GI: Square Enix Outlines New Development Approach

The first is to reconsider its approach to long-term, large scale development, since it requires so much time to get games out the door. The slow development also makes it difficult for teams to give information to fans. "We're no longer in an age where customers are left in the dark until a product is completed," says Matsuda. "We need to shift to a business model where we frequently interact with our customers for our products that are in development." As illustrated by many gamers' frustration with Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a little communication would be nice.

The other two points of the plan include increasing focus on smart devices as gaming platforms, and tailoring each region's game portfolio to appeal specifically to that audience (rather than try to push one game in all territories).

Game Informer: Square Enix Outlines New Development Approach

Well, maybe Final Fantasy: All The Bravest 2 won't get greenlit anymore.

Dammit the only thing I want is Dragon Warrior I HD. I don't want no fucking anime influence. I want "Oh shit there's a giant dragon ahead, a golem running around, and like all these goblins around me. I'm in this really dark, fucking scary Super-HD forest, and I have a wooden sword. I should go find an inn and sleep."

So uhm, Sleepy Dogs 2 is fine too. And it sounds like this new Square Enix isn't that dumb enough to make Final Fantasy XV a PS4 exclusive. All this talk about KickStarter and Steam Greenlight says otherwise.

The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles are new SE, in terms of Japanese games you remember loving in your formative years. The name SE doesnt mean much to me. That doesn't mean that they haven't it out some great games though.

@blu3v3nom07: Every Dragon Quest sucks except VIII.

But hey mobile device Vagrant Story 2 could still be the best game ever made; or Valkyrie Profile 3: Hrist, come on Square make something good not named Final Fantasy out of the blue like it was 1990-2006 again. Or just buy Eidos again, that worked out okay. Tomb Raider/Just Cause 2/Vagrant Story/Valkyrie Profile crossover?

tailoring each region's game portfolio to appeal specifically to that audience (rather than try to push one game in all territories).

Does this mean "we're going to alter each game, instead of directly translate it, to fit different territories as well as possible" or does this mean "we simply aren't going to release JRPG's in the West or FPS games in the East anymore"? Because there seems to be fans of both genres on both sides of the ocean, and a fair number of them too. Both prospects kind of suck, though.

What about 3? Or 4? or 5? Or 6, from a gameplay perspective? Or 9? Or Monsters? Or Monster 2?

'' I don't want no fucking anime influence''

Then dont play japanese games, especially square enix / final fantasy.

Oh cool Vinny needs to be in Sleeping Dogs 2.: Sleep Harder.

Man I really hope they make a sequel to Sleeping Dogs. They had a lot of DLC so I assume they thought it was good enough to support post launch. With that in mind a follow up looks likely. I can only hope that game was really fun and has so much room for improvement also that a sequel done right could be fucking amazing.

The Dragon Ball guy does art for Dragon Quest.

You do realize that every single Dragon Quest game has had its art done by Akira Toriyama, right? You know, the Dragon Ball guy?

I'd buy a WiiU for DQX in English. Not a freaking joke, it's the most :D heavy MMO ever, even if it wasn't for that it'd still be a hella fine MMO with great gameplay, one that I'd rather play with friends and strangers than FF14's remake.

You have my attention now. What's going on? Vagrant Story 2 confirmed?

I'd love a Valkyrie Profile 3: Hrist, but VP2's story was such a fuck-up I'm worried that tri-Ace would screw it up again.

Here's some analysis; maybe don't release a trailer in 2006 for a game you didn't begin production on until 2012. Consider that when that Versus trailer came out, no one had played Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Uncharted, or Modern Warfare. In the time it took them to start working on the piece of crap, an entire console generation passed by. What a bunch of idiots.

They should alter their strategy to no longer let Eidos handle their own marketing. Chances are if an instance of video game marketing is controversial, Eidos is behind the wheel.

@fredchuckdave:

VIII is my personal favourite too, but I think the majority of the DQ games are all quite good. Aside from the bigger world and voice acting, the rest of the games are actually very similar to 8 anyway!

lol what. That's pretty contradictory.

I don't know if I want them to go down a different development cycle. With Final Fantasy XIII-2, Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Theatrhythm, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep and more... Square Enix have been making some of my favourite games of the last few Years.

--Edit-- Although, as other have pointed out. Their PR is pretty atrocious.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with them from here. They make some of my favorite games, so hopefully mostly good comes from this change.

Sleeping Fantasy

This really bothers me; it's not a given that games take a long time to finish now and I have no idea what happened to Square to put them in this position, up to the end of PS2 they were putting out a new FF game in under 2 years, and between those they were putting out 2-3 other games every year, things haven't changed that much and they certainly haven't been innovating on the gameplay or story side.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think we need a new FF every two years, but where's a new Parasite Eve or a proper Kingdom Hearts or even another Bushido Blade, Square used to be crazy awesome, they need to get back to that.

Square Enix doesn't have a dedicated Final Fantasy team creating each game. Final Fantasy X, XI, and XII were all developed by different teams. Final Fantasy XIII was developed by a team largely comprised of staff from X-2, and XIII-2 had the benefit of pre-existing assets and outside help from tri-Ace.

@dixavd said:

In terms of their in-house Japanese studios, I do want them to go down a different development cycle. I think their western studio development is fine with the games you mentioned like Tomb Raider, Sleepy D, and Deus Ex. But it has been absolutely ridiculous how little information we have on Versus XIII. In fact, I think a faster development cycle will only help you get more games like XIII-2 and Birth By Sleep.

I don't presume to know how things worked in Wada-era Squeenix. All I read is that he liked to leave things to the developers, or at least the big teams, and gave them a large amount of freedom. But it seems like XIII and Versus XIII had a problem of having too much freedom. It feels like they started with a broad idea and had a hard time focusing down on things like a battle system or what kind of world they wanted because they didn't have the pressure on them.

Actually, I think part of XIII's problem was that it started as a PS2 game in 2004, and then development shifted to the PS3 because people really liked that Final Fantasy VII tech demo movie. They ended up scrapping a lot of work when they moved to the new console generation and had to build a new game from scratch with HD visuals.

Hopefully it involves making good games. I've said it before and I'll say it again, as a publisher Square is absolutely amazing. Without Square Just Cause 2, Deus Ex: HR, Sleeping Dogs, and the new Tomb Raider wouldn't have been made... probably ever. But as a developer they have had one of the most meteoric falls from grace I've ever seen. XIII was all over the place and XIII-2 was an unnecessary waste of everybody's time. The two games that people are ready to pillage and burn for, Versus XIII and a proper new Kingdom Hearts, are nowhere to be seen and at this point probably will never be made.

They're running out of steam on the coattails from the good graces that they had and people are starting to say fuck Square. Fuck Square. The people responsible for the greatest series of RPG's ever made. It's just sad. It's like watching that old dog you used to have on his last legs before you have to put him down.

And I will say this, fuck Final Fantasy XIV. That single game is most likely the whole reason for this massive clusterfuck.

Dude, not everyone thinks of XIII and XIII-2 the same way you do. FFXIII is a fun game, and XIII-2 fixed a lot of the criticisms of the first. The only legitimate disaster out of the games you've named was FFXIV.

And not everybody thinks of them the same way that YOU do either. XIII is all over the place in terms of the story and how the majority of the party is completely split up until about halfway through the game. I never said it wasn't fun at times. I never even said it was terrible. It was average, and average for a Final Fantasy game simply does not cut it in any way, shape, or form.

XIII-2 was a waste of time because the general consensus, and I'm pulling this figure out of my ass, was that people didn't want any more of Lightning and friends. I can almost guarantee that very few people at the end of XIII were clamoring going, "Oh shit that was amazing! MOAR! NAO!" XIII ended perfectly fine. Did XIII-2 fix some of the criticisms? Yes. But that should just tell you that right there there were plenty of problems in XIII.

For Square to be completely silent on Versus and a new Kingdom Hearts but then release a sequel to one of the lowest rated Final Fantasy games from the main series (excluding known clusterfuck that is XIV) in the past two decades is them basicallly saying, "Shut up. We know better. We know what you want, quicktime events. There. Happy?"

For an additional point here's a quote from Toriyama, "We think many reviewers are looking at Final Fantasy XIII from a western point of view." You don't say! Maybe that's because they're from the fucking west and their readers are from the west you out of touch dope. And a little excerpt from Kitase, "In a lot of senses FFXIII is more like an FPS than an RPG." Oh boy, because that's totally what it felt like.

In conclusion, NOU!

I really like a lot of the games that they've put out this generation. It has never made any sense that so many of their fans explicitly tell them what they want to play and Square Enix continues to make whatever they want and hope for the best.

I'm aware of that.

No need to be rude about it.

What? I don't even know what that is. Did he do Dragon Warrior?

So what's different exactly?

That Square will let us know when games are being made? That sounds like a PR change not a developmental one.

Maybe I'm reading my fears into this, but this sounded more like a plan to focus on Smartphone games and make less big budget console titles....

@blu3v3nom07: yes he did, DW was called Dragon Quest in Japan and like of NES games of that era it had reimgained Americanized box art.

@blu3v3nom07: Japanese Box Art for Dragon Quest 1

If memory servesthe reason it was called Dragon Warrior in the US, is because there was a Warhammer like board game that was popular in the 80's called Dragon Quest which had the trademark.

@slag: Cool.

Well I want this. You throw a dark forest, with huge lightning strikes in in the background. You have golem hiding in the back ground. And throw in some metal slimes just to make it weird.

Turn-Based Strategy only. It needs to scare the shit out of you because you have wooden fucking sword, and you forgot to buy potions. This is Dragon Warrior.

These would also be good influences. I also like the box art. Roll with that.

I still don't know what Dragon Ball is.. Is it good?

@blu3v3nom07: Is Dragon Ball good?

Well that depends I guess on how much you like melodrama Superman-esque karate and goofiness. I like it, it isn't for everybody. It was hugely popular in the 80's and 90's Ran about 1000 episodes between the various tv shows (Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT)? And had a zillion mangas.

It's about 180 degrees different in tone from Dark Souls fwiw. It's pretty light anime. Think Super Mario Bros. silly with karate, with a Journey to the West influences. And lots of yelling. And Power levels over 9000

http://www.giantbomb.com/dragon-ball/3025-971/

http://www.giantbomb.com/dragon-ball-z/3025-159/

@blu3v3nom07 said:

@hailinel said:

@blu3v3nom07 said:

Dammit the only thing I want is Dragon Warrior I HD. I don't want no fucking anime influence. I want "Oh shit there's a giant dragon ahead, a golem running around, and like all these goblins around me. I'm in this really dark, fucking scary Super-HD forest, and I have a wooden sword. I should go find an inn and sleep."

You do realize that every single Dragon Quest game has had its art done by Akira Toriyama, right? You know, the Dragon Ball guy?

What? I don't even know what that is. Did he do Dragon Warrior?

Dragon Warrior is just the English title of the original Dragon Quest (renamed in North America due to trademark issues at the time). That cover art was made by western marketing at a time when anime wasn't particularly popular or known in the west. A lot of games had "westernized" box art in those days.

@hailinel: Huh. The more you know. I still like my idea better than yours.

A cookie if you know who the guy on the right is!

@levio:Nope. Is he like Jesus?

Mine's not an idea. It's reality. :P

@levio: A real cookie? :D

That's Majin Vegeta.

@hailinel: The reality is Square ain't making money. They need that Dark Souls money. Not anime money. Anime-loved money led to Dragon Quest X, which didn't sell dick on any platform. They could just keep on doing on 3DS, but that won't make console money. Dark Souls, and then Demon Souls, and then Dark Souls 2: all prove that people go crazy for good stuff that is good. Not just alright.

Is New-Square really new? Or "Nah son, shit ain't new. New Square is gonna get you all the Final Fantasy you don't really-really-kinda-sorta don't want."

That's reality. :P

Dragon Quest X is an MMO, by the way. It's not a traditional Dragon Quest title. That might have contributed to it.

And you have honestly no idea how popular Dragon Quest as a whole is or how ingrained Toriyama's art is in the look and feel of the games. Going Dark Souls on the franchise would kill it, Bomberman: Act Zero style.

@hailinel: Yea it probably would kill it. Dark Souls is making all this money, that New-Square will never get. They're totally new, and they totally changed. Final Fantasy XIII-IV is gonna be so dope.

What do you think New-Square is?

No, I mean kill the franchise in a bad way, not in the slang "good" way.

At this point, it's obvious that you either have a complete lack of knowledge on the subject or are just trolling.

@hailinel: Fucking.. It would kill the fucking franchise, I know.

But what do you think New-Square is?

Smart enough to not fucking murder Dragon Quest by turning it into Dark Souls.

@hailinel:Dark Souls beat Square at its own game. The fantasy genre. They're just gonna keep on milking that franchise, even with new ideas and spinoffs, and make money.

If New-Square don't want any money that's cool, but no money is not gonna help Final Fantasy grow anywhere.

The fantasy genre takes many forms, as does the RPG genre. And given Dragon Quest's popularity in Japan, the last thing they're going to do is fuck up the art style because Dark Souls-style dark fantasy is a popular flavor of the month.

@hailinel: That's probably still true. The reality is that Square has a new President, that's looking at iOS, KickStarter, and Steam more closely than ever. Its so fucking easy to just making a Dragon Quest: Bad Ass Edition, and keep that anime shit on 3DS. That one sells money. Cuz shit, good shit sure looks good rezzed up on Steam, huh? Like fucking Dark Souls. PC kids eat that shit up.

It's not even worth talking to you at this point. You're clueless.

Tell you what, Square, just give me the original score for Versus XIII.

I can't imagine the game itself being especially groundbreaking, or even coherent, at this stage, but Yoko Shimomura's never done me wrong. She'll make this all worth it.

This is the quote that scares me. The others sound all fine, but like you said, there are some potentially scary implications behind this one. The least offensive interpretation I would accept is that they're going to stop trying to make their JRPG's in ways that they think appeal to the west, and stop trying to make their Eidos games in a way that appeals to the east. Though admittedly I hadn't noticed the latter was a problem, but then again, I don't live in Japan. Regardless, I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

@encephalon Whoa, I didn't know she was doing the score. You just made me way more excited for that game.