Whats wrong with SE? From asking fortune tellers for advice to mediocre games

There once was a company called Squaresoft. Squaresoft builds a company from ground up which gets an excellent reputation for quality, then Yoichi Wada comes along and starts destroying the company from top to bottom, until its down to the levels of a sewer....

Here are some crazy things which have come from this companies employees:

(1) Yoichi Wada moved Square Enix's offices/headquarters based on advice from a fortune teller named Pau. This caused some bad blood between Sakaguchi (creator of FF series), Uematsu (Legendary FF composer) and Wada -Neogaf, Gamasutra

http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

(2)Some of Toriyama's opinions : "He[Toriyama] also believes that it becomes very difficult to tell a compelling story when the player is given a huge amount of freedom to explore."

"Toriyama is interested in using first-person shooter games for inspiration rather than other role-playing video games,"

"Toriyama aimed for the game design of the first half of Final Fantasy XIII to play like watching a film. The reason was so the player could become absorbed with the story and characters and not get distracted or lost." -GNVR

http://gnvr.co.uk/2012/01/0...

(3)Yoichi Wada said "No More NONE Mainstream Games" are allowed, and whoever makes NONE mainstream games will be fired. -Destructoid

http://www.destructoid.com/...

(4)Yoichi Wada said FF development teams should be smaller because big dev teams take to long to make games (although that is his fault since he decides to make games go multi platform mid way through development)-Gamasutra

http://www.gamasutra.com/vi...

(5) Remember at the start of this gen how Yoichi Wada decided to make a dozen games exclusive to 360 like Infinite Undiscovery, Last Remnant, Star Ocean...how well did that go?

(6) "Final Fantasy XIV a serious WoW rival, says Wada" -Develop~online

http://www.develop-online.n...

(7) "SQUARE ENIX Fired Few Hundred Staff. Yoichi Wada and Other Executives Salary Up by Few Million Yen" -Makonako

http://www.makonako.net/201...

(8) No one wants FF13-3, but Square Enix will force it down our throats, because they just registered the domain FF13-3.com, and based on the ending of FF13-2 [spoiler]which says "to be continued"[/spoiler], the game doesn't look far off. -Gematsu

http://gematsu.com/2011/09/...
..... and the list goes on.

So what is really wrong with SE ? I think Toriyama and Yoichi Wada are whats wrong with Square Enix. What are your opinions ?

[Kratoscar2008]

Squaresoft will always be in my heart, i remember when getting a square game was a sure bet, now i must think carefully when buying their games.

If what you posted is true then firing these guys will restore SE, i hope they get demoted not fired.

Could you post the links to these articles please?

[kevinsheeks]

i did a search its true O.o shocking and sad but true

[Tuxedo_Mask]

I don't think Toriyama is as bad as he seems, I just think he's being used in the wrong way. As a part of a team he could really do well, but they put him in charge of everything and thus we get something similar to what's happened with the Star Wars films due to Lucas having complete control.

As for Wada, I think he tried to move SE forward to expand their reach in terms of genre and financial income, but he seems to make some odd decisions and he doesn't seem to realize what it was that made people like Squaresoft, Enix, and even early SE in the first place. He also doesn't seem to listen to the fans very well or understand what it is they want, which doesn't help either.

[wishingW3L]

I clicked disagree by accident but I wanted to say that I do agree with this!

[Godmars290]

As much as Toriyama and Wada seem to be the issue, the real problem will be who to replace them after they've been removed/fired. Nomura might be held as a savior, but then it might be his perfectionism, difficulty working with HD hardware, that's holding up Versus.

Also never forget Sakaguchi who really caused Square's problems no matter how he's praised now. It was his ego and inability which lead to Spirits Within which tried to rip on the FF mythos while being nothing remotely like it.

[Ranma1]

So you dont want Sakaguchi back. I want him back, i think when he was in charge all the games were great.

My friend who doesnt like FF and never played it, said the spirits within movie is great

[Godmars290]

It was good, just not good enough to bet the success of a movie studio on. That was really bad judgment on his part.

[kevinsheeks]

Who was leading when they where doing good?

[wishingW3L]

when Sakaguchi was producer and Kitase director.

[MaideninBlack]

I've stopped caring about what SE does. There are better rpg makers on the market who ,sadly, get pumbled because their titles don't have super graphics like Final Fantasy or aren't called Final Fantasy altogether.

I've spent more time playing White Knight Chronicles than any other game I have due to the online community. Too bad it was branded crap by those who only played and hour of the story mode.

[Heavenly King]

sad, but true. I wonder when we will get FFvsXIII (The first quality SE game developed this gen)

[deletingthis34675334]

I don't understand why people on this site are saying FFvXIII is such an amazing game. Have you even PLAYED it?

[Vortex3D]

That's what I have been saying all along. All Square has shown Vs XIII are cutscenes and a small gameplay from long time ago. Really, we know nothing about how Vs XIII will play when it does come out.

Somehow FF fans think Vs XIII will "fix" everything with no proof.

[INehalemEXI]

I wonder if SE is bringing those closed mega theaters to TGS.

[MacDonagh]

Okay. I'll might be in the minority but I think Square Enix are doing pretty okay right now. It's true that the Final Fantasy series has been on a downhill slope for a long time and while there has been arguments, mistakes and utter botches that have taken place; their publishing arm is doing just dandy. They publish the COD series over in Japan, publish Ubisoft games, they are publishing upcoming releases like Tomb Raider, Hitman:Absolution, Sleeping Dogs, and Thief 4 that's been recently announced. They've also published some good games as well like DragonQuest, Nier and Deus Ex:Human Revolution.

Sure. Final Fantasy may not get back to the plateau where they were back in the PS1 days, but Square-Enix will be fine in the long-term, especially since they are sitting on that "Luminous" engine and it will be interesting to see how they utilize it.

[DragonKnight]

Publishing is merely spending money on other people's hard work and ideas. It literally takes no effort, just some potential risks. It's easier to say "oh we think you're idea is great" than to say "here's this awesome new idea we've had" and sell that instead. SE became complacent due to their success in the PS1 and PS2 eras, they actually believed THEY were the reason PS1 and PS2 were the dominant consoles on the market and were arrogant enough to say they don't want to make any one console victorious this generation.

That complacency and arrogance has resulted in the absolutely horrible FF13, 13-2, and 14 (at least the start of it, I've heard it's getting much better), as well as all the lies they've told about games coming (Last Remnant) to exclusivity (FF13 in both total exclusivity and regional exclusivity) and a complete lack of care to listen to even the smallest things fans say. SE have never listened to fans, Squaresoft was actually the same in that regard but at least had good games and good ideas for the most part.

Wada is a business man. He's like politicians. Politicians run a country like a business when it's supposed to be treated like a living organism. Wada (and not just him, most of the industry) treats games more as a business than what it actually is. A medium for creative art on an interactive scale not possessed by any other medium. The moment gaming became more about big business and less about showcasing incredible art is the moment this industry died. Wada is all about money and it shows. He said SE will not make an FF7 remake until they make a game that tops it. But that's where the divide comes in. When fans think of a game to top FF7, our imaginations run with ideas for stories, characters, worlds. But it's likely that when Wada thinks of topping FF7, he's thinking sales, market penetration, production values, and the CoD effect. The two are almost never compatible ideas.

Wada is SE's curse. Wada needs to be cut out like a cancerous tumour.

[MacDonagh]

Here's the thing. Square-Enix has been attempting to branch out to the western world in order to gain much-needed revenue. By limiting themselves to eccentric JRPGs; it is limiting it's appeal to a niche audience. FF will probably never reach the heights of the PS1/PS2 era again because they don't have the same pull of the games of old. You can put it down to all of Wada's fault, but I personally think the script writers for some particular FF titles that are to blame. With the exception of FF 12 for me personally being quite a stellar game; the writing has been somewhat lacking for a good number of FF titles.

[DragonKnight]

Actually, eccentric JRPGs is exactly what they need. They need to STOP trying to branch out to the Western world because we don't need western RPGs from japanese developers. Niche audience? Take a look at the sales of the FF series. FFVII 9 million, FFXII 6 million. You're calling that a niche? FF13 was their attempt at capturing the flash audience of CoD and it was pitiful. If you even listen to fans of RPGs you see that we WANT the good old style of FF. We want them to return to their roots. And yes you can blame Wada because he's the boss. He looks at games and decides whether or not they are money makers, and if he decides they aren't, then he demands they be changed.

You can't however pin the blame on just the writing. A story is only part of a game. And when pretty much EVERY part of a game sucks, then that's a real problem. With FF13 the characters sucked, the story sucked, the gameplay sucked, the world sucked, the music was an FFX ripoff. That's what you get when you try to branch into the western world. The surest way to succeed in anything is to first stick to what you're good at and what you know. You don't just jump into untested areas because you see dollar signs.

[MacDonagh]

@Dragonknight I do count FF games as niche because there is little to no appeal to other gamers outside it's rabid fanbase who buy every iteration/game. I also sincerely doubt your claim that FF 13 was an attempt to lure the "Bro" gamer because as most gamers/companies already know; a Bro isn't interested in epic quests, convoluted plotlines, or people with ridiculous hair. All there is to a Bro gamer is COD, Madden, Gears of War and whatever is the flavour of the month. I doubt JRPGs even register on the peripheral for a gamer like that. It's far easier to realise that the FF 13 development team wanted to try something new and it ultimately fell flat. That shouldn't mean that they should stop experimenting or try to evolve because if they simply just continually do the same thing over and over again; as a development house, they will stagnate and even their hardcore fanbase will leave them. Maybe they wouldn't, but it's not wise to bet on such a fickle fanbase like that. Hence, why expanding into the West will fix having to rely on them and who knows? Maybe they'll take some lessons from the West and refine it in their own way. The future is open-ended for Square-Enix.

[poolsharky27]

I have to agree with DragonKnight here. MacDonagh, they even stated they were trying to westernize the game, and taking inspiration from COD and such.

Regardless of whether or not it's audience is a niche, the fact that it is so large means they were doing something right to begin with. And changing the ONE thing(Japanification, the 'J' in JRPG) that's holding the niches interest is a sure way to LOSE sales, not gain them.

It sure does seem that Wada is more interested in satisfying his wallet, by trying to diversify the genre and fanbase instead of trying to strengthen its current one.

[StreetsofRage]

Play Lost Odyssey. That's the new FF. Where is my sequel btw???

[mechlord]

Final Fantasy 13-3 is a bit too much even for Wada...If that NAME ever gets spoken in any context of seriousness am defeinitively stop buying anything square-developed. Anything.