Has Square Enix Lost Their Mind?

The company known for games like Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger are not what they used to be. Why are they changing the strategies that made them the best JRPG developer ever? When will things turn back around for them in the future?

[interrergator]

i dont think they had a mind at the beginning of this generation

[indysurfn]

They started going down after Final Fantasy IX. Started being afraid of Microsofts action RPG's, and being left behind. Changing their summon spells trying to turn them into something other than over the top turn based events (FFX) which only succeeded in taking the melodramatic flare or soul out of them.

Speaking of turn based they started trying to run away from turn based, and traditional JRPG music, and the so called cutsy style!

They where afraid of the new Microsoft grown up hard core (looking) style action RPG. Ended up not pleasing the action crowd! And alienating the turn based crowed, which where scopped up by Mistwalker and Konami. Like Micheal Jackson song said: 'to high to get over (yeah yeah), to low to get under(yeah yeah), your stock in the middle'.

Now with FFXIII I think they are trying two kinds of Final fantasy at once. To compare the sales? Earth to Square most people that dislike RPG's will not switch over just because you disguise it. Some will but most will not!

What is with the music? Are you ashamed of your JRPG roots? Yeah a few do like the change but pay attention: Rock, RAP, techno, and moogles don't mix! (unless your drinking something strong).

What I'm saying is become your identity.

AND bring me my melodramatic Summon spells, and melodramatic Music back you fart knockers!

[Cheeseknight28]

"They started going down after Final Fantasy IX. Started being afraid of Microsofts action RPG's, and being left behind."

What game(s) could you possible be referring to? Final Fantasy X was completed and on shelves before Fable was even ANNOUNCED. I can't recall any other major RPG on the Xbox, other than KOTOR, which was in early development when FFX was completed.

[badz149]

but the lackluster of SE are the thing nobody can denies at this point! I'm not saying that they supporting the 360 is wrong but what are those CRAPS they are putting on that machine? all these times, JRPGs have always been selling best in JAPAN and SE supporting the losing console in that very region makes them look STUPID! what are they thinking? if they went multiplat like CAPCOM, they will have never got the bad reputation like they do right now but they chose to go exclusive and then released CRAPS and that's why many hate them! they need to do something because I can see the doubts on the quality of FFXIII and vsXIII is on the rise!

[lolol123]

try since ps1. the last good games they made were fft, ff7. after that they started drifting into homosexual male heroes, absurd art direction, and ridiculously cheesy stories. i wish they would go away already.

[caladbolg777]

"try since ps1. the last good games they made were fft, ff7. after that they started drifting into homosexual male heroes, absurd art direction, and ridiculously cheesy stories. i wish they would go away already."

Homosexual undertones? A new and different art direction? Over-the-top, cheesy, and convoluted storyline? The funniest part about this comment, is that it pretty much sums up Final Fantasy 7 in a nutshell. Was the point of this post to be humorous?

That aside, I don't agree with your statement regarding FF7 as Square's last "good game". IMO, Final Fantasy VIII was hand-over-fist better than Final Fantasy VII (with Final Fantasy Tactics being my favorite... that is... if you consider it a REAL FF title), and the last "great" Final Fantasy was FFX for the PS2.

[ThanatosDMC]

FF8 > FFX > FFT > FF7 >>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>> FFX-2

X-2 was just BS! They even f*cked up Blitzball!

[ultimolu]

My thoughts exactly. o_o

[Consoldtobots]

while I hate to comment on ANY hiphopgamer article as I dont believe in promoting POOR grammar and blatant ignorance, I will however say that most people have completely missed the big picture. This isn't about love for microsoft or the 360. This has more to do with a pissin match that SE decided to get into with Sony. It is becoming clear that SE wanted concessions from Sony this generation that they were not willing to make. This is why SE came out with those absurdly insane comments about their software making or breaking either console. Not only was the viewpoint narrow-minded and arrogant, it was also UNBELIEVEABLY false as sales have proved in the long run. Heres to SE eating A GIANT turd called CROW.

[slayorofgods]

Square enix has lost their minds. They want to make western rpgs all of the sudden and back the 360. This has lead to their crap-fest of infinite undescovery type games. A successful company should never make a sudden "image change" because that will only alienate their fan base (SE used to have a huge fan base). From a stand point of making money this strategy is complete madness.

On a plus note the producer of FF versus 13 seems to want to take his development in a old school direction. I'm glad to see his team competing against this new SE strategy.

[IcarusOne]

I clicked before checking the link. He tricked me again! KHAAAAAN!!!!

[The Lazy One]

Square as a publisher and square as a developer are two different things. Don't confuse square developed games with square published games.

Square's quality is slipping slightly, but not as bad as what they publish indicates.

[The Lazy One]

but tri-ace is the only developer to really develop on the PS3 or the 360.

SquareEnix developed The Last Remnant for both, but no other games for either. The only things they've really made lately has been DS games and ports.

[Chris Hansen]

Please hire an editor.

[v1c1ous]

automatic fail.

but to stay on topic.

square-enix went to the crapper when squaresoft merged with Enix. its been discussed MILLIONS of times. try to keep up.

[Jim Hawking]

HHG is not my idea of a good source.

But anyways,
I just got done playing with Star Ocean:The Last Hope and it is the worst written, acted and directed game I have ever played. I stuck with it because I really like Star Ocean III, but god even I have my limits. It screams "RUSHED". I'm a computer scientist and I could kick the crap out of who ever edited this game.

[Dragun619]

Correction, SquareSoft didn't go crappier when they merged with Enix but instead they got better until Yoichi Wada, the President and the Vice President of Square Enix, Michihiro Sasaki saw that there was more profit in making Remakes and medicore games that were mostly towards the American Audience rather than their own Country, which I remind you that most of their profit comes from japan as evidently from Final Fantasy sales on an average of 3.1 million in japan alone.
Final Fantasy VII sold 3.93m
Final Fantasy VIII sold 3.64m
Final Fantasy IX sold 2.80m
Final Fantasy X sold 3.02m
Final Fantasy XII sold 2.42m
All in Japan

Yoichi Wada Once said "it's very difficult to hit the jackpot, as it were. Once we've hit it, we have to get all the juice possible out of it".

And I assume that this jackpot is probably Xbox360 as they have yet to actually support PS3 with anything, heck even Crystal Defenders is not even on PSN except for JP but it is on Wiiware and XBL everywhere. Just because they thought Xbox360 is the American Market as it has more ground in the US than PS3.
Funny Thing is though that Square Enix's released psp games such as Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, have sold more than any JRPG on Xbox360.

Also Michihiro Sasaki said
"We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them, but we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much."

Iono about you but Square Enix has yet to support the PS3 and have really dropped the ball this Gen which I believe their not making the right decisions at all such as trying to break into the American market. They should just focus on making JAPANESE RPGS rather than making supposedly appealing RPGS towards the west such as Last Remenat and Infinte Discovery and start with establishing the plot, characters and art of the game first.

Hopefully, Yoshinori Kitase (director of FF13) and Tetsuya Nomura (Director of FFVS13) will continue Making High Quality games that square was known for. High hopes Final Fantasy 13 and Final Fantasy Versus 13, They better not let me down on at least this game.

[FlameBaitGod]

Im srry but some of you look sad, you talk about HHG but you in fact read the article at give your opinions lol.

[Godmars290]

But I have to agree. Whatever idiot thought that they could give half-@$$ed support for the 360, not giving it the PS3 while at the same time put their 2nd biggest franchise out on it, needs to be fired.

[Kamikaze135]

I hope you're not talking about Star Ocean, because that's not their 2nd biggest franchise. Their biggest franchise is Final Fantasy and their second is Dragon Quest. Dragon Quest seems to be a Nintendo exclusive as well.

[Godmars290]

FF may have been Square's, but DQ9 on the DS is going to handily beat FFXIII and FFvsXIII in sales.

Given the install base, it may do better than both combined.

[FlameBaitGod]

Then y are you supporting this site bro ? This site became about blogs. That's not news, don't click this site.

[Godmars290]

This is about as much troll feeding I do for HGG. Have to agree that even this is too much.

[patterson]

They drank the M$ Kool-aid believing they could make it primarily on a shooter console.

Props for Microsoft though for trying to break from that image, but it is what it is.

From here on out, M$ won't be buying up "loyalty" in this economy and will have to make due with the momemtum they've built on their install base. But once the PS3 price drop happens, we're going to start seeing a dramatic shift. The same shift that Japan's sales have indicated in recent months.

Hopefully the writing on the wall will wake up JP devs to focus on the system that will maximize their profits.

[patterson]

Square-Enix HAS been making a lot of bad games lately.

Last one I liked from them was probably Grandia III and even that was just OK.

But my point is that while they're sucking, they've also made poor business decisions supporting a console that isn't big in Japan, essentially abandoning their fan base. That doesn't make sense!

[Monty_The_Great]

how is it a poor business decision? especially if they get paid by someone? I am not saying they are getting paid by anyone, but if they are then how is that bad? That is just you acting like a little girl because you don't have a 360 and you are a fangirl. You probably only think they make bad games becuase they aren't on the PS3, if these aweful games were made only for the PS3, the here on N4G they would be the greatest games ever and Square would be the best. But they aren't so they aren't.

[patterson]

Initially I thought you were someone I could have some rational dialogue with but nevermind now.

"Hey look ma, I learnt a new wurd! Fangirl! durrr"

Troll.

And what's with that sleazy smile on your face?
Just wondering. Is that you in that picture?

[RememberThe357]

Seriously dude, stop talking down to people. You are no better then anyone here. Saying this guy is acting like a little girl and calling him a fangirl is pretty pathetic of you.

The only person I see here acting like a little girl is you. This guy didn't disrespect you at all yet you feel the need to belittle him.

Stop making assumption about people. If he said that he didn't like Squares games that is all you know about his opinions on the subject. Yet for some reason you assume that if the games were on the PS3 he would all of a sudden love those games.

So how about you take your "fangirl" self to the Open Zone where that kind of crap is much more tolerated.

[UltimateIdiot911]

Because to abandon base for a quick paid is short term goal. Many of SE sales and fanbase are from Japan. SE hardly pumps out anything above mediocore these days. The ones that are good are nothing more than ports and remakes.

[Shadow Man]

I don't get it, some people here say square sucks because the went multiplat, other say because "square soft" merge with enix, or maybe because square got a new president.

[Nikuma]

Damn you're ugly dude. Keep your pics to yourself.

[slayorofgods]

I find it funny that some 360 owners are taking a personal offense to the statement, "Square-Enix HAS been making a lot of bad games lately." Some people are acting like SE recent crap-fest automatically makes the 360 inferior or something. This is not the case, it just means SE sucks lately!!!

There are some 360 owners out there who are willing to back up SE business decisions, but are not willing to support their business decisions by actually buying SE games for the xbox 360.

[chidori666]

sqare died in squaresoft, and not squareenix......

[Sevir04]

The merger with Enix wasn;t as bad as some believe, They still had quality games... The rubbish started when this gen started for Square... They really have fallen badly

[ButterToast]

I would argue that it started when square started making poorly made spin-offs (i.e. FF X-2 and FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus) and relying on remakes rather than developing new good IPs.

all of the main canon FF have been good RPGs, yes even FFXII and FFXI (which really shouldn't be considered in the main canon, but it is a fantastic hard-core MMORPG).

[Whoooop]

Square Enix lost their mind, but it's probably lying somewhere among the pile of money Microsoft has gaved them...

They will find it eventually though, when the money runs down.

;)

[RememberThe357]

Where in that post did he say anything about MS paying for "fangirls" on N4G? No where. He didn't even say anything that remotely hinted at anything close to that. So how about you go some where else.

[mastiffchild]

Nobody EVER blamed MS for what's happened to SE this gen but if Mony wants to call people names over this he should at least understand what's going on.

MS, as is their right, have dealt with SE so they could slow sales of PS3 in Japan(surely that's pretty plain to anyone, no?)which, intil now has had an effect. SE, on the other hand, proudly trumpeted that FF13 and Vs would be PS3 exclusives until less than a year ago caising many fans to fork out for PS3s. Wouldn't you feel slightly let down by a company that did a turnaround like that to you?

The icing on the cake is that when they said they'd make multis they only showed up on 360 and weren't as good as they should be-get it nobody is getting a good deal out of this(PS3 or 360 or PS36Wii gamers)and SE are hurting their name in their biggest market-at home as they want to chase their western dream.

Buying the failing Eidos looks shaky as well, doesn't it? The fact that they didn't have the balls to let down the people in Japan who bought PS3 because of their words is telling but when they let us in on their plans to release KH as a 360 exclusive expect more wailing and gnashing of teeth. MS must have put some serious cash SEs way as they aren't selling games on the system they told their fans to buy and if they don't have to sell games to break even the quality of the games will fall and guess what-it has.

I think SE behaved poorly but don't think I'm, butthurt over this. I've got all threwe consoles and the real problem is that SE can't make a decent game these days. Also I can't see MS bankrolling them for much longer if the PS3 continues to outsell everything in Japan as then NOBODY gets anything from this lousy deal.

[kraden]

This site should be HipHopNews 4 Gamers, yeah that should be

[jav0918]

the ps3 is getting up there...they wait till it slows down again and BAM FF7 gets announced Ps3 sells 10 million that year alone.. then another 10 million when it comes out.

[creatchee]

Jeesh. That's just delusional to think a remake of a readily available game is going to sell 20 million PS3s on its own.

Did you even think before posting that comment?

EDIT: OK maybe the PS3 might sell 10 mill in a year, but not because of a FFVII remake

[jav0918]

exaggerating.....I think it will sell systems but there's something called sarcasm...the internet is full of tards...

[terrandragon]

Well, N4G has no fanboys...
/sarcasm

That's how you do it.

[Freakwave003]

They've been going downhill ever since Tetsuya Takahashi left (creator of Xenogears). After he left, Hironobu Sakaguchi left (creator of Final Fantasy), and as the passing of time happened, we see them go even more downhill with all of their handheld games and lose all that money. And to put the nail in the coffin, they just bought Eidos. You usually buy a company that's doing well, but SE just went and bought a company that's also losing money.

[indysurfn]

When those guys left and also the music composer and the founder of FF left for mistwalker and some left for enix (before the merger) and some left for Konami it was all over. A major talent drain that is why FFXII took so long to come out too many people kept leaving. They need a identity. Are they going to make Pure action rpgs, and pure turn based RPG's and not try to merge them. And chose a style for the games (music, art and environment) and stop trying to make all games appeal to all people and cultures? Get a identity for the FF series. If you are going to abandon it to mistwalker do it already! If not come strong and bring me my summon spells you fart knockers! There is a reason that Blue Dragon is so loved in JAPAN it is stealing from the FF series even the the founder of the company can't steal something he invented.

[Shadow Man]

so.. is not because they went multiplat? according to the sony fanboys thats why they suck now.

[Cdaja]

Note to be multiplat you gotta have games on both consoles (Wii is not counted because SE is mostly supporting the 360 when they said they were also gunna support the PS3 (Which has not happened))

[sirbigam]

Let them keep failing, their going to be forced to have to put out FF7 to recup their loses eventually.

[colossi16]

Does Square even know how bad they look right now? I couldn't believe the answer they gave about the the ps3 version of The Last Remnant.

[Kamikaze135]

I think that has to do with sales. It sold like crap on the 360 and PC and received very poor reviews. Why release it a 3rd time?

[FantasyStar]

What? What answer? Don't tell me the PS3 Version got canned!

[Nathaniel_Drake]

"Does Square even know how bad they look right now?"

The president of Squarenix took a price cut. Maybe that's an admission of guilt and they will right the boat from here on

[HDgamer]

I think after the ps2 they went down the drain. Let's hope FFXIII can make us all remember what they were.

[RememberThe357]

Because they're on MS's ballz.

Now I'm off to read the article ; )

EDIT: Ok, now time for the real comment. To be honest I had a great time with FF12. The gameplay was good and the presentation was spectacular. It seems to me that Squares focus on western audiences has failed them completely. Instead of putting out innovative RPGs that westerners was be more attracted to they put out the same old JRPGs and put them exclusively on the 360, giving them even less of a chance to do well.

I think that Square still has talented people working there. Game like Dragon Quest have yet to disappoint, and FF13 and Versus are looking really good. I'll jump on the Square hate bandwagon but only because of their incredible stupid publishing decisions.

[blackpanther25]

Thank god i thought i was the only one who saw that. I said that IU and last Remnant sucked a long time ago. People were flaiming cause i said that the story's are not compelling anymore.
Why
Because these stories have been done to death in jrpgs so much that the story lines were predictable (including FF12). Instead of making something different with the western audience they just made the same crap. They loli characters and ect. that appeals to Japanese people not westerners.

[jkhan]

I don't understand why people are blaming Microsoft for SE current state. I mean it's like people blaming the axe while SE hits itself on the foot. Microsoft are here to do business just like Sony & Nintendo. Up till now SE has produced nothing but mediocre games for 360 & they have totally neglected the PS3. I am a bit concerned about the quality of Final Fantasy XIII & versus XIII as well. Having a name of FF before the title doesn't ensure a great game. They really need to up there game if they want to win back there audience.
--
By the way why are we still approving HHG? They don't have any news and all they do is mindless flame bait articles.

[MattG]

do people actually agree with the article?

I don't see the problem with approving a article that gamers can agree on

[Godmars290]

Except that its nothing that hasn't been said or thought before. Is nothing new yet has been presented as news.

[UltimateIdiot911]

I think the reason why a lot of people are blaming Microsoft partly because Microsoft lead SE into more short term goals and to abandon the core audience. I understand that the west is a big market but I guess a lot of gamers feel that Microsoft has lead SE into a wrong approach. I'm positive a lot of PS3 gamers bought their system for JRPG yet MS convince SE to make 360 exclusive where there is a small demand/market for JRPG. The fact that they abandon their loyal customers for quick bucks combine with the fact that all the games that do come out for the 360 are nothing more than mediocore really has shaken loyal customer's faith in SE.
I agree, I'm skeptical about the quality of FFXIII and Versus.

[green]

What makes you think that Microsoft approached Square-Enix and not the other way around?Right now Microsoft has been stronger in the west than Sony and Square-Enix have stated time and time again that they want a stronger western presence especially since the Japanese game industry is no longer the force it used to be.

If Square met microsoft and they worked something out is it Microsoft's or Square-Enix fault?Microsoft has an obligation a publisher and console manufacturer to get content from other sources into their system and blaming them for trying is just ridiculous.

Afterall Microsoft published and funded the development of Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey by Mistwalker studios and so far, those games, especially Lost Odyssey are head and shoulders ahead of anything that Square-Enix has published or developed on HD consoles.

Their inability to push the JRPG genre into next gen territory by releasing games with
- bad voice acting
- outdated graphics
- terrible story lines
- and un evolving gameplay

especially when compared with their counterparts from the west makes the blame fall 100% on the shoulders of Square-Enix and no one else.

Anyway, isn't Sony a minority shareholder in the company?So why are people not asking Sony what their invest in buying shares in Square-Enix is for if not to benefit their on product?

[mastiffchild]

Greens right about SE being at fault for the decisions. MS prolly were the ones that made the running though as, for the time being, they are the only people to get anything from the deal.

SE accepted, took the fast buck and hoped they'd get help in making western style games but then use a badly suited engine to try.

Don't blame MS-they only wanted to hamper PS3 Japan sales which they did , for a while anyway, manage but they failed in selling their own console which shows how poor, imo, the games from SE as dev and pub have been this gen.

Question also remains-do PS3 only gamers really feel that if SE can't get it right on the "easier" architechture of the 360 what mess would they have made on the "difficult" PS3?

But, whatever, MS never made promises to PS3 opwners, SE did and went back on it after people had already bought consoles on the strength of their word.

Sony, even as a minor shareholder have no clout beyond Nomura's opinion at SE and that's apparent isn't it? Sony have done nothing wrong either the bad choices have been made by SE and their games are suffering while most of their fans bought a system they haven't yet made a game for and the one they bought it for has gone multi. allied to this they give 360 owners cack games and alienate them. Then they buy Eidos? Somebody just shoot them and put the dying horse out of ir's self inflicted misery.

[aaron5829]

HHG's got one thing i agree.

Final Fantasy X for me personally, is one of the best, if not THE best.

:)

[patterson]

but it was made by Squaresoft I believe.

I wish Square-Enix would go back to being more like Squaresoft.

[lazzymusa]

It's because of M$ that they lost their minds, obviously blinded by western $ now they are turning to western style of making rpgs and abandoning sony. Next thing they are going to release a First person Final Fantasy for 360

[Finalflash22]

has nothing to do with making the games you ignorant fanboy, the subpar releases rest solely on square or are you so stupid as to assume that the games would somehow be better on the ps3

[Obama]

This gen Altus and Sega made the best jrpg with persona3/4 and Valkyria Chronicles.

[Finalflash22]

has by far the best story of an jrpg this gen, if you ever get round too owning an xbox 360 give it a try you will like the game

[Neoraf]

Mistwalker says HI!

Lost Odyssey is by far the best JRPG this gen.

Never forget: Final Fantasy creators = Mistwalker.
Memorable music.
Deep and mature storyline.

Mistwalker = the new SquareSoft.

[ssipmraw]

Screw Mistwalker, they kept their typical artstyle from the previous final fantasies, oh how original. hell the music was even the same.
atlus knows how to be different while sega truly knows how to push the hardware

[Obama]

How is LO the best jrpg when it is rated 78 average while VC and P3/4 are rated much between 87 to 92 average?

[Obama]

By the way, FF is never the best jrpg series. Just because it is created by the former FF producer doesn't mean his game is going to be great.

[DNAgent]

Square-Enix sucks.

That's all that really needed to be said.

[NewZealander]

ahh HHG, always seems to ask the questions, verry rarely has the answers tho.

[AngryTypingGuy]

He sucks, until he praises the PS3 again, right? When MGS4 came out and he was saying how awesome the graphics and technology are, he was the best thing ever.

Oh no, someone said something the slightest bit critical of the PS3 - disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree disagree

Babies.

[DNAgent]

He can praise anything he wants. He still sucks and that site is still a big heapin' nutty brown pile of bullshit.

[360_Rules]

Now that a FFX is going to be released on a MS console Square now sucks! Hahahahhahahhaahaa

[DNAgent]

FFX isn't going to be released on a Microsoft console. Square-Enix sucked last gen and just carried over to this gen. You are late to the party so I guess you just started playing video games this gen.

[KKanjiAnkh]

This Gen is nowhere over, w/ producers like Kitase, and Nomura, it doesn't bother me one bit, that they take their time.

[PirateThom]

1. Square Enix mostly make Japanese Role Playing Games
2. Japanese Role Playing Games sell mostly in Japan
3. Square Enix countinue to show support for the console with the lowest install base in Japan, that people outside of Japan are not buying JRPGs for.

Very simple. Doesn't matter if it was Microsoft who came to Square Enix or vice versa, simple fact is, Square Enix backed the wrong horse as far as JRPGs goes.

[mastiffchild]

But doesn't it matter who approached who?

I can see what MS thought they might get out of this WHILE also slowing PS3 sales in Japan but why SE were so eager puzzles me.

I see no reason for the Eidos purchase way after their glory days and the money from MS has led to sub par games for 360 and none for PS3.

Long term this leaves SE very vulnerable to the rise of other jrpg makers and , god forbid, if the huge pressure this has puton FF13 and Vs causes them to fail where does that leave them?

So, my point is if SE made the running just hw dim are they? Noone can blame MS in this case though as for them this was worth a punt on several levels as hey weren't to know SE would fail to make great games.

[SpoonyRedMage]

Ahh PirateThom, I nearly always agree with you.

Here I agree, they took a gamble with the 360 to try and get an MS western market and a Sony Eastern market. It just didn't work. It also doesn't help that the two games they've put on the 360(Project Sylpheed and The Last Remnant) aren't exactly their best. They do really need to concentrate on FFXIII, Versus and DQIX now and just get excellent games out there and on the appropiate consoles(although the majority of SE's DS games are awesome!).

I don't think buying Eidos is too bad either, the new Tomb Raider did well, just not as well as it used to. Of course I'm hoping for some kind of new Legacy of Kain games.

[WengYong]

A new Legacy Of Kain Game would be awesome !! But not like Defiance, more like the original Soul Reaver.

On Topic: Yes Square stuffed up, but they have a massive chance to redeem themselves with DQ, FF13 and vs13. Give them a chance guys

[Shadow Man]

Star Ocean 4 the last hope is a great game
I highly recommended

[Mr_Luke]

For me Square-CrapEnix doesn't exist anymore after all the junk they're giving. I really hope they can redeem themselves with FF XIII (doubt, i really doubt) or FF XIII Versus.
It's very sad tho.

[Neoraf]

Who cares about SquareEnix... now that there is MISTWALKER.

Xbox360 = JRPG beast.

[Pug]

whilst blue dragon and lost odyssey were some what average you do make a valid point in that the 360 has a hell of a lot more JRPG although none of them are really earth shattering. However if the trend continues I will seriously have a look at the 360 which is something I never thought i'd end up doing.

I'm realy hoping White Knight Chronicles is the first of many good PS3 JRPG's.

[Percy]

final fantasy 7 and chrono cross was made by squaresoft. squaresoft is the company that i miss. squareenix has been crap since it was founded. damn you spirits within.

[Pug]

because of the genre there renowned for it takes some time to produce a quality JRPG which has a good story, art etc.. SE have basically whored themselves out to anyone and everyone and in doing so sacrificed quality. There churning out a lot of games which are average at best.

In doing this they've alienated and probably angered there core fan base. This is a sad state of affairs and one can only hope the company re focuses and get themselves back on the rails.

Do i think they can do this? Based on what i've seen in FF13 i'm nervous, it looks very much "westernised" which I think for SE is a bad thing, its not what they do or what there fans really want. However, from what I've seen of FF Vs 13 possibly some hope is there, that looks slightly more promising. I will reserve judgement on both though until there fully out. SE can bank on the FF brand to result in these 2 sell pretty well however if they turn out more rubbish people will start to lose faith in the FF name.

[Bengoshi-San]

I've been saying this for a year or more now, Square-Enix is very out of tune with this entire generation of gaming and they are off key in terms of publications, development and with business decisions as a whole.

[kesvalk]

in fact, the only franchise of square that is going downhill is Final Fantasy, i am in love with dragon quest 5, looking foward to DQ9 and 10, valk CotP is a good tactics too, and The world ends with you is hands down the best RPG i played this generation so far...

as a RPG fanatic i can say that you can compare Final Fantasy with Need for speed, a shallow experience for ppl that play it casually... and as NFS, it's loosing steam after so many interations...

i realised that after playing DQ and Suikoden, the amount of depth of these 2 games over shadow ANY Final Fantasy...

EDIT: i forgot to say that i am looking foward to blood of bahamut too, and going crazy while wait for KH Days (my favorite SE franshise)

[DrJones]

I don't think you should belittle some here.
Some are only stating their personal opinions about this, and for that you want to ban them to the open zone?
Please be more tolerant of other view points even if they don't sync perfectly with your own.
And as a matter of fact, some have a point. The N4G crowd seems to be very biased against xbox360.
You could say that is not relevant to discuss here, but the fact is that the critique of games and gaming companies in here, seems to be colored by console preferences rather than having checked out the software's quality on one's own accord. Thus making some critique illegitimate.
Besides many of the games Square have made doesn't seem that bad to me, and I think SquareEnix still have much opportunity to prove itself.
With FF13 for example.

[laaakokaracha]

I hope they get bankrupt so that something NEW can develop...

SE biggest mistake was that they ignored their biggest fans...

PLUS SE seem to be proud of being outdated...

it takes them ages to release a game WORLDWIDE...

its pathetic and there is no excuse or what so ever to make fans wait longer than they have to.

[Socomer 1979]

Youre on the wrong site pal.
Matt G and the hip hop gamer are idiots.
When does any of thier sh!t make sence?
They are a bunch a baby retards.

Honestly, whats the big problem?
why does videogames have to be caught up in drama so that a website that contributes nothing to a gamer looking for information can prosper?

Its stupid. You know why we hate these kind of people in the hood?
Because they are useless, scandalous good for nothing, ignorant muthafckaz. Its the same reason why rappers beef with eachother.

Now, i know most of you dont read the gossip magazines of hollywood or the hip hop industry because you dont give a fck. Why is anyone gonna give a fck about some 2 bit website where they make sh!t up about videogames?

Its Useless and to debate with these a$$holes would take to long because you'd be busy correcting thier sentences and having a hard time understanding what the fck is this dumb guy trying to say?

[solid-strife]

Just Re-make FF7, Every RPG fan knows that this game is worth buying.

[Darkfiber]

GO back and play FF7, it's really not that good. For its time, yes, but the world has lonnnng since grown past it. I think Square has recognized that, and that's why they aren't making a remake of it. They would feel the need to update the gameplay and storyline to fit today's standards or people will complain it's too slow and boring and linear. But if they did that then the hardcore FF7 fans of yore would b*tch that they changed too much and it sucks. Either way they are screwed and would alienate half of their customer base of the game.

[redsymphony]

why so much hate towards hiphopgamer so far from what i can see he talks nothing but the truth i understand the truth hurts sometimes but thats life deal with it and yes square enix at this point sucks A55 if final fantasy 13 or versus is garbage no more square for me unless i see a ff7 remake

[Darkfiber]

I hate him because he tries to be cool and ends up sounding like an unprofessional f***ing retard. Truth or not, he's making himself look like an idiot. Drop the whole hip hop "yo yo yo diss iz kewl" act and incorporate some level of professionalism into your little "act" so people will take you seriously. You are giving African American video game enthusiasts a bad name.

[Darkfiber]

The thing people don't understand is that the games they made in the past and were used to making would not hold up by today's "standards". Greedy stupid impatient gamers these days always want something fresh and new and fast paced. They don't want to play "boring" linear turn-based RPGs. If they made FF7 today, and it hadn't existed in the past, it would be crucified for its lack of innovation and linear story, lack of player choice and customization, bland story and slow, sometimes annoying gameplay.

The answer is simple. Square got too used to being the "best" at making RPGs, but the world has changed and left them in the dust and they honestly don't know how to deal with it. They are now playing catch up and this leads to poorly produced, poorly thought out games.

[xXKingofStingXx]

Square lost whatever goodness they had when their big players started leaving the company. If you look at games like Blue Dragon and Lost Oddesy you can see, hear and feel that old school charm a lot of us older gamers grew up with that is no longer found in SE titles.

I really don't think its money, i think its the "New" direction the company decided on taking that is causing them to pump out one failed project after another such a Dawn of Mana or Infinite Undiscovery.

Even the new FF is looking pretty shady and while i'm hoping it's a revival for the series i'm still not without my doubts.

Off the topic, would it not be awesome if they made a "Faithful" Chrono Trigger remake with today's graphical muscle?

[Becko]

Square is in big trouble not only with its poor sales (infinite undiscovery, last remnant) on the wrong machine that worthlessly they're trying to support but also with the fans worldwide, everyone knows the jrpg fanbase/market is on the ps3, put those 2 games on ps3 along with mistwalker games and I can guarantee much better sales. Hey wanna see good sales ? put SO4 on PS3 and just watch !

They even bought the Unreal Engine license to appeal the western gamers with their w-rpg experiment, Last Remnant, funny how a j-rpg game such a Tales of Vesperia sold a lot way better in the USA than the western-appealing game.

I think SE have started to change its mind with this mysterious jrpg announcement for both PS3 / 360 (new Tri Ace game www.newrpg.jp)... have they already learned the lesson ?... Last thing I knew from SE is the fact they recently bought Oblivion/Fallout3 graphic engine so their desire to appeal the western rpg market hasn't been dropped yet.

About FF13 I don't think looks western... it looks FF8-ish (futuristic desing), also looks FF7AC-ish (battle movements). FF13 is in good hands (Kitase team) so I wouldn't worry about it.

[Shnazzyone]

That's odd, I heard Star Ocean 4 was actually a pretty good rpg. The problem is I think noone is sure where to go with rpgs right now. Things were so much better when graphics were limited. It seems the storylines have begun to get repetitive as square has tried to focus more on the graphics. They try so hard to fill the games with an endless amount of things to do that they fail at making the main storylines as gripping as they used to be.

I hope the DQ on wii might buck the trend and show something really unique in RPG games. But based on the most recent wii DQ release(swords) I think they might screw it up by over indulging in their Squaresoft crack and turning their brains to mush trying to think of how to bump the graphics on that dancing cactus dude.

[jlemdon]

You guys are suppose to be talking about Sqaure, yet your mentioning M$ and how these games would be better if they were on PS3.

mediocre is mediocre no matter where it goes.:)

but those who said Blue Dragon & Lost Odyssey were mediocre, tell me which JRPG is better than those 2 That's on the next gen system right now???

[Super Taru]

i think the most idiotic move was that SE wanted to adjust their franchises to the western industry. I mean it's just soo stupid JRPGs to change their format for the need of the ignorant western market. I'm not against that particular market, but i'm pissed off that they would "tweek" their kind of games so they'd be more accepted. You can't just change something because you like so much something else (without realizing that you make better franchises in terms of quality (not gameplay necessarily).

You see not only SE wants to expand their incomes, but they also want to change their tradition in gaming due to some kind of admiration to the West (look at Hideo Kojima for example with his next MGS). I mean they don't see the obvious; their games are for a different type of gamers and apparently not for people who are eager to see gore and violence... they are for a more "delicate" type of gamers.

Of course the West and the U.S. have looooots of fans for Square-Enix... or should i say Squaresoft's products. So there's no need to change any of their (old) strategies and just expand their franchises in another more creative way.

[SeraphimBlade]

God, I hate these vague article titles where you think "oh, gaming company X, what zaniness have you gotten yourself into today?" and it just leads to some random blogger's rant about old news.
You can't honestly compare FFX and FFXII, they have almost ZERO in common aside from unmanly protagonists. I personally like FFXII better. I liked the more open-ended take on it. That's another thing that pisses me off. People are like "they gotta change stuff up if they want to keep putting out sequels" and then they change stuff up in the sequel and those same people are like "why did they have to change it up so much?"
That aside, I AM really pissed off that all their games are going to 360 as exclusives. It was all playstation before, and all your hardcore fanbase saved up to get PS3 just in time to see they bought the wrong system. Jerks.
Oh, and anybody who says, "it's been going downhill for square since FFX" did NOT play Dragon Quest VIII.

[OhMyGandhi]

yeah, FART KNOCKERS!!

[onijutsu]

THATS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING!
/sarcasm

[FxckOSX]

fallen profits and sell, abandon Sony, flatter to Nintendo.....

all responsible for Youichi Wada.
he should be renamed to "Youichi WhatThe".

[PSGamingInc]

This guy just needs to give it up.

[EzekielRAGE]

Was the first FF I played and absolutely loved it and so i picked up FF XI and was very dissappointed so I didn't pick up another FF. You had to wait for a gauge to fill b4 you could even hit your enemy. Didn't Eidos make hitman if so hope there's another one.

PS: I just got a 360 from a pawn shop for $193 with a 15gig hdd, I bought Fable 2 are there anymore good rpgs. Sounds like Lost Odyssey might be good.

[PS3Freak]

Honestly, everybody needs to lay off the guy. This was a legitimate article and he shouldn't be scrutinized for it. I have seen insurmountable evidence of his TERRIBLE grammar and punctuation, but this article didn't seem to have any problems. He must have got an editer for his articles, or someone else wrote it.

On topic, FFX was AMAZING. FFXI... ONLINE ONLY?!?!? 25 bux a month?!?!? On PS2?? most retarded move of all time. And Xii was a not so great but passable. After 12 they completely stopped releaseing games on PS consoles... WTF???? I havn't played any of the xbox games but they were received all too well. Seems like the downward spiral really started before their parade onto the 360.

[DatBoiDrew]

I honestly felt like the battle system in FFX-2 was excellent; fast paced, the characters moved around the battle field, charging magic, etc. The story sucked balls tho.