three-year Square Enix "reboot" thoughts?

[althea_valara]

So Square Enix has announced plans to sorta "reboot" the company over the next three years, here's an article:

https://gameranx.com/updates/id/538134/article/square-enix-outlines-plans-for-a-three-year-reboot-and-it-includes-cancelling-games/

There are several key takeaways:

• The plan is to focus on "Quality, not quantity".


• Because of this, some games in the works have been cancelled. I haven't heard of any Final Fantasy-related titles being cancelled, but the Kingdom Hearts Missing Link mobile game has been abandoned.


• It sounds like they are going to explore multiplatform releases.

I'm cautiously optimistic about these plans. I'd much rather have an excellent game than have a release for a release's sake. I also think multiplatform might be a good direction to go in. I mean, I'm very happy with my PS5 because it has more games I'm interested in than an Xbox X|S does, but (a) I did largely buy the PS5 so I could play FFXVI at launch with all my friends, (b) more fans of Final Fantasy could only be a GOOD thing IMO, so bring on the multi-platform!

Comments

[flonnebonne]

Thank you for the news! I’m cautiously optimistic too. Quality over quantity is always a good thing IMO.

The MtG x FF collab is pretty amazing btw!

[althea_valara]

Agreed on both counts. I've been enjoying seeing the preview images of the MtG collab. Wish I had more disposable money, because there's some cards I would like just (a) for the pretty (b) because the characters are favorites of mine.

[flonnebonne]

When I make an MtG deck, I just find someone else's decklist online in a visual format, print the cards out on regular paper, cut them up, and slip them into card sleeves (the kind with opaque, coloured backs). I actually prefer using these fake cards ("proxies") over real cards because they're thinner and easier to shuffle! Also, I don't have to worry about losing or wrecking them, and I can draw funny doodles on them, underline important words, etc. Using proxies is also a way to playtest a deck and tweak it before buying real, expensive cards. I do buy real cards too, but the fakes make things much less stressful for me.

[tre.praze.net]

More cashgrab spinoffs sounds good to me because I've already preordered quite a bit of the mtg stuff and am the kind of sucker who would buy some random item just because it has pyreflies on it or whatever. On a less selfish level it's sad to see them less able to take risks developing entirely new worlds and relying instead on milking old reliable stuff à la current practices at Disney. But yeah if they release magicite-flavoured pocky or whatever I guess I'm buying that.

[althea_valara]

I don't see anything in the news about them not taking risks going forward? And in fact, there was ALSO news yesterday that they've teamed up with TSB (a Japanese broadcasting company) to create a new game from a new IP, planned for worldwide release. Sounds pretty risky to me!

I'm all for cashgrab when it comes to tie-in merchandise. I've bought the first Encyclopedia Eorzea and have an FFXIV music box and have TWO Alisaie figurines. But I would like to see games that focus on quality. Because personally, I was underwhelmed by FFXVI (it's a good game! Just, not as great as I was expecting) and I feel Rebirth is a hot mess of TOO MANY UNNECESSARY MINI-GAMES.

[dorchadas]

Anything that stops their habit of assuming a game needs to sell a quintillion copies to be worth anything is good, in my book. I admit, I'm in favor of them pulling back to familiar properties if it means they finally do those remakes of Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy Tactics that have been rumored for years.

I saw someone else write that "Clair Obscur is the game that Square Enix has been trying to make for twenty years" and hopefully some of their executives also read that and take it to heart.

Most fans also forget that Square Enix owns Taito

I had also forgotten that. Fond memories of the Taito arcade at the end of Hondōri in Hiroshima.

[althea_valara]

Agreed! A game can still be considered a success even if it doesn't sell a quintillion copies.

I loved FFXV but it's a mess of a game, and FFXVI didn't quite capture me on my first playthrough (much to my dismay; I had huge hype for it) so I'm not sure I would consider those successful FF games. I like Remake a lot, but felt Rebirth was bloated with minigames and other extraneous, unnecessary content. I would replay Remake but can't see myself replaying Rebirth anytime soon, and don't plan on buying the third one at launch. So except for FFXIV (and even that has its problems currently) I don't feel they've knocked it out of the park with recent releases in the franchise.

And yes, I would LOVE to see a remake of FFIX because that game is awesome, and FFT just so I can finally play it (I own it for iOS but my eyes, they are too bad to see on my tiny phone).

I did vaguely know they owned Taito but I'm not very familiar with those properties.