You own Square-Enix: What's the next step for Final Fantasy?

[OliverTwist72]

Square-Enix is obviously trying to expand into new areas with Just Cause 2, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and...err...Mindjack...but what about it's baby of sorts?

I think this is misinformed, SE did not develop these games. It is just publishing them. You don't credit EA for Dragon Age/Mass Effect do you?

The problem SE has with the Final Fantasy series is that western gamers love it because of its JRPG tendancies, however Japanese game designers are trying to "modernize" their games by making them more appealing to westerners. This is just my opinion of course.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I tried to watch the FF15 trailer earlier and it bored the crap out of me. I couldn't finish it It was like watching businessmen fight monsters in the street. What on earth...

 

[ABLb0y]

a game entirely centred around Vanille, preferably without Fang. She had so much potential, just a shame they decided to kill her off. Killing Fang off i can understand, but could someone please explain to me why the most likable character ever had to die?

 

[Mad1Cow]

Square Enix boardroom:
"Right, people of the cinematics departments, general self-esteemed story writers. Today we are going to convert Final Fantasy from a gaming franchise to a filming franchise. Any questions?"

Why not? It seems the most logical step seeing as they're making the games less and less immersive. Why not just let them have a film, most people I know who still like Final Fantasy like the cinematics and the story, but agree the gameplay is a little tedious and the story-telling isn't really original. Then why not just make films? Or better yet, TV series, it means they can still be 20 hours worth of story, but not in an epic, OOO I really need to go to the toilet but I don't want to miss a bit of action thing. It just seems like the most sensible thing to do.

Either that or give it to someone else to have a shot, saying they can do whatever they want with it. Sort of what Devil May Cry is doing now only with more freedom and less making it look the same...

 

[Mushroom Wobbit]

cut funding to the graphics department, and give it to the writers and designers to make a game thats actually good, we can make it prettier when we release our game of the year addition! >:O

 

[_Russell_]

Remake Final Fantasy XIII almost exactly the same just to fuck with people

LOL

And the Evil-Genius award goes to... Casimir_Effect

 

[Redweaver]

Hmmmmmm...

Step 1. Full HD remakes of FF1-9 taking advantage of new hardware and next-gen graphics. Release them as both physical disks and downloads in every brick-and-mortar and cyber-market possible for every major platform; console, handheld and PC. Take this opportunity to polish and bug-fix everything from the character models and combat mechanics to storyline and translation. Remind the world of why the FF series deserves it's place in the pantheon of video game greatness.

Step 2. Create a primarily American/Western team that will be in charge of the next FF installment. This time, instead of creating a JRPG and "westernizing" it, we'll make sure the characters/art design/story appeals to a western audience, and then send it to a Japanese team to sprinkle on some of that special eastern flavor that grounds it in FF cannon. Give it some online multiplayer aspects, like pvp arenas, gathering/player event areas, and a multiplayer quest hub that's not full on MMO but will let a party of players enjoy random dungeons/quests together with xp and gear that goes back to your single player game with you. Make the release truely global on a single day with lots of special "opening week" events and DLCs. Continue to offer updates/DLCs including quest packs, an online gear/item store with stock that changes daily as well as special anniversary and holiday events. Some details would include: Getting rid of the "invisible monsters ambush you!" random battles in favor of avoidable models visible as you run around so players can have more control of the pacing of the game and amount of grinding they do. All the bloated, pretentous, masturbatory story/cutscenes would be diminished thus favoring "game with cutscenes" over "interactive movie" like the early FFs. Cosmetic gear options to get the look you want with the stats you desire instead of forcing players to wear what they feel is ugly gear just because it has good stats.

Step 3. Enjoy profits while thinking of how to make the FF after that one again "the same but different and better".

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I tried to watch the FF15 trailer earlier and it bored the crap out of me. I couldn't finish it It was like watching businessmen fight monsters in the street. What on earth...

FF 15? What the heck are you talking about?
I think you mean VERSUS XIII. The Fabula Nova spinoff made by the Kingdom Hearts team.

lol probably someone mentioned it earlier and I looked it up thinking I hadn't heard of anything about it, I'm glad you pointed that out to me because by gods that game looked terrible.

 

[Mr_Nibbs]

Just one thing: BRING BACK THE TURN BASED COMBAT

 

[jboking]

Make a final fantasy set in the real world in modern times where the final fantasy setting is being overlay-ed on top of it. Where humans fighting humans often use guns, but fighting the monsters that are starting to turn up can only be done with "noble weapons" so guns won't be the only weapon in the game. Make magic technology instead. Fire-bombs, Liquid-nitrogen, batteries, etc.

Maybe make the plot twist at the end that the main character is just schizophrenic and seeing things, including his party members. Maybe have the last enemy he fights be a human instead of a monster and he successfully kills his enemy and begins getting hunted down by the police.

Sad ending: End game is the main character strapped up in a crazy person vest and sitting in a white padded room with visions of Yazimat being in the room as well. Cue screaming ending.

Good ending: Main character gets shot while running away from the cops and it triggers a heavy hallucination where he sees his 'friends' and 'world' in the distance and walks with them into the end.

Final Fantasy needs more sad endings.

 

[Thomas Bingham]

My first step? Job System. It's back.Big time.

 

[Sephychu]

Try and do something new. Like, new-er.
I'd like them to continue not listening to the very loud dislikers of FF XIII. Also to stop making MMOs. They're rubbish.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I sell my stock and move to a company that isn't deliberately trying to rape my childhood.

Barring that option...unload both barrels into the back of the franchise's head. It's time to end this farce.

Square-Enix has done a Jekyll and Hyde, with the first 10 years of their company being nothing short of phenomenal success, and the second half of their company's life being nothing but franchise-exploitation, market violation, and shitty game after shitty game.

There is no future for Final Fantasy, because Squeenix as we know it is broken. Broken beyond repair.

 

[Shirokurou]

Make Nomura head game director. He knows what he's doing.
Rehire Nobuo Uematsu.
Concentrate on story, to make it more personal to the heroes and the player.
Scrap any MMO projects that are still there.
Screw the fans whining with "it's downhill since FF(insert number)" and persevere.

Out of all the comments on this thread, this one more realistically depicts what I'd wish/hope to do if I was actually in the insane position of owning Square Enix. So, for lack of a better term... this *points upwards*

Although I was also beginning to see the argument some comments were making along the lines of concentrating more on movies.

I just don't see FF dying out completely, I have such a difficulty to think it would, and I don't know if it could drastically change to movies - it seems like quite a jump.

Definitely drop the MMOs though. If there is a point... why are they making them? It's not doing them many favours (I'm only coming from a consumer point of view where all I read about it is negative!)

Why thank you for the nice words.

+ 1 point.
As an approach to subsidiary studios, (a-la Eidos) continue the current approach of not making them do something they don't know, like JRPGs and aiding them with the cinematic division.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

The next step for Final Fantasy?
Simple:

Destroy
1) No more unnecessary remakes, seriously, we don't need FF I and II to appear on every platform mankind ever made.

2) No more Final Fantasy MMOs.

Create
1) Make Final Fantasy X-0 (okay, that's one hell of a stupid name, but you know what I mean) in which we follow the story of Jecht, Auron en Braska.

2) Make a prequel to Final Fantasy IX. I don't know if anyone is going to agree with me on this, but I want to know more about Zidane's journey trying to find his home. Obviously he went to Dali before, met up with Freya and falsely accused Amarant of being a criminal... But what else?

3) Make another movie and/or game in the Compilation Of Final Fantasy VII series to fix all the paradoxes, errors and dubious events. Seriously, that story is a mess.

4) Make Final Fantasy XV, which will have an overhead world map, 8 playable characters, moogles, two dozens of summons, tons of magic/skills/whatever, epic environments the likes of FF IX, enemies that are NOT copy/pasted throughout the game and does NOT incorporate bullshit terms like Magicite, l'Cie or whatever.

Also, the gameplay should be a combination of the best the series had to offer in the past. Each character will have his own, unchangeable profession you cannot choose yourself (FF II, IV, VI, IX). However, you will be able to add an extra change to your stats and moves by equipping Job Spheres (FF III, V, X-2) in a Materia-like fashion (FF VII) which can be individually trained through a small sphere grid (FF X). And the aforementioned summons will be equipped to characters of your own choosing (FF VIII, but without the retarding draw-system).

However, I'm not sure if the battle system should be turn based, conditional turn-based, ATB or ADB...

 

[Juventus]

what is it with people's obsession with remakes? how about we move forward instead of backwards.

if you like the game so much, go play the original version.

 

[Redweaver]

what is it with people's obsession with remakes? how about we move forward instead of backwards.

if you like the game so much, go play the original version.

Because the original versions are in some cases hard to find collectables and in most cases look like crap not to mentions bugs/issues. Most people who want remakes are mostly talking about graphics, and I see nothing wrong with wanting your favorite game to look prettier.