It is mostly sequels/remakes/remasters in his list - but that doesn’t mean that Square hasn’t been churning out original, new content. Titles like Voice of Cards, Dungeon Encounters, I am Setsuna, etc. All good to great games.
Disagree. They were mediocre to bland games. Dungeon Encounters is a game that COULD have had a chance but they said "we're giving you 20 dollars to make this so do what you can". Tastes are subjective so I'll give you that they have taken some
small budget chances with non-sequels. Still nothing like we saw even a few gens prior.
As for being the ”next big ip/series”, I would argue that is an issue with all of entertainment media across the board. Not just Square.
And yes, companies need to make money. Otherwise they cease to exist.
Thanks for the expert analysis, I had no idea companies were out to make money.
EGS Exclusive means literally nothing. Now if they were actual platform exclusive, then I could understand where you are coming from. However, if you really wanted to play Kingdom Hearts on PC and the fact that you have to use one particular store front/loader is stopping you? You clearly didn’t give a shit about the game/series in the first place. If Steam or GoG paid the money for some exclusivity on it, you wouldn’t have batted a damn eye.
Completely untrue. I really enjoyed the first KH. I liked the 2nd. I did not like the majority of the spinoffs. The fact that they took the guaranteed cash from EGS means they have no confidence in the IP on the PC platform. I'm not even going to respond to your "durr hurr it's just another launcher" point because it's been explained to death in other threads. You know or can easily find out why people don't want to support EGS paid exclusivity bullshit, but are being purposefully disingenuous here. Steam or GoG would never pay for exclusivity, so your whole point is trash.
You are basing this off of literally nothing and are making shit up. FFXVI is the most focus tested FF game of all time? Show proof. DQ12 is going to be a vastly different game? Literally nowhere has it been stated that will be the case, unless you are one of those insane types who think “darker story” means “they are changing literally everything”.
Confirmed battle system changes for DQXII, darker tone, "future of the series for the next 20 years". All of these things sound like they're throwing the DQ fans out with the bathwater. But no, let's trust the corporation to do the right thing, right? I will give you that I have no evidence of focus tested trash with FFXVI, but I guess you and I will both be in a "wait and see" situation with it. Final Fantasy May Cry is not what I was hoping for, personally.
I love me some Final Fantasy, in fact maybe a bit too much, and I hold the originals near and dear to my heart as that is what I grew up with. The Pixel Remasters are actually really damn good now that I got to play them. They had a lot of love and care put into their design and the font? It isn’t that big of an issue. The lack of bloated filler content that didn’t feel well balanced? I can’t say I will miss it.
Disagree. The music arrangements are fantastic, the pixel art is worse than any of the PSP entries. There was good content stripped for no good reason and replaced with nothing. This is subjective I guess, but I won't say that the pixel remasters are the definitive way to play all but maybe 1 of the games.
And as an SNES/NES era fan, FFVII:R didn‘t piss me off with the “time ghosts”. Clearly it didn’t piss off most fans either as it was a massive success within the community. Unless you think you speak for the entire franchise fan base?
Just because you have this nebulous group of people that like it doesn't invalidate or remove the group of people that thought the time ghosts were bullshit. All SE had to do was give a faithful remake, and they chose not to. As far as success goes, how are the sales for the FVII:R Yuffie DLC? I honestly don't know. I'm guessing since they shafted PS4 players and you subtract those fans that were disappointed with time ghost shenanigans, they probably aren't great. Still think that "whoah bro, sales dude" is the right answer here?
Now I just know you are trolling.
Disregarded, different opinions != trolling.
Y’know, except for the fact that their recent JPN releases and major IPs have been some of the most successful in their respective franchises? FFXIV Shadowbringers has been considered as one of the quintessential MMO expansions. Dragon Quest XI helped renew interest in the franchise outside of Japan and is considered one of, if not the best titles in the series. FFVII:R, despite your baseless ire with the title was a massive success and beloved by many.
DQ11 is great, one of my favorite JRPGs from last gen. That has nothing to do with this conversation. FFVII:R had over 5mil sales, minus the estimated 200 million to make (may be inaccurate, got it from an article linked from GameFAQs), minus marketing, costs of material etc. It was a success, but massive may be the wrong word. FFXIV, like FFXI before it, continue to be huge earners for the company.
They release new smaller titles that are growing cult followings, try new things, and allow for classical gameplay styles that people have been asking for.
Blanket statement, they also release garbage.
Yes, Square Enix is no longer the company that people grew up with in the 90s. They are not Square, they are not Enix. But they also aren’t the same company that released FFXIV 1.0 and FFXIII. They are actively creating new IPs. They are pushing new ideas forward and giving a wide range of products that are heavily reminiscent of the SNES to PS1 era. The very thing people have been asking for for years.
Disagree, which is my point. They are releasing safe sequels, changing longtime franchises to get a piece of that "western" success since JP aren't buying consoles that aren't Nintendo anymore. The people that are happy with SE's current and near future output are the same ones totally fine with slurping up Forza 10 and Uncharted 6. To be clear, I don't mind sequels, but S-E is doing nothing to promote their smaller IPs nor giving them the budget that they deserve to make a real dent in the mindshare of gamers. They were all completely shocked by the success of Nier: Auotmata, and have since literally whored the IP out to any mobile game that will give them some profit share for a collaboration.
There's nobody left in the company like Gooch, Tanaka, Takahashi, or Nojima. Ito is still with the company, but I can't explain what he's been doing the past decade.