Some tips for Squeenix

[Manji187]

Because another failure (after XIII and XIV) might prove disastrous...

Some tips are substantial...most are rather frivolous.

-Take a good long look at Square's non-FF titles...especially Chrono Trigger/ Cross, Xenogears and Vagrant Story.

-Have the balls to make the protagonist an adult...in more ways than just the legal one. Or, in other words: Basch...not Vaan.

-Don't put moogles in dramatic sequences (I'm looking at you FF XIII-2)...tends to detract the emotional value

-Bring back the world map and exploration

-Don't swamp the game in frivolous/ meaningless mini-games (I'm looking at you FF X-2)

-Don't make another Vanille/ Hope like character ever again

-Try to portray "African Americans" in a non-comical relief/ stereotype way

-Don't be making "female" versions of brooding male characters...you know "female Squall" (Paine)...or "female Cloud" (Lightning). If you have problems with strong female characters...get some help from Joss Whedon

-Maybe more use of reality and logic wouldn't hurt? You know...it's not exactly normal for people to barge into someone else's home and start rummaging through their stuff. Nor is it normal for nearly every NPC to treat you as a long lost friend. "I'm sorry...but why are you telling me all of this?" should not be a player's reaction.

...and now it's your turn.

Yes...you, my fellow escapist...staring at the screen...asking yourself why your life turned out the way it did.

 

[Orbot_Vectorman]

Actualy... I kind of like FF-XIII, the 2nd Final Fantasy game I actualy found rather enjoyable... the other being (correct me if I'm wrong) Dissdia Ducolcim (Once more correct me if I'm wrong). and as far as Lightning being a female Cloud... I wouldn't know much about that... but I do find her character rather enjoyable.

And as far as throwing in logic... why haven't you mentioned Nintendont's Legend of Zelda, where Link goes into peoples houses and smashes their pots? that and doing that would place quite a few more lines code into the game, along with animations, and voice/sound effects.

And the whole "African American" not being Comiical Relief... well, you can't realy blame Square... they are Japanease, and don't know much... if any thing about true American culture.

But I think makeing a decen't MMO for Final Fantasy, and ending the series would be in their best beninfits.

 

[Warrior Irme]

Actualy... I kind of like FF-XIII, the 2nd Final Fantasy game I actualy found rather enjoyable... the other being (correct me if I'm wrong) Dissdia Ducolcim (Once more correct me if I'm wrong). and as far as Lightning being a female Cloud... I wouldn't know much about that... but I do find her character rather enjoyable.

And as far as throwing in logic... why haven't you mentioned Nintendont's Legend of Zelda, where Link goes into peoples houses and smashes their pots? that and doing that would place quite a few more lines code into the game, along with animations, and voice/sound effects.

And the whole "African American" not being Comiical Relief... well, you can't realy blame Square... they are Japanease, and don't know much... if any thing about true American culture.

But I think makeing a decen't MMO for Final Fantasy, and ending the series would be in their best beninfits.

They made better than a decent MMO in the form of FFXI. The game is getting on in age though so some of the mechanics are from earlier MMO conventions. The disappointing thing to me is that they learned a lot of lessons in the early days of FFXI, and very few of them moved to FFXIV.

 

[Inkidu]

And the whole "African American" not being Comiical Relief... well, you can't realy blame Square... they are Japanease, and don't know much... if any thing about true American culture.

This actually kind of made me laugh, I mean really laugh. Yamamoto went to Harvard. The Japanese know plenty of American culture. They send students here all the time, as early as the 1930s.

Square-Enix isn't the same entity that it once was. The people that made its parent companies a powerhouse went on to found their own companies. So if Square-Enix wants to get back on its feet they're going to have to remake some stuff, or look at the non-Final Fantasy properties.

 

[Phlakes]

(correct me if I'm wrong) Dissdia Ducolcim (Once more correct me if I'm wrong)

Dissidia Duodecim. It translates to 12, that should make it easier, with the whole "duo" for two and "dec" for ten.

Anyway, it looks like they're getting back on the right track with XII-2 and especially Versus. Just waiting to see if that's really true, so they can make a real FFXIV that puts the series back where it was.

 

[Orbot_Vectorman]

Snip.

They made better than a decent MMO in the form of FFXI. The game is getting on in age though so some of the mechanics are from earlier MMO conventions. The disappointing thing to me is that they learned a lot of lessons in the early days of FFXI, and very few of them moved to FFXIV.

I've been mening to check that out, is it better than WoW?

 

[Orbot_Vectorman]

And the whole "African American" not being Comiical Relief... well, you can't realy blame Square... they are Japanease, and don't know much... if any thing about true American culture.

This actually kind of made me laugh, I mean really laugh. Yamamoto went to Harvard. The Japanese know plenty of American culture. They send students here all the time, as early as the 1930s.

Square-Enix isn't the same entity that it once was. The people that made its parent companies a powerhouse went on to found their own companies. So if Square-Enix wants to get back on its feet they're going to have to remake some stuff, or look at the non-Final Fantasy properties.

Oh... Well, I would imagine I was wrong then... my appologies. Up side, I just learned something new.

 

[Inkidu]

Snip.

They made better than a decent MMO in the form of FFXI. The game is getting on in age though so some of the mechanics are from earlier MMO conventions. The disappointing thing to me is that they learned a lot of lessons in the early days of FFXI, and very few of them moved to FFXIV.

I've been mening to check that out, is it better than WoW?

I don't mean I was laughing at you. It's just when I actually stopped to think of how many students from Japan I knew alone it just invoked the reaction.

 

[Legion IV]

Because another failure (after XIII and XIV) might prove disastrous...

Some tips are substantial...most are rather frivolous.

-Take a good long look at Square's non-FF titles...especially Chrono Trigger/ Cross, Xenogears and Vagrant Story.

-Have the balls to make the protagonist an adult...in more ways than just the legal one. Or, in other words: Basch...not Vaan.

-Don't put moogles in dramatic sequences (I'm looking at you FF XIII-2)...tends to detract the emotional value

-Bring back the world map and exploration

-Don't swamp the game in frivolous/ meaningless mini-games (I'm looking at you FF X-2)

-Don't make another Vanille/ Hope like character ever again

-Try to portray "African Americans" in a non-comical relief/ stereotype way

-Don't be making "female" versions of brooding male characters...you know "female Squall" (Paine)...or "female Cloud" (Lightning). If you have problems with strong female characters...get some help from Joss Whedon

-Maybe more use of reality and logic wouldn't hurt? You know...it's not exactly normal for people to barge into someone else's home and start rummaging through their stuff. Nor is it normal for nearly every NPC to treat you as a long lost friend. "I'm sorry...but why are you telling me all of this?" should not be a player's reaction.

...and now it's your turn.

Yes...you, my fellow escapist...staring at the screen...asking yourself why your life turned out the way it did.

Am speechless utterly speechless. I don't know whats more sad and depressing. How you everything square does has gone completely over your head, or maybe you feel pretentiously entitled thinking your right when in fact you are a minority. The FF series is well loved by a huge fan base and to this day.

Am not even go near your idiotic comparison saying Lightning is a cloud ripoff something I've heard far to much and if your gonna throw that quote at me I'll throw another one made after it disproving it.

I think the part that really makes me sad is that judging by your avatar your a fan of guilty gear the greatest game series and games ever made. I thought guilty gear players were smarter maybe your just a casual fan.

Maybe we can settle our dispute to a first to 10 in Guilty Gear accent core (pick your online client of choice) If you can beat my Eddie I'll play you with my main Robo.

 

[DanielBrown]

Great tips, and I agree with every one of them.
What I'd like to add is that they should bring back the old combat systems, or more specifically the one from FFX. Sphere grid or not doesn't matter, but I really liked planning my fights... FFXII and FFXIII was just mashing attack and I doubt that trend will go away.

 

[DigitalAtlas]

First off, learn to spell.

Second, I admit XIII is flawed in many places, but you're just being ridiculous.

-Mini-games in VII were awesome because the player wasn't forced into them. However, IX's card game was also an exciting entry.

-The Moogle in VI is known to make people cry.

-The world map is in FFXIII, try playing it.

-Hope isn't a bad character. Vanille is annoying, but is important as far as plot goes.

-Sazh is much less of a stereotype than the character in your avatar, let alone other black characters in games.

-Lightning works as a character much better than other female mains. Look at X-Blades then tell me Lightning isn't an improvement

-In case you didn't notice in XIII, the NPCs that talked to you WERE your long lost friends. Or rather, your friends. We're labeling a DERP on that point.

There. Just invalidated all of your points in your horrendous format. At least the franchise is trying to do something new and just because it isn't as wide-open as The Witcher 2, doesn't mean it's awful. Hell, Famitsu and most Japanese players loved it.

 

[the spud]

-Don't overconvalute the plot. Keep it simple but grand (Like FF6).

-Think about doing another "Return to form" style game like FF9 (couldn't hurt).

-Remake FF6 while your at it, For 3ds.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Make a return to form Final Fantasy game with absolutely no voice-overs. Make it a "Show Don't Tell" game like the past games in the series were, and develop it with the mindset of a game like FF9 and the old NES Final Fantasy games as opposed to XIII.

 

[Manji187]

Because another failure (after XIII and XIV) might prove disastrous...

Some tips are substantial...most are rather frivolous.

-Take a good long look at Square's non-FF titles...especially Chrono Trigger/ Cross, Xenogears and Vagrant Story.

-Have the balls to make the protagonist an adult...in more ways than just the legal one. Or, in other words: Basch...not Vaan.

-Don't put moogles in dramatic sequences (I'm looking at you FF XIII-2)...tends to detract the emotional value

-Bring back the world map and exploration

-Don't swamp the game in frivolous/ meaningless mini-games (I'm looking at you FF X-2)

-Don't make another Vanille/ Hope like character ever again

-Try to portray "African Americans" in a non-comical relief/ stereotype way

-Don't be making "female" versions of brooding male characters...you know "female Squall" (Paine)...or "female Cloud" (Lightning). If you have problems with strong female characters...get some help from Joss Whedon

-Maybe more use of reality and logic wouldn't hurt? You know...it's not exactly normal for people to barge into someone else's home and start rummaging through their stuff. Nor is it normal for nearly every NPC to treat you as a long lost friend. "I'm sorry...but why are you telling me all of this?" should not be a player's reaction.

...and now it's your turn.

Yes...you, my fellow escapist...staring at the screen...asking yourself why your life turned out the way it did.

Am speechless utterly speechless. I don't know whats more sad and depressing. How you everything square does has gone completely over your head, or maybe you feel pretentiously entitled thinking your right when in fact you are a minority. The FF series is well loved by a huge fan base and to this day.

Am not even go near your idiotic comparison saying Lightning is a cloud ripoff something I've heard far to much and if your gonna throw that quote at me I'll throw another one made after it disproving it.

I think the part that really makes me sad is that judging by your avatar your a fan of guilty gear the greatest game series and games ever made. I thought guilty gear players were smarter maybe your just a casual fan.

Maybe we can settle our dispute to a first to 10 in Guilty Gear accent core (pick your online client of choice) If you can beat my Eddie I'll play you with my main Robo.

Would you be so kind as to actually substantiate/ elaborate upon what exactly goes over my head?

Just because the franchise is loved does not mean it is above criticism...it is often criticized exactly by the ones who loved it once...and possibly love it still.

"My" idiotic Lightning comparison? First of all...I did not use the word "ripoff".

I am not afraid of being proven wrong if I really made a mistake:

http://www.1up.com/news/ffxiii-interview

EGM: What can you tell us about the heroine of FFXIII?
Motomu Toriyama: We can't tell you all the details, unfortunately. Looking at the history of the FF series, there were already female main characters, like in FFVI, FFX, and FFX-2. This time, one of the characteristics of this heroine is that she's not that feminine. I tried to make her someone very strong, independent. When I asked Mr. Nomura to design this character, I requested someone like a female version of Cloud from FFVII.

The last sentence. Go ahead and disprove all you want.

Yeah, I'm a casual fan...what of it?

Setting a dispute by way of a fighting game? How mature. Making statements about intelligence by looking at what fighting game someone is playing? How intelligent.

Maybe you should calm down...cool your head...and try to put into words what it is that is bothering you about my statements.

 

[Manji187]

First off, learn to spell.

Second, I admit XIII is flawed in many places, but you're just being ridiculous.

-Mini-games in VII were awesome because the player wasn't forced into them. However, IX's card game was also an exciting entry.

-The Moogle in VI is known to make people cry.

-The world map is in FFXIII, try playing it.

-Hope isn't a bad character. Vanille is annoying, but is important as far as plot goes.

-Sazh is much less of a stereotype than the character in your avatar, let alone other black characters in games.

-Lightning works as a character much better than other female mains. Look at X-Blades then tell me Lightning isn't an improvement

-In case you didn't notice in XIII, the NPCs that talked to you WERE your long lost friends. Or rather, your friends. We're labeling a DERP on that point.

There. Just invalidated all of your points in your horrendous format. At least the franchise is trying to do something new and just because it isn't as wide-open as The Witcher 2, doesn't mean it's awful. Hell, Famitsu and most Japanese players loved it.

First off, learn to read.

Mini-games in VII...my example was X-2. And it wasn't about mini-games in general...but about frivolous/ silly/ meaningless mini-games: like finding partners for monkeys (FF X-2).

The Moogle in VI...my example was (the released footage of) XIII-2 (but yeah...the game isn't out yet...so maybe it'll turn out ok). It's fundamentally about the clash between the seriousness/ drama of a scene and the comic relief/ playful nature of Moogles.

As to the world map: Yeah...in chapter 11 of 13...after countless of hours of corridor gameplay. Sure it was vast...giving the player a sense of freedom...but it wasn't anything as versatile as, say, FF IX's world map.

Hope isn't a bad character..fair enough..does that automatically make him a good character? I agree that it's a subjective issue.

How does pointing to my avatar invalidate anything? We're not talking about Sol Badguy here...you decided to bring him up. Also, by stating that Sazh is much less a stereotype...you do acknowledge that he IS a stereotype.

I wasn't talking about whether Lightning is a good character...I was speaking out discontent over the issue of basing new female characters on existing male characters (esthetically and some personality traits).

As to NPCs...that was a rather general remark that actually applies to most JRPGs. You wanted to make it about XIII...so you did. That's on you.

In general you just raged about what you wanted to rage about...you did not really address my statements.

Now..since you thought it necessary to bring up avatars it's only fair I involve yours. Cloud Strife from FF Advent Children. Fanboy much, perhaps?

So you liked FF XIII a lot despite it's obvious flaws...big deal. It's a game...a game you won't be playing for the rest of your life...a game you will have forgotten after 10, 15...20 years. Wouldn't you rather play better FF games? Games that improve upon FF XIII?

 

[sb666]

also try to get Hironobu Sakaguchi to come back also bring towns back as well

 

[Smooth Operator]

I got a simple one: quality control
Square Enix used to be a name to count on now they will stamp it on just about any turd that makes a buck or two.

 

[Mr. Omega]

-Don't overconvalute the plot. Keep it simple but grand (Like FF6).

-Think about doing another "Return to form" style game like FF9 (couldn't hurt).

-Remake FF6 while your at it, For 3ds.

This man has the right idea. Sometimes simple is best.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

"My" idiotic Lightning comparison? First of all...I did not use the word "ripoff".

I am not afraid of being proven wrong if I really made a mistake:

http://www.1up.com/news/ffxiii-interview

EGM: What can you tell us about the heroine of FFXIII?
Motomu Toriyama: We can't tell you all the details, unfortunately. Looking at the history of the FF series, there were already female main characters, like in FFVI, FFX, and FFX-2. This time, one of the characteristics of this heroine is that she's not that feminine. I tried to make her someone very strong, independent. When I asked Mr. Nomura to design this character, I requested someone like a female version of Cloud from FFVII.

So they used an existing and widely successful character as a basis to develop a new lead, and this guarantees she was a rip off? If you bothered to even watch a few clips on youtube. You would notice Lightning differs in many ways from her inspiration. Coincidently, BioWare, who is often adored by people on this forum, are well known for reuse their arch types in similar fashion, yet are hardly ever criticized.

What I find amusing about this supposed failure of FFXIII is while the game was undoubtedly flawed. It sold quite well, surpassing even Mass Effect 2 if memory serves. Just because you disliked it does not make it an instant flop. People seemingly neglect Square Enix designs games primarily for their Japanese audience while attempting to incorporate elements they can market overseas. Likewise, Mass Effect and Bioshock cater to North America and subsequently do not sell well in Japan.

Some of your points have merit however what Final Fantasy needs is to first return to where their success began. Ever since FFX they have largely sought to alter everything, sometimes for no adequately explained reason. FFXIII was heavily criticized for its linearity and restrictive gameplay. FFXII was praised for a political storyline in a fantastical setting however it felt short in developing either that or its characters. Both sold, which indicates there is a market and Square has something to work with in the future. Final Fantasy Versus is claimed to be based around Romeo and Juliet, yet seemingly has a mature theme in mind if some of the trailers are an accurate representation. If they rework FFXIII's battle system or implement the praised system from FFX-2 (only the actual mechanics behind it, nothing else) then they have a strong and stable foundation to build on.

If that is not to your interest then play something else. It cannot be made anymore abundantly clear.

 

[Raddra]

-Don't put moogles in dramatic sequences (I'm looking at you FF XIII-2)...tends to detract the emotional value

Addition on this:

if you are going to use Moogles, take a good long look at Final Fantasy tactics Advance / 2 in regards to Moogle design. Put that guy in charge of creative design on them.

Over time they had evolved the Moogle design till they actually looked like they could exist in the FFTA universe, were people and had a more pronounced identity. Had a body design that looked like it could work. (if you put the 'head pompom and wings down to 'strange magical creation')

Spoiler

Then they suddenly took ten steps back and made them floating glowing turds again when people were getting used to them and liked the direction they were heading. Just what.