Quote Originally Posted by Cloudane View Post
Nah he wasn't forced out, he resigned voluntarily and from what I understand it was an amicable parting (hence they let him get away with basically ripping off FF with Lost Odyssey).
He may have resigned, but it was very likely a result of the failure of Spirits Within and was a move to save some face for him rather than outright dismissing the man who created FF.

(Though the new guy in charge of music has improved a fair bit since XII in my opinion).
Sakimoto did the music for XII, and he hasn't worked for Square since Revenant Wings and Tactics A2. And I don't think I'd call the music in XIII an improvement over anything he's done.

There's little in terms of returning to the "good old days" that S-E can do unless the messiah eventually returns to the company (bit like what happened with Steve Jobs and Apple). The genius has left the building. Best they can do is try to inspire new forms of genius themselves. I thought XIII was a step in the right direction (not perfect, but 'good') and will probably back them for another game or two before giving up. I'm definitely itching for another FF-style Mistwalker game though.
I find it funny when people talk about returning to the good old days and bring up Sakaguchi. He hasn't actually directed an FF since V, and didn't have too much involvement with any other titles in the series after it except IX. He produced all of them up until then, but they're very much the works of the people who wrote, directed and designed them. Unless you consider the good old days to be pre-PSX era FF titles, Sakaguchi isn't the man behind the games you fondly remember.