Square Enix Wants a New Final Fantasy Every Year

[zombieshark6666]

Linear, formulaic, cliché, boring AND rushed? These games will sell well.

 

[Seives-Sliver]

They can make a new game any year, as long as I don't have to buy it

 

[Volothos]

You know... does anyone remember that Final Fantasy 27 poster in Deus Ex Human Revolution? Think that might happen?

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I think this could be good for them, and it just might work.

They are notorious for not making games quickly and I remember watching Sony's E3 conference in 06 when they announced FFXIII and I was intrigued. Then I completely forgot about the damn thing until they showed a release date in 09(?), so this could help them.

I really don't understand the hate for this considering none of us knows exactly what's going to happen. Who knows? Maybe the reason FF games take forever is that they keep fiddling with the story and what not, and maybe if they can set a specific timeline then we might see something great and not rushed. But I'm just speculating.

 

[Charli]

Shoving shit at us in the hopes we'll swallow it now and then won't be as effective as taking your time and putting out quality.

Please do not go this route SE, I know we haven't received your recent releases quite well but this is just going to dig you a hole you cannot crawl out of. Take time, go back and look at your history and really find the elements that made the final fantasy games entertaining.

Here's a hint, six hour tutorials, bland characters and linear progression were not it.

Final Fantasies were something to be explored, alternate occurrences and items discovered upon doing something different to what was expected. Jumping straight into the action in a battle and just playing by ear. And the characters were mostly colorful and unique. Not hollywood cutouts.

 

[Louis Demella]

How about they finally finish kingdom hearts 3 BEFORE they try to needlessly expand a series whose only redeeming quality is its improved cinematics?

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

A new Final Fantasy every year? That it! It dead! Final Fantasy still had a chance and now with a new on each year we'll get sequeltitus and poorer quality games. Call of Duty and Battlefield can pull it of because they never change the game, just the maps and Assassin's Creed is doing the same damn thing and is poorer for it, even though they actually planned the Desmond epic before going into making 1 a year.

Final Fantasy back before 2003 was worth waiting for but once Hironobu Sakaguchi left everything went to shit. He was the QA department like Shigiru Miyamoto is at Nintendo. The story is what suffered most and now Square-Enix want to jeperdize everything else? I say screw Square-Enix and keep and eye on Mistwalker.

You want t know why they are doing this? It's because Final Fantasy is circling the drain and they are hoping to squeeze every penny from hardcore Final Fantasy fans like me but here's the thing, Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Versus XIII will be my "Final" Fantasy! I give up on them! I'll just buy remakes of Hironobu Sakaguchi's games and that's it.

Be warned Dragon Quest fans... if they lose key development staff from that series it will suffer the same fate as Final Fantasy! Cherish it while you can!

 

[-KC-]

Throw 'em out, throw 'em out like EA throws The Sims !

 

[Hosker]

Some Western developers can do it because their games are very similar each time. People expect a good amount of difference between each Final Fantasy instalment, with a long, good story.

 

[Ukomba]

Don't they already do this? There's some kind of final fantasy branded game out every year already. The only time they didn't realease a final fantasy themed game is 1995 and 1996

1987 - Final Fantasy 1 on Nintendo Entertainment System

1988 - Final Fantasy II on Nintendo Entertainment System

1989 - Final Fantasy 1 on MSX

1990 - Final Fantasy III on Nintendo Entertainment System
1990 - The Final Fantasy Legend on Game Boy

1991 - Final Fantasy Adventure on Game Boy
1991 - The Final Fantasy Legend II on Game Boy
1991 - Final Fantasy IV on Super Nintendo Entertainment System
1991 - Final Fantasy IV on Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Final Fantasy IV Easytype)

1992 - Final Fantasy V on Super Nintendo Entertainment System

1993 - Final Fantasy Mystic Quest on Super Nintendo Entertainment System
1993 - The Final Fantasy Legend III on Game Boy

1994 - Final Fantasy VI on Super Nintendo Entertainment System

1997 - Final Fantasy IV on PlayStation
1997 - Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation
1997 - Final Fantasy Tactics on PlayStation
1997 - Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon on PlayStation

1998 - Final Fantasy V on PlayStation
1998 - Final Fantasy VII on Microsoft Windows

1999 - Final Fantasy VI on PlayStation
1999 - Final Fantasy VIII on PlayStation
1999 - Chocobo's Dungeon 2 on PlayStation
1999 - Chocobo Racing on PlayStation
1999 - Chocobo Collection on PlayStation

2000 - Final Fantasy 1 on WonderSwan Color
2000 - Final Fantasy VIII on Microsoft Windows personal computer
2000 - Chocobo on the Job on WonderSwan Color (Hataraku Chocobo
2000 - Final Fantasy IX on PlayStation

2001 - Final Fantasy X on PlayStation 2
2001 - Final Fantasy II on WonderSwan Color

2002 - Final Fantasy XI on PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows
2002 - Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice on Game Boy Advance
2002 - Final Fantasy: Unlimited with U on Mobile phones
2002 - Final Fantasy II on PlayStation
2002 - Final Fantasy IV on WonderSwan Color
2002 - Final Fantasy 1 on PlayStation

2003 - Final Fantasy X-2 on PlayStation 2
2003 - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on Game Boy Advance
2003 - Choco-Mate on Mobile phones
2003 - Final Fantasy: Unlimited on Microsoft Windows personal computer
2003 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on Nintendo GameCube

2004 - Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII on Mobile phones
2004 - Final Fantasy 1 on Game Boy Advance, Mobile phones

2005 - Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding on Mobile phones
2005 - Final Fantasy II on Mobile phones
2005 - Final Fantasy IV on Game Boy Advance (Final Fantasy IV Advance)

2006 - Chocobo de Mobile on Mobile phones
2006 - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales on Nintendo DS
2006 - Final Fantasy III on Nintendo DS
2006 - Final Fantasy V on Game Boy Advance (Final Fantasy V Advance)
2006 - Final Fantasy VI on Game Boy Advance (Final Fantasy VI Advance)
2006 - Final Fantasy XI on Xbox 360
2006 - Final Fantasy XII on PlayStation 2
2006 - Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation 2

2007 - Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings on Nintendo DS
2007 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates on Nintendo DS
2007 - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon on Wii
2007 - Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift Nintendo DS
2007 - Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions on PlayStation Portable
2007 - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation Portable
2007 - Final Fantasy II on PlayStation Portable (Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition)
2007 - Final Fantasy 1 on PlayStation Portable (Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition)
2007 - Final Fantasy IV on Nintendo DS

2008 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King on WiiWare
2008 - Final Fantasy IV: The After Years on Mobile phones
2008 - Crystal Guardians on Mobile phones
2008 - Crystal Defenders on iOS, Wiiware, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network
2008 - Final Fantasy Fables: Cid and Chocobo's Dungeon DS+ on Nintendo DS
2008 - Chocobo and the Magic Picture Book on Nintendo DS

2009 - Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light on Nintendo DS[149]
2009 - Final Fantasy IV: The After Years on WiiWare
2009 - Crystal Defenders: Vanguard Storm on iOS
2009 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time on Wii
2009 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time on Nintendo DS
2009 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord on WiiWare
2009 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers on Wii
2009 - Final Fantasy XIII on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

2010 - Final Fantasy XIV on Microsoft Windows
2010 - Final Fantasy II on iOS
2010 - Final Fantasy 1 on iOS

2011 - Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy on PlayStation Portable
2011 - Final Fantasy Type-0 on PlayStation Portable
2011 - Final Fantasy IV: The After Years on Playstation Portable
2011 - Final Fantasy IV on PlayStation Portable (Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection)
2011 - Final Fantasy III on iOS

 

[Redd the Sock]

Well, on the one hand, yes, FFXIII might have been better received without the four year wait for a very stripped down project. On the other hand, Square's most abysmal failure was that MMO they shoved out the door before it was ready.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Square-Enix. How about you release a real KH sequel, and not these crappy handheld knockoffs?

Birth by Sleep is by no means 'crappy'. Nor was Days, although it wasn't nearly as good. ReCoded, I could give you that one. Ugh.

Days was boring and the interface wasn't all that good; Birth By Sleep I didn't get to play because I don't own a PSP, so I don't have much an opinion on it. I want more than just side-stories on a handheld, I want a full-on KH sequel. Something on par with KH/KH2. Nintendo seems to put out great handheld titles as does Konami with its Castlevania series. I wish Square could live up to that without porting/remaking/rehashing older games (see also; Chrono Trigger, FF3, FF4).
I guess my problem with the handheld titles is that they seem to me to be little more than fan-service, a way to keep the fans happy without having to really develop a great game. But then thats my opinion. It seems to since Sakaguchi left Square/Enix that the once great RPG giant has lost some, maybe all of its greatness. The last great games, to me, that they put out were KH1/2 and FFX.

 

[Sewer Rat]

Why? All that means is that the games will be even less polished then they already are (this is second hand information, personally haven't played much Final Fantasy, but have not heard good things) and Square Enix clearly seems to think "More = Better". Sorry guys, but that is not the case, if anything it will drive fans away who can not keep up with needing to buy a new game every year, especially if they feel that they are a lower quality.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Imagine if FFXIII hadn't had so many conflicting elements in it's development, and only took a year or two to make. Perhaps it would've been recieved much better.

We would have gotten the same game or possibly no game at all. If they can't come up with a decent game in 5 fucking years what makes you think they'd be able to do so in 2?

 

[Virgilthepagan]

I guess if something went wrong with one of their games (cough XIV), a faster turnaround would allow them to quickly relearn and release something better to keep the horde of Fantasy fans from torching and pitchforking the developers,
but on the other hand...I'm not a fan of FF games so keep doing what you're doing!

 

[AndyFromMonday]

We would have gotten the same game or possibly no game at all. If they can't come up with a decent game in 5 fucking years what makes you think they'd be able to do so in 2?

They did make a decent game in 5 years. As I said in the original post, perhaps if they had had a clearer vision of a final project, instead of incorporating a lot of half-baked concepts, we would have a) gotten a better game, and b) had a clearer story. They made a decent game in five years- with better focus, they could have made a better game in 2[/quote]

I don't see how a shorter development time would help. If they were so clueless when making this game then I fail to see how they could properly manage their time to create a better game in less than two years.

 

[Zeckt]

Why should we care, when half of it will be stupid mmo crap anyways. This series has gone to hell and is too far gone after ff14. The least they could do was call it final fantasy online, but nooooo they have to be smart and include online only installations into the series.

I think this series should just die already. They have lost sight of their fanbase for years now. We'll never go back to the glory days of ff6 and 7 and 9. The only square game I've cared about in YEARS has been ff4 complete.

 

[willsham45]

I think they should go with eposodic gaming, A pollished to hell short every year or even every 1/2 maybe 1/4 of a year, instead of one big meh every year or two.

 

[Funcakes]

Call of duty is the same. game. Right down to the core mechanics. All they do is reskin.

Final fantasy? The amount of visual detail you require? LOLOLOLOL.

 

[urahara75]

With two teams working on separate titles they could release a new title every two years while putting 4 years dev time into each title.

Let's not forget, during the franchises peak, they were putting out games that quickly. Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9 and 10 all came out in a 4 year period. 7 came out in Sep 1997 and 10 came out in Dec 2001. Taking so long between titles (MMO's notwithstanding) has hurt them.

The problem lies with Square Enix execs having an inescapable compulsion to announce multiple new titles at every trade show &/or convention, YEAR AFTER YEAR (since FFXII's release in NA, ssoo... since 2006 or so). They're simply hideously bad @ managing their human resources effectively and seem to give not 1 crap-tastic iota of thought to development benchmarking/timelines. ┐( ¯3¯)┌