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What should Square Enix do to make Final Fantasy relevant again?

J

jWILL253

Banned
If it doesn't work the first time, try again. :p
Let's talk about the future of what is, without a doubt, the most important and most influential IP in Japanese gaming history:
Monster Hunter. :p

In all seriousness, it's about time we have a talk about this. A new generation is upon us, and IMO, the future of Square Enix depends entirely on the success of both XIV:ARR & XV (also, Kingdom Hearts III, but that's for another thread). This IP has been very successful for a very long time, and I'm sure both SE and the gaming community at large would feel very sad if the series continues to regress.

Which brings me to my next point: my my, has this has been a very long and painful fall from grace or what? The last 8 years or so have done FF no favors whatsoever. To understand where we should go, we gotta remember where we've been. Let's start with the obvious first.

  1. Fabula Nova Crystalis aka "The XIII Compilation" aka "The Lightning Saga" aka "The Game That Always Watches Over You and Supports You" aka "Roses in a D-Cup". Toriyama's wonderchild (and waifu) was the sole FF representation for consoles this gen. It's a shame to because it was such a waste (and very indicative of HD game development and publishing in Japan in general). The compilation introduced a cast of characters that no one outside of Japan seems to like, two unnecessary sequels, one game that never hit stateside, and another game that ended up going next-gen. I don't know if I would go as far to say that the Lightning Saga ruined SE's reputation, but it actually doesn't sound too hyperbolic to say at this point. Also, dynamic boob physics, shoehorning Gilgamesh-like crossover appearances, and cat outfits.
  2. XIV. This game should be used to remind students at DigiPen what happens when you fuck up royally. SE won't admit as much, but it's certain that XIV has been a huge money pit for them. But, since SE seems to be incapable of holding themselves accountable, they decided to continue to sink money into XIV, creating a mulligan in the form of "A Realm Reborn". While it's been a good game so far (in its beta stages), I don't think this redo will make the game profitable.
  3. The whoring out of FF on mobile platforms. SE might be the only company that continues to justify price-gouging on re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-releases because reasons. Square saw F2P games being sold like hot cakes on iOS and Android and said "LETS CHARGE YOU 14-30 US DOLLARS FOR A 15 YEAR OLD GAME AND PUT MICROTRANSACTIONS IN IT ANYWAY PLEASE UNDERSTAND!" "All The Bravest" is the most painful kick in the nuts, though. Of all the blatant cashgrabs and shameless pandering within the industry, that game is the most offensive overall by far.
  4. The VII cocktease. Never have I seen so many people get their emotions played with by a damn tech demo. And to this day, people are still asking for a VII remake, which I guess justifies SE re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-releasing the old PS version to hold them over for the next 8 years. :p

So, where should Square go from here?

I think they need to look at the game that was a huge turning point for the IP: XII. That game had a lot of ambitions in numerous directions, and it was great for it. I think Final Fantasy would recapture it's magic if it uses XII to rediscover the "Fantasy" part of its moniker. Because, as it stands, all "Fantasy" refers to is Toriyama's wet dreams about his pink-haired Cloud-enstein.

Speaking of which... get him way the fuck outta here, man. Toriyama is the creepiest dude in the industry, by far. I mean, every time the guy speaks on his game, it just comes off as if he creates Lightning and Snow loli hentai in his free time. Not only that, but Nomura is the captain this ship needs right now anyway...

THIS IS NOT A GENERAL FINAL FANTASY DISCUSSION THREAD. NO LIST WARS. RELATE YOUR POSTS TO CURRENT-GEN AND NEXT-GEN ONLY.
 
K

kurbaan

Banned
Fire Toriyama.

Also they dont need to go back to FF12. The one they need to look at and emulate is FFX. FF12 while ambitous had its issues and its story and characters barring a few werent that special
 
J

jaxword

Member
What's "Roses in a D-Cup" mean?


Anyways, Final Fantasy will be fine if FFXV knocks it out of the park.

If it doesn't, they'll probably have to finally give in and just remake FF7 for quick cash since they'll have no other assets to fall back on.
 
I

Ishan

Junior Member
I'm not sure there is all that much they can do per say . Different generations have different preferences .... Just like final fantasy was amazing during ps1 and 2 but tapered off it got replaced by mass effect and other rpgs... Call of duty gow and uncharted became more popular ... I think with different generations come different ideas . Square Enix does need to make realistic sales projections tho.
 
A

Abriael

Banned
Considering that every final fantasy game still sells millions of units, this thread is based on a false assumption.

Final Fantasy is already relevant, so "Making it relevant again" is a moot point. Your personal taste is irrelevant to the series' relevance.
 
P

Polk

Member
Go back on time and don't let almost every game have story and rpg elements.

That's the only choice.
 
B

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
SquareEnix turned to shit right around the time it was formed. I don't think they will ever recover. I also don't think FFXII was that good either, it was a boring padded offline MMO with terrible pacing and wonky gameplay.

Atlus replaced Square Enix as the premier producers of JRPGs a long time ago, its just a shame about their parent company's financial woes.
 
R

RiverBed

Banned
I'm starting to think the reason why a FF7 remake hasn't been made yet is because it is SE's biggest name now. And they know they fuck up everything these days, so they don't want to fuck up their last worthy asset.
 
T

timetokill

Banned
Easy mode: Change the names of the XV characters to not be stupid. :p

Seriously: Make XVI on 3DS, allowing them to focus on making a single good game at a time as opposed to making a world and assets that need to be reused and redone for 3+ games to justify the cost.

Alternate between handheld and console entries, with no more than 1 FF game per year across all platforms. The "all eggs in the console basket" is not working, and the mobile games, while nice little cash grabs, serve to dilute the brand with garbage quality.


RiverBed said:
I'm starting to think the reason why a FF7 remake hasn't been made yet is because it is SE's biggest name now. And they know they fuck up everything these days, so they don't want to fuck up their last worthy asset.
Click to expand...

It's because remaking all that content and all those worlds is cost-prohibitive. The scope of FF7 is already very large without trying to reimagine it in a fully realized world that can be explored in the way that games today are. In a console remake would people be okay with static/fixed cameras?

Best chance of a "remake" is on 3DS. They can use static or semi-static backgrounds with fixed-camera angles again, update the character models only, and use the 3D within the static camera frames for cool effect. This is feasible.
 
K

kurbaan

Banned
Festwill said:
Yeah really. Make the next one good, nothing more, nothing less.


Which are......... ?
Click to expand...

He called Lighting a beautiful rose or some shit like that. And then he said he is making her breast size D-Cup for FF13: LR with boob jiggle physics. And he boob sizes will change depending on the costume you dress her in (I wish I was making this up)

Yellowflashdude said:
It was only one 'shitty' game. Lets not overreact.
Click to expand...

Try 4
 
DiscoJer

DiscoJer

Member
They've already sort of done this with dimensions, but they should consider going back to their SNES style of RPG.

But I'd like to see them do that in a more full fledged title, on consoles/handhelds/PC, then later port it to mobile.
 
K

kevm3

Member
Get amano back on the concept art. Get rid of this garbage modernish setting. Actually create characters that look like adventurers and not like they stepped off of the cover of a teeny bop magazine.
 
F

Fistwell

Member
kurbaan said:
He called Lighting a beautiful rose or some shit like that. And then he said he is making her breast size D-Cup for FF13: LR with boob jiggle physics. And he boob sizes will change depending on the costume you dress her in (I wish I was making this up)
Click to expand...
Gotta have that DOA audience! ;D
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
Didn't they already do that when they unveiled XV? Gamers are excited about it and the media is as well. They can't erase XIII or its sequels from the memories of gamers, they've just got to make sure that XV lives up to expectations. And its first showing went about as well as they could've hoped for.
 
Trickster

Trickster

Member
Better, less cheesy story. The FFXIII stories have been some of the cheesiest generic anime shit I've seen.

Better characters. There pretty much no FFXIII character that's really interesting or likeable, they're all obnoxious or boring as hell.

More open world. FFXIII, super linear etc etc.

More traditional combat system. I have not liked any of the combat system in either FFXII or FXIII. Really liked the ones before those however.
 
K

KeRaSh

Member
I'd like them to turn their MMO efforts into single player games. FFXII clearly took some cues from XI but it ultimately failed to keep me interested.
For me personally, XI was the pinnacle of Final Fantasy. The world was fleshed out, there were amazing landscapes, a whole world to explore and a rich story to experience.
If they could replicate that with a more single player focused battle system and some enemy balancing I would be one happy bunny.
Have NPCs shout around that they are offering teleport services when you walk past them, have fake player shops that have changing inventories, etc.
There's so much potential to create a really immersive experience, even if most of it would be faked through NPCs but if dome right, it could en up being the best thing ever (for me...).
 
S

StiLt

Member
Deja vu. I has it...

Basically the opposite XIII. Make it open world, with characters you don't hate and make it fun to play somewhere well before the 20 hour point (straight away would be preferable... because, you know, entertainment reasons)
 
JordanN

JordanN

Banned
Make it less embarrassing.

Seriously, what is this suppose to be?
3IVcVAg.jpg
Click to expand...
A video game character? A woman? A robot? I'm struggling here.
 
M

Mikeside

Member
BrokenEchelon said:
XIII
XIII-2
XIII-3: This Seriously Exists
XIV
XIV: We're Dumb Enough To Try Again

I count five games.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you haven't even played these ones.
(Willing to guess you haven't played XIII-2 or XIV either)

Not that I really enjoyed XIII or what I played of XIII-2, but seriously.
 
Y

Yellowflashdude

Member
BrokenEchelon said:
XIII
XIII-2
XIII-3: This Serious Exists
XIV
XIV: We're Dumb Enough To Try Again

I count five games.
Click to expand...

You haven't even played lightning returns! Anecdotal but most people I know who didn't play 13-2, didnt do so under the pretense that first is 'shit' so the rest must be as well even though they rectified every problems the first one had, such as open world. This is what I mean by overreacting.
 
T

Tex117

Banned
Honestly,
Matsuno.....

Look, FF really began to lose its soul when it went after the "ZOMG cutscenes and graphics." Yup, including FFVII.

FFX I think was a huge step back for the series.

FFXII while I thought solid, got a little lost in translation. (Matsuno lost his mind midway through the project).

To get back on track (in the west at least), they need to make a game that relies less on "FLASH" because FPS has taken that over, and concentrate on making a game that relies less on Anime tropes, write a coherent story that is less high fantasy and more dark fantasy (most western gamers don't have a taste for the "high fantasy stuff", make the combat more strategic, and create a world that we want to run around in and explore.

Square could do this if they have any creativity left. Which they do as shown in some of their handheld releases.

Bravery Default, TWENTY, etc.
 
W

wowlace

Member
I don't know if it's just because I am older now, but every time I see screens of the latest FF game I look at the characters and feel nothing. It's all too androgynous or boy bandy. The last FF I liked was the one with Rinoa or whatever her name was. It had that sick card game in it.
 
E

Emitan

Member
Tex117 said:
Honestly,
Matsuno.....

Look, FF really began to lose its soul when it went after the "ZOMG cutscenes and graphics." Yup, including FFVII.

FFX I think was a huge step back for the series.

FFXII while I thought solid, got a little lost in translation. (Matsuno lost his mind midway through the project).

To get back on track (in the west at least), they need to make a game that relies less on "FLASH" because FPS has taken that over, and concentrate on making a game that relies less on Anime tropes, write a coherent story that is less high fantasy and more dark fantasy (most western gamers don't have a taste for the "high fantasy stuff", make the combat more strategic, and create a world that we want to run around in and explore.

Square could do this if they have any creativity left. Which they do as shown in some of their handheld releases.

Bravery Default, TWENTY, etc.
Click to expand...

Err... what? In a world with WoW and Skyrim that isn't the case.
 
N

Nozem

Member
The series needs to grow up, like the audience did.

When we played the old Final Fantasy games most of us were young and easily impressed by over the top epic storylines. We're older now, so to have the same impact the Final Fantasy games need to reflect that. I thought FFXII was a step in the right direction, and FFXIII a hundred steps back (I never cringed so hard when playing a game, except maybe for the god-awful FFX HAHAHAHAHA scene).

Final Fantasy needs to be to the RPG genre what The Last of Us is to the zombie/survival horror genre.
 
T

Tex117

Banned
But know, really, they need to get themselves back on track.

They need to allow for some creativity on the big home consoles again.

Look at the ps1 era. Vagrant Story, FF Tactics, Brave Fencer Musashi.
SNES, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger

These were not FF's but showed how awesome Square (not SquareEnix) was.

Maybe SquareEnix should try making something original for a console before coming back to FF.
 
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