Yosuke Matsuda Says Japanese Developers Shouldn't Imitate Western Titles

President of SQUARE ENIX, Yosuke Matsuda, thinks that imitating Western developers isn't a good idea to make exceptional Japanese titles.

[-Foxtrot]

He says that but I'm pretty sure newer FF titles have been getting influenced by Western titles.

I mean hell they removed turn based while games like Persona 5 and Like a Dragon showed it can still be done and interesting.

[porkChop]

I still haven't played P5 even though someone gave it to me for my birthday years ago. I loved Like a Dragon though. That right there is proof that turn-based JRPGs are still awesome.

[BrainSyphoned]

I didn't touch P5 for a year after release for some reason even though I bought it day one. Then I 100% both it and P5R beating the game 5 times (500+ hours) and doing a full watch of Cohh Carnage on twitch. Monster Hunter World and Stardew Valley are the only games that come close to it time wise and is pretty much my favorite game of all time. Just find 120 hours....and give it a chance!

[Godmars290]

For those of us who don't want to pay $1000 for one, have pretty much given up, thanks for rubbing it in...

[DogJosha]

@Godmars290 They are saying Persona 5 not PS5.... Also follow the Twitter accounts that track releases, and stores are starting to get them in now too.

[Visceral89]

@Godmars290 Its been almost a year and a half. If you really wanted a PS5, you would have gotten one by now

[jznrpg]

@Godmars20 PlaystationDirect has them today sometime . I have got friends PS5’s and I don’t track everyday . I setup some alerts when someone wants one and I go and buy it . If you have accounts setup at Target , Walmart, Bestbuy, Amazon and PlayStation it’s quick if you get there on time . I got my nephew one last month . It’s not the hardest thing to do , get notifications from Twitter etc and go hit the store sites until you get one . Also PS5 is going for around 700$ on resale sites but a little bit of work you can avoid that . I got mine at launch but have helped many others get them over the last year and I wasn’t actively looking everyday , just when someone wanted one I kept my eye out and sometimes they got it themselves after telling them what I do . It’s not that hard

[Godmars290]

Imagine what they could have done with FF as turn based isometric styled title, versus the ever more cinematic efforts they tried.

[Cackocacho]

Turn-based RPGs will always be awesome. Only narrow minded drones jump on the wagon against them. Play types don't go out of style with time, otherwise, nobody would be playing checkers, chess, backgammon, or heck, even visual novels which are basically text adventures.

Turn-based RPGs are still my favourite of all, and always will be, when it comes to genuine RPGs.

Thankfully for me at least, I couldn't care less about anything Final Fantasy since 13, or SE for that matter. I do still keep an eye on their third party and outsourced games, like Octopath, Triangle, and even Nier Automata.

SE is incapable of making good games anymore, and worse yet, they politically load them, to the verge of nearly bursting with "the message".

[AceRimmer302]

Came here to just say that. FF has been completely Westernized to its detriment. Bring back turn-based. Bring back huge, expansive worlds, not just one or two large maps. Lovable, quirky characters and WEIRDNESS.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I agree for a different reason.

[Christopher]

Developers should do whatever they want. Games and their designs shouldn't have borders.

[Cackocacho]

Developers haven't done what the want, since the end of the PS2 era, when video games became all about money, and nothing about creativity.

Nothing gets greenlight anymore, which has even an ounce of risk involved.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Facts

[ED-E]

Video Games were always about the money, since the very first arcades in the 70s. When you start to earn money with something, people with plans to expand it will eventually arrive, sometimes are even the devs themselves. I mean, greed let to the video game crash in the early/mid 80s.

But I disagree that publishers shy away to put money on risky project since PS2. If so, there would be nothing else to play than FPS and sports games.

Btw. here a daily updated list of games from devs with full creative control: http://www.whatsonsteam.com... .
Have fun.

[Christopher]

***looks at the entirety of indie games***

[gamer7804]

Agreed. It’s a shame publishers are hiring people to limit the devs creative freedom and make them less Japanese like Sony and SE

[gamer7804]

Right especially not hindered by publishers or internal departments regulating artists creative vision which SE now has.

[LordoftheCritics]

I agree.

Do whatever inspires you.

Anything and everything.

[Terry_B]

But..the majority of the Square-Enix games did EXACTLY that lol Be it Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts or Babylons Fall. lol. In the case of FF, its like totally influenced by the west since FF XI..and since FFXIII for the worse.

[gamer7804]

Agree with most but FFXIII still felt very Japanese to me . Their newest game looks terrible

[Gardenia]

Yes, I've always said they have to look back at the older Final Fantasy games and what made them so successful. Games like FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII and FFIX are masterpieces, but also games like Chrono Trigger, Vagrant Story, Saga Frontier.

[H9]

I wish you would actually apply that square enix

[RedDevils]

Agree, talk is cheap.

[SinisterMister]

I disagree. As Christopher pointed out below, games can be derived from any culture, as long as they turn out to be fresh and likable.

[annoyedgamer]

Meanwhile SQ Enix is straight up pandering to Western control...

[gamer7804]

Yup with their new censorship department.

[aaronaton]

Couldn't agree more, stray away from our shitty western ways as much as possible and become the last bastian of hope from us all. Seriously though, they need to stick to what makes Japanese games unique, and its as simple as avoiding our conventions and cliches in every aspect of the game. From Design, mechanics, writing and music.

[porkChop]

Why would you not look for inspiration from different cultures though? Even in game design there are things Japanese devs could learn from Western devs, and vice versa.

Also, really? This is coming from the president of Square Enix. Last time I checked you dropped turn-based JRPGs in favor of mimicking Western action RPGs.

[sourOG]

I’d say he’s right going by their last few games.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Developers should refrain from imitating each other whenever possible.

Some imitation makes sense, like adding a photo mode or creating a horde mode for replayability.

Others, like removing turn based mechanics outright from a franchise, is a coawqrdly mistake.

[Eonjay]

I don't understand the fixation on turn based games. Square still has turn based and SJRPG releases as well. What they actually have in totally is a an incredibly diverse cast of battle mechanics that they have created and I congratulate them for being willing to experiment with different stiles.

Look at the different systems from FF7 to FF9 to FF12 to FF13 to FF15 to FF7R. It's truly wild.

[-Foxtrot]

The issue is there's turn based games out there which show it's still relevant, the issue people had with old school turn based combat was how it got to the point where you could just mash X once you knew what you were doing, however games like Persona 5 and Like a Dragon are done in ways where it keeps you focused so you aren't just mashing the button, for example having button prompts to score a critical or gain higher damage, maybe even dodge. Another issue for old school FF games was getting in and out of battle (the transition, the camera panning around the battlefield, the little victory dance) but now with technology you can be in and out of a battle within a flash.

"Square still has turn based and SJRPG releases as well"

"What they actually have in totally is a an incredibly diverse cast of battle mechanics"

But they should have kept that for the main titles and experimented with spin off games. Instead it's just came off as random and throwing stuff to the wall seeing what sticks.

Even though I enjoyed the battle system in the FFVII Remake, more than in FFXV's, if they made it turn based like Persona 5 or Like a Dragon they would have still had strong sales, it wouldn't have failed because of it.

[Cackocacho]

13 - 7R, is basically the same system. You control menial inputs of 1 character, and the rest are CPU run, and require nothing from you, unless you want to hijack them to feel like you're contributing something to the battle.

This is a company which openly claimed that they wanted to make games "press one button to win". Well, they've achieved that, and their games going to the bargain bin within 6 weeks of release, is their reward for it.

[Whxian]

they essentially stopped "experimenting" and more or less killed turnbased from their main titles. do they still make some turn-based games? sure, but apart from DQ which is by no means a bad game, but which i consider to be less story-intensive than oldschool final fantasy, they pretty much dont make turnbased rpgs that feel like they are from this era.

they had a minor new studio do experimental games like i am setsuna which looked like a game from a different era, and the story wasn't anything impressive either and then their "biggest" title apart from DQ would be octopath which like or hate it, looks like its from the snes era.

They want to do action games? that's fine, they could have had action games and turnbased games, but instead apart from getting a DQ game now and then, you can expect most their output to be action games. All FF games, Kingdom hearts, and their new valkyrie game.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Square-Enix is still surprised that turn-based games like Bravely Default actually sell, that and the action battle systems in some of the newer FF games have been a bit wonky, like FF15. Although I find it easier to jank action battle systems like FF7R and FF15 that it takes some of the fun out of the game.

[BrainSyphoned]

Yet their most profitable game was/is a broken japanese MMO that had to have a Realm Reborn in a western style.

[Godmars290]

How long have you sadly been trying? Have literally been trying to copy from EA of all companies.

[Cackocacho]

Squaresoft itself was in bed with EA back in the late 90s. Load up any Squaresoft game after FF VII, and it was published by Electronic Arts. SquareEnix continues to try and become the Japanese branch of EA.

[staticall]

This is coming from the same guy who wrote that cringe-inducing «A New Year's Letter from the President», all about metaverse, NFTs, blockchain. You know, the western CEOs wet dreams as of late.

It's ok to take good ideas and be inspired by other cultures/games/etc. But all Square is doing is trying to mimic - sorry, "imitate" - the others' success formula without fully understand why that truly works. Not sure why it took them so-o-o long to understand that. And i do hope that this revelation wouldn't mean that they would start trying to imitate chinese games or something.

P. S.: And for some reason, Square Enix have some unrealistic sales expectations and are impossible to please. That's why we didn't get another Deus Ex yet.

[Cackocacho]

Tomb Raider reboot sold what.. 7M copies back in its day, and was considered a failure by SE. XD

"Ironically, the 2013 "Tomb Raider" reboot isn't considered a commercial success despite its record-breaking sales success. PC Gamer notes that despite garnering favourable reviews and bagging 3.4 million units within the first month, the publisher Square Enix expressed disappointment because it expected the game to push a lot more copies"

"....Lara Croft trapped in an island off the coast of Japan has sold well over 8.5 million copies just a little more than two years since its 2013 release."

I mean....... ya.

[GoodGuy09]

Isn't square the most western influenced jp company though? Lol.

[FanboysKiller]

Most of Japanese video games characters besides capcom and konami publishers are weird , weirdness for itself kills the western aspect of Japanese games.

[Knushwood Butt]

I think the last SE game I bought was Tactics Ogre.

[on_line_forever]

I miss squaresoft days , every game they develop was masterpiece

[MeteorPanda]

Please copy Western Community Networking cause Japanese have such a weakness to it.

By that l mean copy our forums, launcher ui, account setup, community feedback and the size of team Westerns use in support.

FFXIV is your biggest success and its still 4 different sites and launchers to actually create an account and login. The english players for years have said "They dont listen to us gaijin" and they're right.

[CrimsonWing69]

How about they don't go blockchain or GaaS, either? Btw, How's Babylon's Fall doing for y'all?

[jambola]

I agree
I like the idea of games being different, nothing wrong with taking some ideas from other cultures and putting your own spin on it, but I like things to be different

[MADGameR]

1000% Agree with Yosuke. JRPGs should stay JRPGs. Never cared for Western RPGs tbh.

[DVAcme]

And yet, when a Japabese developer explores Western fantasy and horror tropes, we get something like THE SOULSBORNE SERIES. So, yeah, it's worth it sometimes.

[Visceral89]

My problem with most Japanese publishers except Square and a few others is 60 fps needs to be the standard day one of a games release. also upgrade graphics and gameplay to modern standards

[drizzom]

A long time ago they believed they should be copying Western devs. Its about time they've seen just what that brings. I'm glad they are saying this now that they've spent time to realize why they shouldn't be.

[Gravesinger_]

No wonder that country is dying a slow death...yeeesh

[WheatBread]

Yes, I want to play more games Mr Mosquito, Muscle March, Seaman, Rez, Typing of the dead, etc.

[anast]

Just make a game that you want to make and not worry about this petty stuff.

[hot4play]

I'll never forget the summer of 2020. The back-to-back release of FF7 Remake and RE 3 Remake on the PS4 helped me and my brother forget about the sadness we were feeling from a death in the family and the covid lockdown. For me, this was peak Japanese AAA game development last gen. Then this gen, Capcom 1up'd themselves with Village and Square Enix is doing it again with Intergrade, Stranger of Paradise and the upcoming Forsaken and FF XVI. So I agree, Japanese should stick to their strengths while getting inspiration from Western developers.

[Snakeeater25]

He should just shut up and think about the avengers

[lucian229]

sooooo i should be president for square because i've known this since ps3 era

[Stonilein]

Please no more woke trash

[drizzom]

That would be nice but I think out of all Japanese companies, SE is probably soaked in it the most. Would be tough to wash that off.

[goldwyncq]

Imagine if FromSoftware took his advice

[gold_drake]

some of the newer ff games are influenced by western ones haha

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

You could take some of your own advice, most FF games haven't been good for almost a decade (idk wtf is going on with KH now), i'm pretty sure SE was one of the westernization pioneers during the PS3/360 gen where alot of Japanese developers tried to westernize their games.

I still feel alot of SE games are lacking that Asian flavor that makes JRPGs so appealing to me, they're persistence to abandon turn-based games is also disheartening.

[Skywalker333]

Once upon a time, Japanese companies like his decided to imitate Wizardry and Ultima.
This imitation from the west, with the appropriate japanese cultural flair and changes led to the JRPGs as we know them. If they didn't imitate the west then, Square Enix might not even exist today. So giving blanket statements like this dishonors a bit the history of his own company.

They do not need to imitate everything 100%. But if the west has created new mechanisms, games etc which move gaming forwards, why not try to take many of these and of course try to improve or alter them to suit your sensibilities and style?

[MissAubrey]

They imitated in the early 2000's when they started toning down the violence and other content in games and shows. And from there its been a downward spiral. Japan has been wussed out for sure.