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Can Square Enix Save "Final Fantasy"?

While it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where Final Fantasy began to go wrong, the most obvious place to start is with Final Fantasy X-2 (2003), the first direct sequel in the series’ history. Though it was well received by critics at the time, it alienated many players by adopting a radically different tone from its predecessor: Final Fantasy X (2001) was a serious story that dealt with issues of religious faith and the nature of life and death, while FFX-2 was a much more frivolous affair, despite carrying over many of the familiar characters and settings from its predecessor.

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FishCake9T45586d ago

In my opinion Dragon Quest took the RPG crown along time ago. SE need to understand what made FF great in the beginning. Take the game play to back what it once was, not the boring BS in FF13.

VersusEM5586d ago (Edited 5586d ago )

What would you rather play XIII or XII if you had to choose.

GrieverSoul5586d ago (Edited 5586d ago )

@VersusEM
Tough choice since those last 2 FFs were the weakest ones in terms of story and battle system. However they clearly show whats been going downhill with FFs lately. Automated battle systems and one character control only.

Break the norm!!! Bring us some TURNED BASED COMBAT! Anyone who played Grandia knows how great a TBC system can be.

EDIT: When SquareSoft was "alive", all games came with great quality. When Enix was added it went downhill.

Godmars2905586d ago (Edited 5586d ago )

Toss in FF10 or FF9 - FF8 for that matter - and see the response you get.

@FishCake9T4:
Yeah, part of the problem is that Enix, the company behind DW, is calling all of the shots. They're keeping their own IP relatively standard while experimenting with a franchise that at one time was their own's direct rival.

kane_13715586d ago

i give you the answer.
i would play 12.
12 was way more fun, in my opinion.
i have played most of FF games.
12 is one of my favs, despite the bad words about it in between other fellow FF fans, but me and other few, believe that it was at least a good game.
but man oh man.
FF1 is great, even after all these years.
but 12 is my personal fav since it had the mmo like battle system, which i loved.

SquareEnixFan5586d ago

13 would be my choice and its not close. 12 is my least favorite Final Fantasy of all time. I hated the battle system, story, and all the characters except Balthier.

darthawesome905586d ago

XII. As boring as it was its story was better than XIII, it had interactions with NPC's, better (but not good) battle system than XIII, and exploration. Also as whimpy and pointless as Vaan and Penelo were they sure beat the hell out of Hope and Vanille.

I think the pinnacle of Square's success was IV, VI, VII, and X.

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DA_SHREDDER5586d ago

Dragon Quest on the NES was the start of what everyone considered a good jrpg. What's out now is not what I consider an upgrade from the original prototype.

AndrewRyan5586d ago

In all honesty they are focusing too much on graphics. "Hey guys let's make this a huge graphical achievement!" and then "Oh shit guys, we have no more room for towns or an open world! We fucked up hard!"

Nerox35586d ago

no they should keep going forward,not being retardedly turn based thats old stuff,,,of course old people like u will be pissed ,but the best thing about SE is they care about the new generation xD and as long as they are one of the best selling games in history they will be kings forever muhahhaa

JoelEH5586d ago (Edited 5586d ago )

WTF are you talking about "Forward" what is that? they are taking steps back in everything except graphics. if you want "new generation" games go play little big planet son. almost ALL games have managed to have better graphics and take leaps forward as far as game is concern. this is one of the games that has taken major steps backwards your just too dumb to see it. I really hope that you are being sarcastic in your comment and I failed to see it.

x5exotic5586d ago

@JoelEH

wtf are YOU talking about
its not just about graphics
new games=sandbox that
new games =action gameplay not FAGGY turnbased bullshit,for stupid people who are mentaly retarded and think slowly

madjedi5586d ago (Edited 5586d ago )

@nerox3

Cares about this new generation, this is the worst generation ever from se, moving forward, ff 13 was a downgrade in every sense of the word, with the exception of maybe the vo's.

Turn based or real time combat it's a matter of preference dumbass, go play some snes-ps2 square games, those are solid games. Yeah us old people are the ones who kept se and other jrpg makers alive all these yrs.

Se hasn't been even relevant this generation, they are barely maintaining any relevancy as a rpg developer, all their console games minus 13 did horrible sales.

First sack that retard wada for incompetence, second take a long and hard look and find that soul you had in your old games that is missing in your current releases.

Still don't understand why x-2 gets the hate it does, most common complaint i remember hearing is you play as 3 chicks who dance and change dresses, but w/e.

In addition to having your head up your ass about se and it's games, and the horrible grammar i would bet 15-16yr on his first console generation.

"as long as they are one of the best selling games in history they will be kings forever muhahhaa" Atm the moment they are barely the court jester, much less king.

@x5 Sandbox is western dumbass, ff is a eastern jrpg, you do know that rpgs can be broken down into multiple different types you stupid jackass.

"new games =action gameplay not FAGGY turnbased bullshit,for stupid people who are mentaly retarded and think slowly" Uh huh so why are we bringing shooters into a rpg discussion.

Poor capitalisation, bad spelling and poor grammar and your going on about turn based being mentally retarded people who think slowly.

Both your childish ass and nerox3, need to learn about preference and opinion.

Pozzle5585d ago

I don't get why people think turn-based is outdated. Just because battles can be made faster, doesn't necessarily mean turn-based is outdated. It's a streategy based gameplay. Not one based on fastness or "realism".

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5585d ago
specialguest5586d ago (Edited 5586d ago )

Ever wonder why the FF series has not been up to par as of recent history? In my opinion, the last great FF game was FF X. That was the last FF game Hironobu Sakaguchi(creator of Final Fantasy) was involved with. Years later, Sakaguchi left Sqaure.

Sakaguchi was not only creator of FF, he was also executive vice president of Square. If you follow the timeline of the quality of games during his time at Sqaure, you'll notice that after his departure, Sqaure/SE games started to decline in quality.

pain777pas5585d ago

Sakaguchi is gone. LS may be the best JRPG this gen when all is said and done. Square will get back with Versus. It looks awesome and I cannot wait to play it. That is the FF for this generation and will put SE back on the JRPG throne.

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Lamarthedancer5586d ago

With Versus it can.....with FF13-2, not a chance

Versus has a bigger audience while FF13-2 is just the people who liked FF13

I honestly want to know what they would do if it can't save it, will they move on or will they finally give us remakes of 7,8 and 9

VersusEM5586d ago

Explain that to the thousands who bought it. I liked Final Fantasy XIII, and will buy XIII-2 day 1

Lamarthedancer5586d ago

So lots of people bought GTA4 when it came out..."OMG IT'S GTA4 OMG" then later fnd out it wasn't as good as past GTA games.

Just because a ton of people bought it dosen't mean it's a hit. It's all about hype, and it was the first FF game on the next generation consoles.

Ryudo5586d ago

Still stating Versus will be better then 13-2 when we haven't had the chance to play either and know nothing about 13-2 just shows bias.

Don't get me wrong am looking forward to versus more myself, but as I haven't played either how can I possibly announce which is better?

13-2 could be Square-Enix's most amazing game ever for all we know, we know nothing about it hardly so it's next to impossible to guess it's potential.

Tru_Ray5586d ago

I think you mean "millions" that bought it, given that it's cumulative sales have exceeded 6 million.

In any case, I don't think that FF is a franchise that needs "saving". FF XIII-2 is an opportunity to improve upon a solid battle system in FFXIII and FFvsXIII looks to be very promising overall.

The fact that they have three major releases in development concurrently should indicate that the brand is still very strong.

pain777pas5585d ago

The quality is there the excution and fun factor were not. That goes for GTA4 and FF12 and 13 to be honest.

Ponurasky5586d ago

With Wada, Nomura, Toriyama, Kitase and Nojima in charge? Never. FF is dead.

sasuke995586d ago

Can Square Enix Save "Final Fantasy"?
YES THEY CAN, F THE HATERS!!

Ponurasky5586d ago

If FF really need to be saved, than it must be saved from SE.

tablav5586d ago (Edited 5586d ago )

With Nomura on board, FF is dead? This is the same Nomura who has created some of the best FF characters ever and heads up the MASSIVELY popular Kingdom Hearts Series?

Edit: Interesting disagree. Whether or not you like Kingdom Hearts, it IS popular. And I see nothing wrong with his design skills. FF8 was one of my favourite Final Fantasy games...whatever...

Ponurasky5586d ago

Nomura was (quite) good in the past (not as good as Kaneko, Amano, Kojima or Yoshida, but still good). However, what he do now it's usually a mere shadow of his old designs. Not to mention that he get repetitive, and have a horrible sens of fashion (no wonder for Versus XIII he hired a professional cloth designer for Noctis outfits).

Burning_Finger5586d ago

If they remake Final Fantasy VII. :)

Stealth20k5586d ago

Another one of these articles written from some one who hasnt played any one of the recent ff games.

ff gaiden was the most fun Ive had in some tiime

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100°

Six Times When Games Turned Into A Horror Game

Ever play a game a game only to discover at some point it transforms into a horror game? No? Well Netto's Game Room shares six games that do just that!

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nettosgameroom.com
P_Bomb375d ago

Immediately thought of the El Dorado zombie dudes in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

raWfodog375d ago (Edited 375d ago )

Not necessarily a ‘horror’ moment, but I remember feeling really tense and anxious when the Flood were first introduced in the original Halo. I never felt more on edge or nervous in that whole game as that moment. I think it was the whole buildup that something terrible was coming but you didn’t know exactly what.

Another non-horror game that had me feeling it was Subnautica. The deep dark depths, and knowing that sea monsters were lurking nearby, had me jumping at every sound.

NettosGameRoom375d ago

That scene where you first see them attack is pretty crazy!

Relientk77375d ago

I remember being scared of the Asylum level in the most recent Thief game from 2014.

120°

Final Fantasy and SaGa series veteran Kazuyuki Shindo leaves Square Enix after 27 years

Kazuyuki Shindo, who worked on games including Legend of Mana, Final Fantasy XIII, and SaGa: Emerald Beyond, has left Square Enix.

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140°

Final Fantasy XV Datamine Reveals Hidden Chapter 14 Scene That Was Cut

A new datamine of game files from Final Fantasy XV has revealed a cut scene from Chapter 14 that didn't make it into the final release.

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gold_drake510d ago

always liked 15, but the development was shch a shitshow. it could have been so much more.

but Tabata did a good job with what he had regardless

DivineHand125509d ago

Ff15 was a missed opportunity from square as they transitioned from turn based to real time.

One of the issues is that it was 30 fps. The combat mechanics required precision dodges to activate Noctis teleport ability and it was difficult to do at 30 fps. I am glad they rectified that in FF16. The story and flow also felt like it went through a chopshop similar to how some live service games end up when they are trying to meet a deadline. Those extra episodes they sold as dlc should have been in the maingame.

FF15 is one of the weaker entries in the series.

Z501509d ago

Dodges don't activate the teleport ability. Teleport was R1 + O. Dodge was just the O button. Explain the Black Hood (the item that automatically Dodges for you)

TheNamelessOne509d ago

Ah yes; FF XV.
The beginning of me coming to the realization the series was no longer for me.

Michiel1989509d ago

16 was a lot better, I think 15 was just a big mess with how development went and all. The music though, one of the best in the series, probably the only reason I finished the game.

Cacabunga509d ago

At least FF15 had RPG elements . 16 was just an action game from beginning to end.

Michiel1989509d ago

I rather have a good action game than a bad rpg with 2 button combat

Cacabunga508d ago (Edited 508d ago )

Then call it something else then FF. I got scammed with FF16. Nothing of what i expected it to be.
Even the action is bad in it, especially after the demo section where absolutely nothing happens until the very end.

FF15 isnt a great game but it has some variety at least.

CrimsonWing69509d ago

That initial trailer with the Leviathan fight was the game I wish we got. The actual retail release was watchdogged to all Hell and while there’s enjoyment to be had in the game, it’s such an incomplete product and so many elements feel so slapped together without any cohesion.

Like, don’t get me wrong, I loved fishing, cooking, and the first third of the game, but I much rather they made a story that didn’t feel barely there and the the last third of the game didn’t feel so rushed and unfinished.

Becuzisaid508d ago

Every time a party member left for a period of time screamed future paid dlc. It was horrible.

Imagine Dagger and Steiner making the party go to sleep in Lindblum in FF9 disc 1 and then taking off to Alexandria by foot themselves, but then never playing their side of the adventure in disc 2 when they smuggle her through the South Gate in pickles, take the cable car and fight the Waltz, head to Treno and start the quest to find Supersoft. They just eventually reunite with the main party in the future without explanation of what went on in their adventure.

Or Sephiroth's backstory in the famous Kalm flashback being added as a dlc pack. Same goes for Vincent, Cid, or Yuffie for that matter.

Oh and anything to do with Jenova, the Ancients, Aerith, her mom and Gast, shoved into a 2 hour CG movie or 5 hour anime ministries that's considered required viewing for anything in the main game to make sense or have characters actually be interesting.

I enjoyed FF15 at the time, and finished it, but it's bright spots are marred by a bad development cycle and a worse marketing scheme.

CrimsonWing69508d ago

What’s sad is when I watched a vid on the entire story (that wasn’t properly told in the actual game)!it was really solid and could’ve been one of the most epic stories in any FF. I think a lot of the compilation and cross-media stuff really f*cked it all up.

gurp509d ago

FFXV was underrated in my opinion
I have played all of the final fantasy games, and I loved this game
turn based to me takes too long, I like active battle
the extra dlc and chapters should have been included in the original release, but it is nice that they fixed the game later

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