What is your #1 complaint about SE?

[Spooniest]

All joking aside, what is your #1 complaint about things going on?

Development cycles too long? [Insert Game Here] being ignored? Technical problems with top-heavy hardware design? Take your pick. Make one up.

"I went down to the demonstration, to get my fair share of abuse.
Singing, we're gonna vent our frustrations, if we don't we gonna blow a 50 amp fuse."

Or...gasp...could you be one of those who think "SE's on top of their game, this is ridiculous" maybe?

I was curious.

[Pumpkin]

That XV is taking so long

They used to just pump out the FF games and now it takes foreeeeevvveeeerrr

[metagloria]

60970
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Look what Tales did in the second golden era of RPG gaming (between X and XIII). Cranking out quality title after quality title. (Kind of.) Square's like "Game development takes time, it'll be worth it, meanwhile here are old ports and mobile games!" and Namco's all "Whatever dude, here's five awesome flagship titles"

Also if anyone wants to see more franchises, just let me know. And pick a color.

[The Man]

My big problem is twofold. One is the development issue mentioned above, but the other, more important issue is that a large number of the titles they release these days just don't hold any interest for me. FFXIII and its sequels don't interest me. The entire Compilation of FFVII doesn't interest me. The endless number of Kingdom Hearts spinoffs doesn't interest me. And the list goes on. If they stuck to developing quality games I wouldn't mind so much the long development time, but when games take a long time to make and then don't even end up interesting me, it's a lot more frustrating. If there were more games like Bravely Default and fewer games like Dirge of Cerberus I'd probably be a lot more interested in the company these days.

[Pike]

My biggest complaint is that they aren't making PC releases a priority. 90% of my gaming is on the PC these days so just put everything on Steam already, guys.

[Psychotic]

They're stuck in the late 90's/early 2000's and haven't realised gaming has moved on.

[metagloria]

They're stuck in the late 90's/early 2000's and haven't realised gaming has moved on.

Wha?! Noooo. If anything, they've moved on too quickly and left behind the greatness of that era.

[Vyk]

Too much mobile attention. Or rather, too much cell phone and tablet attention. I don't necessarily hate Vita and 3DS games, as those take real effort and are rarely the shovelware Square seems to like to shovel into mobile arenas

[Skyblade]

They have completely lost what makes their games great. Fan advice has not helped in this regard. Everyone keeps pushing them for "story", which is why they keep delivering overly convoluted, extremely linear messes.

Story is relatively unimportant. What makes the games great, and what Square always excelled at, was world building. The story of FFVII? Spend 90% of the game just chasing after the villain. But the places you visit, and the people you meet, fleshed out the experience so much more.

Square has spent so long trying to flesh out an epic story that they've forgotten about building the world and the setting in an engaging way. I don't care about the story. I just want a world that I want to live in and explore. That's what the great games of Square's past always delivered on.

[Depression Moon]

Lack of games on console.

[Bolivar]

They need better management and coordination. Their internal teams should have a much more consistent output on console and handheld, and more of their PS2 classics should have been remastered at this point. However, this is a transitionary time for the industry, so it's hard to really say what Square is up to our where they're going at this point. One thing is for sure, they're a Japanese company and they're going to act accordingly, despite what sine Americans on an Internet forum think.


Wha?! Noooo. If anything, they've moved on too quickly and left behind the greatness of that era.

Yep. Gaming has really stagnated in the last 7-10 years and Square's mostly followed suit with the other big publishers in that.

[escobert]

The only games of theirs that I am interested in anymore are remakes. I haven't cared much for anything original they've done for quite some time.

[black orb]

They have completely lost what makes their games great. Fan advice has not helped in this regard. Everyone keeps pushing them for "story", which is why they keep delivering overly convoluted, extremely linear messes.
>>> So you think they are trying so hard when it comes to create a good story that they make a total mess in the end?.. I think is the opposite, they have not even tried at all. And blaming the fans sounds like the lame excuse that only SE could make..:luca:

[Sephiroth]

Their fans.

[Spooniest]

Their fans.

Whose fans do you like?

[Rin Heartilly]

1. Waiting almost a decade for a game is absolutely insane.

2. KH2 came out on PS2, KH3 doesn't even have a confirmed release date and it's missed a whole console generation. Stop focusing on convoluted spin offs and remixes and just focus on the main title please.

3. Mobile games, IOS games, applications....me no like.

4. Games that only come out in Japan :(

5. I want more FF VIII related stuff (will never happen though) :(

[Ayen]

They need better management and coordination.

This right here. Granted, I have no idea where they could find said management.

[Yellow_Magic]

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--SF_CxrMb--/jjaww08auibbqygfdwgk.gif

[Jinx]

Their fans.

Oh, the irony.

[Hipster Username]

What I don't like is that a lot of IPs held by SE's subsidiaries are either on indefinite hiatus or are just cancelled entirely.

[Mirage]

That they think one game per console generation is enough.

They need to make games more efficiently, even if it means dropping in-house engines forever. They also need to start understanding their customers.

[Wolf Kanno]

As I've said numerous times, my #1 complaint is still that the writing for most of their games is getting progressively worse. Not that Square was ever the pinnacle of good writing but I feel with each new installment they push trying to be clever and unconventional with their plots and twists that its hard to take their games seriously anymore. They've become like M. Night Shamyaloin in that they are constantly trying to recapture their old glory of mind blowing twists that they are not just thinking outside of the box, but outside the realm of good taste.

[Psychotic]

They're stuck in the late 90's/early 2000's and haven't realised gaming has moved on.

Wha?! Noooo. If anything, they've moved on too quickly and left behind the greatness of that era.
I should put it another way. They're still using the same old idea that having the best graphics is their USP, which is why it takes forever for games to be released and why it makes losses on other titles like Hitman, Tomb Raider and Sleeping Dogs despite each one selling millions. Gamers have never given a shit about graphics. Note that the PS1, PS2 and Wii all won their generations. Note the success of Minecraft. It's ridiculous and Square needs to wake up.

True that a lot of their modernisation is the wrong kind - fucking mobile games, microtransactions and whatnot. When I say modernise I don't mean their apparent goal to have their own Candy Crush. I meant for them to look at the likes of Minecraft, Dark Souls 1, it's own bloody Bravely Default and the success they've all had and why. I mean for it to have a look at what the likes of Telltale and Obsidian are up to. Just to stop pumping time and money into huge titles and then thinking mobile is a good way to supplement that.

[Sephiroth]

I should put it another way. They're still using the same old idea that having the best graphics is their USP, which is why it takes forever for games to be released and why it makes losses on other titles like Hitman, Tomb Raider and Sleeping Dogs despite each one selling millions. Gamers have never given a trout about graphics. Note that the PS1, PS2 and Wii all won their generations. Note the success of Minecraft. It's ridiculous and Square needs to wake up.


Many people do not play stuff because of the graphics - I heard them and I read them. Even I, an NES player, want a new game that has graphics fitting our technological advance sometimes or at least wonder about them. It is no game breaker for me but it is present from time to time.

[Mirage]

Not developing your own engine for every new game saves a lot of money. You don't have to have the best looking game of the generation in order to have one that keeps up with the generation's average.

[Vyk]

I've always had a problem with companies putting graphic fidelity over style and substance, and the disgusting gamers that agree that graphics are everything. I'll always prefer an easy to create stylized game with more thought put into writing and controls rather than chucking everything into graphics

[Fynn]

After mulling this question over for some time, I find myself at a very odd conclusion. I think SE needs to show handhelds more love. I know this is ironic, considering endeavors like Bravely Default, which has largely redeemed JRPGs in the eyes of the gaming public, but I still think it's not enough compared to the previous era. I realize a lot is going on on the mobile market, which isn't bad - I've tried some of those and really enjoyed most of them - but you have two dedicated handheld gaming platforms just waiting to be explored further. It's awesome that Bravely is becoming a 3DS series, I really have a lot of hope in it, but I was hoping that just maybe we could get those FFV and FFVI remakes in the style of FFIV DS, but those are minor. We'll soon see FF Explorers here, so I think the 3DS is safe. I'm REALLY worried about the Vita, though. Last generation, SE Publisged quite a bit of awesome titles on the PSP. Now, what does the Vita get, other than X/X-2 HD? You have this huge console here, all in portable format, with wonderful HD graphics. There's a ginormous potential in this device still largely untapped. Why not give us more games like Crisis Core, or perhaps some new Tactics games? On that note, where's FFXII HD on Vita? I browsed the net, people are still clamoring for it. Where is all the handheld love we had so much of last generation? :(

[Loony BoB]

Easily the development time. I think a lot of the other problems would be solved if they just released a real FF game every other year at least. Sequels don't count.

After that, the writing. Not the dialogue writing - I like the conversations that are had between characters. But the actual scenarios and plot itself. That's the stuff that needs work.

[Del Murder]

Stop thinking about what will make you the most money or address specific critiques from fans and the press, and focus on making the best overall gaming experiences you can. Create from the heart, not from the wallet.