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IcaroRibeiro on 29 April 2026
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Chrkeller said:
IcaroRibeiro said:

While it's true E33 is indeed better than anything Square have ever released, I disagree with the notion Square has any lessons to learn here, or has to change how they make their RPGs 

Simply put, E33 is almost exactly how Square make their turn based games: The narrative beats, combat system and gameplay loop. The Blueprint for E33 is Square's turn based games. What E33 changed is the inclusion of reaction in the middle of the battle which is, mind you, by far the most divisive element of the game at least among E33 target audience: The JRPG community 

Two teams following roughly same route can still have varying degrees of quality in the end, overall Square output in terms of turn based RPGs are still in the positive side

what they really need to fix is their mediocre action RPGs 

For the most part I agree, except with time and costs.  Square needs to develop faster and cheaper.  FF Remake is 2020 and the trilogy will be complete when?  $150,000,000 on Rebirth isn't sustainable.  I think there is some efficiency to be gained.  Personally, I think they need to streamline a bit more.  I honestly think 25% of Rebirth could have been cut and it would have been a better game.  I really enjoyed Rebirth, but the forced card game, mini games in Del Sol and tossing boxes as Cait..  I would personally like to see Square focus on quality over game length.  Their games feel forced to me.  Both Rebirth and FF16 are far too long, especially FF16.  Perhaps it is bias on my side, but not having enough time, but like Octopath 2, does it really need to be 80 hours?  

Where E33 beat out Square (for me) is the streamlined nature.  I never got bored.  They did a great job at pacing and kept the game interesting.  it was hard to put down.  While sections of Rebirth and FF16, I was bored and baffled at why it was included.  

Side note, I ****ing love Triangle, that game is fantastic.  

They are different studios with different cost structure, Square has to pay for higher wages and have a more in-house producing for things like modeling and engines

E33 used a lot of default assets from Ureal 5, and some of their work was actually unpaid labor of people who volunteered (you can find their threads recruiting aspiring voicing actors on reddit, when they were still on development)

This is the same as saying Nintendo needs to learn with Team Cherry on how to make cheaper Metroidvanias when developing their next 2D Metroid 

FF is a open world and the gameplay loop is more like real time strategy with pause, not turm based. E33 is story driven and turn based (with reaction)

Imo FF cannot be compared to E33 in a meaningful way with such a different gameplay loop, maybe Xenoblade X is a better comparison?