Who is resposible for Final Fantasy series fall from grace

I have been doing a lot of research lately about Squaresoft, Square Enix and the Final Fantasy Series. What fans of Square say just doesn’t make sense. How can a great series like Final Fantasy go in so many bad directions after Final Fantasy X? How can a merging of two companies affect the quality of a series that’s known for great gameplay, storytelling, and characters? What I found wasn’t because of the company but rather a certain director.

[Colwyn]

Imo, the linear game-play chosen for ff13 is responsible for the lack of trust among fans for the series

[Snookies12]

I agree there, but the whole downfall began when other team members were given creative freedom on games starting from X-2. If you look at the people who did the writing and directing, they were not the same people who did the previous installments. X-2 had different people, 12 had different people, 13 had different people.

Hironobu is no longer with Square, it is a terrible loss, but the one man who can fill his shoes is Tetsuya Nomura. He NEEDS to have direct control over the Final Fantasy series. That is why I have such high hopes for Versus XIII, because he has control over that project. I know it will be fantastic!

[WombBat]

Agree with your statement, make nomura the next miyamoto in the way that he directs and produces a bunch of games simultaneously.

either that or start nurchuring some young talent and get them to direct. toriyamas games are just too feminine,cliche,bad ambiance, and just flat out doesnt have a final fantasy vibe to it.

good article by the by

[Ranma1]

FF is broken and isnt as great as it used to be. To fix it, Square Enix needs to do these things:

-Bring back strategic game play of FF1-10 (not FF13 which plays itself with auto battle)

-Hire some good script writers to make good stories like past FF's.

-Fire Wada and Toriyama !!!

-Bring back world map

-Bring back Airship, Chocobo's, Moogles for the FF vibe

-Bring back Mini games e.g gold saucer, tetra master, blitzball

-Secret/Hard bosses e.g Emerald Weapon. In FF13-2 you have to pay DLC to fight hard bosses like Omega weapon, which sucks !

....and Square Enix wonders why they have so much fan backlash

[sikbeta]

It's Wada and always have been, Wada feel the same frustration Enix felt for years, Enix was a game company only known in Japan that never could expand to other territories, that frustration keeps going until these days in which Square-Enix make games to appeal the western with no real success in doing so.

[OMEGAZONE]

But it doesn't all follow the same pattern because 12 was incredible and a true return to form. Critical claimed across the board and was given the Playstation gold seal.

So it's not like it's entirely the teams fault.

[Scribe81]

I agree. X-2 was the last console FF I played and the point where I stopped sheepishly buying Squaresoft products because of how terrible it was.

[lumley666]

@Snookies12

everything you say is bob on :) i agree with everything, i just long for the day i play a ff game and im buzzing as much as i was with ff7,8,9 and 10

come on square, stop faffing with the formula and just make a propa ff game again :)

[SuperLupe]

People are acting like FF13 is the first linear FF.

I have a feeling most people saying that it sucked because it was linear have never played a FF before this gen.

Freedom has NEVER been what FF is known for. Final Fantasy was great in the past because of the engrossing story, world and characters it offered, NOT because of the freedom it had.

I think Colwyn is comparing FF13 to games like the Elder Scrolls because he hasnt played any other FF games and therefore compares it to todays RPG standards that are dominated by WRPG characteristics.

IMO it's obvious that you are a newcomer to FF games if you think that FF13's main default was linearity. It was pretty much all the rest that made dissapointing, the linearity wouldnt have been a problem if the game was actually interesting like almost all other FF's.

[BitbyDeath]

I didn't play the NES versions so 13 is the first linear FF game for me.

Major downfall of the series.

[RedDead]

Linearity wasn't specifically the problem. Most people just put that point in place of the actual problem, which is the feeling that you have no point. For example, in linear shooters, you must move, because you do not want to get hit, it's part of the gameplay. In Final fantasies, you move around searching for the next way to go, talk to people, puzzles, secret area's, go play FF7 again you'll see the big difference. FFXiii, tell what the point in movement was? So you could walk to the next battle 10 meters in front of the last. That's the difference between FF and FFXIII. FFX was a mix of this and the older ones, but it got away with it because it had breaks from battles. And towns(temple's with puzzles) and people to talk to and blitzball for when you want a break.

The rest of the problems with the game are in my previous comments somewhere.

[Biggest]

"go play FF7 again you'll see the big difference."

And there you go wrecking your point. Go back and play FF7. I restarted three days ago. Remember how you were where you were and had no choice until it was time to leave Midgard? Is that not the same linearity you're condemning now? Even when you get to the world map you can only go as far into exploration as the next town and chocobo farm. The only things you can do are A: Continue the story. B: Grind exp. The formula for Final Fantasy is pretty consistent throughout the series. FFXIII did remove towns and varied sidequests which is extra lame. But they are all linear for much of the game. Everything opens up near the end.

[Panthers]

EVERY main FF game has been linear. There has never been a FF game that offers anything in the form of freedom as say Skyrim.

[DragonKnight]

FF games have always had linearity, yes, but not to the extent of FFXIII. In ALL other FF games you could go around the towns talking with people, you could go back to towns if you forgot something (with some exceptions like in FFX you can't go back to Besaid until after Zanarkand but you can go back to Luca). Although the story would make you progress forward until a certain point, it never felt like being forced to walk in a straight line and avoid everything possible.

It also helps to have interesting environments to take your mind off the linearity. FFXIII lacked "life" until you got to Gran Pulse, so you were very much aware that you were walking in a straight line playing as characters you weren't interested in or even hated.

[Megaman_nerd]

@SuperLupe is true that FF games are linear but this? http://img4.sankakustatic.c...

COME ON!! <_<

At first you didn't have much freedom in FFVII but then you got an airship and could do the gold chocobo sidequest, go to the golden saucer, do the knight of the round side-quest, do the ultimate weapon side-quests, fight the weapons that were scattered around the world-map, do the side-quest about defending the egg that played like a strategy game, etc.

There's a huge difference in freedom when you speak about FFXIII and compare it to the older ones people. So stop twisting things trying to say that older FF games played like corridor shooters because the only freedom you had on FFXIII was on Pulse and you could do crap there. Just grind like crazy....

[Pozzle]

@Biggest: It isn't necessarily the linearity that is the problem with XIII, but the FEELING that you get while playing the game.

Games like FFVII and FFX don't FEEL linear (even though they are) because it always feels like you're progressing through the story and exploring a vast world...and when you aren't doing those things, you can still wander around towns, breed chocobos, explore caverns, complete sidequests. In FFXIII all you do is run from point A to point B, sometimes with very few cutscenes in between. So it doesn't feel like you're progressing through a story or exploring a vast and exciting new area. It just feels like you're running from the start of the game to the end of the game...with a bunch of random encounters thrown in between.

[iamtehpwn]

A couple of things That I can think of:

1) Yoichi Wada--While many of Square Best like Kitase, Tabata and Nomura are still there, Wada has proven time and again that he isn't properly managing this company.

2) Toriyama directing the main series--He's not an entirely bad director. But Tabata (The man behind Final Fantasy Type-0) is a much better director. Kitase was also the director of 7, and he's quite excellent as well. Toriyama's biggest games have been X-2 and XIII. He's a nice guy, but he should be the one working on FF side games

3) The Departure of Sakaguchi - The man with the original vision has left. If you notice, Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, had more Final Fantasy elements than XIII did. He was the soul of Final Fantasy.

I think Final Fantasy CAN rise again, but it's going to take square willing to re-evaluate, and Wada willing to stand up as a leader and set the bar high for the teams working there.

[dboyman]

Instead bring back Sakaguchi and get rid of Wada...

[Snookies12]

If only it were possible to bring back Sakaguchi... Though as I said before, if Tetsuya Nomura were given full creative freedom with every Final Fantasy from this point on, they'll rise again. I'm completely confident in that.

[iamtehpwn]

@Snookies--Nomura has stated that after Final Fantasy Versus XIII, he wants to focus exclusively on developing Kingdom Hearts games. So I don't think that'll happen.

I think Kitase should return as director. He was the director of VII, and he did a damn good job.

[sikbeta]

@iamtehpwn

Totally agree

@dboyman

Sakaguchi is about to kill its new company, would be awesome if he comes back, but
I don't see it...

[Flavor]

Superiority of western game titles is what doomed FF series. The Japanese cannot match us in budget, or talent pool, or technology, or market access.

Japanese games are flimsy and shallow compared to alot of western games, and worst of all, they refuse to adapt and innovate.

[Ranma1]

They must fire Wada and Toriyama to move forward

[LiquifiedArt]

I'll tell you...

ZIDANE,
QUINA,
TIDUS,
VAAN,
HOPE

Character designed has degraded indefinetly.

[DrRobotnik]

More like recycled. How many Cloud clones are there going to be?

[Biggest]

But none of the names he listed were anything like Cloud so...

[LeShin]

Agree with Biggest. Cloud was withdrawn, cold hearted and generally unsociable most of the time. Those characters that LiquifiedArt mentioned are NOTHING like that. Closet fit to Cloud I think would be Squall. I personally think that there reason there is so much love for Cloud is he wasn't the usual 'happy go lucky' character looking for adventure you got usually in an JRPG.

[Pozzle]

"Agree with Biggest. Cloud was withdrawn, cold hearted and generally unsociable most of the time."

I don't really agree with that tbh. Cloud was pretty outgoing and friendly throughout FFVII (once you leave Midgar). Hell, one of the first things he does once they reach Kalm is explain to everyone what happened in Nibelheim. He isn't super chatty like Yuffie or even Cid...but he isn't overly quiet like Vincent or Squall. He was just a regular guy.

[Deputydon]

In my opinion Square has been going downhill since they merged with Enix. The days of rpgs like Xenogears, Chrono Series, and FF 6-9 are gone. Secret of Mana was the last good 'mana' game. Star Ocean went to crap after 2. Dragon Quest 8 I will say is probably the best game squareenix has out out in years and everyone seems to have forgotten about it because it had at first glance an 'ancient' battle system.

Sure FFX was good, but I really don't think game play wise it was up to par with 6-9.

[Pushagree]

Xbox 360 ruined FF games. If it were exclusive to ps3, it would have been much better.

Not even trolling. Thats the truth.

[Optical_Matrix]

Wada. The management at Square Enix is piss poor. The structure just isn't there. You have about 20 different projects going on at once with products and key people skipping to and from about 3 different games, it gets messy. The creativity is still there. You could see it trying to creep through in FFXIII, ever so slightly, but there is no unified force in SE to churn out blockbusters. They lack focus. Wada needs to be fired, and the development structure needs to be changed.

It's that simple.

[MrWiggle]

I wonder if Wada is like the Japanese version of Douglas Reynholm from the IT Crowd....running a company into the ground, while relying on other people to keep the company a float

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[dboyman]

I personally agree with you Optical_Matrix. Like he says, get rid of Wada, and the development structure needs to be changed.

[Inception]

Definitely agree with matrix
hang Wada and i hope Square unmerged from Enix
this whole mess started when the two of them merging >.<

[Megaman_nerd]

I blame whoever let Toriyama be the director of a FF game. Just look at FFX-2 for god's sake....

edit: after reading this I found something funny. I don't know if I'm crazy but I swear I read this exact same article but written by a N4G user on his blog.

edit: http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...

Only good thing about FFX-2 was its battle system because everything else was really bad. I don't know about you but I couldn't stomach that Charlie's Angels vibe and the game couldn't be more cheesy and corny and the story was so bad is not even funny. And I mean bad story like totally pointless, retarded and unnecessary.

How can a franchise go from something like FFVI to FFX-2 is simply mind-blowingly.

[gnvr]

FFx-2 was good man. FF13 was pretty good too

[RememberThe357]

FF13 wasn't bad IMO either. It wasn't nearly what I thought it'd be and the lack of town made the whole world feel so small. I liked the graphics, gameplay, and all that, but the world itself felt so empty and boring. It was the first FF I actually beat but I have more memories from FF11 than I do from FF13.

[PshycoNinja]

Yup I wrote both. GNVR liked it so much they asked me to put it on their site so I did.

[LeShin]

You're good Megaman_nerd as I couldn't even bring myself to buy FFX-2 because of the campiness/cheesiness! In fact, that and Final Fantasy 14 are the only FF's I haven't played.

[Pozzle]

"I blame whoever let Toriyama be the director of a FF game. Just look at FFX-2 for god's sake...."

And if that isn't proof enough, just look at The Third Birthday. Does Toriyama DELIBERATELY want to butcher already-established worlds and characters?!! Because it certainly seems that way! D;

[Bundi]

It's either Tom Cruise or Global Warming

[versusALL]

I don't know why everyone is saying all these things like Square sucks this gen or Final Fantasy is dead. First off I'm one of the few who enjoyed Final Fantasy XII and XIII. I thought XIII was the one of the best rpgs this gen.

And while there haven't been much console realises that are memorable, there hand-held titles are. And for the record, I am stoked for XIII-2

[FFXI101]

"XIII was the one of the best rpgs this gen"

I disagree with you, XIII is no way the best RPG this gen. There are other RPGs better than XIII.

Lost Odyssey, Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Fallout 3, Skyrim, Valkyria Chronicles these are the ones I can think of now. I'm sure there're others out there that was more fun or better than the XIII.

[cemelc]

Dont forget mass effect, the witcher, demon/dark souls, deus ex, dragon age 1.

All of them better games than XIII.

[LeShin]

I'd take out Elder Scrolls Oblivion out of that list, only because the main quest was boring and predictable as hell. I bought the game of the year edition, took me a year to finish all of the add on packs, and though I liked exploring, I'm into epic stories...which is why I'm not sure about purchasing Skyrim.

I'd recommend Eternal Sonata as a replacement. Playing through Resonance of Fate now, we'll see how that fares...

[versusALL]

@FFXl101
I said it was "ONE" of the best this gen. I happen to like most of the games you listed as well.

[Malice-Flare]

i would say Sakaguchi. if he had focused more on games rather than trying to get a Final Fantasy film made before the technology was advanced and affordable enough to tell it, Squaresoft rather than Enix would be the majority in the S-E merger and Wada would not be in his position of power right now. in fact, after he left, probably only Nomura is left of the original Squaresoft that has influence in S-E right now...

[Lord_Sloth]

That reminds me...

*watches Versus*

[LiamIRL82]

Square Enix get down on your hands and knees and beg Hironobu Sakaguchi to come back, give him anything he wants.

[gnvr]

sounds perfect to me

[Godmars290]

The more I think about they've been having issues since FFVII.

Oh yeah - I went there :p

[LiamIRL82]

I understand, you meant to type FFXII.

[iamtehpwn]

Are you serious? 8, 9 and 10 are incredible. The only Problem 'Square Soft' ever had was the spirits within.

Choosing to do a Final Fantasy movie wasn't a bad idea, but choosing to do a Final Fantasy movie that didn't resemble the games or a follow up to a specific game was a terrible choice.

[Zechs34]

Not to mention the ridiculous budget!!

[Godmars290]

Let me just ask; how many times did you have to fight the Turks only for them to simply walk away?

How are you constantly beating up, killing, monsters in the game then all of a sudden you're in a boss battle, win, only to have them escape with little real rhyme or reason? Same thing with Seifer in XIII and Seymour in X. They were early symptoms of lazy story telling.

And that is XIII main problem. Anything else with XIII could have been more forgiven if its story made sense. XII may not have had a main one, but at least the situations and battles made more sense. They put you into the world and introduced you into the characters even if you were left puzzled if there was a main character.

@iamtehpwn:
Dude, I've loved the series till XIII, but at the same time admit that its not perfect.

I mean, tell me that I'm wrong about recycled boss fights. Or rather, recycled characters as boss fights and plot points.

[iamtehpwn]

GodMars, you come to every final fantasy thread and troll it. You obviously don't like Final Fantasy, and no one ever agrees with you...I have no idea what you get off of being here.

[Biggest]

The Turks are great. I wish every game had an obligatory punching bag for comic relief. Bigs and Wedge, The Turks... Gotta have 'em! The Turks had a purpose in the FFVII landscape even beyond just being beat up. Thanks to Crisis Core and Advent Children their purpose makes even more sense. Great characters.

[Matrix2k]

whose is responsible for these idiotic articles?

[Tex117]

Sakaguchi and Matsuno (sp) both left.

If you play 1-6 it is decidedly different than 7 and 8...9 is back old school...I don't like FF10 (but I understand if it was your first)...but that started the down trend IMO.

[dmixwell]

Who ever decided that Final Fantasy should go multiplat is to blame.

To be honest it Started when FF 11 hit on the pc & ps2 .Back then online was a bad move for a main entry.
then FF 12 fell short of the glory that was FF 10. FF 13 could have regained most of its old fans if it stayed on the playstation only but instead they split the fan base right down the middle by bringing FF13 to the 360 thus creating a lack of loyalty to Square and turned it self into a Big Franchise with no home and no soul.

[Majin-vegeta]

I know will both get massive disagreees but i agree on the whole going multiplat thing if it had never happened FF13 might have been better basically we're paying for the other half of this game-_-.

[TacoTaru]

When I encounter logic like this I am reminded of the failure of our educational system.

[Pyscho_Mantis]

hmmm the first Final Fantasy to go the xbox 360 is coincidentally the worse Final Fantasy by the fans I think you can put 2 and 2 together.

[TacoTaru]

Pyscho_Mantis - I have to repeat my previous post. "Coincidentally" is the operative term in what you said and 2+2 has nothing to do with it.

Additionally FFXIII was not the first Final Fantasy to go on the 360 - that would be XI.

[DrRobotnik]

..no, what had happen was; Square got stupid, lost millions making that crap spirits within, had to merge with Enix.......Clouds "facepalm" pic in title above expresses all.

[maniacmayhem]

So if the game was the same but only on the ps3 it would have done better?

Wow, just...wow.

So you must of been very disappointed when square jumped ship from Nintendo and went to Sony? because there was a lack of loyalty there when square tried to push its game to a wider audience.

Shame on you Square! Shame!

[dmixwell]

off topic.Do you remember a long time ago, E3 95-96 when Final Fantasy 7 was shown for the N64. I still kinda wish they finished that version of ff7. it was supposed to be a direct sequel to ff6.

[maniacmayhem]

I do remember.

I read about it in an issue of Nintendo Power they even had some screenshots and everything.

Instead of a FF game we had to settle for Quest 64*tear*

[dmixwell]

Man did i hate Quest 64. it was the only rpg for the 64 for a long long time.

[ScubaSteve1]

I miss Nobuo Uematsu

[darx]

Bioware, Bethesda, etc. etc.

[BABY-JEDI]

Repetition repetition repetition ect... When I played FF7 for first time it was like, what's this? What's going on. What's going to happen Ect.. Know it's all so cliched & predictable. FF series rehashes itself way too much for it's own good. Re-invent & be original IMO is the best way forward. ; )

[Ranma1]

I think firing Wadas will fix the problem.

Last great FF was FF10, anyone else agree?

[BiggsnWedge]

I liked FF12 maybe that's just me.

[baodeus]

There could be another reason, WRPGs are on the rise and usually the world they created feel much more organic than JRPG:

1. NPC just aren't space filler to make it looks like town. U can interaction w/ NPC and see how they react, NPC actually working or doing something different, u can buy houses, open your own shop, trading, etc ...WRPG tend to have a true ecosystem inplace that actually changes or evolves depeding on what gamers are doing, etc....I thought this is actually one of the most important aspect in creating a lively/organic world in RPG games.

2. WRPG allow choices, your decisions can alter the world in someways, or at least let u decided how u wanted to develop your character. JRPG relies heavily on telling a story and u are there for the ride. The problem with this is that, if the story doesn't hold up well or characters that no one cares about, etc...well that is it.

3.The World/settings in JRPG, though looks beautiful/artistic/fantasize more than WRPG, they are overall very static.

I believe JRPG can improve drastically if JP developers can implement the organic aspect of WRPG while keeping their artistic visions intact, and maybe less winy characters. They might even have an edge over WRPG since WRPG settings are usually very similar (WRPG go for realism more than fantasy types).

[Tuxedo_Mask]

If JRPGs try to mimic WRPGs they'll fall even further from what their fans want. There's a reason why JRPGs are different from WRPGs, and while a lot of RPG fans play both types not all WRPG fans like JRPGs and not all JRPG fans like WRPGs.

What SE needs to do to regain a lot of fans is cut the idea that they need to Westernize their games, not embrace the exact mindset that's brought them their problems in the first place. If I want to play a WRPG I'll buy one, I'm not going to get a FF game if I want a WRPG.

[baodeus]

ok u guys don't get it. JRPG has always put more emphasis on Fantasy type of settings, almost every games have something unique which make them quite interesting. I'm talking about JRPG being static, as in the environment, the NPC, the world that u played in. Many JRPG looks really interesting, but it is very static (no day/night cycle, NPC are just space filler, etc....)

I'm not saying JRPG should follow WRPG, just take what is good about WRPG (the lively environment, the dynamic aspect of it like day/night cycle, interactive NPC,etc..) but keep the story and the fantasy setting intact. They don't even have to give full control of your character or choices either, but make sure the story are at least decent.

And yes, winy character has got to go.....i mean who the hell like winy characters?

[Tuxedo_Mask]

There are some JRPGs that have a day/night cycle, interactive NPCs, and lively environments with a good story. There will always be static NPCs, even in Skyrim a lot of the NPCs repeat the same routine everyday. I'm not saying JRPGs are perfect, but there are certain traits that they have that make them JRPGs.

Check out Persona 3 or 4 and you'll find a JRPG that has the traits you mention. They are still very much JRPGs though, and what makes them JRPGs is why I like them so much, just like what makes Skyrim and Dragon Age: Origins WRPGs is why I like them. Can they improve? Of course, games always have room for improvement, but I don't want them to lose what makes them unique.

As for whiny characters, usually they're implemented as a part of a "coming of age" story and evolve from whiny to courageous (think Luke Skywalker from Star Wars). Yes, they can be annoying, but there are some JRPGs that don't have them, although I do think they could do to have more of a variety in characters, which is why I'm hoping in vain for a new SaGa game like The Romancing SaGa on PS2.

[godofboobees]

I've said this countless times. Revive the chrono series. Then maybe square Enix will gain back some of their lost fans. Fire wada and bring back the team that made xenogears. IMO that is the greatest RPG ever

[LeShin]

Xenogears was godly!! Xenosaga 1 and Chrono Cross & Trigger are a close second!

[DW74]

Unless Nintendo sells Monolith Soft, there will *not* be another Xenogears or Xenosaga game. Hence why their last game was called Xenoblade, on the Wii, and totally unrelated to the other Xeno titles.

I should correct myself a tiny bit, and say that Namco *could* make another Xenosaga, or Squeenix *could* make another Xenogears, as they own the properties. But either game would be done by a totally different team, as the team that made -saga and -gears belongs to Nintendo, and has for years.

[Spacemagic]

How about a true and proper final fantasy tactics sequel?? None of that handheld spinoff judge-ridden crap.

[DrRobotnik]

Who to blame?
Square - no
Squaresoft - no
Square Electronic arts - no
Square Enix - yes

[Kasumi]

Final Fantasy VII was the best FF series ever made I know they will never beat that..

[danthebios]

agreed ff7 and ff10 was the best of ff series.Who didnt felt sad when aeris died in ff7!!!Who didnt have a heartfelt moment in the ending of ff10!!!For me,those two will 4ever be epic games of FF.peace

[DrRobotnik]

......and then there was XII..Crap went down hill quick after that.

[Kasumi]

Oh god please don't remind me, that game scarred me for life..

[Steelz4ever]

FF VI was my favorite

[Ch1d0r1]

I wonder who here actually has FF13 and played it enough to bitch.

Im in Chapter 10 and so far its been pretty awesome. I love that if the party leader dies, its game over, just retry.

[DrRobotnik]

When you Finally get to grand pulse after 40 hours....tell me if you bothered finishing it. I sure didn't.

[trenso1]

I did and I'm going to finish it for a second time. Decided to replay it before 13-2

[Ch1d0r1]

Im taking the game slowly about 1 chapter per day. Will boost at chapter 11, hope it makes things easier. About the 2nd playthrough does anything change? My characters starts from 0??

[trenso1]

yea make sure you do a lot of missions prior to chapter 11 to boost cp and no there is no new game plus

[Ch1d0r1]

prior? ok Thanks!

[Hyperbomb69]

Wada.

[tarbis]

damn you beat me to it XD
FIRE WADA!

[Tzuno]

The merge with Enix lowed the quality of Final Fantasy series. Different ideas result.

[trenso1]

I've read this before

[Der_Kommandant]

People is responsible for buying the new shit

[Venjense]

The dominance of the western gaming market over the Japanese market is responsible..

[Eu]

Wada is the main problem, get him fired and put someone better there and then prey it works. The decisions he made this gen where poor at best...

As for the multiplat BS, well, when you try to expand your fanbase, it can go either way, but be SURE to make your actual one buy your games....When SE was all about spurning MS exclusive games, their actual fanbase that was mostly, if not ALL OF THEM, on PS3 went on riot/rage FU SE rants.

Its a FACT that XIII was a game when exclusive and ANOTHER when it went multiplat (XIII-2 dont lie kids....). SE should've just port over to X360 and not screw the game as it did (and I do like XIII, its just not a great game).

As for Sakaguchi? I love FF games (played all FF games but XI and XIV) but his getting kicked out of SE was both a bless and a curse. Bless, because hes stuck in the past. His own company is barelly alive (his games are good, but not the second coming of Cloud or Terra...). A curse because it left space for dumbarsses like Wada to do what hes doing....

I've said time and time again, the talent on SE are leaving. The people who made Xenogears are gone (to nintendo, that dont give them the right amount of valor....THEY ARE GOLD!!!), the best devs that are still there are pretty much on the void of saying its quits with SE because of Wada stupid administration....I still have hope for VsXIII, but its not what it was 5 years ago.

[yokokoroma]

It's Enix, it's apparent that Enix is the dominant company in the merger and as a result they have destroyed FF! When instead each company should've focused on it's respective IP's (i.e. FF (Square) Dragon Quest (Enix)) but have failed to do so. (tecmokoei is a perfect example of a good merger) It can even be attributed to the absence of Square developers, who left the company either during or after the merger.

[-Gespenst-]

Hmmm, except that X-2 and XII are superb games. Whatever about XIII, I like it but it's far from perfect.

Also those remarks are perhaps unfair when taken out from their original context. I'd like to see the articles / interviews they came from.

Also, I think Yoichi Wada has a lot to do it, he's like the Kotick of SE (albeit less pure evil), and I reckon he probably interferes with the creative process a bit too much, but I'd say that Kitase, being a huge creative force, is equally complicit.

Still, it remains to be seen if they've truly fumbled. XIII-2 might be great. Obviously there was that article about how it's "Bombing" in japan, but maybe that means it'll do better in the West? XIII did great in Japan and kind of worse here... but who knows.

[leahcim]

The only culprit is:

The inability of japanesse devs to reproduce the game structure of FFVII/ VIII/ IX on this generation of consoles.

[SnowBlu]

problem is that theres to many games

14?5 games and each one developed for years=succes

[D3mons0ul]

Nomura needs to be President of Square Enix. He's their Kojima, essentially.

[demonddel]

PlayStationgirls crying when it was ported to the rivals system they felt betrayed I guess

[Captain Tuttle]

Microsoft of course

[AriesFury]

One reason is the money Sony/SE took from MS to make FFXII for the 360. It turned off a lot of fans and they watered down the game by doing it which changed the game for the PS3 and their fans.

Another reason is the long wait for FF Vs XIII which is taking forever to do.

The last is SE/Sony and a lot of other Japanese companies trying to cater to the Western audience. If they stay true the fans and their selves than they would see fans stay loyal until they screw with them and it showing.

They are too arrogant to realize this and if other companies don't change, other franchises will follow sooner than later.

[Pana]

All issues were addressed with FFXIII-2. The problem lies with the audience, they've just outgrown FF here in the west. They prefer poorly made buggy games that at least have a sandbox element to them. I don't blame them, I too love horses that can climb mountains, sure beats that Japanese crap am I doing it right guys.