This isn't just about Final Fantasy , nor is it about Square Enix being a depressing shadow of its former self.
This is simply about the past, and about the fact that for several years during the original PlayStation generation, a company called Squaresoft could do no wrong. Just about everything they touched turned to gold. And I mean gold .
And you know, Squaresoft would've solidified its legacy with only the four Final Fantasy titles in that era (FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FF Tactics). That would've been one hell of a run for just about any developer on the face of the earth. But Squaresoft not only made other games, they made other masterful titles. On top of which, they even found success in completely different genres. Brave Fencer Musashi didn't score off the charts but it was a solid action/adventure title, and Einhander was a really excellent side-scrolling space shooter. Okay, so Ehrgeiz was a bit of a slip (mastering the fighting genre eluded Squaresoft) but even that wasn't exactly terrible. It was actually playable.
Chrono Cross is still widely regarded as one of the finest games of all time; not merely one of the best RPGs in history. Vagrant Story offered a look at something very different; a turn-based/real-time hybrid similar to what we saw in Parasite Eve , only with a vastly different setting, theme and style. Legend of Mana may have annoyed old-school Secret of Mana aficionados but the bottom line is that it was still beautiful. You don't see hand-drawn artistry like that anymore, and it was still a really great game in its own right. Threads of Fate was yet another top-notch RPG. And should we also mention Xenogears , another RPG that is viewed as being one of the best ever ? I mean, it was just insane.
I'm sure I'm missing a few but you get the point. The point is that in those days, if you were an RPG fan or even just a hardcore gamer at heart, if the box said "Squaresoft" on it, you bought it. Done. There really wasn't even a thought process involved. I don't think another developer has done that before or since. One could argue for maybe Rockstar or Naughty Dog, but either they haven't expressed the same level of diversity (and quality diversity) or they simply haven't made as many games as Squaresoft did in those days. And I'm just not sure we'll ever see another game maker like good ol' Square ever again.
The only Naughty Dog games I don't like are Jak 2 and Crash 1.
Last edited by Riku994 on 12/7/2012 11:50:59 PM
Yeah every single niche and high profile game made in the PS1 era by Squaresoft blew me away.
But that era is long gone.
A new era of bringing out new games that nobody wants, while permanently delaying the ones that we do want, has replaced us.
I would give up my career and become a stripper in exchange for Square-Enix ever making one good (not just okay) game again. Do you hear me Square-Enix???
lmao. nice.
Don't ever leave the site. We need a woman-gamer with a good sense of humour around these parts.
Atlus became my new Squaresoft a while ago with there consistent quality of the SMT titles.
I just with they output that Square had.
Had another idea for a lengthy editorial today but have no place to talk so this is a good place to mention the idea in brief:
Perhaps SquareEnix wasn't even with us when it was Squaresoft. Those games (aside from Final Fantasy) may not have been huge blockbusters as we remember them, but they were the best games of those times. That is to say, where the momentum was.
And also perhaps all Square was the whole time was an opportunist, now doing what they always planned to do: go with what is popular.
It's fun to flip things around like this, seek alternative explanations. 🙂
I'm fairly certain FFVII was popular…
Indeed sir, and was our favorite game company happy that they brought us a fantastical adventure? Or were they happy they simply brought what gamers were asking for at that time?
Based on what came after, I'd say Squaresoft was comprised of a group of extraordinary individuals who couldn't help but make great games their fans actually wanted to play.
i dont believe we'll see another squaresoft in the sense of the amount of quality of games they produced mainly because production times for games have increased which doesnt allow for companies to produce as many games in a console cycle as they used too. However i believe we already have companies similar to Squaresoft in the aspect of consistent quality, knowing that regardless of what the produce itll be good, i.e. NaughtyDog, Santa Monica, Quantic Dream etc. Whenever I, and I believe most others, see a game made by those companies I will always consider it
Dont forget Kingdom Hearts. That was an amazing RPG from Squaresoft.
that was not too long before the became Square-Enix if im not mistaken.
I remember playing that, and then getting FF:Ta and KH:COM and seeing the Square_enix logo and being like "wtf"
i really hope that square gets their act together and gets back to its roots, and i think i speak for alot of my fellow psextremers when i say that.
Oh yes, back then anything Squaresoft touched just turned into gold. even other titles than Final Fantasy, The Bouncer is a very nice Streets of Rage styled game (Just a shame the story isn't 2 player). While this gen they have been very absent. If anything, they have focused more on the portable consoles. All the re-releases of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, spreading out Kingdom Hearts on 6 consoles so no one can enjoy it. Then you look at the PS3/360 releases and it's rather slim, heck even the 360 got other games like The Last Remnant and Infinite Discovery – though unlike back in the Squaresoft days these titles were just weak – Hence why we didn't get the port of The Last Remnant.
Maybe they do need to stop focusing on re-selling the old content and produce new consoles. There is no doubt that the Square name has weakened ever since they formed S-E. Hopefully they will realize the effect of turning XIII into a franchise and keep each FF singular. I don't think XIII-2 has even reached the Greatest Hits range has it?
If soft ever wanted to come back, i would start a fund raiser for them. I don't even know how to start fundraisers but for soft? I would learn how. They deserve to come back. At the start the merge seemed ok but clearly something has gone terribly wrong. I wonder how they view FF right now. Their masterpiece turned into a money whore.
RockStar?