Final Fantasy – Where is it going?

Davesto, from Gameolio, writes:

"The news of the Final Fantasy XIV development team restructuring and Square-Enix slashing profit forecast by 92% came as a shock-wave to the gaming industry. Surely team restructuring and changes in profit forecast are not new in the gaming industry. But citing the failure of a flag ship franchise title because it bombed beyond expectation did cause some jaw-littering.

Final Fantasy XIV generated high expectation from gamers and industrial practitioners alike. Also with the experience of Final Fantasy XI, there were high hopes for Square-Enix’s next MMO under the Final Fantasy brand. However, low critic scores, gamers complaints, glitches in the game and now sluggish sales (some local shops in my area already put them in bargain bins) all contributed to Square-Enix’s drastic recent actions. Trial free play period has been extended for a second time to keep people in the game, but would that stop disappointed gamers from leaving?"

[RedDead]

Honestly, Agito and Versus have my full attention. They will shape my future with S-E and decide wether or not I will buy their games. From the small amount of gameplay shown, both look good so far and jan 17th will show us what they really look like.

[Kamikaze135]

Those are the only two games that can change my mind about SE. If they don't and if XIV can't improve....I'll just look forward to their remakes and possibly good sequels.

[AndrewRyan]

Square Enix is just failing this gen, pretty hard.

I feel sympathy for the people who actually have faith in FFVersus, I mean seriously, FF13 was a failure (if you are a FF fan), and FF14 online was a complete failure. You really expect Square Enix to live up to your wants/needs? If they do I will be happy but seriously guys face reality, stop bragging about a game that will probably turn out a complete fail because you will just feel like idiots down the road! Just wait and see, play the game yourself before you brag about how good it is going to be.

[Kamikaze135]

@AndrewRyan

Because Birth by Sleep is a great game (best in the franchise) and the same team is working on Versus XIII. The people who worked on XIII aren't in charge of Versus XIII.

[Jezuz]

@AndrewRyan, FFVersus isn't even out yet.

[Kamikaze135]

@Jezuz

He said he has "faith" in it. The KH team is making is so I do too since their games have only gotten better and better. In case you didn't know, SE is divided up into small teams that work on specific franchises.

[yoshiro]

yep...
for me, versus is FinalFantasy last hope, well for me its SE last hope

[Run_bare]

Yes, i agree. Let just hope they don't screw this up, even if i have to wait longer.

[jadenkorri]

no they'll screw it up. 2 ff screw ups and 13vs is not gonna live up.

[bacano]

Well, in 1986 Final Fantasy was Square last hope =)

[HINDERIZATION]

@bacano

hence the name "Final Fantasy"

[TheDivine]

FF13 was beautiful, just not what was expected. Vs13 and agito look dope. They made many good rpgs (the last remnant, in undiscovery, nier, star ocean 4, ff13, crisi core, birth by sleep) this gen. FF11 and 14 suck to me as i hate mmo's. Couldve added to 11 like wow intead of splitting thier mmo fans. A ff7 remake isnt needed. It was good but it would ruin it, just make ff15 better. Go back to the ff7/8 feel of it. FF7 is beloved because its the first 3d rpg many played. There are better rpgs. Just make a ff7/8/9 hd remaster with a ff10-12 hd remaster disk. If you miss ff play lost odyssey(the real ff13 and better than any ff imho) and blue dragon. Everything the old ff's were. The last story will be mistwalkers best game yet. Cant wait for tls and vs13. Square does need to revive stuff like vagrant story and xenogears. Their 2 best games along with chrono cross. Loved them to death. Triace needs a valkyrie profile sequal. At least put part 2 on psn. Love that series and never finished 2.

[bacano]

Well said, Lost Odyssey is ff 13 for me too.

Anyway, PSX gen was the best for RPGs IMAO. And not only because of Square. Grandia and Breath of Fire III (and maybe Chrono Cross) were true gems.

[Optical_Matrix]

Star Ocean 4? U mad? Game was average at best. Floaty battle system that lacked umph, brass characters, questionable visuals and overall polish...I could go on. It's not a BAD game...but it's not great either. I'll finish it at some point maybe.

Lost Odyssey is the one for me atm. 15 hours in and loving the hell out of it. FFXIII should have been like this, but keeping its battle system and its other great points, while sticking to more classic JRPG conventions like towns and FF's airships.

[Rage_S90]

ffvii is loved because its the most mature final fantasy it even has swearing......

[SWORDF1SH]

Where's it going?

Downhill!

Down a very linear narrow hill!

[jadenkorri]

you sure it not like a cliff, i don't even consider it a hill.

[jc48573]

i simply don't like playing online, especially when it comes down to a Final Fantasy game.

[MaideninBlack]

Final Fantasy will become Forgotten Fantasy the way SE is ruining the franchise.

[Capt-FuzzyPants]

Good article I agree with most of it.

[negroguy]

The golden days of Final Fantasy are behind. Atleast I was there to play them. Actually the golden days of RPGs together are gone.. breath of fire, chrono cross/trigger, legend of dragoon and so many more. Hopefully since Japan got legend of dragoon and chrono cross then they will release it in US as well.

[rulakir]

All square has to do is go back to using good ol' turn-based battle system. They need to focus on an actual good story, and stop making games for the 360 yes most definitely stop

[Rush]

Will idiots stop pretending it's the 360's fault the current state of J-rpgs lost odyssey is most likely still the best turn based J-RPG this gen.

All we heard from Playstation fanboys was wait until J-RPG's come to the PS3 then white knight chronicles came and they finally shut up.

I mean if the 360 is holding J-RPG's back and made FF13 bad explain FF14 let me guess the PC was holding that back, from the playstations clearly superior hardware and data storage /sarcasm.

[JohnnyHalo]

Unfortunately, Dislusional n4g fanboys will blame anything on another console's/company's fault rather than accepting the fact that there are flaws within their beloved ps3.

*sigh...

[Lyr1c]

It's true that the 360 held Final Fantasy back....To an extent.

Square admitted it themselves.

Just because the 360 held back one game, doesn't mean it held back ALL JRPGs.

We also have to keep in mind that the 360 didn't FORCE Square to make a linear "RPG" with bad battle mechanics and a boring story with forgettable characters. That doesn't correspond with hardware limits at all. If Mass Effect can refrain from using levels consisting of 3 VERY LONG HALLWAYS, then I'm sure Final Fantasy could.

With or without the xbox, Final Fantasy 13 still would have been a mess. It would have just been a longer mess with slightly broader hallways.

It's the truth. Don't confuse bad design with hardware capabilities.

[KillingAllFanboys]

Forget Sqaure Enix they would make an excuse for everything!!! As much as I dont like 360. How can a console held back a game!!! FF13 sucked. Guess what Square Enix did when FF14 was doing so bad, they fired the head members of the game then guess who they blame? Versus is my last hope for SE, just thank god the team that made Kingdom Hearts are making the game XD

[Optical_Matrix]

Rush, I agree, Lost Odyssey is the best turn based JRPG this generation. No doubt FFXIII was held back by the 360. You just know it was when so much content was cut, and you think back to when Nomura stated that PS3 was the only console they could realize they're dream on. If they had so much content running on PS3, then cut it when the games multiplat development was well underway, it says A LOT in my opinion. You can't deny it. 2 things I'd like to state here:

1) PS3 fanboys need to shut up and play Lost Odyssey. If you truly love JRPG's, then the game won't be as bad as some of you make out. PLAY IT.

2) FFXIII was held back by the 360. It's quite clear. No point denying it. But I don't care anymore. FFXIII also suffered gameplay mechanics flaws. If the 360 wasn't in the equation then all SE would have done is add more linear stages. No doubt the Zoo and Lightnings house were like this. The only good thing would have been better graphics. But I loved FFXIII. PS3 has had that disc in it for a total of 121 hours since its March launch and I haven't platinum yet. Brilliant game and one of my favorites this gen.

[phantomexe]

love my ps3 but i'm not sure how you can blame the 360 for a bad game where the story blows and the fighting damn near plays itself. The only thing ff13 had going for it was the way it looked.

[bacano]

Your comment is inconsistent.

Even with its cumbersome 4-disc set, LO is the best old-school RPG this gen. So, if you miss the old Squaresoft, don't blame 360, boy!

[Whackedorange]

Square need to go back to the roots of final fantasy which was turn based and dont rely to much on graphical textures. It would also be best if they had just developed the franchise for 1 plattform and its pointless making thoose for the 360 since in general the 360 owner is not interseted in theese kind of games. So either go to bed with Nintendo or Sony and get the franchise back to what was greatabout them.

Final fantasy from 1 to 10 + 12 was good, xiii sucked majorly and XIV i have not bothered even getting.

[RedDead]

The could take it into the action Rpg genre if they wanted, FF has always had a decent battle system but it's not the great thing about FF. The ATB system is alright, it's passable and playable without getting too bored unless that's all you get to control for the duration of your playtime. The could make it better and still retain whats good about the FF's (10 and under)

[mastiffchild]

I played, and love, a million turn based jrpgs. Hell, I still play a fair number now-mainly on handhelds, mind, but there's plenty of them about despite the constant groaning of the more experienced JRPG fans among us these days.

I like turn based just fine but newcomers just look at it with fresh eyes and I totally understand them thinking it's just a bit clunky AND basically a bit odd these days(the whole "After you.." tone of a gents duel is twee , really, when it was only a mechanic borne of technical limitations in the first place)and the ATB was SE trying to keep old fans happy just as much as it was trying to bring in newcomers-which the genre needs and will continue to try to woo.

What do I advocate? I've said it before but I'd like it to be dependent, a lot of it, on which difficulty setting you play the games on. I'd like the action to be more than "press X to win" and be as skill based as a decent action game would be and I also want there to be, available, the same depth and strategy we got from true turn based games. Why not? You could have the lowest setting at the "press X" action with long pauses for the player to change in spells etc for the strategy and so on.

As you go up the difficulty scale the pauses(dynamic I guess) could get shorter but with MORE choices, buffs etc to mess with while the action became more demanding and needed actual gaming skill to progress. Levelling would be possible as ever and all tailored by a similar mechanic to choosing a difficulty like we'd have now.

Seriuosly, I think we need to accept that mainstream titles like FF aren't going to be fully turn based again and aren't going all out action in combat EITHER so get your cap on and think up a way(cos mine's just weak!) that the compromise could be made without hurting the genre we all want to see breath new life. Versus is said to be a variation on the KH2 battle system which, to me, is again a little too much "press..." to win but adapted differently it COULD shock us and be the way forwards. I even think there was SOMETHING to continue with in the Crisis Core system even though that literally(apart from the quick cycling through items and spells in combat-bringing me back to actual dodging while using startegy and the chance of dynamic pauses etc)is press X to win!! I just think we need to accept reality and work more with devs like SE to find what is needed.

[Dark_king]

You guys know if you turn the wait setting off it no longer waits for you to decide your action before the enemy attacks.It was the the best way to play FF7.

[Run_bare]

Final Fantasy is my favorite franchise, even after a few dissapointment. I jsut hope they learn from their mistake, saying that, i can't tolerate it for much longer. I hope Versus will remedy all this, they should be themselves instead of being something they are not. One last chance with Versus and ALSO, why are they making Parasite Eve only for PSP, they should do the PS3 version as well.

[Infernostew]

Sony might have to just bail Square out again just for them to once again give them the big F-you by not releasing any games for PS4 until 3 years after it's launch.

[Whackedorange]

I guess you mean ps3 but do you feel the same way about Polyphony as you do wit square since it took them alot longer time to release a game for the king

[Infernostew]

No. I'm talking about a prediction of the future. Sony bailed Square out of bankruptcy after Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within lost them a lot of money. Sony bought a fairly large % of their stock (something close to 10% if i remember correctly) and square gave sony the big f-you with the ps3. I'm saying that the same thing will happen again.

[kesvalk]

good thing last story is coming to take the place of final fantasy...

[xXxSeTTriPxXx]

down the shiter

[UP]

I thought that FF13 was overall a great game but I hope they go back to games like FF8, FF9, and FF10.

[bacano]

You forget the king: FFVII

[UP]

I like FF7 the least. My favorite is 9.

[clarkdef]

My favorite is 9 too :)

[Rage_S90]

ix is great but fvii is king for me anyway

[JonnyBigBoss]

Good question. It doesn't look good after FF13 and FF14. I own both... sadly.

[drsnobby]

The industry has changed and western developers are leading the way forward.JRPG,s was dominating the charts last gen,now look at how the industry has grown and whats popular.japanese developers are having to follow the west to get new ideas on how to make a popular game that sells well outside japan.i know about tradition in japan,but they have to move forward or get left behind.

[MRMagoo123]

its the moving "forward" as you call it thats made them shit, there old games are still great to this day i still play ff7,8,10 and 10 part2 because they where good games now there changing them to crappy action games that no rpg fan actually wants if we wanted finalfantasy:halo we would ask for it. The only way they are going to get ppl buying there games again is to go back to there old formula i can bet you remake of ff7 or 8 would outsell any of there newer games and all they would have to do is up the graphics maybe add some new missions and some extra materia here and there.

[drsnobby]

Those games you named are wonderful ones and they should be,but the industry has grown and ppls taste in games are now diverse.what was once a top seller is now stuggling to sell copys.tell me how many new genres we have in gaming today.

[mightyboot]

FFIX is what got me really in gaming and after that i played most of all big title jrpg´s from the late 90´s including the underrated gems like Legend of Dragoon and even the really unpopular ones like 'The Gransteam Saga' (Zelda mixed up with Diablo in a anime style world).

Nowdays there´s still plenty of good jrpg´s but the problem is that mainstreamed websites like this one always give them bad rep or simply ignore them.

And the Final Fantasy series can still be redeemed with Versus 13 (versus- oh the irony)

[drsnobby]

Times have changed and japanese developers need to try somthing new in order to get those sales up.

[Grimmjow]

Going? It's been in the gutter for a long time now. Hopefully Versus XIII can change that..and I think it will.

[Blasphemy]

92% damn they really messed up by releasing an unfinished game. Really wanted FF XIV to be my new addiction but sadly it was not.

[Drab]

Man this is bad news>< FFIX is dead and I was gonna start a linkshell on FFXIV. I guess I will officially give up now and wait on The Agency, Dc Universe, and Free Relms....

[sirCHAUNCEY]

@AndrewRyan

I believe Versus will succeed is because I believe in Tetsuya Nomura. If it weren't for his involvement with SE, they would have been bankrupt by now.

But hopefully this is a wake-up call for SE that they can't put out shit games and hope to survive. FF was Square's last chance back in the day ..

[Laeto256]

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is Nomura's KH and FFVII/AC team combined. So yeah, lets face it, Nomura is SE's saving grace if he screws up im blaming the CEO who's a greedy ass.

If i was Kaz Hirai i would see about buying the rights to Final Fantasy VII as a Sony property and for Versus XIII (if it's good) remake/reboot FF7 and make a successful and well built franchise out of it same for Versus (but no reboot probably).

[Handhelds_FTW]

More Final Fantasy games to have New Game+.

[clarkdef]

True Demon's Souls NG+ or +++++ with extra challenge makes leveling up worth it.

[clarkdef]

Why don't they go back to the simple style of open map where your guy is almost as big as the cities he enters. Honestly I feel good playing it that way and they can make the world feel like a world, because it's simple and easy to do.

[Duoma]

The Final Fantasy series is becoming Dantes Inferno(not the game) as it slowly descends its namesake to the lowest level of hell.

[Vesemir]

I think SE themselves are not sure what to do with Final Fantasy right now.

They are in a serious need of inspiration. Something that will not come in this new model the gaming industry is taking, the money hungry corporate business.

Games are supposed to be fun and genuine, coming from genuine, loving and innocent creators, not from guys like B. Kotick.

It's not the fucking IBM. B. Kotick is a prick, showing himself with his expensive CEO suit, trying, really trying hard to talk about games. That old fuck and people like him doesn't know shit about what gamers want.

Fuck Activision, fuck Call of Duty and fuck SE for walking in this same direction. Soon they will be twins. Making bad games that are bought by the millions of idiots out there.

Idiots that later will appear and complain that they don't have good games to play and questioning what is happening to the companies' games.

Btw, also fuck those pseudo creators that produce games nowadays, they don't know shit. The only thing holding this mess of industry are some old time creators like Hideo Kojima, for example, that still know what games are made from.

[insomnium2]

Ahhh that pic brings back the golden age of gaming to me. As a coincidense I just purchased FF7 from PSN and transferred it to my PSP like 10 minutes ago. Can't wait to dig in. I just completed Valkyria Cronicles 2 (took about 55 hours, that game is a giant) so I have a space to put my digital copy of FF7 in. Happy gaming people :)

Too bad they don't make games like FF7 anymore. Is it because of the western audience or what?

[laaakokaracha]

FF franchise is going backwards...

the franchise never properly matured.

Think about it...FFVII had alcohol bad language and even a scene when Tifa was captured to be forced into PROSTITUTION!

Now they give us goofy characters that are not funny..

Not to mention that the combat lacks depth.
I appreciated FF12 because combat was challenging..I disagree with people who say the combat played itself...

[zackacloud]

A big success for Square Enix will be translate final fantasy vii film on it games that mean more complicated than kingdom hearts battle system

And that what i know on Versus will happen

Ahe proof the developers are mixed from many parts of SQ and two from them it final fantasy vii advent children and kingdom herts

And i hope namoura apply that