| Impulsivity said: First off, I never really liked Enix that much. They were always an also ran to Square, publishing not quite great games. They were the publishers of a handful of games I did like (Dragon Warrior 4, Brain Lord, Legend of Gaia) but the good games were sporatic and not that great. The best Enix games I can think of wouldn't even make my Square soft top 10.
SNES and PSX era Square though was the opposite. They made some of the most fun, most amazing games that defined the SNES and PSX (and even, to a lesser extent, the PS2) as the place to go for RPGs. From Chrono Trigger, the best of the SNES RPGs, to FF 4 and 6 (6 being a serious contender for that best RPG title) there were just tons of great Square games through the SNES's life cycle. What JRPG fan doesn't think of Secret of Mana...hell even Secret of Evermore...with a smile?
It only got better on the Playstation. Every few months there was an absolutely stellar RPG from Square coming out. Parasite Eve 1 and 2, FFVII, that Ehergize fighting game with the RPG portions, Front Mission, Vagrant Story (the best RPG most people never heard of), Valkryie Profile....the list just goes on and on. If I were to list the best 20 console RPGs of all time, without a doubt at least 15 would be from Square.
On the PS2 things looked good initially, Final Fantasy X was easily the best FF game since 7, they threw out a few curve balls like the Bouncer which were pretty decent though not great and they even started a pretty good new series, Kingdom Hearts. There was a lot to like about Square's future and then suddenly...the Enix merger.
Ever since that merger its like the quality fell off a cliff. They have stopped being Square and have become Enix. They are mainly publishers and the publish crap games. They only have exploitations of their old games and nothing new thats any good...I mean I can't think of a single Square Enix game I have liked in half a decade. In the 5 years the PSX was number one they made 10 of the best games of all time and now they can't manage a single quality title? The closest one is Crisis Core, which isn't bad, but it sure as hell wasn't up to what I would have expected from old square.
Now the Last Remnant comes out and its crap, not a surprise after Infinite Undiscovery and everything else they've pushed out the door in the past few years has been horrifically bad. I'm just continually amazed at how far the best company of the last three generations (well only half of the PS2 gen) has fallen. I find myself ignoring Square now and looking to Atlus, ATLUS! for all my good RPG games. I mean it wasn't that long ago that ATLUS was the also ran putting out substandard games and now its 100% reversed. Persona 3 was the best RPG of the past few years, Square doesn't even have a game in contention.
I'm starting to seriously consider the possibility that Final Fantasy 13 might suck.....think of how horrible that would be. |
I'm also looking to Atlus for all my RPG needs ;)
