| Son1x said: I just don't like the fact that SE doesn't make as many JRPGs as before (or well Square and Enix individualy). I mean on PS1, we had FF, Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story, Chrono Cross, SaGa Frontier, FF Tactics, Legend of Mana and Xenogears from Square and Dragon Quest VII, Star Ocean 2, Valkyrie Profile from Enix. Next generation we still got FFs, Dragon Quest, Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, Unlimited SaGa, Romancing SaGa, a Mana game, Radiata Stories, Kingdom Hearts. Now we have what... Star Ocean 4, and thats about it. Then Dragon Quest X + FF XIII (and versus) coming, and thats about it for now... |
No, he has a point. He didn't name everything that has come out (There's been a Front Mission game, a Chrono port, A Mana game, some games from Browniw Brown like Magical Vacation 2, etc), but he brings up an important point. In this gen, SquareEnix has basically made upwards of 40+ (last time I checked) Final Fantasy titles since 2004. And about 12 Dragon Quest titles. But in all that time...where's all their past 'major' series? Where's a new Chrono title? Where's the Mana series? Where's Brave Fencer Musashi, Bushido Blade, Parasite Eve, etc? It really seems like this generation, the only thing SquareEnix cares about is their 'three pillars', which consist of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts.
Now I'm not railing against them for this. I mean, the PSX and PS2 Mana games didn't really sell all that well. And the Front Mission titles never sold all that well ever. But when you go back and look at some of their now seemingly 'defunct' series like Mana or Chrono, you begin to see that it may not have been simply because of a lack of sales...but moreso because of a lack of developer focus. Or another way of putting it is...more emphasis and money put on one of the other 'main' series (mostly Final Fantasy). Most people know how Chrono Cross was heavily delayed and released incomplete, rumored due to the development of Final Fantasy VIII and Xenogears near the same time. Well perhaps many of the same practices have cut down the games of this gen (or even just shut down their projects completely to make way for another 'Final Fantasy' game).
I can still remember that famous interview with the head creative producer of 'The World Ends With You' stating they wouldn't be able to make another game like that ever again. I wonder why? Too different from the current SquareEnix policy...or are they being 're-assigned' to make a Final Fantasy sequel/remake?
Six upcoming games you should look into:
