On the spoiler, indeed. Many fans of the old game mentioned this exact issue, I even read it in a review. A new player would not have understood so much.

Which is why one person in a thread before FF7Remake even released simply said "this isn't a remake of FF7, it's a remake of the FF7 Compilation." All the extended universe tripe (these are my words not theirs) that didn't matter.

If I recall, most fans of FF7 and FF in general even back when it was announced said it was a terrible idea and most knew it was only because they wanted to milk people for all their worth. As soon as it was announced by SquEnix that it would be multiple games, you knew it was going to not be a remake but something else because barely an hour of narrative and 3-4 hours of gameplay cannot be turned into a 30 hour RPG without adding stuff.

Persona and Yakuza are waaaaaaay more popular than they were 10+ years ago. I would definitely say that Persona is more popular than Final Fantasy with the younger generation. Why are we just putting Final Fantasy up against JRPG's? NO! Rebirth is competing with any other AAA game period. A perfect example is Dragon's Dogma, who definitely ate a piece of the pie. Hell, it had the bigger piece.

Final Fantasy's problem is definitely its shrinking fanbase. Looking at Final Fantasy 7 - 15; Not counting any form of rereleases, Final Fantasy has a solid fanbase of about 8 million. There are some underperformers like Final Fantasy IX (5.5 mill) and over performers like Final Fantasy VII and the top dog Final Fantasy XV(which was really just super hype about game in development hell finally coming out), but generally speaking SE could rely on at least 8 million people buying the games. These 8 million people are mostly the same people since FF7 and were getting other older. Final Fantasy would still be shrinking regardless of any miss steps.

Take that and then combine with all the other things like higher competition, It being a 3 parts(Older fans with families are more likely not to make it to the end), time(less of it or not the right time), Not liking Remake ext. I hate to say it, but XVII needs not to be aimed at the 30+ fan. XVI gained some younger fans most likely at the expense of older fans, but those new youngers, if taken care of will be here much longer than the older ones will even if they are taken care of. They need to really focus on getting Japanese fans back. 

Some people are saying that Final Fantasy needs a reboot. Kinda strange because every Final Fantasy is a reboot. What could a reboot for Final Fantasy mean? Should Final Fantasy XVII be called XVII? Is it time for a new main artist? Is it time for a new sound? There are always carried elements: Summons, Chocobos, moogles, Monsters, ect. Are you guys tired of the mandatory Bahumut, Malboro, King Tonberry, Catuar fightings in every game? I am. Maybe a new look? X is still the most distinguished look for Final Fantasy. Idk, but what I do know is that Final Fantasy needs a adrenaline boost big time. 

Oh yeah well those are the time consuming ones true.  Had to grind a bunch of materia in the final cave and Aeris' limit break I have no idea how anyone would get it without a guide.  The most random thing I've heard of since bombing a random area in Zelda got an area unlocked.

I'm not sure about the West, but Yakuza has shrunk in the past 10 years in Japan just like FF did. I doubt the Persona user base is exactly young either since it derives a lot of its appeal from high-school nostalgia and these games have never shied away from a Mature rating.

I agree that FF competes with games in general for attention and that's why sales declined when their quality declined. Let's not just pretend that JRPGs are exactly a popular genre, it has always had limited reach and appeal except for the PS1/PS2 FFs and FF still towers over these other franchises even in decline.

It could be argued that by trying to appeal to the nostalgia of older players who grew up with FF7 in the 90s, as well as bringing in younger players by extensively modifying the experience, Square may have ended up in the awkward position of not really appealing to either.

Many older fans seem to be put off by the major changes made to the gameplay and story, while younger players may be disinterested simply because they didn't grow up with the original as see it as a throwback to before their time that they have no attachment to.

There isn't much Square can do other than being consistent with their quality and releasing their games on multiple platforms whenever possible. Rebirth's gameplay is great and combat system the best in the series (general consensus) and may well be my favorite in any RPG or action game ever. The controversy is mainly the plot and segmentation.

Timed exclusivity on popular platforms isn't bad for companies and has nothing to do with Rebirth underperforming in the long run. Most potential buyers will either buy it on PS5 or wait to get it on their preferred platforms, leaving an insignificant minority to skip it out of spite or because "it's an old game bruh", a minority so small, they could be cancelled out by double dipping on Switch 2 for portability or PC for higher fidelity/custom experience. Not to mention the money SE gets from Sony and Epic Games.

I also think some people are massively overrstimating how much Rebirth cost to make. Game only took 3 years to develop, and the sequel could take less. That's 3 years from a company that isn't exactly known as efficient.

Personally, I like Persona more than Final Fantasy, I think Square could learn a lot from Persona.

FF7 Rebirth issues but a much better game than Remake. Eh, Dragon Quest is a better series and the only RPG series they have that has never had a bad mainline entry that is 20-plus years old. FF has had plenty. I'm pretty excited for DQ Remake. Other RPG series deliver better quality than FF in general. Persona. Xenoblade. Octopath. Like a Dragon. Granblue Fantasy Relink. Elden Ring. Scarlet Nexus. Eiyuden is coming out this month. Shin Megami Tensei. Star Ocean 2 remake was amazing and SO6 was solid. Sword and Fairy TF was really good. Altier games picked up in quality. Mana series is back.

I'm leaving a bunch out as SRPGs are also big again. The point is FF has a lot of competition. None of them have the FF budget but tbh Xenoblade 3 is better than any FF game in the last 23 years.  Most the ones listed are better than most FF games in the same time frame.  Also, funny SE is trying to get FF away from turn based and yet many turn-based RPGs relative to budget and publisher expectations. Are more successful for the publishers/devs than FF has been in a long while.

I love both ARPGs and turn based and not saying FF can't be ARPG. Just funny as they stray away from it to get a wider appeal...it's selling worse.

7 was one of my all time favorite games.  I've beaten it at least 10 times.  I plan on playing rebirth on PC for $30, just to see it.  I'm massively put off by the changes.  I wanted a remake akin to RE4 or Dead Space.  But hey, square wanted to expand it will silly stuff.  

While releasing in PC would get extra buyers I don't think it would make a massive difference tbh

If you can't sell where your fanbase historically is I don't think you will sell well elsewhere 

I would understand the thought process if the JRPG audience have gone away from Playstation, but still by far the best platform for JRPGs so it's not a platform problem. Maybe in Japan where JRPG audience was always divided between Nintendo and Sony, but even if this was the case Sony could not make FF VII run on Switch so... yeah 

Now a hot take. FF XIV is far and away the most popular thing Square have so far and it have an audience completely different from their other mainline games

Maybe the future of FF lies in more PC-centric releases. Not MMOs, but games developed with PC gaming in mind. The audience for western RPGs is pretty big. Maybe it's a smarter approach to go for them instead of releasing the 46731872th Action RPG in the market