It was almost six months ago when The Last Story got its North American release announcement. Now that it has finally launched, we're happy to report that we scored an interview with the game's North American publisher, XSEED Games.
Microsoft has been on a roll lately with its acquisitions, having purchased companies like Bethesda and Obsidian. These acquisitions have helped to expand the range of games available on Xbox consoles, particularly in the Western RPG market. However, there is still room for Xbox to grow, particularly in the Eastern RPG market. This is where Mistwalker Corp comes in.
Mistwalker Corp is a Japanese video game development company founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series. The company has developed several critically acclaimed RPGs, including Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, but has not achieved the commercial success of other studios. Microsoft should consider purchasing Mistwalker Corp and establishing a new RPG-branded studio to create high-quality JRPGs exclusively for Xbox consoles and PC.
By doing so, Microsoft could potentially revive the Square Enix brand and establish JRPGs on Xbox. While games like Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon were not popular among Xbox fans, this could be due to a lack of marketing or limited exposure. With Microsoft’s resources and expertise in marketing and promotion, a new Mistwalker-developed JRPG could potentially become a hit on Xbox consoles.
Why? When they couldn’t even be bothered to fund Lost Odyssey 2
I think Mistwalker need to get out of the mobile crap they’ve got going on and make a multi platform AAA JRPG like Lost Odyssey l
Think because of the general failures the company had while working with Xbox simply tanked their reputation. Should have gone with Nintendo or even Sony despite bad blood with them at the time, but of course ironically neither were as willing, or in need, to give Mistwalker the funds to make console games. It was only through MS they got that money. Even with that, along with massive advertising which included an anime for Blue Dragon, it wasn't enough and MS as soon dumped them. Now with mobile panning out for them just as well, they're not likely to make a comeback, unless one of the other two pick them up.
MS isn't going to do anything for Mistwalker even if they do buy them.
Making-up scenarios?
Lost Odyssey sold well for the calibre of game that it was. It is now at 900k sales and probably with digital it surpassed a million sales.
Lost Odyessy was a great game but if you know your history you would know that journalists had a massive hand in the destruction of JRPG on modern consoles. Go watch the review of Lost Odyessy by IGN and Xplay(G4), you would want to punch them in the face.
They went with Nintendo for one game and not Sony because those Japanese developers from Sakaguchi, Mikami and Ueda hated Sony's guts. Sony had done more to alienate Japanese talent than MS.
MS did not dump them. I love how you can make scenarios up like that but for Sony, you are like "oh they had blood". Sakaguchi got tired of working in big-budget games as they worked themselves too much.
"MS isn't going to do anything for Mistwalker even if they do buy them."
If they buy them they would let them do whatever they wanted. If it mobile they want they would create it.
I like how you and Foxtrot, create these scenarios where you think everything is perfect if they did this or that without taking into consideration that those people...genuinely did not want to work on big calibre games.
Sakagushi's last big game will be the underrated gem that was Lost Odyssey because he poured his heart an soul into that game's story.
"MS isn't going to do anything for Mistwalker even if they do buy them."
Oh yes, like MS is doing nothing for Ninja Theory and Hellblade II, or Undead Labs and State of Decay 3, or Playground´s Fable or even Obsidian´s Avoewed, among many others unannounced games from studios that used to be Indie or AA going full AAA.
It´s sickening how your hate for MS blinds you for anything good from them, even if it lies right in front of you. Smh.
Xbox will certainly do more for them them than Sony which Sakaguchi-sama doens´t even gave a sh!t about in the first place. There´s literally ZERO games from Mistwalker on Playstation.
Nintendo can´t do much either with their weaker console. Only MS has the funds and resources to allow Mistwalker to create a proper AAA Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon´s sequels among new amazing games.
BandarHub
Now you’re making up scenarios
They don’t hate Sony as a whole
They hated Ken Kutaragi who was CEO at the time
However when he stepped down and especially when Sony was going strong during the PS4 they should have approached them. Ken had left, the company was doing super well, good JRPG would have been perfect.
“ Sony had done more to alienate Japanese talent than MS”
….sigh
Sure man…
That’s a silly comment. It Microsoft bought Mistwalker at the very least they would get a large bag of cash to put them on game pass.
Bandar your absolutely right about journalist's and even a some western cocky arrogant devs. Your also right about wanting to punch them in the face. I seen these couple videos with dickface from ign , and braids creator I think phish talking shit. F that guy and all the western media who played a part in all that.
Obscure
Far as Sakaguchi from what I read they had beef back then. There's one thing I'd say though his games would've sold better on ps3, that's where most of the jrpg fan base ended up excluding wii
Seems his issue was the ps3 architecture and some issue with Ken kutargi (I'm looking to see why)
https://www.wired.com/2007/...
And since we're talking about old sh looks like he had some issue with ms at some point for failing the 360 in Japan
https://www.gamesindustry.b...
@BandarHub:
"Lost Odyssey sold well for the calibre of game that it was. It is now at 900k sales and probably with digital it surpassed a million sales."
And yet many pine for a LO2. It wasn't that the game didn't sell well enough back in the day for itself, was a bad game which by all counts it wasn't, its that it didn't sell well enough for the platform it was on. It failed to bring JRPG fans to Xbox. MS needed to wait that out, put out more JRPGs, but they didn't. They were too focused on GTA, COD and the FPS genre in general.
@Obscure_Observer:
"Oh yes, like MS is doing nothing for Ninja Theory and Hellblade II, or Undead Labs and State of Decay 3, or Playground´s Fable or even Obsidian´s Avoewed, among many others unannounced games from studios that used to be Indie or AA going full AAA."
Wanna hold off on the high praise till all that's actually out and reacted to, Hoss?
Call me bias all you want, cause I am, but seriously you might want to take off your own blinders and honestly look at MS's doing with and for gaming.
"Oh yes, like MS is doing nothing for Ninja Theory and Hellblade II, or Undead Labs and State of Decay 3, or Playground´s Fable or even Obsidian´s Avoewed, among many others unannounced games from studios that used to be Indie or AA going full AAA."
The point of this comment isn't about the potential quality of these games but how MS is giving them the money,resources, and time needed to make them the way they want to make them.
Who said they did not bother when it was not even in the creator's plans to do so?
Mistwalker chose to go into the mobile market because in their big brain they thought that it was the next big thing...they thought wrong.
The team size is not what it used to be, Mistwalker is a skeleton crew. Sakaguchi himself said that he does not want to work on big-budget games anymore.
"Ueda hated Sony's guts"
I looked this ho and found nothing that supports it.
"Why? When they couldn’t even be bothered to fund Lost Odyssey 2"
That depends entirely on Hironobu Sakaguchi and his desire to make a sequel or not, and you know it.
And I agree with the author, Phil should definitely buy Mistwalker! They´re not AAA. As part of XGS Sakaguchi-sama would have access to unlimited funds and resources to deliver the best games his vision allows him to create.
Then again, all depends on his desire to have his studio acquired been a part of a larger group/company.
One of the best jrpgs of all time a true g.o.a.t and the word of month was insane for this game and yet M$ didn't found a sequel.
The proof is in the putting.
"They don’t hate Sony as a whole
They hated Ken Kutaragi who was CEO at the time"
You are saying that the person in charge of the PlayStation and was the reason for all the decision-making involving Playstation is the person that they hated....hmm
Ken was PlayStation similar to how Don Mattrick was Xbox...the is no other way to look at it.
"JRPG would have been perfect."
Sony does not make Jrpgs, apart from some level 5 games they published in the early ps3 days and some thrid party exclusive that are now on Xbox...Sony has not cared for Jrpg either. If they did you would see a lot of them coming from the biggest publisher in japan...Sony.
You are saying Sony hasn't alienated Japanese talent. Take studio Japan and the creator of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. He left Sony because he was pissed off with their interference of Sony, he is now working on a new game which will be published by epic games.
Japan Studios' Ueda and most of the most creative team left Sony. That horrible talent retention.
Could we please stop all this acquisition talk after ACB how's through and let MS and Sony actually manage the talent they have. To make a JRPG you don't need to acquire a studio or publisher
I feel like gamers don't understand the long term ramifications of these acquisitions. These aren't pro consumer moves in anyway and will limit what options we as gamers have in the future
Agreed. Also what's the point honestly? It wouldn't move the needle in Japan. Also Xbox can't even run their current studios so why add more to the plate? Xbox is completely mismanaged.
"Why? When they couldn’t even be bothered to fund Lost Odyssey 2"
Different time, different people in charge, very different Xbox as a whole. Xbox currently needs Japanese-style games and Mistwalker is wasting their expertise on mobile games. It's the perfect time to work together again. They don't even need to buy them. Just give them funding and creative freedom to do what they want. Reboot or make s sequel to LO, or even revive Cry On.
LO is on sale $6. Worth it? Or is it antiquated. There's enough antiquated turn based jrpg already.
Also, ppl look back fondly on Blue Dragon and Lo but MS abandoned the jrpg exclusives long ago. Not even sure what ReCore was attempting. Not jrpg but jp still. Awful, awful game. If MS cared they wouldn't have abandoned the idea a decade and a half ago. Ppl clamour for these games yet they fail. Even Shenmue. Even The Last Guardian for all the hype didn't really do much.
At least this opinion articles has idea of how Microsoft could improve in Japan ngl.
If Game Pass were that sustainable for JRPGs on Xbox you’d see Square Enix games releasing their 2023 games on it. Even outside of Square Enix you still see various Japanese games release on PlayStation, Nintendo & PC but skip Xbox
Plus the JRPGs that do come out on GP can still recoup revenue on other platforms. Making it exclusive to Xbox isn’t viable for a lot of those companies
There´s a known reason why SE is lying in bet with Sony and all will be clear very soon.
FYI, there´s more high-profile JRPGs on Gamepass than on PS Plus. There´s even day one JRPGs releases on Gamepass while ZERO day one releases on PS Plus for those games.
If Playstation is this good for JRPGs developers, they should all skip Xbox and go exclusive on Playstation and yet, that´s not happening.
Why? JRPGs is not selling all that well on Playstation as you might think. I heard that Octopath Traveler 2 sold only 78k in Japan in its first weak across PS5, PS4 and the Switch.
So don´t be surprised if that game end up on Gamepass rather sooner than later. The first Octopath Traveler which is not available on Playstation sold more than 3 million copies across all available platforms.
Octopath traveler 2 didn't sell well on PlayStation? I wonder why? Probably because the first didn't release on PlayStation so most gamers played that elsewhere and then played the sequel in the same place (switch I'd bet).
Obscure
That's perfectly fine gamepass has more jrpg on it then ps plus. Ditto.
What I like to see more is the fact there's more jrpgs on the Playstation console over the Xbox. I'm a jrpg fan. So I go where they go. Xbox doesn't touch in regards to the amount. They did come up pretty good though with edge of eternity, ni noKunis, and persona though congrats ,
Also your bringing up that as if those weren't on ps consoles for years before ms gave up some doe to get them ported aside for persona 5 and monster hunter (no physical no sale sorry capcom)
@ Obscure
It’s already known to anybody who has common sense. JRPGs sell better on every platform than on Xbox.
PS+ has way more games than GP and thus more JRPGs. If Microsoft didn’t moneybat devs with GP they probably wouldn’t even release it on the platform to begin with. And like I said the devs still get their revenue from other platforms, namely PlayStation. In addition to that many of those games will still arrive on PS+ regardless. The clear difference is that GP is a crutch for Xbox while PS+ is supplemental.
A good number of JRPGs do skip Xbox. A huge number of them just release on PS4, PS5, NS & PC. Not all of them obviously but a good portion of them. That alone should tell you Xbox isn’t as viable a platform.
You seriously going to use one title as an example of JRPGs success as a whole on non Xbox platforms? I could name more success stories than this. Plus Xbox hasn’t even sold.
Where do you think the majority of those sales for Octopath Traveler came from? By Feb 2021, one month before the XO version came out, the game sold 2.5 million when it was only on NS and PC.
Idk why you’re turning Xbox’s performance in Japan as well as it’s performance with JRPGS as slander against PlayStation. You’re just making your case worse by using deflection rather than addressing the main topic
Yeah because they put the games on Xbox game pass for free....you know just because they want to be generous.
It's not like Xbox pays the developers, they just ask nicely and get the game on gamepass.
It seems like people refuse to understand that Game Pass is a paid system. They make 3.6 Billion every year from that they take a fraction and pay the developer to put their games on Gamepass.
3.6 billion is just about breaking even and actually records show they made 2.6 billion last year. Once you factor in spending on wages from their over 20 studios, development costs, paying devs for games to be on game pass and paying them even more to be there day maintaining the server farms etc.
@Extermin8or3_
Oh did you say just about breaking even let's say that you are correct? I did not mention the part where Xbox makes $15 Billion every year so that would give them a good amount to work with right....
Paying for games to be on gamepass probably cost them 1-2 Billion every year including first and third party developers. Give them enough money to sustain it even more. With year-on-year growth, Xbox will be making even more.
"Making any JRPG exclusive to an Xbox platform is a financial death sentence"
Funny fact is that Mistwalker is still around as an independent studio while Luminous Productions is not.
That said, I wonder how it would be a financial death for any studio having it´s games marketing and development costs fully paid by MS?
If the games they make don’t sell or aren’t played enough, those studios will be pushed aside. MS isn’t going to be the full safety net for every studio they have no matter what happens.
"Still around"... Haven't these guys been making strictly mobile games for over a decade? This is an odd article. Choosing a studio that clearly has no interest in making console games since 2011 and saying that's the people to move the Xbox brand forward in the jrpg market is kind of baffling.
@ Obscure
Even funnier fact. Luminous Productions just got absorbed into Square Enix, a company that just like Mistwalker doesn’t produce any Xbox games in the immediate future.
Do you really have to ask that question? Have you not seen the amount of studios Microsoft has shut down?
Lost Odyssey did not set the sales charts on fire. It’s such a pity the game itself was breathtaking.
Microsoft should focus on producing games with the 20+ studios they already have. I'm confused as to why we haven't seen gameplay or even announcements from the majority of these studios. Why should they buy more? So they can just sit there being mismanaged for a decade?
It has been 10 years since Xenoblade arrived in the US, we look back at how the game almost never showed up if not for a group of dedicated fans.
I wish The Last Story would make a comeback.I played it years before I got around to Xenoblade. Mainly because of the scalping going on because of Xeno's limited run. It took me a few tries to get into it but once I did I couldn't put it down. A Wii hidden gem for sure.
As much as I love Xenoblade, Last Story was the better game IMO. I wish Nintendo would remaster or simply port the game onto the Switch.
I wish the Last Story get a Switch remaster or remake. That game deserves a second chance
These JRPGs stand up on their own.
