Do you think Square is deliberating suppressing

[Bolivar]

The problem with TO/FFT is that Matsuno is now gone and he was the main creative force behind both series. I seriously doubt he quit simply because of illness (though a total mental breakdown is plausible), Mitsuda was hospitalized during the creation of CT but he didn't quit over it. I still suspect there was some background squabbling going on between Matsuno and the higher ups.

^ Probably with him and Wada or whatever. I've never seen him talk actually, but given his work, I'd find it incredibly hard for him to deal as a department head/lead Producer in a Post-Sakaguchi Square with Wada in charge. I really wish we could get the real story. I mean who the hell knows what he really had planned? When Kawazu came in as Producer he said that the game's design plan was already in place and they just had to finish what was already laid out. But what if that isn't true?

Wada has had this plan to make "western" games to attract that market (which is insanely strange since they already had it) and they publicly and shamelessly touted FFXII for doing so in terms of its implementation and exploration. A lot of people in Japan especially didn't like FFXII at all because of this. I know Matsuno had his own different style, but the pacing didn't seem as good as FFT or from what I've heard of Vagrant Story.

Lastly, Enix bought out Square, not the other way around. Maybe I'm just an optimist but I'd like to view the purchase of Quest to be similar - combining similar goals with extremely talented people you respect and admire, at a time when they're not doing so hot financially.

[ANGRYWOLF]

the leadership of Square assumed leadership of the company:

Square Enix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So what I said still holds.

Shrugs.

I don't agree with Square's policy regarding the other games I have mentioned.

[Bastian]

And as far as Mana goes, it seems like Squeenix was doing everything they could to kill it. They provided zilch marketing for any of the "World of Mana" games. Not to mention how awful the World of Mana games were period. Three games being worked on at the same time? Idiocy. It's no surprise that the creator and producer of the Mana series (Koichi Ishii) left Square IMMEDIATELY after the last of those games was released. Hm.

[ANGRYWOLF]

I forget which one.I would have to check in the cabinet.

Never been a mana fan.

Still I suspect there are other mana fans out there who as the last poster said, don't feel mana has received its due from Square.

I feel if a gaming company has a series they do owe that series and its fans the best they can do/make of that series and that includes publicizing/marketing.

[Bolivar]

I think overall the people at Square Enix need to take a long time to reflect and ask themselves why they're in the video game business to begin with. After that they should do a serious restructuring and come up with a plan of games they want to make for the sake of the medium and for themselves.

I think overall Wada needs to step down. He's too much of a businessman, and to compound things, I feel he's a semi-incompetent businessman.

[ANGRYWOLF]

I believe it's worthwhile.

Another Lufia game for the DS it seems:

Lufia: The Lands Cursed By The Gods Video Game, Japanese Debut Trailer | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

Although it may not be a new game but a remake/reissue/redesigned version of the SNES game.

I assume Square has a team that does only handhelds. I wonder what their motivation was to do this game.

One would think the Lufia series merits a more concerted effort for the PS3 than just a handheld game that may be a redo of a SNES game.
oh well...

[Wolf Kanno]

Lufia hasn't really been popular since the SNES days and the GBA games are atrocious and have little to do with the first two titles. I'm not surprised they would limit a remake to a handheld but if they get redo the first games DQ battle system it will already be a better game than the original, I mean yikes...

Personally, I'm more curious about the myriad of projects Square said they were working on that never came to pass. They were promising a compilation of the PS1 FFs ever since the PS2 hit the scene but now with DLC it seems like that will never see the light of day.

While Chrono Break/Brake has been circulating openly on the web for years but even less known was that Square actually announced a sequel to Vagrant Story with title art by Amano. That was almost six years ago... Dew Prism was left open for a sequel, though sales might have contributed to that games inability to have a sequel. I mean Musashi only did well cause it came with the demo for FFVIII (though I feel Musashi was one hell of a game) and whatever happened to Bushido Blade franchise?

Hell, the one SE title I would love to see a sequel for I'm still not quite sure will ever see the light of day (despite some positive rumors) would be The World Ends With You which for me, is quite possibly one of the best DS titles on the market and one of the few exceptional titles to be developed after the merger.

[ANGRYWOLF]

Nier nearly here - News at GameSpot

I wonder if we'll see more of this kind of stuff..of course we've seen it with the Tri-ace titles.
Means Square can publish games for other folks that are rpgs/or rpg-like and avoid having to produce much new on their own except for FF and Dragon Quest games.