The elephant in the room

[Old Manus]

Since the Square-Enix merger in 2003, FF-affiliated games have, by and large, ranged from mediocre to total hog tit.

The business plan seems to have started with 'cash in on the already successful games in FFVII and X by releasing needless spinoffs', moved steadily forward to 'cash in on the franchise itself by releasing needless spinoffs', followed by a deft change of tack, and a decision that their offerings for the main series took too long to make and cost too much money, so instead they'd 'remake' the old ones and palm them off as exciting new titles, and finally, gave up altogether.

The question is not why, as the answer is that sweet, sweet consumerist money, but how. How has, in the space of ten years, the Final Fantasy series gone from a pillar of solid videogamesmanship and something that would provoke a respected "Ah, yes" when inserted into any 'great video game series' discussion, to just another one of those japanese game franchises, that can often be found mingling around the bargain bins and pre-owned sections of HMV, as something that would garner warnings such as "Go ahead and buy, but only if you're a fan of the series" in the footnotes of monthly magazine reviews?

Are you going to buy Final Fantasy XIII Type-0? There was a time when I would definitely look at it as something I'd add to my collection, if only on principle (I made this mistake for the last time when I bought X-2), but now, I'm not even considering it. I just know that it's going to be average.

EDIT: Some might say this belongs in general FF, but this is more a rag on Square-Enix, and I already put pointless thread 1 in there, so, in short, you're wrong.

[Alpha2099]

I certainly haven't gone ga-ga over much of what SE has put out of late. FFXII still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so I keep to the older FFs and revel in the glory of what SE used to be. Maybe someday, though this day is nowhere in the near future, I'll give XII a try again, and if I like it then I will perhaps change my opinion about SE. But for the most part, I kinda agree with what you're saying, even though I didn't read all of it.

[ShinGundam]

'Rose tint my world, keep me safe from my trouble and pain"
- Chocobo

[theundeadhero]

I pretty much agree with everything in your post, Manus.

[Jinx]

wtf is Type-0?

[ShinGundam]

wtf is Type-0?

A little PSP game released last year, originally developed for mobile phones (NTT DoCoMo).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYzRqNjJgaw

[krissy]

IS THAT A MAGITEK ARMOR
THAT LOOKS AWESOME

[Sephex]

It's sad to see, but it has been happening for so long that I am used to it. To me, the downhill quality of Square-Enix hasn't been as bad as how most people perceive it, but I will not even attempt to deny that I don't get excited anymore for a new Square-Enix game. I think most of the reason why Square-Enix isn't as hot as it used to be is the very same reason why most Japanese game companies are: Stubborn eastern mentality. The culture as a whole just does not like change, and it usually takes something dramatic to shake them out of a funk in order to start on a different path.

It's kind of the same reason why I think Sony is so damn stubborn about using its own proprietary media storage BS they keep pushing with their handhelds. Seriously, the only thing that keeps me from considering to get a Vita is how expensive the memory units for it. However, that's a different discussion...

[escobert]

Are you going to buy Final Fantasy XIII Type-0? There was a time when I would definitely look at it as something I'd add to my collection, if only on principle (I made this mistake for the last time when I bought X-2), but now, I'm not even considering it. I just know that it's going to be average.

EDIT: Some might say this belongs in general FF, but this is more a rag on Square-Enix, and I already put pointless thread 1 in there, so, in short, you're wrong.

You actually bought X-2?

[Old Manus]

Hold me.

[ShinGundam]

Versus is supposed to be produced by the people who responsible for KH, right?
Are they also doing Type-0? It looks like it combines aspects of XII, DoC, and KH with a bit of RTS interspersed...

VS13 = KH1/2/TWEWY.
T0 = BCFF7/CCFF7/Sigma harmonics.

Its hard to track which people work on titles because teams aren't really that static so take it with a grain of salt.

[Raistlin]

I have no real idea "how," but I'll just blame it all on FFX-2. Square then got a taste of what could be squeezed out of a game, and realized how much money they were leaving in people's pockets by not making a dozen sequels and spin-offs of everything.

[DMKA]

I've yet to play a Final Fantasy game I didn't like, and Final Fantasy XIII sold faster than any other FF title ever, so I can't say I agree with you on your primary points.

I do agree that since the merger with Enix, Square has really been treating Final Fantasy the same way Disney has been treating their classic animated features for the last couple decades. Producing the rare, derivative new material while milking the hell out of the past, successful material.

Coincidentally, this began right at the time Kingdom Hearts came along. Hell, the KH franchise in and of itself is an example of the aformentioned. So perhaps, it's not so coincidental after all?

It's a working, profitable business model, but the quality definitely suffers, and to answer your question, no, I have no plans to play Type-0. Not because I think it would be of poor quality, but because aside of the core series entries and their direct sequels, I pretty much ignore all the other side FF games.

[Edge7]

I dunno, I was kinda excited for Final Fantasy Legacy/Final Fantasy Legends: Hikari to Yami no Senshi, I guess I'm one of the few. But yeah, I agree

[Del Murder]

I agree with Raistlin that X-2 is what started the idea of milking things and I think that was the point where SE shift its focus from creating new, innovative RPGs to trying to get the most out of what they had already done.

Yet, I still enjoyed each FF game I've played since that time. True, they were no where near as great as the Nintendo and PS1 eras, but I still had fun playing them. Calling them trout is subjective. Instead I would say that I don't agree with the direction they are taking the franchise. That being said, I would definitely get Type-0 if it ever came out in the USA and Versus XIII if that ever comes out ever.

SE fanboy 4 lyfe