I can understand people who love SquareEnix and bought a PS3 early on being pissed at them right now. Particularly if they don't want to or can't buy a 360, for whatever reason. FFXIII is taking a long time, and SE hasn't released a single game for the system in over 2 years, while the company has released around twenty games for the other systems on the market. Even the PC has better SE support... that's just weird.
When I first got a PS2 and walked into gamestop to check out what games I'd been missing, it was like walking into a Japanese import store. All kinds of rpgs and niche genres I'd never dreamed of actually playing called to me from the shelves. Who would have thought that the console that was so loved by Japanophiles (myself included) would be succeeded by such a drought?
However, anyone arguing that SquareEnix as an entire company has turned to rot needs look at the DS releases of the past month.
Dragon Quest V, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, and Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time are all games that are good enough to remind me of the old Squaresoft (or Enix, in the case of DQ...).
I've already beaten the first two games on that list, and a few hours of Echoes of Time has already convinced me that it's a HUGE improvement over the game they released last year. You can drop in and out of other people's games at any save spot in multiplayer and play through the entire story together (take that Molyneux,) the story is more concise and well-paced, like a SNES era game, with less annoying voice acting to muddle through, the controls have been improved, the difficulty is ramped up and much closer to Secret of Mana, the boss fights are fun and not too easy, the puzzles are less simplistic, the magic system has been improved, and you can play online with up to four people (haven't tried online play yet, though).
Basically, Echoes of Time is the game they wanted to make last year, but didn't have the time for. I am enjoying it immensely.
*edit* Oh yeah, and there's now a chrono-trigger style world map where you can jump around and beat up your friends while you explore.
If you're a big RPG fan and find yourself visiting more and more forums in the hopes of finding news about RPGs for the PS3, I highly recommend picking up a DS. You can probably find one for cheap, and they'll be even cheaper once the DSi comes out. The great console games will come (I hope), but for me this is looking like the year of the DS, with the quantity of 2008 and the quality stepped up to a whole new level.
