Current Events > The SquareEnix merger ruined final fantasy

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hironobo Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu were the franchise. Stepping on their toes and taking reins of their projects drove them to quit and the fans have suffered ever since.
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Sakaguchi and Uematsu went on to make Lost Odyssey which was a total piece of shit so I suspect the problem was probably them.
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Nope. The merger "saved" Final Fantasy. It's The Spirits Within that stuck the knife into Squaresoft. Enix was like "Monopoly chance"
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ChromaticAngel posted...

Sakaguchi and Uematsu went on to make Lost Odyssey which was a total piece of shit so I suspect the problem was probably them.

Imagine having an opinion this awful

I disagree. FFX and FFXII are both strong entries into the franchise. FFX is an strong first step forward into the PS2 era merging aspects of the old with new mechanics, a new sound team (Masashi Hamauzu composes with a marvelous sense of scale), and new graphics. Largely it's only criticism is it's linear plotting and nitpicking about a particular scene in which the protagonist forces a laugh to cheer up the game's heroine.

XII is much more divisive but was critically lauded on its release back in 2006 and has only found more support with time especially with the remaster. That we even have these discussions suggests that we have hope for the franchise, even as the new releases fall short of our most cherished memories of the franchise.
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I agree that X was interesting, but that laughing scene... I really disliked XII, though because the clumsy battle system. I believe XII was the worst entry that wasn't online only. Sounds like they're screwing up VII remake, too.
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In a way, XII almost makes more sense as a Secret of Mana title. I hated it at first. I bought it day one and was completely turned off by the sheer volume of changes with the loot system being my biggest gripe. I needed an open mind. I didn't get what I expected, but what I did get would have been pretty decent had I been slightly more flexible.
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ChromaticAngel posted...

Sakaguchi and Uematsu went on to make Lost Odyssey which was a total piece of shit so I suspect the problem was probably them.

Considering the quality of writing all across the board (from FF to KH) dropped significantly after Sakaguchi left, I highly doubt that's the case.

Also, if Sakaguchi were still here, you can bet your ass FFXV and FFVII:R wouldn't be using KH gameplay.
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i hated XII at first but time and taking it for what it is has it in my top 3 FFs
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Kisai posted...

Considering the quality of writing all across the board (from FF to KH) dropped significantly after Sakaguchi left, I highly doubt that's the case.

I disagree. FFXIII had a well written story, it's just most of it was in datalog entries. If you didn't read the datalog (which no one will fault you if you didn't) then most of the story doesn't make any fucking sense. This isn't a positive for the game--it's a massive violation of show don't tell, I'm just explaining that the story IS there.

FFXV's story suffered badly because of 2 separate content purges, the first abandoning the shared L'Cie lore from back when it was still FFvsXIII, and then another content purge where they did things like delete entire characters from the whole story that had already appeared in trailers. The game's development was mismanaged and the writing suffered as a result. We'll never know if the original intention for the story was any good at this point. See: Disney's Frozen went through a similar issue with rewrites.

The writing in Lost Odyssey, however, is pure garbage. The Dream sequences--being the exception--are some of the most well written pieces I've ever seen in a video game, but weren't written by Sakaguchi. Rather, they were written by a literal novelist author that was contracted for the game. There is a massive difference in the quality of the plot of the dreams vs the plot of the game and that's why. Sakaguchi wrote the game's story.
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I feel like Final Fantasy has kind of died after 12.

12 showed the way for the future of Jrpgs and Xenoblade ran with it.
Xenoblade Cronicles, X and 2 are essentially the new final fantasy 13, 14 and 15 imo
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I thought Lost Odyssey was a swing and a miss. I really think that we could have done without those fucking little kids. Also, the TIME LIMITS!! Omg, just let me enjoy my game. The whole "escape within the time limit after every dungeon" aspect was a major flop. Time limits have no business in RPGs.
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FF15 is a joke of a game. Compare it to the likes of FF9 which is a fucking treasure.
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As much as I liked FFX, it had the seeds of what would later ruin final fantasy. Even more convoluted plots, protagonists that are way too pretty, everyone having a more stupid outfit than the last person, summons that last way too long, spells that last way too long, more stupid plots that are written to be way more complicated than they needed to be, and other tropes. Granted, previous entries had some, if not all of what I listed, but they weren't as bad.

What killed the franchise for me was FFX-2. FFX was a story of stopping the big baddie Sin (and Seymore and Yu Yevin etc) so they follow it up with Yuna...becoming a pop star? Trying to be some badass sphere hunter? Fighting with other sphere hunters? The battle system almost saved the game as it's one of my favorite of all the final fantasies, but even that couldn't bring me to finish the game.

Honestly, I never made it past the opening sequence of FFX-II.
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Bump
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Wasn't Sakaguchi the brain child for that awful Final Fantasy movie that almost killed Squaresoft?
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I feel like the music has less presence now, than when Uematsu was in charge.
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--kresnik-- posted...

I agree that X was interesting, but that laughing scene... I really disliked XII, though because the clumsy battle system. I believe XII was the worst entry that wasn't online only. Sounds like they're screwing up VII remake, too.

The laughing scene was supposed to be painful
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This article has some good insight into Final Fantasy VII, the franchise and the people involved:

https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7

There are a few unsung heroes in there.

inb4polygonsucks

i feel like I went back into time

XII would have been good with a different main protagonist. Basch or Ashe should have been the main. You can still have Vaan and Penelo if you want as people who join you after helping you out in some fashion, but having Vaan as the main was wrong.
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hasn't been a good FF since 10.
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--kresnik-- posted...

Honestly, I never made it past the opening sequence of FFX-II.

Same. I've tried twice. It's too bad because I like super dungeons and super bosses, and FFX-2 has a literal dungeon full of super bosses. But I've bought this game twice now and can't get more than fifteen minutes. And I know and like some of the plot stuff happening in the background and some of the stuff surrounding Shuyin, I just can't deal with the new aesthetic.
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X-2 is 90% fanservice. People rave about the battle system but I never understood how it was better than, say, V.
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bover_87 posted...

X-2 is 90% fanservice. People rave about the battle system but I never understood how it was better than, say, V.

90% fanservice?

I guess you could say that is.... disasterrific!
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10-2 was unplayable. I even tried playing it on my vita with the headphones and couldn't do it.

As for 12, the only thing that could have saved that game would have been a remake with turn based combat. That combat system is just unacceptable.
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Going full on futuristic Sci-Fi ruined Final Fantasy.
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