Ben-DutkaYes, believe it or not, it was exactly ten years ago today that Squaresoft merged with Enix and became Square Enix.
…and the long-time Final Fantasy faithful still hope the entire debacle is just one long April Fool's prank. Maybe they'll soon just go, "Gotcha!" and announce a Final Fantasy VII remake for PS4, along with Final Fantasy XV that's actually a traditional FF installment.
But that probably won't happen, so we'll just have to wait and see what Square Enix wants to do to celebrate their tenth anniversary. According to a rough translation of a new teaser site that was unveiled today, the publisher has news that might make us "happy."
As of April 1st we’ve reached our 10th anniversary! We hope you’ll continue supporting us going forward as well! We’re thinking of collaborations and a bunch of things that should make everyone a little bit happy.
It’ll be settled soon, so we’ll keep you posted."
To be brutally frank, I don't care in the slightest. I haven't been even remotely excited about any of Square Enix's announcements over the past decade (with only a few minor exceptions). When I first heard about the merger, I said to myself- "Hmm…two pretty great RPG companies (I loved Star Ocean: The 2nd Story from Enix); shouldn't the result be total RPG nirvana?" But I just got more and more confused… Drakengard , Dirge of Cerberus , and others during the PS2 era didn't jive with what Squaresoft had been producing.
And ever since then, Final Fantasy has gone in different directions as well. So, what do they have up their sleeve for the anniversary celebration? Wada is gone, so who knows? Probably another ten years of totally baffled and bitter fans, unfortunately.
Drakengard was actually pretty good, I admit I haven't played all of it, but It's one of many PS2 games Intend to go back and play.
But as for the rest, well ever since S-E came about both companies have been pretty absent for the main consoles. If anything it was the PSP/DS that got its share, Dragon Quest IV – VI + IX, Final Fantasy I – IV in many versions. Many Kingdom Hearts games – which in my eye was a tremendous mistake making it difficult for fans to follow the franchise. Then many other RPG ports like Star Ocean or Valkyrie Profile on the PSP.
The problem is that the main consoles have been lacking content from S-E I usually buy most games from S-E, but on my PS3 I only have FFXIII, XIII-2, Nier & Star Ocean 4. Which is very small compared to my PS1 & PS2 collection.
As many of us know back when it was Squaresoft, seeing that name on the box was essential a seal of quality. Even side projects like The Bouncer, Vagrant Story turned out to be classics in their own right. But ever since Square formed with Enix That magic was sealed for good. Maybe with the change in CEO we can expect it to be unleashed again. I'm expecting big things from S-E at E3 after making fools of themselves at the PS4 promotional event, I hope this wait to E3 will be worth it.
Why did they even merge…?
I mean, to my eyes, Square Soft was doing incredibly well alone… :/
Squaresoft just lost 120 million dollars on the failed movie 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within'. They really needed the money to survive.
Am I weird for actually liking that movie? It had some interesting concepts within. It just went over everyone's heads and couldn't live up to its potential.
I'll put my money on an early release of FFXIV:ARR and leave it at that.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 4/1/2013 12:55:35 PM
I'd be okay with that. Couldn't care less about Final Fantasy XIV. Just like the idea of it releasing faster so it can stop soaking up all of Square's resources holding back Final Fantasy Versus XIII.
In case you missed the reality show, FFXIV ARR is not soaking up their resources nearly so much as FFXIII and it's sequels.
I was alpha and am now beta. Phase 2 begins this weekend. I can't say much about it, but I will say its extremely promising and I'm having fun with it. Hard to know how good the story is as they purposely hid significant pieces so it isn't spoiled for testers.
Anyone can do their benchmark on pc. Its real time graphics and the game is very much like the benchmark shows..
Last edited by Underdog15 on 4/2/2013 10:32:15 AM
When Square merged with Enix, I think the conflicting views between old and new began to interfere way more than it should have… Granted I like Drakengard, Dirge, and several other titles I still possess, I feel that they all needed more time and polish to be properly executed. Square helped me begin as my own gamer when I first got my PSone… (not to mention my first games were their RPGs)
In part, that is why I wish to become a game designer. They don't take the time to do things right. The greatest of concepts can easily be marred by a flawed execution. I want to show them what they could have been. I don't expect things to be the same, and neither should you at this point, but that is still no excuse for them to give us as much mess as they have and continue to do.
maybe it'll be something lame like an iOS or ANdroid app, theme, sale, or game.
I guess it's fitting that they merged on April fools day.
mang when they merge I always thought that it was a GOOD IDEA. Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. what can go WRONG? EVERYTHING…
Dirge of Cerberus was good. story was mehhhhh but i felt like if Vincent valentine was to get a game, it should have been exactly like it was. The merge was great for me all throughout the ps2 era. Then they announced FFvs13 which completely blew me away. Nothing more needs to be said. Unless you like ff13, which by all means had great music and graphics. Even if crap was to be dressed in a white dress and then sprinkled with perfume it would still be crap and that is what FF13 is to me. Pretty crap
$E and big news always leads to disappointment, so lets hope for small news.
makes me wonder though if they can do anything to get people excited?
no matter what they do, people are going to be sore and skeptical of what it will be.
everyones been begging for KH3, but if they were to announce that how many would be concerned its going to turn into 13?
as i said the other day, $E should be thanking their lucky stars they bought out eidos!
otherwise they would be up sh*t creek without a paddle by now!
only part of the company fans are interested in still.