[For his Monthly Musing, SephirothX talks about how disappointing the games put out in 2010 by Square Enix were. Want to write your own blog about the biggest disappointment of last year? Check out the Monthly Musing topic for all the guidelines, then head on over to the Community Blogs and post your own! -- JRo]
It used to be that when you saw Square / Squaresoft / Square Enix on a game, it used to be guaranteed gold. Now, it seems like fool’s gold. If you could take a trip in the DeLorean (since 2010 held the 25th anniversary of Back to the Future) back to visit me anywhere between 1997-2000 and told me that in 2010 America would get not one but two standard numbered Final Fantasy titles in one year I would have told you that 2010 would be the greatest year in gaming history. Instead, elder wiser me sat through 2010 and saw Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIVas one game that was a disappointment to many, and another that was a total and utter flop. Sorry diehards, but it’s time to face facts, Final Fantasy XIII was one of 2010’s biggest disappointments. Not necessarily because it was a bad game, but because it wasn't up to the same level as other games in the series. Then Square Enix came out and announced that the new Deus Ex title was delayed due to money concerns, though I still don’t understand how delaying something that would make you money fixes your money issue.
*Sigh* the simple fact that I’m putting “Final Fantasy” and “disappointment” in the same sentence saddens me.
Square Enix has a backlog of games that include legends such as Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy VI & VII, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and more recently Kingdom Hearts. All of these titles were significant major system releases that caught the eye of pretty much the entire gaming world, and are still highly revered by many. Now? Now Square Enix seems fixated on pushing out handheld games that are primarily side stories for their major franchises, and don’t seem to have an ear on what their fans desire from them. The Parasite Eve franchise has been something fans have wanted brought back for a while, hopefully in some glorious way on these next generation consoles. Square Enix listened, kind of… The 3rd Birthday happened, though you’d have to pay attention to know it’s a Parasite Eve sequel, since this title doesn’t even bear the franchise’s name on it while simultaneously being shunned down to the PSP. Don’t get me wrong I like seeing the PSP get games, but I can’t imagine many fans of Square Enix’s legacy being happy about a franchise being pushed from console to handheld. To top it off, from what I’ve heard, I guess The 3rd Birthday is having so-so sales over in Japan…though I could be wrong there.
Beyond the two big Final Fantasy titles of 2010, what exactly did Square Enix do to blow us away? Honestly, pretty much nothing. No real surprise game, no big announcements, nothing to get the fan-base’s juices flowing. Nothing about remakes of old games, sequels, Kingdom Hearts 3. Instead, we were greeted to either babble about Square Enix’s continued lingering in the Final Fantasy XIII universe, or more shit on the DS and PSP. Yes, Square Enix’s name popped up on other titles this year - Just Cause 2 and Supreme Commander 2 both had Square Enix’s label on them, and those were good games. “But Sephy! You just said Square Enix had good games and yet you’re blogging about Square Enix sucking!” That’s because with those two games Square Enix was nothing more than a publisher. Eidos and Gas Powered Games were the real minds behind those titles, Square Enix just financed them and essentially found an excuse to put their name on the box. Over in Japan, Square Enix does this a lot too; Arkham Asylum and Black Ops magically get Square Enix logos upon traveling over the Pacific Ocean as well.
Square Enix sucked in 2010 because I feel they’ve lost their ear with their fans and now think they need to tell their fans what they want instead of having their fans tell them what they want. I hope I speak for a large amount of long-time Square fans when I say that we want big time titles that blow the doors off the building in the most public way possible, like how Square used to do it back-in-the-day, instead of screwing around with the PSP and the DS. Again, I hope I speak for many people when I also say that I want Square Enix to revisit some of their old properties for a while instead of giving us the reach-around with an FFXIIIGaiden story or another Kingdom Hearts game that isn’t Kingdom Hearts 3. Pretty sure that most of the fanbase doesn’t want another random game with Final Fantasy attached to it considering the other wants of the fanbase… oh wait, they’re fucking doing that too.
It truthfully seems like the most demanded item from Square Enix’s history seems to be Chrono Trigger, whether it’s a modern remake of the game or by finally getting a proper sequel. Sorry Chrono Cross fans, but I don’t consider that game a sequel to the original because I feel it’s really just a different game set within the same universe. It seems like fans have been trying to revive the Chrono franchise themselves over the years, yet SquareEnix always ends up being dicks and forcing these people to cease work on their projects. Anybody remember Crimson Echoes or Chrono Trigger Resurrection? It would make sense if SquareEnix was working on something regarding the franchise at the time, since then it would be an active thing for them, but instead SquareE nix has done jack crap with the franchise and the most recent news we’ve had about it is Obsidian wanting to make it and the original game coming to a mobile phone. Fuck you, Square Enix, for complaining about money but not going forward with things your fans would give you money for.
Then there’s the elephant in the room which always comes up anytime someone talks about stuff Square Enix should do. It’s also the one thing that Squar eEnix still hasn’t caved in on, which would be the Final Fantasy VII PlayStation 3 remake that is pretty much the most demanded thing in the history of fucking anything ever wanted (I exaggerate, I know). FFVII, like it or not, is one of the most influential games in history and helped JRPGs in the same way Star Wars helped science fiction movies. Fans of the game want the remake because of the old E3 Tech Demo, and because they love everything FFVII. Non-fans of the game want it remade so that the fans of the game will finally shut the fuck up. I guess I just don’t understand what is keeping Square Enix from officially pulling the trigger and green lighting a PS3 version of FFVII. You’d think the respectable success of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII alone would legitimize that a remake of the game is a profitable endeavor. Plus, look at how well the original PS1 version of the game sold when it hit PSN.
Seriously, get the fuck going on this!
Considering Square Enix and money and all that jazz right now, I would have figured that Final Fantasy VII would have been the first thing that would have come out of someone’s mouth at a bigwig Square Enix board room meeting. If someone at Square Enix would maybe come up with a bright idea of adapting the events of Before Crisis, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VII (the game’s story), and perhaps somehow even include Advent Children into one Final Fantasy VII Complete game for the PS3, I don’t really understand how you can’t put a gold label on that and go “Yeah let’s make a fuckload of money." Instead we get shit like nobody really wants like Type-0 or Versus XIII. Again, fuck you Square Enix for not fucking listening.
People wanted Marvel vs Capcom 3 and you know what Capcom did? They fucking gave us Marvel vs Capcom 3, and people are happy about it…even if Capcom is probably assraping Devil May Cry in the background simultaneously. Sucker Punch heard there was a large distaste for the look of Cole in Infamous 2 so what did they do? They went back and changed him to go look more like the original, though I wouldn’t be surprised if New Cole is an unlockable still. Call of Duty fans got pissed about how the game always turned into a killstreak fuck fest, so what happens as a result? Modern Warfare 2 got a barebones playlist and Black Ops tweaked the formula to make sure killstreaks don’t lead to other kill streaks. What do all of these things have in common? It’s cases of the developers listening to the fans and the end result is the fans being happier. Obviously some care has to be taken when listening to fans & you need to make sure you listen to people who are being logical customers and not dumbass fans, otherwise you might end up with shit like MAG.
2010 sucked because this was the year that, at least for the time being, really brought Square Enix down to Earth and made them “just another company” instead of a top tier name in the industry. In 2011 Square Enix needs to get out of their fucking cave and get a pulse on what their fans want and where the action is. Get it the fuck together, SquareEnix, or this will happen.
I believe deus ex is delayed because it will make money BUT releasing it now would add that money to 2010's financial report. By delaying it until the start of 2011's fiscal year they can satisfy the shareholders by saying "sure we had a shitty year in 2010 but look at the bounty we reaped in 2011"
From a business stand point it makes perfect sense.
More remakes like Chrono Trigger and FFIV DS, and less bullshit. EVERY time they make a remake, it's good, it gets great reviews, and people buy the shit out of it.
@Magnalon - If memory serves Square actually complained about the Chrono Trigger DS port not selling as well as they'd hoped...I recall one guy saying "If you really want a sequel, buy this one!" Wish I had a link...
for me, Square Enix's best game to ever greenlight-ed(though not developed) on is Just Cause 2. Maybe Square Enix will regain it's composure by this year eh?
You do realize that they said it would take something like 10 years to remake final fantasy 7. I honestly feel like 7 is just fine the way it is, and doesn't really require a remake. If you want to play it with better graphics get the pc version and mod it.
As far as your statement about them being brought down to earth I really think they started going down hill about the time Final Fantasy 10 was released. I do have to say though I did enjoy reading your blog as it's always nice to see how other people feel about the big names in gaming.
I think it says something about a company when everyone is still just talking about their SNES and PS1 releases, begging for re-makes and sequels. Its like the last decade past them right by.
Let's just get this fact out in the open...Dragon Quest had a good year in North America and Final Fantasy had a horrible one. We are living in BIZARRO WORLD PEOPLE!!!!
Also, another Square Enix end of the year post that doesn't include Nier. sucks that Cavia went under as they did some really bizarre stuff.
Oh, and I don't want to see HD Cloud Strife wearing a dress. I'm just not sure that's the direction FFVII should take. FFVIII however definitely needs a remake.
I don't know what I want from Square Enix. A VII remake would be fine but really, I don't think it would be fiscally advantageous for them to do it, at least on the PS3. Sure, people would get it but I think a lot more people would skip it. I have fond memories of the game but shit, I bought it the day it came out and played it and watched others play it enough to know I'm through with it.
In my velveteen nerd heart an HD remake of Final Fantasy III would be amazing but that's just nostalgia talking. Maybe they can just grow and evolve the Final Fantasy brand into something less convoluted and stale and give us a damn fine RPG.
Yeah square has been a let down this Gen, they seem so out of touch lately, hell it took them till 2010 to get a game on the ps3 . Ff13 was disappointing and the star ocean tlh port didn't have anything worth mentioning despite coming a year later. C'mon square you gotta do better than that.
I am becoming somewhat disheartened with Square Enix as well. It does seem as if they have a bit of a disconnect with their audience. I'm hoping they pull out some stops for 2011. Also, it is my belief that they already have a FFVII remake done and are storing it for when the video game industry implodes.
Here Here! Great post. I really agree with the sentiment that Squeenix is telling the fans what they want instead of listening to what they want. And I am one of those people begging for a FFVII remake. That would be gaming gold.
Versus XIII is the only reason I still care a bit about FF, so while I agree with a lot of what you said, I will also say that I am much more interested in the side games than the main games... Although that has been the case since FFX.
I don't know, Square has been releasing some bullshit in the mean time over the years. Anyone remember that stupid Dragon game on PS2? Or the Bouncer? They've certainly had their fair share of garbage, but it looks like those same design philosophies are flowing into their main releases.
I would understand if they were trying new things and attempting to innovate in their respective genres, but dumbing down an RPG to the point of not even needing to actively participate doesn't make sense to me.
Watching SquareEnix not remake FFVII is like watching someone win the lotto and then say “Ehh, I’ll pick it up next week” and then they don’t pick it up for about four years.
@BulletMagnet They said that about Chronotrigger too ?
I recall them pulling the "If you want a sequel buy this one" card with Dissidia.
But as far as the article goes I pretty much totally agree a game released by Square used to be a no brainer, you bought it and it was awesome. Now it seems like they are releasing mediocre games and slapping SquareEnix on them so they will sell. I fear that gone are the days when you can look Square being the publisher alone and know its quality, here to stay are the days of waiting for reviews to come out because you just can't trust them anymore.
No more remakes and no more side stories. More original games in the vein of Square's old games before Sakaguchi resigned. For the love of god no more remakes. It might displease someone who calls themselves SephirothX and wants to play the same game over and over, but it would cost too much and just be a waste of time. The one thing that Square Enix (As a developer) hasn't done in the past 5+ years is make an original game that has the strengths Squaresoft has been known for.
Really, what people want from SE is an RPG that doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. Rather than spending however many billion dollars they did for all of XIII's self-masturbatory cut scenes, they should have given the characters some actual characterization. Customization, actually tactical combat (rather than a reckless mad dash to get a fast battle time), a sense of exploring a world. Final Fantasy X was very clever about pushing you down a linear path. You never felt like you were going in a straight line. There were people to talk to, actually useful things to purchase, characters to level up in multiple directions of your choice. The world was a living, breathing place, rather than just a long, pretty piece of string to follow. Not until reaching Pulse did I feel like any area in FFXIII was an actual environment where people could exist, and Pulse was ruined by being a long, meandering, pointless waste of time.
If anyone played The Last Remnant on PC (on 360 it's a buggy mess) they'd realize it was probably SE's closest grab at greatness since their old glory days. It made some missteps in attempt to innovate, but definitely played to a few of SE's world-building strengths. If the game had received the amount of resources and attention FFXIII had, it would likely have been a huge success.
tl;dr: SE should stop masturbating over graphics and play to their strengths.
I have to agree with mattrodoid, minus the combative, childish tone of his post. DQIX was my DS GOTY, and I thoroughly enjoyed my 85 hours with FFXIII.
I genuinely hope that SE releases some games that please the rest of you in the near future, though. I can't help but want my fellow RPG fans to be happy, I feel a kinship of shared experiences with you guys, and it has to suck to be disappointed by a company that's meant so much to you in the past.
My problem with Square Enix games is they're too complicated. Call me simple minded, but if they have to map twenty separate commands to each button for just the combat, it's too much for me to handle. I guess I just don't have the super-brain required to handle any RPG more complicated than Golden Sun.
Nier was great. I'm glad I got to work on that. However, Front Mission Evolved was a steaming pile and makes me think that Square Enix cutting my job was actually an act of mercy.
Backlog: an accumulation of jobs not done or materials not processed that are yet to be dealt with (especially unfilled customer orders for products or services)
"People that complain about FFXIII as much as they do have no creativity, imagination and/or respect for innovation."
Do you care to back that up, or do you just like to show up and make ridiculous statements without any semblance of defense? This sounds like the argument of an eight-year old.
[Not to mention that that sentence is semantically horrible: "people who complain as much as they do", wouldn't that be everyone?]
"instead we get shit like nobody really wants like Type-0 or Versus XIII"
While I do agree XIII sucked, Versus is still a title people want, even more so after the sucky xiii, so you fail
I have to disagree with this article simply because of the way it dismisses the other two announced games for the Fabula Nova Crystallis, Agito and Versus look fantastic and I've only heard eager anticipation from fans, particularly for versus.
Also, I'm a die hard kingdom hearts fan, so I'm not in any huge rush to get to KH3 and start a bullshit new series with a new villian (which is not speculation, Nomura has confirmed that KH3 will mark the end of the "Xehanort Saga", starting a new series of KH games: http://www.siliconera.com/2010/03/24/tetsuya-nomura-talks-kingdom-hearts-3-and-beyond/) I like my KH as a mostly comprehensible series with a totally kickass and hard to kill Xehanort.
Other than that though I agree this was a bad year for SE, and they really have become disjointed from their fanbase. All I would really ask of them though would be to release Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional in America, I could care less about a billion HD remakes, I'd rather play my RPG's portable, and then with as much monster cattching/raising/breeding I can get my hands on.
agree, i never had so much fun on a Sanbox game, it even surpaces San Andreas in that aspect, it was the second best Sanbox game besides RDR in 2010 imo
I also wanted to say that I think Square has been off their throne for a while.
SaGa Frontier 1997
SaGa Frontier 2 1999
Legend of Mana 1999
The Bouncer 2000
Unlimited Saga 2002
Romancing SaGa 2005
Dawn of Mana 2006
I think all of these games were sub-par or just plain bad. And that doesn't include anything released in the last 5 years. Keep in mind, I'm only posting Square Developed US releases here.
The latest DQ had some flavour, but really, I can't remember any other SquareEnix game since then that made me flip out over its greatness.
And as awesome as FFXIII Versus looks like, I'm skeptical.
Oh, and Atlus also pretty much became the new SE to me too.
In any case, nice post and grats on front page. While I think people might have different views then you on some of the finer points, there certainly seems to be some misscontent directed at SE thrughot the gamer community.
If that 'dragon game' doesn't happen then Nier never comes to fruition as Nier's world is the result of Drakengard's (or 'that dragon game' as you prefer) insane 5th ending.
And say what you want about Drakengard and it's sequel. The stories of those games are fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Yeah, the gameplay of the first was pretty bad and the second, while it made strides, wasn't anything but average. But the story, the characters, the world, the dark atmosphere that Cavia put into it's games, the short stories attached to each weapon which were equally amazing. There is nothing that even comes close to matching those games.
Now Cavia is gone... Well, absorbed by it's parent company technically. But there's little hope of getting more awesomeness like Nier and for that I am truly saddened. No Drakengard 3 and no more new original IPs from Cavia who had slowly, at least for their original titles, been improving by leaps and bounds.
Let me translate what you said: "Let Squareenix do what they used to do. But dont let them revist what they used to do"
Sounds kinda stupid when you break it down huh? Maybe you should think about what you say before you start running your mouth because I actually express what my favorite game(s) are through my online handle, eh?
I can refute this sentiment with three words: Dragon Quest IX.
Still, yeah, SquareEnix's bigger efforts had a really poor showing. Final Fantasy just isn't what it used to be, but Dragon Quest had its most phenomenal entry in the series to date.
Man, fuck off with this "face facts FFXIII is a disappointment" bullshit. You guys have been at it for almost a solid year now. It's pathetic. Isn't enough enough? I mean really. We get it, you didn't like it. But guess what? Lots, and lots of people did. And a sequel is likely on the way.
Please do us all a favor and skip it. No one is forcing you to get it.
Uh, FF13 was fantastic, Nier had some of the best music, voice acting, characters and story in gaming history, 4 Heroes of Light was a fantastic old school RPG, Kingdom Hearts BBS was by far the best of the series, Dragon Quest 9 was absolutely amazing and the Japanese games we haven't gotten SaGa 2 and 3, a few others are extremely good as well, with Dissidia 2 looking to be improved from the original in every way, Parasite Eve 3 looking extremely fun, Tactics Ogre looking to reclaim its title as best SRPG ever and Versus/Agito 13 both look phenomenal.
So uh, no, you're just flat-out wrong. Square isn't some black hole, they haven't stabbed you in the face and raped their mother, they haven't "fallen from grace" or whatever the hell you want to call it. You've just gone retarded.
And the people who constantly bitch about a FFVII remake drive me fucking crazy. If you are dying to play FFVII that much ... GO PLAY FFVII. If you are dying to see what they look like in HD, WATCH ADVENT CHILDREN. I mean, how spoiled can you be? What else do you really want? They already gave you Crisis Core, and Dirge of Cerberus on top of that.
So what if they made a tech demo? It's a tech demo. Get. Over. It.
Square could get back on track by firing Nomura, and give Yoshitaka Amano all the funds and creative freedom he needs to create a new Final Fantasy experience.
"If you are dying to play FFVII that much ... GO PLAY FFVII. If you are dying to see what they look like in HD, WATCH ADVENT CHILDREN. I mean, how spoiled can you be? What else do you really want? "
How is watching a crappy movie anything like playing a video game? Is it so much that some people want to see an HD remake of a beloved game? Particularly when we're getting swarmed with HD remakes left and right these days, I don't think it's out of the question. Relax, dude.
Square Enix became shit the moment they merged with Square Enix.
You should've also mentioned how Star Ocean was definitely one of the best RPGs to play back in the day. And they fuck that up too with Until the End of time.
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
7:00 PM on 01.14.2011 | 
From a business stand point it makes perfect sense.
To the average person/gamer it's utter bullshit.
/trollan
Still, I bet it outsells "Mindjack" - or whatever garbage they're putting out nowadays.
As far as your statement about them being brought down to earth I really think they started going down hill about the time Final Fantasy 10 was released. I do have to say though I did enjoy reading your blog as it's always nice to see how other people feel about the big names in gaming.
Blankly speaking.
Also, another Square Enix end of the year post that doesn't include Nier. sucks that Cavia went under as they did some really bizarre stuff.
Oh, and I don't want to see HD Cloud Strife wearing a dress. I'm just not sure that's the direction FFVII should take. FFVIII however definitely needs a remake.
In my velveteen nerd heart an HD remake of Final Fantasy III would be amazing but that's just nostalgia talking. Maybe they can just grow and evolve the Final Fantasy brand into something less convoluted and stale and give us a damn fine RPG.
I heart Atlus. I want a woman's womb inserted into my body so I can have it's babies.
I would understand if they were trying new things and attempting to innovate in their respective genres, but dumbing down an RPG to the point of not even needing to actively participate doesn't make sense to me.
I recall them pulling the "If you want a sequel buy this one" card with Dissidia.
But as far as the article goes I pretty much totally agree a game released by Square used to be a no brainer, you bought it and it was awesome. Now it seems like they are releasing mediocre games and slapping SquareEnix on them so they will sell. I fear that gone are the days when you can look Square being the publisher alone and know its quality, here to stay are the days of waiting for reviews to come out because you just can't trust them anymore.
Really, what people want from SE is an RPG that doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. Rather than spending however many billion dollars they did for all of XIII's self-masturbatory cut scenes, they should have given the characters some actual characterization. Customization, actually tactical combat (rather than a reckless mad dash to get a fast battle time), a sense of exploring a world. Final Fantasy X was very clever about pushing you down a linear path. You never felt like you were going in a straight line. There were people to talk to, actually useful things to purchase, characters to level up in multiple directions of your choice. The world was a living, breathing place, rather than just a long, pretty piece of string to follow. Not until reaching Pulse did I feel like any area in FFXIII was an actual environment where people could exist, and Pulse was ruined by being a long, meandering, pointless waste of time.
If anyone played The Last Remnant on PC (on 360 it's a buggy mess) they'd realize it was probably SE's closest grab at greatness since their old glory days. It made some missteps in attempt to innovate, but definitely played to a few of SE's world-building strengths. If the game had received the amount of resources and attention FFXIII had, it would likely have been a huge success.
tl;dr: SE should stop masturbating over graphics and play to their strengths.
I genuinely hope that SE releases some games that please the rest of you in the near future, though. I can't help but want my fellow RPG fans to be happy, I feel a kinship of shared experiences with you guys, and it has to suck to be disappointed by a company that's meant so much to you in the past.
"People that complain about FFXIII as much as they do have no creativity, imagination and/or respect for innovation."
Do you care to back that up, or do you just like to show up and make ridiculous statements without any semblance of defense? This sounds like the argument of an eight-year old.
[Not to mention that that sentence is semantically horrible: "people who complain as much as they do", wouldn't that be everyone?]
While I do agree XIII sucked, Versus is still a title people want, even more so after the sucky xiii, so you fail
Also, I'm a die hard kingdom hearts fan, so I'm not in any huge rush to get to KH3 and start a bullshit new series with a new villian (which is not speculation, Nomura has confirmed that KH3 will mark the end of the "Xehanort Saga", starting a new series of KH games: http://www.siliconera.com/2010/03/24/tetsuya-nomura-talks-kingdom-hearts-3-and-beyond/) I like my KH as a mostly comprehensible series with a totally kickass and hard to kill Xehanort.
Other than that though I agree this was a bad year for SE, and they really have become disjointed from their fanbase. All I would really ask of them though would be to release Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional in America, I could care less about a billion HD remakes, I'd rather play my RPG's portable, and then with as much monster cattching/raising/breeding I can get my hands on.
agree, i never had so much fun on a Sanbox game, it even surpaces San Andreas in that aspect, it was the second best Sanbox game besides RDR in 2010 imo
SaGa Frontier 1997
SaGa Frontier 2 1999
Legend of Mana 1999
The Bouncer 2000
Unlimited Saga 2002
Romancing SaGa 2005
Dawn of Mana 2006
I think all of these games were sub-par or just plain bad. And that doesn't include anything released in the last 5 years. Keep in mind, I'm only posting Square Developed US releases here.
Atlus > Square Enix
3DS says hi
The latest DQ had some flavour, but really, I can't remember any other SquareEnix game since then that made me flip out over its greatness.
And as awesome as FFXIII Versus looks like, I'm skeptical.
Oh, and Atlus also pretty much became the new SE to me too.
In any case, nice post and grats on front page. While I think people might have different views then you on some of the finer points, there certainly seems to be some misscontent directed at SE thrughot the gamer community.
If that 'dragon game' doesn't happen then Nier never comes to fruition as Nier's world is the result of Drakengard's (or 'that dragon game' as you prefer) insane 5th ending.
And say what you want about Drakengard and it's sequel. The stories of those games are fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Yeah, the gameplay of the first was pretty bad and the second, while it made strides, wasn't anything but average. But the story, the characters, the world, the dark atmosphere that Cavia put into it's games, the short stories attached to each weapon which were equally amazing. There is nothing that even comes close to matching those games.
Now Cavia is gone... Well, absorbed by it's parent company technically. But there's little hope of getting more awesomeness like Nier and for that I am truly saddened. No Drakengard 3 and no more new original IPs from Cavia who had slowly, at least for their original titles, been improving by leaps and bounds.
Let me translate what you said: "Let Squareenix do what they used to do. But dont let them revist what they used to do"
Sounds kinda stupid when you break it down huh? Maybe you should think about what you say before you start running your mouth because I actually express what my favorite game(s) are through my online handle, eh?
Still, yeah, SquareEnix's bigger efforts had a really poor showing. Final Fantasy just isn't what it used to be, but Dragon Quest had its most phenomenal entry in the series to date.
Please do us all a favor and skip it. No one is forcing you to get it.
So uh, no, you're just flat-out wrong. Square isn't some black hole, they haven't stabbed you in the face and raped their mother, they haven't "fallen from grace" or whatever the hell you want to call it. You've just gone retarded.
So what if they made a tech demo? It's a tech demo. Get. Over. It.
"If you are dying to play FFVII that much ... GO PLAY FFVII. If you are dying to see what they look like in HD, WATCH ADVENT CHILDREN. I mean, how spoiled can you be? What else do you really want? "
How is watching a crappy movie anything like playing a video game? Is it so much that some people want to see an HD remake of a beloved game? Particularly when we're getting swarmed with HD remakes left and right these days, I don't think it's out of the question. Relax, dude.
You should've also mentioned how Star Ocean was definitely one of the best RPGs to play back in the day. And they fuck that up too with Until the End of time.