The new Square. Against or For?

[ZeZipster]

Many debates have gone on over the past Square releases, FF7-2 being one of the latest followed by FF10-2 and FF11 (because it's online). I have been part of the smaller class of people who is against all three. So what is every one else and why?

I'll start off my anti-SquareEnix rantings with FF11, because that's when I started to get annoyed. FF11 as most of you know is the new completely online FF (despite rumours it is not off line in any way) Why would that bother me? Simple, it does not fit in to the series, every FF has been off line. It also cost way to much and has people. It falls out of the Fantasy feel because it has that annoying sense of newbies who unfortunatly like to beg and talk with 3s instead of Es. You also have to deal with many other factors that wouldn't apply to a normal FF.

FF10-2 would be the second thing Square has announced that bugged me. It's a horrible standard for sequels, it drives away from the original, dropped most of the main cast, and went to sex appeal to attract perverts as though they were some hentai fan-artist of the game.

Finally the latest FF7-2, which did exactly what FF10-2, went awaaaaay from the original (and messed up Sephiroth but that doesn't bug me all that much). I had never thought of a movie being a sequel to any FF and it looks like this one may not have been that bad of an idea. Of course people will watch it, it's the sequel to FF7 one of the most popular games of all time. But I'm discontent with it because it's not like it's original.

[Flying Mullet]

I always thought that Square lost their direction after FFVI. From FFVII on I've been a bit disillusioned with Square. Guess I'm old fashioned.

[TheAbominatrix]

Well I was a bit disappointed with the way the FF series was going during the PS1 days, but X restored my faith.

But regardless, there's always gonna be someone pissed off at Square. If they stick to the old formulas, then they've run out of ideas and are a boring company. If they try new, innovative branches, they're money hungry corporate dogs out to rob us of our hard earned money. They're damned if they do, and damned if they dont.

[eternalshiva]

I'm not happy with FFXI but doesn't mean that its going to suck, it just means I'm not going to buy it. FFX I think needed a sequel to it and I think they planned on making the sequel because the ending only hinted and did not give anything away unfortunately. I don't think FFVII warrants a second game but the movie is cool, I can go for that. I think it warrants a remake into PS2 *nods*

[Sefie1999AD]

Square isn't as conservative as it used to be, and it takes a lot more chances and tries out new things, as can be seen from FFX, FFX-2 and FFXI. I think some of their "experiments" have somewhat failed (I didn't like FFX, FFXI doesn't impress me and I doubt FFX-2 will be anything great, although I will certainly try it out), but Square still delivers us some very good games every now and then. IMHO, games like FF7, FF9 and Kingdom Hearts - and maybe FF8 and Chrono Cross to a smaller degree - indicate that Square can still produce excellent video games that can be enjoyed.

Here's my prediction, although I could be mistaken. At the moment, Square is really trying all the new ideas they can, such as a linear game without world map (FFX), an online game (FFXI), a sequel with a female lead (FFX-2), a joint project with an American cartoon movie company (Kingdom Hearts and KH2 by Square Enix and Disney) etc, and when they've got to know exactly what Square fans and the players want, they'll make FF12 into a game that will be a massive mega-hit that loads of people will like. Overall, they're probably just trying out various things to make sure that Final Fantasy XII will be a great game.

[Flying Mullet]

I agree, I think that part of the problem is that the video game market is so over-saturated now that Square has to try out new games to see what people want. Ten years ago it was easy to come up with a quality RPG as there were very few out there. Also ideas were still new, and plots, plot twists, quirky characters and the like weren't tired yet. Now there are so many RPG's out there and so many plot elements are old that Square is trying out a slew of new ideas to see what people like the best. And as the video game market is ever-evolving it makes sense that they want to see what people want so they know where to go next.

[Outsider]

I don't think that Square-enix is wrong... They are a company, and they have to make money. I'm not against it.

If their way to make money is to make games that I don't like (the only one I really like since PSX is FFTactics), then, I'll simply not buy them. It's not a matter of being against or for it... If they release something that I like, then I'll play it. If they don't, I'll just keep playing the old stuff I'm used to.

I guess it's not a Square-enix's problem... There's a serious lack of creativity in the gaming area for some time, that's why I don't have fun playing most of the new games out there.

[twobitmage]

Im personally sick and tired of all these people saying "old school roxxors new school". I dont care what kind of sentimental feelings you have for your first rpg. I admit my first rpg, while it is my favorite, isnt the BEST rpg of all time.

And to all those people who hate all the new age innovations; you should embrace change, cuz you can either swim with it, or get crushed under the wave thats about to hit. You can try if you want, to fight against the entire world to change things to the way YOU want it, but let me tell ya, its a bajillion times easier to change urself

[Flying Mullet]

Originally posted by twobitmage
Im personally sick and tired of all these people saying "old school roxxors new school". I dont care what kind of sentimental feelings you have for your first rpg. I admit my first rpg, while it is my favorite, isnt the BEST rpg of all time.

I disagree. FFVI is still my favorite RPG of all time and I consider it the best. Newer RPG's are cool, and I enjoy them, but FFVI still shines through as my favorite after the novelty and the newness of the new RPG wears off. And besides, the best RPG of all time is relative. By your definition that your first RPG is your favorite, I would consider it the best of all time in your eyes. So each person views the best RPG or such through different eyes, and to that extent, their opinions of where Square is heading differ.

And to all those people who hate all the new age innovations; you should embrace change, cuz you can either swim with it, or get crushed under the wave thats about to hit. You can try if you want, to fight against the entire world to change things to the way YOU want it, but let me tell ya, its a bajillion times easier to change urself

Just because the world is changing doesn't mean we have to. I'm not hurting anyone by keeping my SNES and FFII(FFIV), FFIII(FFVI), Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, etc... around. I like colorful 2D sprites. I always have and probably always will. The technological inovations don't bother me, but they don't make me want to play a game as much as colorful games, which the 2D sprites seem to do quite well. People like or dislike the technological inovations for different reasons. There's no problem with them not liking it.

And in closing, better graphics don't necessarily make a game better. They can enhance it, but they can also detract form it if that's where all of the emphasis is placed. FFIV still has one of the best stories of all time in an rpg for me. It's graphics are a bit antiquated today, but it still is a great game. Kingdom Hearts on the other hand, has stellar graphics, but I didn't enjoy playing it much(I only played it for about 5-6 hours). So I don't think that technological innovation promises better games, only creative developers create better games.

[Liquid Glass]

I'm not sure if I' for SE or against SE, but you guys sure are helping me decide. I will always love FFVII, because like the dude said, it was my first FF, and my favorite now. It took me like a year to beat it when I first got it because I got stuck on Lost Number, then got stuck on other things, but thats what made it great ontop of the awesome storyline and characters. I am with the movie..for now. I just hope it won't be as disappointing as FFTSW. But from what I've seen, it doesn't look like it will be...

Also, since graphics shouldn't matter, I will try my best to embrace FFX-2. Hopefully the story will save it, if possible. I don't know if I'll ever buy FFXI, but I want too, it sounds like a good idea, but after Square is done seeing what people hate and love, If online play makes the cut, they should put it up as a sub-series, or have add ons outside of the main FFs. FFCC is just sort of, well how I see it, another shot at RTB, like in Kingdom Hearts, for the people who didn't get to try KH on the PS2. For now, only time will tell, And I hope the movie doesn't suck and that FFXII will rock the world, like no other Final Fantasy before it.....

[twobitmage]

I say that its MY favorite but its NOT the best because I UNDERSTAND that its relative. That every single game is good in its own right. Final fantasy 2 is damn good at being final fantasy 2 aint it? Why then, do we compare it to final fantasy 6? hell if I know

[Advent Child]

I'll reserve judgement until I can play at least one of those 3 games.

EDIT: 2 games and 1 movie.

[Garland]

It's good that Square is trying new things. How long could the same cookie-cutter RPG format continue? Tweak the battle system slightly, remix the classic themes, create a plot along the standard progression (explore half the world, get the boat, discover the other half, get the airship, reach 'end of world', do side quests, beat game) - Final Fantasy is a lot of things, but untill recently, liberal wasn't one of them. Square knew a good formula and stuck with it to exacting degrees. Heck, after FF7, every male lead to follow has kept the blond hair, blue eyes, and a blade appearance without fail. The leading lady has been a brunette much in the spirit of Tifa. Things weren't changing. I'm glad they are now. Final Fantasy is a whole series of games about incredible world adventures, and ironically, most FF gamers aren't even adventurous enough to accept new things (as pertaining to Final Fantasy).

[Radje]

Forgetting Squal wasn't blonde but i do understand what you mean.

[SomethingBig]

After FFX, I lost nearly all faith in Square. You would not believe the smile I had on my face when I opened it for Christmas. You would also not believe the frown I had on my face after 25-40 hours into the game. However, after popping Kingdom Hearts into the PS2, I regained all faith in Square, once more.

By the way, that Advent Children trailer from the TGS won't be in the movie. Chances are that Square-Enix will hear our complaining and change Sephy's appearance.