Another Final Fantasy XIV Could Destroy Square Enix

[Lugbzurg]

Yikes. Reminds me of Dead Space 3 with far worse stakes that really don't even need to exist.

"It's like World of Warcraft!" Yep. See ya, guys.

 

[m72_ar]

I don't care if Square Enix crashed and burned, just make sure they sell Eidos to Valve first.

You know what would be a better idea than relaunching FFXIV? Thief 4 and the next Deus Ex.

Spend money on those instead of another me too WoW (and even WoW itself has started to bleed subscribers)

 

[Tanis]

Just remake FF7.

Sure, it's based off a mediocre JRPG, but it's a mediocre JRPG with a rabbit fanbase that cums any time someone mention's its name.

It's like CoD or Madden for JRPGs.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

"FF Versus XIII is already in full production, has a solid anticipation base, and is almost gaurenteed to turn a profit.

FF XIV Online has already cost us millions, doesn't have a lot of anticipation surrounding it, and it is going up against one of the biggest and most successful games in the history of the industry (WoW).

It's gonna take us a lot of money and time to finish either of these games, and we're in dire financial straits...

I know! Let's re-launch FF XIV!"

Someone, anyone, PLEASE explain to me the logic at work here, because I don't see it.

I'm guessing that FF14 has a lot more money sunk into it already, and the only way to get any of it back is to finish it. Not that I don't see what you're saying, personally I think it feels kinda dumb to have 14 come out before all the 13 stuff is finished(not that it needed 2 sequels not counting VERSUS) but I would imagine the higher ups plus investors want this huge cash sink to finally start paying off already, and is most likely pressuring the staff to make it their #1 priority.

That does make sense. And, to be fair, an MMO with even a decent-sized player base will make more money over a longer term than any one-time-purchase game. This is, of course, assuming that they can gain a decent-sized player base, which I'm skeptical about.

More than trying to make a logical argument against Squeenix's decisions, I was mostly expressing my frustration and worry.

I'm frustrated that FFXIV Online is getting all this time, money, and attention while any number of other current/future projects that have lots of fan support (FFVersusXIII, Kingdom Hearts III, the The World Ends With You sequel, the Soul Reaver reboot, another Deus Ex game, etc) are left to collect dust.

I'm worried that FFXIV Online: A Realm Reborn will be a financial loss again and put the above-mentioned projects in further jeopardy.

 

[shrekfan246]

Humm, DaoC with WoW? Mark me interested, I will keep it on my radar. Hopefully they will take the best of those 2. If not, maybe TES online will hit the mark.

Lots of people got caught by the hype of Guild Wars 2 as the one game who would COMPLETELY REVOLUTIONIZE MMOs. When I see so many people putting so much hope into a game that is not even released, I get suspicious. I'm sure it's a good game but I don't think it lived up to the hype built around it.

For me it did, WvW is amazing and the battlegrounds feel very well designed and balanced. Sadly it takes a guild to fully experience it and i dont like to interact with people, just to pvp with them.

And the company never said "COMPLETELY REVOLUTIONIZE MMOs", but if you like to beat strawmans, suit yourself.

The company never said that, the fans did. For months before it launched, these forums were filled with posts saying that Guild Wars 2 would be a completely revolutionary experience, new and different from everything we've seen before, and it would blow away WoW entirely. Then it launched and had something like two or three threads and nobody talked about it ever again.

OT: Well, considering all of the stupid business decisions Squeenix has made these past three years, I'm not surprised. Why don't you localize Final Mixes of your Kingdom Hearts franchise? Why don't you release Final Fantasy Type-0 outside of Japan? Why don't you actually finish making a goddamn game before you announce three more, instead of pouring money into the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and Final Fantasy XIV?

Final Fantasy VII couldn't possibly cost you any more than XIV has to remake at this point, and despite its flaws I'm pretty sure it's still a guaranteed bet to earn a ton of money.

Come on, Squeenix, you've dug this hole yourselves.

 

[shrekfan246]

At the risk of double posting, I just wanted to address this point and editing doesn't notify of quotes.

I will always remember you as the company that didn't release Pandora's Tower in America, shot down Versus 13, and made great games between the shit.

Square Enix has nothing to do with Pandora's Tower, and Versus XIII is in active development, it's just been in development for seven years now. Just a month ago there was an interview that stated they were still hard at work on it. What exactly they've been doing for the last seven years I can't really say, but it hasn't been shot down.

 

[Trishbot]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this, but I like JRPGs... but I don't like MMOs. Thus, no matter how much I love Final Fantasy, I have zero interest in FF14, no matter how much better it could be (and I heard the original was absolutely awful).

To me, Final Fantasy, and Squaresoft, ended when the creators all left (or more appropriately were "asked to leave"). Final Fantasy X was the last true Final Fantasy game I enjoyed... and the series started to stagnate ever since, despite trying to change EVERYTHING every new installment.

Meanwhile, the creators of Xenoblade, The Last Story, Lost Odyssey, and Persona all have surpassed Square Enix's latest offerings by leaps and bounds, either in terms of gameplay or strong storytelling in the gaming medium.

Square is a shell of its former self, throwing money at graphic artists and hoping cosplay outfits on attractive fashion models can mask tired tropes, bland gameplay, unlikeable characters, and awful storytelling.

This is a company with such a massive number of titles they could release, but we've instead had over THIRTY (30!!!) Final Fantasy games, re-releases, and spin-offs in the past decade. Whatever happened to Chrono Trigger? Parasite Eve? Brave Fencer Musashi? Front Mission? Secret of Mana? SaGa series? Xenogears? Vagrant Story? Tobal? Ehrgeiz? Drakkengarde? Super Mario RPG? Bushido Blade? Threads of Fate? The Bouncer?

Square's list of "5 necessary elements of a Final Fantasy game" they unveiled the other day didn't exactly inspire hope in me either. It seems to be a case of them throwing as much money at it to make it LOOK as nice as possible, with less interest in how it plays or how the story is shaped and formed. I remember reading how FF9 had everything, every story moment and every character involved, written down in detail before a single pixel or polygon was made. It was a game created with focus, passion, and creativity, whereas the modern Square mindset is to made sterile, pretty worlds first and then string them together with a skeleton plot and highly convoluted bad-anime dialogue and characters.

 

[crimson sickle2]

At the risk of double posting, I just wanted to address this point and editing doesn't notify of quotes.

I will always remember you as the company that didn't release Pandora's Tower in America, shot down Versus 13, and made great games between the shit.

Square Enix has nothing to do with Pandora's Tower, and Versus XIII is in active development, it's just been in development for seven years now. Just a month ago there was an interview that stated they were still hard at work on it. What exactly they've been doing for the last seven years I can't really say, but it hasn't been shot down.

Thanks for the correction, I space often about names and associates. However, I sincerely doubt Versus XIII will either still come out at all or be anything better than decent. I love to be proven wrong, but 7 years is a little long for a development period.

 

[KingdomFantasyXIII]

I think the problem SE has is the incentive to keep making FF spinoffs, sequels and expanded games instead of just trying to make different games. A remake for FF14 is a good idea to make sure that people can

Someone needs to stop Yoshinori Kitase from his obsession over these things and having them made. Most of the stuff we have to suffer though from the franchise itself is mostly the spinoff games.

list of FF products that
Final Fantasy X-2
Dirge of Cerberus
Advent Children
Final Fantasy XII: Revanent WIngs
FF4 The After Years
XIII-2
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Seriously, who asked for these (and I even liked Final Fantasy XIII so that is saying much as well). It's these products that are dragging down the franchise and hurting the people around the development of the games. To put it in more of a perspective, here's an example:

Back in the day, FF8 had come out and that had gained some criticism because it wasn't the sequel people were hoping for to come after FF7. What did Squaresoft do to bring in a good gesture towards the people they were selling to? They went and made FF9. They moved on with the franchise instead of making a "FFVIII-2 or a "Squall Returns: Final Fantasy VIII". If the spinoff ideas didn't exist, people like Toriyama would not have hate on them (Midgar section of FF7, FF8, FF10/10-2. FF13 trilogy). Toriyama would be only known for the Midgar section FF7, parts of FF8, FF10 and FF13 if Yoshinori Kitase wouldn't force the guy to make more sequels and spinoffs for his own pleasure.