Squaresoft + Enix = Fail?

I faintly remember when the merger happened. My thoughts at the time were simple: "Why fix something that's not broken?" And though I haven't paid much attention to SquareEnix, it seems that the quality definitely did drop.

Well, the first couple of years of owning a Playstation, if I saw that Squaresoft had made a game, I knew it would be great. I don't feel that way about SquareEnix, that's for sure. They're nothing special anymore.

Nah, they are just fine the way they are. I'm convinced that anyone who says that the merger was a failure lets their nostalgia get in the way. They're just upset that the games they grew up with are either gone or evolved and you simply want to blame Square Enix for doing things differently when it is a case of people being overly picky in their nostalgic tastes.



And to be fair, Square Enix had nothing to do with Infinite Undiscovery. Infinite Undiscovery is tri-ACE's game, Square Enix only published it.

I'm just going to point people at the 'Mana' (Seiken Densetsu) series and walk away.

That they are good I hope? Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3 are gold. Too bad the Seiken Densetsu series has turned to pure liquid shit after Legend of Mana. I don't blame the merger for that though.

This is exactly how I feel. They are good games, just not as good as the original final fantasies. You guys are setting a pretty high bar for an rpg

We're not the ones who set the standard high, Squaresoft did, back when their games were hit after hit.

Hmm I guess I can see where your coming from but still its hard to top those games. Some people just have to realize ideas like those come rarely.

*Looking at his copy of Infinite Undiscovery* Lol, I dont see any Tri-Ace logo on it.. and Im pretty sure if Tri-Ace had something to with it they would want there logo on the case, let alone on the disc.. but who knows i could be wrong..

http://www.tri-ace.co.jp/product/index.html

Scroll down - Infinite Undiscovery was made by tri-Ace.

Like I said , I could be wrong.. Im still wondering why Square is all over the case instead of Tri-Ace.. even if they provided money or advertising or whatever.. it still makes it look like square developed it.. confuseing..

I have a pretty simple set of answers for you:

1)interests change over age
2)love for classics
3) trying to find classic resemblance in new games while losing overall interest for video games due to aging.

that's about it.
As for me, i went for *YES* because there are much more Titles that made Enix popular like *Dragon Quest,Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, Grandia 2, Ogre Battle* those are just most known, there are alot more. And the first thing that comes in mind when i thing about Square is *FF and Xenogears* which is not that much...

Sorry, i guess it was more like the second one, but the english dub in that game? WOW, i just could not believe it! maybe square enix america is the major problem i rarly buy the games too.
Also for LS musashsi the "Focus" ability made it more difficult to get those, harder to get skills without dying 5 times.

Seems like the merger hasn't done anybody any favors, besides maybe the CEOs.

With how it is right now, I don't think anyone will disagree. They're basically just making games to appeal to the people who would be "graphic whores." Every new game Square Enix has made recently just does not appeal to me anymore. I even found FF Tactics A2, which I did enjoy quite a bit, to be lacking. If I had to say anything now, they're really just riding their name out right now. Look at the FF games they've released once combined, they're simply imo, trash.

I remember back when the merger happened, it was a really big deal. I mean, combining Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy franchises into one company, it was insane to think about it at the time. But in reality, it wasn't too big of a deal at all. Much smaller developers like Gust, Nippon Ichi, and Sting have done more for the expansion of JRPGs than Square Enix has.

@WhiteLion: I can't speak about Bioware since I have no interest in anything they produce, but I think that JRPGs are faring just as well as any other genre. Sometimes, I think that people think of Square Enix first when they think about JRPG stagnation and forget about everything else out there. A part of me also wonders if SE shot themselves in the foot during the PSX era. Now the RPGs produced by SE have to push graphical boundaries.


This comment made me realize that even Bioware could fall prey to this. I mean, I imagine it's pretty hard to keep producing hit after hit.

tri-ACE rarely does. They never publish their games. Square Enix almost exclusively publishes their games, and it is an unfortunate part of the gaming business that publishers put their name all over the box art, while most of the time developers only get their names mentioned in the fine print on the back.

Infinite Undiscovery is even more of rarity. Square Enix wasn't the only publisher. Microsoft Games Studios owns a share of the game, which is why it was never released on the PS3, but like tri-Ace, Microsoft only gets a mention on the back in fine print. XD

It is a shame tri-ACE falls victim to that though, even if by choice. Most people to this day still think that Star Ocean is Square Enix's franchise when they have never done anymore than publish the games.

I guess its sad when you think about it.. also does any1 know why they never did a FF7,8,or 9 remake.. I mean that would be a huge profit for them.. I know 20 people that would go out and buy them if theyd make um.. I know i would .. it would also drive me too buy a new ps3..

I love the first three games (Final Fantasy Adventure [Game Boy], Secret of Mana [SNES] and Seiken Densetsu 3 [SNES]), especially Secret of Mana since it was my first foray into the Seiken Densetsu universe. I even enjoy Legend of Mana and Sword of Mana, but I can't bring myself to even try anything released after those two... after seeing various videos and player reviews I'm just disgusted with SE and their pathetic ideas.

And flame me if you want but Final Fantasy games have been going downhill after Final Fantasy VI (of course this is just my opinion), I've played FF VII through X and the only one I really enjoy is IX because it's the closest to the classic 2D FF's (with the exception of that damned card game and tournament!).

Granted a lot of my disgust with SE and other developers starts with the beginning of 3D gaming and the focus on graphics and sound quality... I own a Wii, Xbox 360, PS2, and a PC capable of running most of the current games (and soon I'll be buying one capable of running "all" of the newest games) and I still spend most of my time playing games from the SNES, GB(C), GBA, and 90's era PC games. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Fallout 2 beats out Fallout 3 so badly I lack the literary skills to voice my opinion. Speaking of 90's era PC games I need to try System Shock 2 again and hope I don't get distracted midway through.

/rant

I love you. So much (no gay). That post was pretty much how I feel, and also what I've been doing the last couple of years. I barely play any of my ps2 rpg's, I play my psone and SNES. It's also nice to see someone else who thought FF9 was the best PS one FF. The only RPG of this generation that truly impressed me was Oblivion (elder scrolls 4).

Dawn of Mana was simply pathetic. Good thing I bought it cheap - played it for 2 hours, then dropped it like a hot potato.