Parasite Eve and Parasite Eve II were an rpg and survival-horror game that were really trying to be American, they took place in America and at least attempted to make a game that American's could identify with. Bushido Blade had a lot of playability issues, but was one of the first attempts at a fighting game that had realistic damage parameters. Was it annoying to have your head chopped off and lose a battle in one move? Perhaps, but it was an interesting take on the fighting genre and made it distinct from similar games like Soul Edge. Einhander is my favorite of Square's various dabbling in non-rpg genres. Einhander is a R-Type style shooter, a vertical shooter that had very dramatic camera angle changes and a clean polygonal style. The game may not be as sublime and exhilarating as games like Thunder Force V, but it was a solid shooter with an intriguing steam-punky dystopian style that was grimy and bleak, something I had rarely seen from the genre previously. Einhander is not the worlds greatest vertical shooter, but it represented a nice step by Square into that genre and was a nice diversification of their catalog.
Which goes onto my major question for everyone. What kind of games do you think SE should be making right now? Should they just stick to strip-mining their base with their most popular franchises or should they experiment and try to make games like Einhander, Bushido Blade and yes, even games like The Bouncer? Does the possible purchase of Eidos and their revamping of the Taito brand make my point mute? I ere on the side of maximum creativity, but then again I don't pay the bills at SE.
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