Square Enix Isn't Going To Change Strategies Anytime Soon

[JediMB]

Oh, you guys... Square may not be the same as the golden company of a decade and a half ago, that we can all agree on. But how exactly are Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy 12 all terrible games?

Okay, let's change that to good console games, since the hendhelds do still get some good stuff. (That said, I haven't played 358/2 Days in ages now.)

Final Fantasy XII was pretty good, although the plot didn't really appeal to me and turned me off the game after a while. But it's also last-gen and half a decade old now.

The PS360 games largely suffer from a "style over substance" approach, where they put so much time and effort into the graphics that they have to cut back on everything else. See Final Fantasy XIII and the complete lack of content in Final Fantasy XIV. And when they actually managed to grab my attention again with the Crystal Chronicles Wii-game, they screwed the whole thing up.

 

[SpaceMedarotterX]

I'm sorry that release schedual didn't read "Type-0 and Versus XIII" So let me just say how little I give a shit about what you intend to put out Square. Deus Ex? yeah sure looks like fun, also not made by you so I wouldn't be rocking that gravy train. In fact the only in house game I see on that list is XIII-2 and let me tell ya, Nothings worse than a sequel to a terrible game. And yes it was a terrible game, I don't care if a person liked it.

Where's Versus? Where's Type-0? oh that's right.

YOU KEEP PULLING PEOPLE OFF VERSUS TO WORK ON YOUR OTHER GAMES AND YOU DON'T INTEND TO RELEASE TYPE-0 IN ENGLISH!

 

[Arehexes]

If they just sold Nintendo the rights to Geno so he could be in the next Smash Bros. game then I'd be happy.
Honestly, I can't think of any plans they may have for him in future games, considering this announcement.

Nintendo could use that character to its true potential, considering just how flexible he is.
Honestly, Square Enix; If you're gonna keep making hardcore RPG games and never stray, then just sell the rights to Geno. PLEASE.

What does Geno have to do with squares plans? Also I don't know what the situation with nintendo is but Geno was in another nintendo game even

Erm... yay? Good to hear that at least one publisher has decided to stay out of the casual market. We've got enough companies working in that direction already.

Oh, and:

Thats good to hear Square is keeping true, too bad that means continuing to produce shit.

Square Enix is making games for gamers? Since when? Last time I checked they were making terrible products that are only for people who take pleasure from pain and people like Yahtzee who make a living tearing such terrible games apart for our entertainment. I mean come on, Final Fantasy 13 and 14, need I say more?

And before people list a whole pile of games like Deus Ex or Hitman, learn the difference between making a game and publishing a game. The only good games that come with a Square Enix logo on the box are the ones made by other developers. The ones actually made by Square Enix have been nothing but garbage lately.

I'd like Square Enix to change their business strategy by making good games again.

I'll give them credit for their work as publishers only these days.

Hopefully this means that Square will go broke soon and they'll stop being allowed to make such horrible games, while letting the good games like Tomb Raqider and Hitman go into the hands of people who wont end up pushing them back because their shitty MMO didn't do as well as they hoped.

No I'm not still bitter Deus Ex got delayed.

Oh, you guys... Square may not be the same as the golden company of a decade and a half ago, that we can all agree on. But how exactly are Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy 12 all terrible games?

Honestly, people need to learn the fucking difference between something that's not to their taste and something that's truly shit. If you don't like the Japanese aesthetic when it comes to games, that's fine. That doesn't mean you can label every game that comes out frmo under a publisher awful without having played them first. Dissidia was a truly fantastic game, one of the best examples of a hack-and-slash married to RPG mechanics. Same for Kingdom Hearts and Crisis Core. Final Fantasy 12 was a huge non-linear JRPG that offered hundreds of hours of gameplay. The World Ends With You was one of the best RPGs for the DS. For all that XIII tanked among fans, Agito XIII and Verus XIII are looking much mroe solid. Heck, Versus XIII is the game that's got me most hyped up at the minute. The gameplay looks freaking incredible.

So can we please stop assuming that Squenix are a terrible, terrible company who have no decent games? For all their flaws, they've still released some brilliant games over the past few years, and it looks like they've got more to release. And I for one am glad.

Just so you know Final Fantasy XIV was so bad they made it free to play a while back (And I haven't heard that it went back to the pay to play model yet, so I'm guessing it's still free to play).

And I'm not going to lie people liking or hating a game is an opinion which they can have. I know fan boys get butt hurt when people hate a game the fan boy likes but, dude get over yourself. People can hate a game, you just gotta get over it and enjoy your game without crying over it. I mean I don't get pissy when people like to bash Final Fantasy 6.

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm fine with this, because I'm not really looking for casual games. Not sure how they'd hit that market anyway.

 

[MattAn24]

Oh, you guys... Square may not be the same as the golden company of a decade and a half ago, that we can all agree on. But how exactly are Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy 12 all terrible games?

Honestly, people need to learn the fucking difference between something that's not to their taste and something that's truly shit. If you don't like the Japanese aesthetic when it comes to games, that's fine. That doesn't mean you can label every game that comes out frmo under a publisher awful without having played them first. Dissidia was a truly fantastic game, one of the best examples of a hack-and-slash married to RPG mechanics. Same for Kingdom Hearts and Crisis Core. Final Fantasy 12 was a huge non-linear JRPG that offered hundreds of hours of gameplay. The World Ends With You was one of the best RPGs for the DS. For all that XIII tanked among fans, Agito XIII and Verus XIII are looking much mroe solid. Heck, Versus XIII is the game that's got me most hyped up at the minute. The gameplay looks freaking incredible.

So can we please stop assuming that Squenix are a terrible, terrible company who have no decent games? For all their flaws, they've still released some brilliant games over the past few years, and it looks like they've got more to release. And I for one am glad.

This! Fucking this, SO HARD. <3

 

[mireko]

Where's Versus? Where's Type-0? oh that's right.

YOU KEEP PULLING PEOPLE OFF VERSUS TO WORK ON YOUR OTHER GAMES AND YOU DON'T INTEND TO RELEASE TYPE-0 IN ENGLISH!

Type-0 is being released in Japan this October. I've seen nothing that implies they'll skip an overseas release..

 

[SpaceMedarotterX]

Where's Versus? Where's Type-0? oh that's right.

YOU KEEP PULLING PEOPLE OFF VERSUS TO WORK ON YOUR OTHER GAMES AND YOU DON'T INTEND TO RELEASE TYPE-0 IN ENGLISH!

Type-0 is being released in Japan this October. I've seen nothing that implies they'll skip an overseas release..

I know, but I heard it was pulling a VC3, now granted I could be wrong but I'm not holdin out hope

 

[AbstractStream]

Way to go Square-Enix. I like you no matter what people say

Oh, you guys... Square may not be the same as the golden company of a decade and a half ago, that we can all agree on. But how exactly are Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy 12 all terrible games?

Honestly, people need to learn the fucking difference between something that's not to their taste and something that's truly shit. If you don't like the Japanese aesthetic when it comes to games, that's fine. That doesn't mean you can label every game that comes out frmo under a publisher awful without having played them first. Dissidia was a truly fantastic game, one of the best examples of a hack-and-slash married to RPG mechanics. Same for Kingdom Hearts and Crisis Core. Final Fantasy 12 was a huge non-linear JRPG that offered hundreds of hours of gameplay. The World Ends With You was one of the best RPGs for the DS. For all that XIII tanked among fans, Agito XIII and Verus XIII are looking much mroe solid. Heck, Versus XIII is the game that's got me most hyped up at the minute. The gameplay looks freaking incredible.

So can we please stop assuming that Squenix are a terrible, terrible company who have no decent games? For all their flaws, they've still released some brilliant games over the past few years, and it looks like they've got more to release. And I for one am glad.

This! Fucking this, SO HARD. <3

Second that...or third it.

 

[Black Watch]

I already feel like Square-Enix left us a long time ago. They use to be RPG king and now it seems that they just don't even want to bother releasing games. I guess publishing is their future.

 

[Arsen]

And once again, Square doesn't understand why their profits are failing in comparison to the their Western competitors. This company seriously needs to adapt to the modern mentality of what an RPG has become and not continously try to shove these new titles onto the shelves. The formula hasn't worked for over a decade.

I guess some companies never learn. Wake me up when they do something with FF6, FF7, or give me a direct, bloodshed worthy sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics. I think the problem is they've fallen from trying to impress the key audience (who were the very reasons for their success in the first place): The Western audiences who made them the powerhouse they were. FF7, FF6, and Tactics were their shining achievements because people could relate to the settings. Now they've just limited their fanbase with such a mentality.

I also find it deeply hilarious whenever Square says "they don't want to adapt to a Western market" but they'll steal small tidbits of ideas here or there, many of which teenagers and other non-adults will love, and find magically shoehorned into their franchises:

- Transformers (FF13 Summons, whatever they were called)
- Matrix like fight scenes
- So many science fiction films, namely Star Wars, that I cannot even begin to count...

Not to mention one of the greatest reasons why, as an adult, I don't like the FF series anymore: It's failed to impress me on an adult level. Final Fantasy could have been good had it evolved. Look at what a good amount of modern fantasy artists are doing. The genre of "fantasy" itself is becoming darker and darker. The likes of George R.R. Martin and Joe Abercrombie fill in this gap that certain companies have failed to maintain. They want that "broad age" category instead of growing up with their audiences. I want REAL, adult fantasy that doesn't lie to me about how the world is.

They've become a pop culture staple in their homeland and have thus tried constantly to make their own, Japan-centric version of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc. And so far, it appears they have not had a good time in doing so.

That's the honest truth from my perspective.
Wake me up when they adapt.

 

[Mackie Stingray]

Swifteye, I was thinking about that very question: "What would it be like?"
The best I can figure is My Life As A Dark Lord turned into a Farmville-style social game.

 

[Alphakirby]

Swifteye, I was thinking about that very question: "What would it be like?"
The best I can figure is My Life As A Dark Lord turned into a Farmville-style social game.

Well Square actually has two Facebook games,one that's like Mafia Wars but has classes instead of millions of items and another where you raise chocobos and send them into dungeons.

 

[Arehexes]

Just so you know Final Fantasy XIV was so bad they made it free to play a while back (And I haven't heard that it went back to the pay to play model yet, so I'm guessing it's still free to play).

And I'm not going to lie people liking or hating a game is an opinion which they can have. I know fan boys get butt hurt when people hate a game the fan boy likes but, dude get over yourself. People can hate a game, you just gotta get over it and enjoy your game without crying over it. I mean I don't get pissy when people like to bash Final Fantasy 6.

I know. I think I even said people can have whatever opinion they want in the bit you quoted. What annoys me is when people write off an entire publisher/developer simply because they don't like some of the games they produce. There's a world of difference between "this game is not to my taste, so I think I'll pass on it" and "OMG this game fuckin suckz! I hate squenix!" and it would be nice if people could recognise that. For all that Squenix have released some dodgy titles as of late, they've still produced a lot of excellent games too. People simply seem intent on perpetuating this myth that Squenix haven't produced a single game of note since the merger.

If people have their opinion then why bother arguing about what they think of a company, square won't cry cause someone says a game sucks. It seems you have a problem bashing a company you love. You need to just get over it and just accept that people will just flat out hate a company.

The only games square can release as of late (and I'm talking about the games square makes not the devs they bought up) seems to be remakes of older better games. I love Square a lot, and always will but I'm not going to look at them with sparkly eyes and say Square may do some bad games that is ok. Hell I think I own more remakes from Square then original games as of late.

 

[TheRocketeer]

Thanks, Square Enix. They know that they have a very profitable fanbase as is and that risking them to experiment with the casual market is a decision that is a little too high risk/reward for them to try. What I took away from it anyway.

From that perspective, this doesn't really say anything favorable about S-E; it just says something unfavorable about that 'very profitable fanbase.'

Being profitable isn't favorable for a giant, multi-national company?

OT: Honestly, I wish they'd try at least one experimental title. I could see social networks being a great platform for a retro-ish grind-heavy RPG.

I'm all for Square making profit, especially in light of the disastrous release of Final Fantasy XIV, and the lack of much on the horizon to help control that damage.

All I mean to say is that Square is acutely aware that their most stalwart fans are also notoriously tantrum-prone, and that any interest they express in any casual-oriented material will precipitate death threats, boycotts, and the observation that S-E has betrayed the 'true fans.'

Square's decision to keep on trucking and ignore what would otherwise be a large potential audience and an untapped conduit for creativity is not some sort of inspiring show of integrity on Square's part, but I don't hold it against them, either. It's just the logical result of having fans that fly into a frothing rage when you bring your new game to more than one console.

 

[starwarsgeek]

Being profitable isn't favorable for a giant, multi-national company?

OT: Honestly, I wish they'd try at least one experimental title. I could see social networks being a great platform for a retro-ish grind-heavy RPG.

I'm all for Square making profit, especially in light of the disastrous release of Final Fantasy XIV, and the lack of much on the horizon to help control that damage.

All I mean to say is that Square is acutely aware that their most stalwart fans are also notoriously tantrum-prone, and that any interest they express in any casual-oriented material will precipitate death threats, boycotts, and the observation that S-E has betrayed the 'true fans.'

Square's decision to keep on trucking and ignore what would otherwise be a large potential audience and an untapped conduit for creativity is not some sort of inspiring show of integrity on Square's part, but I don't hold it against them, either. It's just the logical result of having fans that fly into a frothing rage when you bring your new game to more than one console.

Oh, I completely misunderstood your previous post. My apologies, Mr.Rocketeer. : )

 

[Moontouched-Moogle]

Erm... yay? Good to hear that at least one publisher has decided to stay out of the casual market. We've got enough companies working in that direction already.

Oh, and:

Thats good to hear Square is keeping true, too bad that means continuing to produce shit.

Square Enix is making games for gamers? Since when? Last time I checked they were making terrible products that are only for people who take pleasure from pain and people like Yahtzee who make a living tearing such terrible games apart for our entertainment. I mean come on, Final Fantasy 13 and 14, need I say more?

And before people list a whole pile of games like Deus Ex or Hitman, learn the difference between making a game and publishing a game. The only good games that come with a Square Enix logo on the box are the ones made by other developers. The ones actually made by Square Enix have been nothing but garbage lately.

I'd like Square Enix to change their business strategy by making good games again.

I'll give them credit for their work as publishers only these days.

Hopefully this means that Square will go broke soon and they'll stop being allowed to make such horrible games, while letting the good games like Tomb Raqider and Hitman go into the hands of people who wont end up pushing them back because their shitty MMO didn't do as well as they hoped.

No I'm not still bitter Deus Ex got delayed.

Oh, you guys... Square may not be the same as the golden company of a decade and a half ago, that we can all agree on. But how exactly are Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy 12 all terrible games?

Honestly, people need to learn the fucking difference between something that's not to their taste and something that's truly shit. If you don't like the Japanese aesthetic when it comes to games, that's fine. That doesn't mean you can label every game that comes out frmo under a publisher awful without having played them first. Dissidia was a truly fantastic game, one of the best examples of a hack-and-slash married to RPG mechanics. Same for Kingdom Hearts and Crisis Core. Final Fantasy 12 was a huge non-linear JRPG that offered hundreds of hours of gameplay. The World Ends With You was one of the best RPGs for the DS. For all that XIII tanked among fans, Agito XIII and Verus XIII are looking much mroe solid. Heck, Versus XIII is the game that's got me most hyped up at the minute. The gameplay looks freaking incredible.

So can we please stop assuming that Squenix are a terrible, terrible company who have no decent games? For all their flaws, they've still released some brilliant games over the past few years, and it looks like they've got more to release. And I for one am glad.

I kinda have to agree with you here. Square isn't quite the shitpile people make them out to be.
However, I think the problem is that Square has built up a long legacy of good games, so we've become accustomed to quality titles from them and have come to expect quality. As such, good games may be seen as more of the same, while less stellar releases get hounded on.

Unfortunately, they also make bad decisions, which doesn't help. Publishing Mind Jack? Should've seen how bad that would turn out. Adding Vaan to FFXII when most of the story was already written? Bad executive meddling that led to a very polarizing game (although I still enjoy it. Ivalice Alliance games always manage to entertain). FFX-2? As Spoony said, it tried to add more fun and lightheartedness, but changed too much and was very awkward. KH: Days? Shit, just shit. A stain on the KH brand. Crystal Chronicles? Beautiful and fun, but the multiplayer setup was difficult (to my great dismay). FFIV on the DS? They made it HARDER for NO REASON, making the final boss pretty much UNBEATABLE.

Even when they have good games, they don't always get the attention they deserve. Tactics Advance? Loved it, heard everyone praising it. Never met anyone else who owned it, except for a friend I convinced to buy it from Gamestop a couple of weeks ago.... Right before I moved away. The World Ends With You? Awesome, heard lots of love for it. Never met anyone else with it, and last I checked it was described as "niche" and a "cult hit." FFXII? Fun, but again, that whole polarizing executive meddling issue and a (supposedly) disappointing plot during the second half. Crystal Chronicles? Amazing, actually heard about it from the DS sequel (Ring of Fates) and then learning my friend had the original Gamecube game. Actually borrowed it for a few months before getting my own copy. At which point I realized it was also unloved, judging by the multitude of "preowned" copies at each Gamestop I went to that were in pretty much perfect condition, with the original box and manual and an immaculate disc. Shit, the copy I got even had the insert advertisements with the
Nintendo Power subscription bonus offer.

Well that was a massive text dump wasn't it? In short, Square is (at least) a decent company that has been crippled by a few bad choices in rapid succession combined with lack of focus on their better games. My theory is that Square fans feel betrayed and want to strike back in revenge. I was certainly betrayed after learning about the FFIV DS fiasco. But rather than lash out, I simply traded it in for FFIV Advance and FFI + II: Dawn of Souls and made a note to do more research before future purchases. (FFIV DS was kind of an impulse buy.)