin-off, online conversation about a potential Western take on the series has been intense. The talk is even referenced in recent Square Enix release Deus Ex: The Fall, where an optional email viewable on a computer declares the latest FF deserves to be Game of the Year 2027 - "Giving it back to a Japanese developer was the right move," the email winks.
When RPG Site got a chance to interview Final Fantasy Brand Director & Producer Shinji Hashimoto earlier this month we asked him his opinion on a potential East-meets-West development - and he's still clear that he - and the company - haven't ruled it out entirely."
It would be GREAT for another developer to get a hold of the FF franchise and do something interesting with it.
It could possible be the spark that ignites the future of FF games.
Nope I don't even want a western-developed spin-off. Final Fantasy is JRPG series through and through and that would tarnish its name completely.
I agree. But if they do it anyway, at least test out that western studios skill by delegating them to some spin-off first. We don't want some untested, foreign (western), studio messing with a series that is traditionally developed in Japan, where JRPG's flourish. Not a whole lot of western studios even dabble in making JRPG style of RPG games.
@Donnieboi
Yeah I see what you're saying. It's just that certain Japanese franchises in the hands of western devs just seemed to go downhill this gen. Maybe Square will surprise me. I actually want them to.
They'll do a Capcom, be cheap b******* and get a crappy dev to do it.
Even still they think the solution to their problems lie in the west but they don't. I feel like they don't want to admit theirs a problem with themselves and what they've been doing lately (typical Japanese company, too proud to admit their in the wrong) and would rather try to blame other things. Like now...trying to make it seem like it's because their games aren't western enough even though they've been letting western devs influence their own games for years....probably why FF13 and other games from them have sucked so much
Did you?
"Series Brand Director and Producer Hashimoto is evidently more optimistic and perhaps more open-minded about the possibility, even after the failure of Fortress. He's also been involved with East-West collaborations before with the largely unsuccessful Front Mission Evolved."
Read what they actually said, rather than an editor's note.
"I wouldn't say no straight away!"
"It depends on the proposal and everything, though, of course," he elaborated. "Obviously Final Fantasy is traditionally a Japanese game, so it would really just depend on how discussion goes. But, yes - if any Western studio actually approached us, we'd of course think about it."
"I don't know why, but one of the things about Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts is that they're very unique - it's a very unique proposition that we have," "I think that's why it's quite difficult for people to approach us with such ideas."
Seems like a polite way to say "no", if they wanted "soooo badly" to be Americans they wouldn't have been so hesitating.
It will however likely sabotage it.
Nevermind that Square Enix doesn't even know what the "final" in Final Fantasy even means.
I'm trying to think of one Western dev that would do a good job, and I can't think of any.
@Godmars290
You might know but what final really means squaresoft thought it was there last game. They made a good profit on Final Fantasy it kept them in business.
Well duh. Anyone who doesn't know that shouldn't be commenting here.
But the thing is that in FF1 and up to FF10, whether or not they hinted that there was more to be told, told their stories in one encapsulating installment. Then FF10-2 continued it's story in an offbeat if not wholly wrong direction which generally failed to build on the prior's loose strings, and FF12's story played out like a medium sized adventure which took place on a much larger world. Now with FF13 we have a largely incoherent tale which has been watered down beyond any real meaning or cohesion from what came before because of direct sequels. And S/E only sees this as a good thing.
No one should care if a company which makes its money through story telling through games if it can no longer make a game which tells a story.
Not only was Grin's ill-fated Fortress on track to be one of the biggest Final Fantasy games ever but, as Associate Producer Linda Dahlberg explained in the latest issue of Play UK, it was also going to be quite different from what fans have come to expect from the series.
A tech demo of Grin's cancelled Final Fantasy project codenamed Fortress has apparently appeared on Youtube.
yeah dat does look awesome.
An Action Final Fantasy o_O
Could have been very interesting.
For all intents and purposes, this looked like it was SUPPOSED to be a western Final Fantasy..... I really hope they do this. Some concept art (that you can find here: http://finalfantasy.wikia.c...
showed Ashe as the queen.
Although the game looks like it has potential, it seems way to western for a FF game, it lacks what people enjoy about the FF franchise, unique universes, all the western universes are to similar.
"According to the video description, Fortress is a sequel to Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. The PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 project is now being developed by another western studio (the description mentions Eidos Montreal as a possible developer). You can view the tech demo footage of Fortress below: "
Learn to read.
That isn't necessarily true. Bionic Commando was alright, Wanted was decent but short and certainly didn't warrant it's $60 price tag and Terminator Salvation was an abomination. The fact that they released those games just a month after the other is impressive. I think if they would just take their time on a project say releasing them on a yearly cycle their games would be great and this did look interesting from what we have seen.
The GRAW PC games were awesome and a completely different experience from the console versions. I've heard their stuff before that was pretty good too.
Wanted was ok as a $40 game, haven't played Bionic Commando or Terminator: Salvation.
We already have 3 final fantasy titles with the same style as fortress- FFXI, XII and XIV