Square Enix: Final Fantasy XIV 'Greatly Damaged' Entire Brand

[Kurokikaze]

Imagine the QQs with FF7 HD and updated battle system. DEY LOST DAT FF FEELAN'

They aren't gonna win that fight. It's gonna be like XIII was. Sells well, yet nobody seems to like it.

Story is fine, presented badly but otherwise just as simplistic and cliché. You were like 15 years younger or some shit, the same story has a different effect on you depending on your age and experience OBVIOUSLY.

The problem is that they haven't improved much at all. Same stupid stories but the main demographic is so much older.

I didn't say remake FF7. I said something similar to what would look like FF7 in HD. I'm speaking in terms of size and scope of the world and the areas.

[Hyan]

I'm speaking in terms of size and scope of the world and the areas.

The hell does this even mean...

I didn't find 7 that large.

[Elcura]

Saying stories should get better is easier said than done. Everyone reacts different to story and characters, there's nothing you can do that will be universally pleasing. It all depends on the writer and a bad story doesn't particularly make for a bad game. Not that SE stories are particularly bad, usually they all have a certain level of quality that people more or less like.

Having good graphics has NO impact on whether the story or characters are good. You do not sacrifice game play, story and characters for art, music or sound effects. They are made separately.

[Correction]

Going back to FF1-6 (or 9) just means SE are making outdated games.

I think what's important to notice in the SNES-PS1 era of Final Fantasy games is that the management of hot new talent was the primary driving force behind the quality of the games, nitpicking quibbles about which games are better notwithstanding. On both technical and artistic merits each game in those first 9 games took huge, risky leaps tempered by a management culture that encouraged them to try new things with every iteration. Since 13 we see them drawing far, far too heavily on Nomura (who is basically the Sakaguchi of the company now and is stretched far too thinly) and while they show some promise at pumping new talent into the sagging franchise they're still kind of stuck on XIV in hopes of a positive revenue stream from it.

Final Fantasy the franchise needs this spirit from the first nine games back, and when people say things like 'go back to what made you good' they are really talking about this, not about returning to mechanics from the 16 bit era. It is easier than ever now to see who's driving behind the wheels of a new game/franchise and be excited on those merits alone. People feel that way about id/Valve/Blizzard/insert gaming company here. But now when you hear 'Square Enix makes new Final Fantasy game' that enthusiasm is sapped. The language should now be 'Square Enix hires Platinum to make Final Fantasy game' or 'Square Enix hires Jesper Kyd to score new Final Fantasy Handheld game.' Think of the excitement that would generate. Think of how excited you would be to hear such news.

[Cayos]

I'm not sure if you all will agree with me, but Lost Odyssey was a great semi-free roam RPG. It had subs, a world map, an airship, big bosses, and a great story. If they threw some chocobos in there and made the main protagonist more feminine, it could have had Final Fantasy thrown in front of it and I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Make a FF game like Lost Odyssey. To be fair, I've enjoyed every FF game I've played, except maybe Dirge of Cerberus.

[Hyan]

a bad story doesn't particularly make for a bad game.

I'll bet 500 euros if XIII had a good well presented story everyone would love the fuck out of it.

I'm not sure if you all will agree with me, but Lost Odyssey was a great semi-free roam RPG.

And here's an example. Dear God was that title HORRIBLE as far as it actually being a game goes, but the story was interesting.

[Kainos]

Final Fantasy has been downhill since FFX

no world maps (I want to fly airships!)
lack of equipment options (1 upgradable weapon & 2 accessory slots is unnacceptale. I wanna duel wield ragnarok and ultima wep wearing full genji armor)
Sphere/Grid systems are poor (once u max them every charachter is basicly the same, the same skills, the same spells..its boring)
The art direction is TOO ASIAN. Bring back some american looking characters. castles and a more medieval setting

As for FF14, i like it for what it is. I can log in 1-2 hours, do some leves and see progress. But the game is far too slow, clunky and empty to play hardcore on a daily basis

just my opinion

[Charismatic]

I have no idea who Jesper Kyd is... but I know I'd be hyped if they said Yoko Shimomura (and I was when I found out she's doing music for VS XIII... wru)

I'll bet 500 euros if XIII had a good well presented story everyone would love the fuck out of it.

I know I sure wouldn't have.

[Cantih]

Give me a FF with the story/world quality of XII, and the gameplay of X (or X-2), and I'll be happy.

[Hyan]

I know I sure wouldn't have.

You don't belong in that group of 'everyone'. Sorry!

[Dantrag]

What's so great about 1-9 that 10-13 are missing?

To make it short: Open worlds.

Half the area's that had nothing to do with the "main" story and everything to do with the side stories, which meant more for each individual character's story line. In the old ones(not all) there was never any "true" focus or "main" character. They all shared the lime light and you would be attached to individual ones and not have some(Tidus) forced down your throat.

Going back to FF1-6 (or 9) just means SE are making outdated games.

No one is suggesting that everything(outside of remakes like they have been doing) they do should be like the old games. Just to go back and re-learn what made them the number one RPG producer in the world. Their stories, characters, and everything else in between.

[Elcura]

I think what's important to notice in the SNES-PS1 era of Final Fantasy games is that the management of hot new talent was the primary driving force behind the quality of the games, nitpicking quibbles about which games are better notwithstanding. On both technical and artistic merits each game in those first 9 games took huge, risky leaps tempered by a management culture that encouraged them to try new things with every iteration. Since 13 we see them drawing far, far too heavily on Nomura (who is basically the Sakaguchi of the company now and is stretched far too thinly) and while they show some promise at pumping new talent into the sagging franchise they're still kind of stuck on XIV in hopes of a positive revenue stream from it.

Final Fantasy the franchise needs this spirit from the first nine games back, and when people say things like 'go back to what made you good' they are really talking about this, not about returning to mechanics from the 16 bit era. It is easier than ever now to see who's driving behind the wheels of a new game/franchise and be excited on those merits alone. People feel that way about id/Valve/Blizzard/insert gaming company here. But now when you hear 'Square Enix makes new Final Fantasy game' that enthusiasm is sapped. The language should now be 'Square Enix hires Platinum to make Final Fantasy game' or 'Square Enix hires Jesper Kyd to score new Final Fantasy Handheld game.' Think of the excitement that would generate. Think of how excited you would be to hear such news.

The problem with this kind of thinking is that you can't go back and get what made you great. You can apply similar techniques to new people, but it's not like that automatically makes a good game. I agree that some new talent would be exciting, but then you could also get "New DMC made by NT" and suddenly you're spiraling downwards again.

Yeah, new talent might help, but I'd rather they use their good directors (which Nomura is, but he's probably the only director I like apart from Yoshida) and have them focus on a single game (cause yeah, spreading out a single person isn't ending well).

[miokomioko]

I think, above all, they need to completely swallow their "we need to keep reinventing the wheel" pride thing and just begin to pick and pull successful and loved concepts and mechanics out of various successful installations of their franchise and use at least some of those to construct a new game, instead of feeling the need to put 99% of their effort into being "innovative." You CAN recycle some ideas, Square-Enix. It's OKAY. No one is really going to be upset with you if you bring Materia back or stick in a Monster Arena somwhere.

The franchise is heavily dependent on nostalgia and easter eggs, but they refuse to go that route where it actually matters. I really hope they change that.

[Correction]

I have no idea who Jesper Kyd is... but I know I'd be hyped if they said Yoko Shimomura (and I was when I found out she's doing music for VS XIII... wru)

You get the point. I picked Jesper Kyd at random from a list of super-talented composers. Kyd's best known for the Hitman and Assassin's Creed soundtracks.

[Hyan]

Yeah, new talent might help, but I'd rather they use their good directors (which Nomura is, but he's probably the only director I like apart from Yoshida) and have them focus on a single engine (cause yeah, spreading out a single person isn't ending well).

ftfy

I think, above all, they need to completely swallow their "we need to keep reinventing the wheel" pride thing

More like the "we don't look at what other companies are doing" pride thing (seems to be very common in the JP industry). Reinventions keep the franchise fresh, even if it might take a sequel to get the issues ironed out.

[Correction]

The problem with this kind of thinking is that you can't go back and get what made you great. You can apply similar techniques to new people, but it's not like that automatically makes a good game. I agree that some new talent would be exciting, but then you could also get "New DMC made by NT" and suddenly you're spiraling downwards again.

Well it's hard to pick out a good, current manager out of the ones currently working for SE's FF division but the difference between a good manager and a bad manager begins with the ability to identify and motivate talent. Good management would have stopped NT from making DmC, for example.

I'm not saying it will be easy to go back to the Sakaguchi era of FF management but any serious attempt at rebuilding what they once had should start by studying its successes.

[Correction]

The franchise is heavily dependent on nostalgia and easter eggs, but they refuse to go that route where it actually matters. I really hope they change that.

It will be hard to sell a $60 HD FF-New game on the PS3 with mechanics also present in your just-released a $40 remake of FF-Old on the current handheld as well. Just sayin'

[Hyan]

I'm not saying it will be easy to go back to the Sakaguchi era of FF management but any serious attempt at rebuilding what they once had should start by studying its successes.

They still make great games with the same team sizes and production values as in the Sakaguchi era.

I dunno how that would help them here. They don't seem to have lost 'it' in the first place. 'It' just doesn't work anymore since the industry has changed.

Like making a new engine for every game. They seemed to have tried to continue that with Crystal Tools that are shared across multiple engines, but that wasn't efficient enough.

[Ksandra]

My big beef with 13 (and I guess mentioning to hope they don't do this in the future) was it took too damn long for the battle system (and game) to really shine and be fun. I feel like in 13 they were "sort of" on the right track with the battle system. My favorite one till this day is X-2's system, which is somewhat brought into 13 (switching jobs in and out fast). It worked well in X-2 though because when you switched jobs you still didn't just hit the attack/heal button, you did things with them. And there wasn't a need in 13 to change the jobs all that often until towards the end (and even then only in certain fights). If the game was more like when you hit Pulse towards the end of the game, it would have been a huge improvement.



Other things:

As others said, open world please, I will gladly take graphic reductions in exchange for space where I can move around and have my airships back.

Be nice to have more final FANTASY games. I honestly don't mind the sci-fi ones, but it just feels there's too many of them in comparison now, leaving 9 as like the last true fantasy.

To be truthful, I hate the gambit system and don't hope they continue with it. I like controlling all chars instead of just one, but not even sure if that's a common thought or if I'm just an oddball on that one.

As someone said above, fucking give me equipment bitches.

Not going to lie, taking away the smaller things of FF make me sad in the pants (tents/inns) Though that's an oldschool fan talking I guess. But when most other companies have said "fuck you" to nostalgia, then they kinda have an open market for it.

[miokomioko]

More like the "we don't look at what other companies are doing" pride thing (seems to be very common in the JP industry).

Yeah, that was more of my focus on my first post. It seems like they have had blinders on for the last 20 years and they just recently heard that they could take them off. They are still rubbing their eyes and trying to focus, but it looks like they just had it brought to their attention that there are other companies doing other things and being successful... also, that their customers have been standing to the side trying to get their attention and tell them what they actually want.