Well, Square Enix is opening a new studio. Dedicated to Console RPG's.

[NeoCracker]

http://nichegamer.net/2014/09/square-enix-opens-rpg-studio-to-only-make-console-rpgs/

[chionos]

Interesting. I wish there were more information available, but this seems like a good sign.

Square Enix, please go back to being just Squaresoft and making great RPGs. Please? ~ all your fans

On the other hand, this kind of thing isn't what made Square successful in the first place, and this isn't what made the earlier Final Fantasies so great. Teams and committees and subcommittes. They had a creative core, a base of genius from which to work. And now they're looking to function like an assembly line, like a machine. So we'll get console rpgs more often, but will they just be cookie-cutter bullshit? Will this "studio" be full of geniuses who make new and interesting and thought-provoking and character-driven games again? Or will it be hacks who know the mechanics of making an RPG to make money but not of making an RPG to make fun?

I don't know, and I'm not trying to be negative. I want to see this as a good sign, but it's tough to do so. I've given SE the benefit of the doubt on many occasions and it's been a long time since they actually lived up to my expectations.

It's worth buying into, though, on the off chance this might mean:

Chrono 3
New Star Ocean games
New Mana games
FFXV
Chrono Cross remake?
New IP that's actually playable?
Vagrant Story 2
Final Fantasy Tactics 2 (fuck the advance series)


I'm guessing the new studio will primarily be about new IPs, which is a mixed bag, but if there's even a chance of getting even 1 or 2 items from the list, I'd be ecstatic.

[Freya]

No not remakes or sequels. Let's have more unique IPs like Bravely Default was.

This is exciting. I'm excited. Someone keep me from bouncing off the earth.

[metagloria]

Yeah this is pretty great.

[VeloZer0]

I don't know where the plural is coming from. The quote reads “recruiting core members for a new game development studio to develop a brand new home console RPG.”

This seems indicates a single game. Normally I would assume that it was a misquote, as who would start a sub-studio for a single game. But this is SE, so who know.

[Wolf Kanno]

I think this is a step in the right direction, of anything maybe this is proof that Bravery Default's success did influence SE.

[Pete for President]

Interesting. I wish there were more information available, but this seems like a good sign.

Square Enix, please go back to being just Squaresoft and making great RPGs. Please? ~ all your fans

On the other hand, this kind of thing isn't what made Square successful in the first place, and this isn't what made the earlier Final Fantasies so great. Teams and committees and subcommittes. They had a creative core, a base of genius from which to work. And now they're looking to function like an assembly line, like a machine. So we'll get console rpgs more often, but will they just be cookie-cutter bulltrout? Will this "studio" be full of geniuses who make new and interesting and thought-provoking and character-driven games again? Or will it be hacks who know the mechanics of making an RPG to make money but not of making an RPG to make fun?

I don't know, and I'm not trying to be negative. I want to see this as a good sign, but it's tough to do so. I've given SE the benefit of the doubt on many occasions and it's been a long time since they actually lived up to my expectations.

It's worth buying into, though, on the off chance this might mean:

Chrono 3
New Star Ocean games
New Mana games
FFXV
Chrono Cross remake?
New IP that's actually playable?
Vagrant Story 2
Final Fantasy Tactics 2 (smurf the advance series)


I'm guessing the new studio will primarily be about new IPs, which is a mixed bag, but if there's even a chance of getting even 1 or 2 items from the list, I'd be ecstatic.

A new IP made with the heart is the only thing that can restore my faith in SE. Let them prove themselves without any stigma of earlier games and I'm really tired of remake hypes and sequelitis in the first place.

To me it sounds like something straight out of a focus group. Developer asks: would you be stoked for a remake/sequel of "[insert title]". The idea is graspable and refers to nostalgia or previous experiences, so focus group says yes. It seems convenient. But during development expectations get funky, people start to meddle, the creative process is limited by having to "stay true" to the original. The developer plays it safe, throws in many references to the original, fan based winks that are cheesy and feel cheap.

What I believe these folks really want is new games that are free from any creative restrictions, new games that can exceed the experiences had from those older games they love so much because they are not tied to it. Starting out from those beloved games to spawn a remake/sequel will rarely exceed their previous experience with said series.

Those are my thoughts in a nutshell anyway.

[Spuuky]

All I want (still) is a new real single-player non-handheld Dragon Quest. It isn't so much to ask.

I want high production-value non-innovative games; I want to see what Lufia and Breath of Fire and whatever (I know they aren't Square-Enix games; that isn't the point) would look like with modern technology, I don't want to see how we can stretch everything in new directions. Enough games already do that.

[Depression Moon]

I don't know where the plural is coming from. The quote reads “recruiting core members for a new game development studio to develop a brand new home console RPG.”

This seems indicates a single game. Normally I would assume that it was a misquote, as who would start a sub-studio for a single game. But this is SE, so who know.
Yeah, I was going in thinking it was going to say rpgs and not rpg. They could just make one and then go off to making more mobile games that Square loves. I'm hoping for the best though and I'd like to apply, but the job is likely in Japan and would require me to know Japanese.

[Del Murder]

Sounds awesome. Maybe this is a return to the era where Square consistently put out fresh RPG ideas such as Vagrant Story.

[Colonel Angus]

59506

[DMKA]

Does this mean FFXV has officially entered development?

[chionos]

A new IP made with the heart is the only thing that can restore my faith in SE. Let them prove themselves without any stigma of earlier games and I'm really tired of remake hypes and sequelitis in the first place.

*snippage*

What I believe these folks really want is new games that are free from any creative restrictions, new games that can exceed the experiences had from those older games they love so much because they are not tied to it. Starting out from those beloved games to spawn a remake/sequel will rarely exceed their previous experience with said series.

Those are my thoughts in a nutshell anyway.



*snippage*
I want to see what Lufia and Breath of Fire and whatever (I know they aren't Square-Enix games; that isn't the point) would look like with modern technology, I don't want to see how we can stretch everything in new directions. Enough games already do that.

SE doesn't have to exceed my expectations, just rise up to them. I don't have to have games that are exponentially better with each iteration. I just want games "up to par" so to speak. I want games that reproduce the enjoyment I've had with previous games, but in new ways, with new worlds, new characters, new toys, new bells and whistles, but the same basic experience. I've tried to take nostalgia into consideration, and the fact is Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, Tactics, Vagrant Story, etc. are still my favorite games of all time. If they made a game today that's anywhere near the quality (with tech-inflation in consideration) of any of those games, I'd be fine whether it be new IP or a sequel. I just want good games, guys.

They don't have to be sequels. That's not really the point. The point is, SE used to create games that I could love. When they started moving away from those types of games, started changing, trying to "innovate," trying to go in new directions, by-and-large they failed. At least, according to my standards they failed. Not in every single case, of course, but the majority of the time they have, and the general direction of the entire company has changed.

I don't trust that the producers they employ today are of the same caliber as what they had during the "golden age." I don't trust them to make new IPs. They haven't proven to me they can pull it off. (Again, I want to pause for a moment to reiterate that I'm speaking generally. They aren't 100% fail. Just, I dunno, like 85%? Maybe 90?) I refer to sequels because that's the only direction I see them going in that might move them back toward what I would like them to be. Does that sound idiotic? Too subjective? Perhaps. But I'm not trying to convince anyone that I'm right. This is just my criteria for whether or not I personally will continue to be a fan(atic) of SE going forward.

See, the thing is, I don't need SE to be innovative. I'm with Spuuky; there are so many other strong companies now producing innovative games that I can't even keep up. So that's not what I need from SE. I need SE to be what it used to be good at. I want them to give me what other companies are not giving me, which is a an RPG that is balanced between compelling character-driven plot and a sense of adventure--of exploration and discovery. They used to do that so well.

When it comes down to it, we all want one thing in common: solid RPGs, whether they be iteration or invention. Creating a studio to focus on RPGs is more likely to produce good RPGs than not creating a studio to focus on RPGs, so I've got my fingers crossed either way.

[VeloZer0]

I think the term 'innovative' gets a little mis-applied to the FF series anyways. Sure thing changed up, but now the normal amount of 'innovation' between battle systems for each title is equal to the total amount of change between FF 1-9. There is innovation and change for the sake of change, two different things.

[Vyk]

I have mixed feelings. But we'll see. If only for Bravely Default's sake

[Bolivar]

I just want SE to take console development seriously again. I know Japan has moved on but we haven't and there's money to be made if they have the right idea.

[Loony BoB]

It better not be another freakin' handheld game or phone game. No thanks to them. I want something that I can play in my living room on a big screen with a controller.

Seriously, given the lack of JRPGs out there, I'm starting to wish that a Western developer would just make a really good "J"RPG.

[Bolivar]

Child of Light and Rainbow Moon have already started that trend.

[Cloudane]

Good, maybe they will pull their fingers out and make some proper RPGs again instead of having more Lightning than the sodding Thunder Plains and putting Sasuke Uchiha in a car (and aiming it for release some time in 2074.)

And yeah enough of the remakes, sequels and prequels. I've had so much of those, I don't even want an FF7 remake any more! Just make something else where you hit for 9999 several times over while the boss blows up Jupiter and throws an entire supernova at you.