Friends and the industry in general seem to be talking alot about RPG’s lately. All sparked by the much anticipated Japanese developed Ni No Kuni. So I got to thinking, with this generation of consoles coming to an end, which Eastern RPG’s have stood out as testament to these ageing machines?
With Arkane Austin no more and Lyon living for who knows how long, the superb Dishonored is in serious danger; Microsoft cannot be trusted.
I love the Dishonored series so much and really want Dishonored 3. Microsoft better not screw this up.
I mean, I think the fans will probably kill Arkane Lyon by cooking up reasons to hate whatever they do next without playing it. I've never seen a game so artificially disliked as Deathloop.
In a town hall that took place on Monday, Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu reportedly confirmed imminent layoffs in the U.S. and Europe.
Sad but true. It's the consequence of a shift in player habits, massive overhead, and out of control budgets across the industry.
What did NA and EU did anyways? Just translate or something? I would say it might help them get back to there roots but DK.
Actually, you are correct they play a hand in localization especially in Europe with the many languages. That and marketing.
Square Enix is shifting its strategy to aggressively pursue multiplatform releases and focus on quality over quantity.
Yup, it's official. FFXVI and FFVII Rebirth didn't sell as much as they expected.
- 1% increase in net sales compared to a year with Forspoken and Octopath Traveller II, which didn't sell more than 3 millions combined (and I'm being generous).
- A 38.3% decrease in operating income despite the release of 'High-Definition' titles namely FFXVI, FF Pixels Remaster, Dragon Quest Monsters, and FFVII Rebirth.
- Aggressive multiplatform strategy one year after saying that exclusivity with PlayStation was mutually desired.
Sure, it's all in my head.
Probably for PC and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2. Square Enix games doesn't sell to well on Xbox
Square named Drops Xbox as part of their multiplatform approach in their quarterly reports.
Like it matters MS will probably find away to close them down to.
I can see them going for PS5/Switch/PC for the most part, it'll mostly likely be the Switch 2 by the time their next game enters development, which is probably a good thing since the Switch is struggling with 3rd party games. If they're hurting for money/sales, I don't see them bothering with Xbox, that's just wasted time/money for them.
I mean, maybe? They'll want as much as possible and I figure they could have been hoping for greater impact on PlayStation, but that's good reason to reflect and realize the resources and development cycle of these games aren't very sustainable. The solution is to make more affordable games with shorter dev cycles, then once in a while bring out the big guns.
I think Final Fantasy VII Re make and Rebirth would do really well if it was multiplatform. Specifically, if Nintendo gets their hardware up to snuff, and the rumors are promising. I don't really have much faith in its performance on Xbox, but Nintendo gamers really commit to buying their games. At one point, Breath of the Wild for Switch outsold the Switch itself.
Granted, Zelda always solos everything except GTA, but Nintendo folk are avid Final Fantasy fans. I think it would do exceptionally. Nintendo just needs to make porting easy and inexpensive and they'll get more games.
I don't think the exclusivity hurts them as badly as they think, I think it's a range of factors, like the quality of the games, high sales expectations, ESG/DEI, censorship, development costs/time... I also suspect that Square-Enix is extremely inefficient with their resources, they struggled/avoided towns in the FF13 trilogy, and FF14 was mostly wilderness with little to do apart from derp about in the wild (they also avoid towns and making a lot of characters there too). But FF14 also went through development hell, I think Square-Enix just needs to overall how they do everything, because the way they manage that studio just isn't working.
The two most profitable games for them didn't sell as much as expected. Yes. Make it make sense.
Square finally realized what Sony figured out recently, their installed base is not enough. We are going to see a lot less exclusives from everyone moving forward.
Hopefully the next Nintendo system isn't a potato and it can contribute to FF sales in future as well, in addition to PC releases. If this ensures the long term health for SE and franchises than like FF and KH then I'm all for it.
Adding Nintendo and PC customers is the best way to increase sales and long term success. Not going to get that from Xbox.
Hof,
You must not have heard they are launching new hardware and have already committed to a Next-Gen Xbox.
But, for some reason, I think you already knew that and wanted to spin a silly narrative; besides, why wouldn't they release games on the SX/SS? You do know these consoles will still be here, right?
Optics. They have a STATED plan to do so. Thats not commitment. The shareholders and board are calling the shots now. Lets see if they have the appetite for hardware because they are owed 80 Billion Dollars already. Investment in hardware, R and D and marketing is how much again? That cost with the history of their hardware performance....at most maybe a handheld. What I am certain of XBOX is finished, the writing has been on the wall before the studio closures. Its MS Games and they are not hardware. They are software because MS is a software company. Expect them to be folded in the Surface team.
*hardware
I believe they committed to hardware.
I hate to nitpick, but that's kind of the company they are. You have to.
@hofstaderman the board and shareholders have always called the shots or had a huge impact on decisions.
Xbox finished lmao, the writing has been on the wall? mate they just spend 70 BILLION dollars, and you see the writing is on the wall that they're done. 0 idea what you're talking about. They grafiti'd on the wall and you still can't see it.
"They have a STATED plan to do so. That's not commitment."
Huh? What are you talking about? They announced they would be unveiling new Hardware this holiday season; how else are they supposed to commit to it?
" Lets see if they have the appetite for hardware because they are owed 80 Billion Dollars already"
What a silly statement, you think this deal was approved so they could make 80 billion in less than a year? This is a long-term commitment, a future-proofing of profit.
"What I am certain of XBOX is finished,"
No, you are not certain of this lol; as you stated, if they make even a Handheld in the form of a Steam-Deck that can dock to a TV/monitor, wouldn't that be just changing the form factor but still XBOX?
Closing these studios has really got you guys delusional; that is what happens in companies, in a changing market: you acquire, and you trim; like it or not, that is the way things are done. Lets look.
Where is the new Psygnosis with a new wipeout?
What happened to Japan Studio? Pixl Opus? London Studio?
Where is Zipper Interactive?
I can list more, but you see, closing devs doesn't mean your company is finished, especially when you have like 30+ dev teams.
They won't be unveiling the hardware this holiday season it will be like the series x and s they got a tease at the game awards 2018. But no details until year of their release in 2020 lol
Please tell me the Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is still coming. I feel like I've been waiting forever for that game.
i think the juggernauts kingdom hearts (disney provides the money for that one) final fantasy and dragon quest are fine, the rest not as much
I'm kinda worried about the future of DQ though, Toriyama and the composer both passed away. Huge blow to the franchise.
Another sign that dedicated consoles market is in trouble, while PC seems more and more attractive to big publishers.
Having a good gaming PC and a PS5 myself, given current trend form both Sony and MS I am less and less playing on PS5, waiting for exclusives to release on PC, so I understand the logic behind the new strategy.
Ants,
I get that we don't know exactly without numbers, but come on, man, we can clearly see what's happening.
The console market has not grown much, the highest-selling console in history is still the PS2. You can play the " prove it" game all you want, but Sony's more aggressive PC push, SE completely rebooting their company/business, after being mainly exclusive to one console and showing a sizeable profit loss is telling.
PC is a high seller, and your doubtful PS5 dominant stance does not change the clear writing on the wall, straight from Sony's mouth, that they need to be, and will be more aggressive in the very lucrative PC market.
So, in other words, PC market is indeed looking more and more attractive to Pubs.
@730
Numbers?
I'm willing to bet the farm that ¨PC gamers are not the dominate number compared to console, but I don't know because I don't have numbers. However, the price point of entry can allow us to infer what I had just stated.
What an ironic thing to say on a link-agreggate site like N4G. Explains your comment history perfectly.
asks for numbers. receives numbers and then continues to say I don't wanna click a website (because it might shatter my illusion)
@All the people with that good 'ol folk wisdom
It's ironic how I clearly asked for the site and people still can't even answer this simple question.
Tell me how many people click on random links on forums?
Tell me the site and I will look. I don't mind being wrong and I'm barely intelligent enough to change my mind with something substantial.
All the numbers I have seen is that PC doesn't even come close console gaming in revenue, and nothing touches mobile gaming. More people touching something doesn't mean anything. It just means more people own PC for work and touch Steam every now and again, those numbers mean even less.
From what I can ascertain PC is a smaller market than PS. There are occasionally times when PC looks to be stronger but overall it's still behind.
Ni No Kuni for sure
Tales, demon/dark souls, ni no kuni for me.. Most of the others were mehhh
Anything which wasn't Final Fantasy, sad to say.
Unless you're talking the anti-thesis for why a JRPG stood out.
Demons Souls, Ni no Kuni and Valkyria Chronicles. I'd throw in Disgaea 4 simply because I love that series so much and the HD sprites make it look so good.
I guess you can count FF13 too. It stood out in a sense that it wasn't like every other FF game before it.
Definitely Ni No Kuni. Just beat it yesterday. Truly a masterpiece.
I think Lost Odyssey was also notable, although I found much of the story to be too reliant on walls of text.
I also enjoyed Blue Dragon. Ni No Kuni took a lot of cues from that game so I feel it deserves a mention if Ni No Kuni does.
Unfortunately I found Last Story to be very much overrated and have found it very difficult to stay engaged in Xenoblade, though I can see the potential, it desperately needs an option to make everyone shut the hell up during battle.
I quite enjoyed the White Knight Chronicles games but they suffered for being split up into two products that were obviously a single production.
Without a doubt, Ni No Kuni will go down as my favorite JRPG of this generation.