A step in the right direction.

http://www.p4rgaming.com/?p=1507

0:-) This sort of helps Square-Enix get back to their roots, but between the rest of us, we know how they could do better.


Personally they should play Final Fantasy 6 again just to make a real impact at getting back to their roots. Although, I could be wrong tell me what you think they should play to get back into doing what Square use to be capable of accomplishing.

Well it is a step in the right direction, I'd like to see a return to the simple attack-turn menu based battle system and some new elements and abilities to be incorporated as well. Super Mario RPG was excellent and a good choice to play however there are others that are good to play as well, if I had a choice, I'd take FFIV or FFVI. I'd like to see a return to the medieval or industrial storylines as well.

It's a good initiative but some answers on how to improve the game surprised me:

We should turn the game into an MMORPG.

No. Just no.

My favorite game may be VI but I voted for One. I think the best way to get back to their roots is to look at the oldest and simplest game, because trying to appeal to modern design philosophies is what is truly messing them up. They need to relearn how to do more with less and understand what parts of the game they need to put effort into to make an RPG with good gameplay. After that, they should play Final Fantasy IV, as it was the first game with players having a larger array of options at their disposal and an in depth story, so they can relearn how to expand properly off of a system with solid gameplay and make it less linear. And after that, VI, because it was the peak (IMO) of the series.

The most important thing would be to compare their older games to other games made in the same time period to see what made their games better at each point in time. Then maybe they can figure out what would make new games better than the games in our time. (Spoilers for Square Enix): It's not tutorials or MMORPGs.

If square enix did that, then I can deduce that their employees have not been exposed to the old SNES classics. It is shameful that square-enix does not have a training program for new employees, that mandates them to play the old school games.

I disagree that they should bother with playing one; it is for that reason they are constantly reporting it, III, IV, and V to the point of ridiculousness. And ignoring the constant cash whoring ports looking back at Final Fantasy was the whole idea behind Final Fantasy Dimensions (I forget the japanese name for it) which despite being rather short it had interesting characters and a new take on the crystals with the warriors of Light and Darkness.

Also Crumple; what you just listed was their entire reasoning behind Final Fantasy IX, just so you know.

I think they should go back to Final Fantasy VI, VII, IX, and X. Why? I'll tell you why:

Keep in mind there are some spoilers...and profanity in the following

VI: Final Fantasy VI had many themes running throughout and though there was a ridiculous amount of characters in it; you never really got the sense that any one really got left behind, why? Because the characters were fully developed and were multi-faceted. Final Fantasy VI is all about people and reaching out to others, it is about humanity and love. Every character in the game is in their own way desperately searching for a reason to love, to hope, and even to forgive. It is all about people and because it is, every character down to the simple NPC's had to be fully developed. The necessity for detailed development can be taken from replaying this game.

VII: Final Fantasy VII was great in one aspect (this also delves into X) you had a clear objective very early in the game. After a lot of bullshit and seemingly random danger thrown willy nilly (crossdressing forthewin) it is quite obvious who the "bad guy" is. If it wasn't...something must be wrong with you; no offense. Despite everything that the party goes through it is very clear your intent is to stop Sephiroth; at first from obtaining the 'Promised Land' and then from destroying the Planet via the process of using a rock to summon another rock to smash into an even bigger rock (aka Meteor). Say what you will about Sephiroth (I just want to throw out there that I love pre-crisis Sephiroth and loathe him when his sanity cracks) but he made one thing very clear about VII; he was the villain, he was obstacle to overcome in order to save the planet. What will they take from replaying Final Fantasy VII? A concise objective.

IX: Final Fantasy IX, my favorite Final Fantasy of all. This Final Fantasy is constantly over looking or simply dragged through the mud for little more than the way it looks, and while yes; presentation is in fact important, so is the story and game play. Final Fantasy IX on the surface seems to be a light hearted journey that quickly turns sour and dangerous threatening the very lives of an entire planet for no other reason that the resurrection of another. While on the surface there are plenty of things to like an consider one thing that Final Fantasy IX truly shines in is depth and layers. Final Fantasy IX is all about life. Living. To be able to live. Each person (even Steiner) are looking for a way to live their lives in a fulfilling way, or just to find a way in order to live their life. Zidane has to find a way to live while never knowing his true home, or finding any person like him. Garnet has to find a way to live as a potential ruler of a kingdom despite not knowing how to do so. Steiner has to find a way to live while constantly wondering if he'll ever find someone to love him. Vivi has to face the fact that his life is only far too cruelly temporary and has to come to terms with that. Eiko is looking for a way to live with people (not moogles) who can accept and care for her. Amarant is looking to find a life in which he can find fulfillment, Quina...let's not touch that one. Even the main antagonist, Kuja. By far one of the most developed villains in the franchise.

Kuja's every action through out the entirety of the game was just so that he could continue living. He only ever wanted to live and did everything in his power to try to be able to do that, from dumping Zidane on Gaia to giving himself the ability to go into Trance; all he ever wanted was a chance to live. Something he says shortly after saving the lives of the party and his brother. There are loads more layers than I will even talk about for this one, so for the sake of some kind of brevity I will end this for IX. What will they get for replaying IX? Depth and complex villains.

X: Final Fantasy X took a risk; yes...it did. Namely that risk was Tidus. Frankly; I love Tidus and I'm not lying about that. I do. I think he is a great character. Why? Here's why. He's a main character who had no experience in adventuring or doing things outside of his comfort zone. In fact he was essentially a pampered and idolized sports player. This pampered and comfortable guy gets literally ripped from his world sent into one where he is constantly attacked by unknown monsters, is nearly eaten multiple times, nearly starves and then gets knocked out by some odd people shortly before essentially being placed under indentured servitude...oh and a huge homicidal whale attacks him and he ends up right off the coast of a island supposedly 1000 years into the future. Well f**k, I'd be bitching up even more of a storm than Tidus did. What Final Fantasy X gave was believable characters. A main character that actually...developed. Essentially he was a real person who was thrown into a fantastic and deadly world with little to go by or base off of. He eventually accepted it and grew from it until the final revelation happened and by that time he had already grown to the point of simply accepting it. What else did X bring? Love. Tidus and Yuna fall almost instantly for each other. Despite the fact that she was a summoner going on her pilgrimage the two developed a strong connection and a powerful romance; sure it bordered on the romantic comedy (tragedy?) of films but it was a sort of connection that felt real and familiar. What would they get from replaying X? Believable and strong connections.

Good points there, Sute. That was a fun read.

Personally, I think they should play Xenogears, and have their minds be blown. I'm not sure it would result in better games, but I feel that everyone should play Xenogears!
SMRPG is a lot of fun and was/is an awesome experience that every gamer should have, but it was meant to be light-hearted and whimsical as well as Mario related obviously, so unless they're planing on getting them to develop some more SMRPG-type games like that, then I don't really see the point. =/ I mean, I hope they do...but it's not the best reference to go or start by, IMO.
But it sounds like they may be playing the other greats also afterwords, so all is good.

I find it funny though, and somewhat disgusting, how apparently they are not playing all the great classics that they keep re-releasing! The hell...

Also, about SMRPG:
"Many critics have even praised this game more highly than recently released titles like Final Fantasy XIII."

Hahaha, you think!?

"We should turn the game into an MMORPG."

Can you imagine, SMRPGMMORPG!? LOL Or I guess it would just be SMMMORPG...anyways.

I seriously laughed at this, not in sarcasm but because it's actually funny lol.

One employee was fired after they said that “the ease from going to point A to B on the world map” was one of the top features of the game.

Whatever,FF1,2,3 Very classic but i choose FF4

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that in this article one of the developers said that “the tutorial should be longer and mandatory” for timed hits in SMRPG? I'm a little disappointed that the people developing these games when asked to have --hypothetical-- free reign over how to make the game better could only offer a bunch of awful, awful cliched ideas.