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Japan Popularity Contest: Dragon Quest Tops Final Fantasy

Ben-Dutka 10 Comments

While Japanese gaming tastes have shifted in recent years, they still have an affinity for certain genres that have fallen off in other regions.

And you might be surprised at what ranks atop the "Most Popular JRPG" list for gamers in the Land of the Rising Sun.

The poll results were published in a recent Famitsu issue (as cited by HardcoreGamer ). And if you were expecting Final Fantasy to easily take the #1 spot, you were mistaken:

Interesting, no? Of course, Dragon Quest has been running every bit as long as Final Fantasy and it's no surprise to see two of the oldest RPG franchises in the industry sitting atop the list. Still, did you think DQ would really top FF…?

For me, it's interesting. Obviously, FF is #1 but Suikoden is actually my #2 and aside from Dragon Quest VIII , I don't really care about the latter franchise at all. The recently released Dragon Quest Heroes was basically a waste of my time. I'd also maybe put Legaia and Star Ocean up there somewhere as well. What about you?

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Does Final Fantasy’s Greatness Rely Too Heavily On Nostalgia?

Ben-Dutka 10 Comments

It's a question that needs to be asked.

Final Fantasy will go down in history as one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. I suppose if Square Enix persists on this downward spiral that began with Final Fantasy XIII , it'll continue to lose a lot of that hard-earned respect and mystique.

But millions will never forget what FF once was: The series that essentially defined core gaming for decades. Whether or not the franchise earned every scrap of its accolades remains up for discussion but personally, despite the downfall, I still – and may forever – say that Final Fantasy is my favorite game IP ever. I think the last truly great one was FFXII, though, and it begs the aforementioned question…

Honestly, though, I think the answer is quite simple: We can't really say a game like Final Fantasy VII is just plain superior to any game today (by today's standards, the story, character development, and of course, the graphics, are just ridiculous). It's even more ridiculous when we start talking about the SNES iterations. However, it's not about comparing them to what we have now; it's just about trying to remember how far ahead of the game (pun intended) they were then, and why everyone remembers them so damn fondly .

There are a ton of games that we recall with smiles on our faces. That's what nostalgia does . But FF fans have a special place in their hearts for these games, and that's what tells me this goes well beyond nostalgia. The experiences made permanent, lasting impressions when they first came out, and those experiences remain firmly entrenched. That's the mark of something fantastic at the time , regardless of how it would seem today.

So no, nostalgia has nothing to do with the franchise's greatness. Everything Final Fantasy achieved then – which continues to stick with so many of us – is what makes it so great. The nostalgia part just makes us keep saying things like "FFVII is still the greatest RPG of all time." 😉

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Final Fantasy Creator Sakaguchi Lands Lifetime Achievement Award

Ben-Dutka 3 Comments

Regardless of how far the franchise has fallen, this award is still well-deserved.

The creator of the legendary role-playing franchise, Final Fantasy , will receive a lifetime achievement award at the 15th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, which will be held on March 4 in San Francisco.

Hironobu Sakaguchi was director of planning and development at Square Company, Ltd. and he helped create the landmark RPG. For those who don't know, the original title was called "Final Fantasy" because Sakaguchi planned to leave the industry if the project proved unsuccessful. If it failed, Square would go under and that would be that. But obviously, that's not what happened. Said GDC events general manager Meggan Scavio:

"Final Fantasy helped pave the way for game stories that dealt with death, regret and character development in a mature and significant way, and we’re proud to honor Sakaguchi-san as a true leader in the space, and an inspired game developer."

When Sakaguchi accepts his reward, try and blot out the likes of Lightning Returns and just attempt to remember the greatness that once was. And don't forget that there was a time in the first PlayStation generation when Squaresoft absolutely could not go wrong. Everything they touched turned to gold and that even included a side-scrolling arcade-style shooter ( Einhander ).

For the sake of this nostalgia trip, we'll conveniently gloss over Ehrgeiz. 😉

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Hey, Remember When MGS And FF Were Exclusive To Sony?

Ben-Dutka 32 Comments

I'm merely making an observation.

There was a time when the revered Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy franchises were exclusive to the PlayStation platform. And yes, thank you Nintendo fans, I know FF started out on the NES.

My point is this: Has anyone noticed that if most people list the best entries in each series, they're almost always talking about the titles that were exclusive to PS1 and PS2…?

No, I'm not saying Microsoft's emergence made both franchises take a dive. That doesn't even make any sense. I'm not saying that just because developers had to start making entries for both platforms, the games suffered in quality. Like I said, it's just an observation. I know a lot of gamers who say Final Fantasy XII was the last great installment in the legendary franchise and coincidentally, it was also the last iteration that was exclusive to PlayStation. A new generation comes along, Square Enix releases FFXIII for Xbox 360 and…hmm…

And I'm not saying Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance wasn't a great game, because it kinda was. It was also a spin-off and not an official entry in the MGS series, so said creator Hideo Kojima. But did it hold a candle to any of the MGS entries on PlayStation? And, looking down the road, will The Phantom Pain be seen as one of the best MGS titles ever, better even than MGS1 through MGS4? I mean, I'm just saying .

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Bravely Default’s Success Making Square Enix Think Twice

Ben-Dutka 21 Comments

We at PSXE have been saying for years that Square Enix has a seriously messed-up view of the gaming industry and their loyal fanbase.

And it may have taken way too long, but perhaps the recent success of a JRPG in Western territories has finally allowed the once-great Squaresoft to see the light.

A tipster sent us a link to an article at VentureBeat , and it cites the financial success of Bravely Default , the acclaimed 3DS RPG. The game sold 400,000 copies in Japan and managed to sell over 600,000 in the rest of the world, bringing the total to 1 million sold. With this success, it seems Square Enix is rethinking things.

Here's what company president Yosuke Matsuda had to say in a recent interview with Japanese newspaper Nikkei:

"In the past, when we developed console games with a worldwide premise, and we lost our focus. And not only did [those releases] end up being games that weren’t for the Japanese, but they ended up being incomplete titles that weren’t even fit for a global audience."

Interestingly, the latest Final Fantasy iteration – Lightning Returns – had a much bigger budget and the legendary name, and it only performed on par with Bravely Default . This has turned out to be quite the revelation for Matsuda and company, especially after each of the previous three FF titles declined steeply in the sales and acclaim categories. Added Matsuda:

"On the other hand, there are games like the JRPG [Bravely Default that] we made for the Japanese audience with the proper [and familiar] elements. [That] ended up selling well around the world."

Could they finally be waking up? Well, based on what we've heard so far concerning Final Fantasy XV , I'd have to say "no." Guess we'll have to wait and see, though.

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Oh, So NOW Square Enix Wants To Know What We Think?

Ben-Dutka 36 Comments

I'm sorry, but I could only have one reaction to this :

Rage.

Is it a good idea to survey the fans to decide upon a direction for a franchise? Sure. Will Square Enix act upon the feedback they receive from those fans? I don't know, but at least they asked , so here's hoping the Kingdom Hearts franchise will benefit in the long run. I'd like to assume that the KHIII developers know what they're doing.

What's so infuriating about this poll is that I don't recall ever seeing any such survey for the once-revered Final Fantasy franchise. Years of decline and all we ever heard was that Square Enix acknowledged the backlash; there's zero evidence of that acknowledgement in recent FF titles, but whatever. I really don't remember ever seeing a survey like this and if such a survey did exist, I can almost guarantee I could've predicted the results and hence, Square Enix flat-out ignored them.

What I want to see now is simple: Just do the same thing with Final Fantasy . Hold a Facebook survey for that franchise and see what happens. After the world exploded with frustration and bitterness, maybe then they'll figure it out. Maybe.

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