Poll of the Day > I hate Square Enix

(+) Yeah! (+)

Probably worst company in gaming.
They basically only care about pandering to 90s nostalgia.

The best nostalgia.

All nostalgia is awful.
Create and embrace new things.

Hell yeah brother nostalgia sucks

When the fuck is Falcom gonna stop making shitty Trails sequels and milking gullible Trails fans for their money?

Far-Queue posted...

When the fuck is Falcom gonna stop making shitty Trails sequels and milking gullible Trails fans for their money?

When the series is finished in another 10-20 years.
Also totally nostalgic for a series I got into only 6 years ago.

Hopefully they can figure out how to make a good game by then

Where did Kondo hurt you?

Oh now you're going to tell me I'm nostalgic for Atellier, a series I got into *checks*, 1 month ago.

Judgmenl posted...

Oh now you're going to tell me I'm nostalgic for Atellier, a series I got into *checks*, 1 month ago.

So shame on any company that manages to pander to YOUR sense of nostalgia, but it's okay if a company tries to pander to nostalgia if you haven't personally experienced it?

Keep calm and kill Chaos

SilentSeph posted...

Keep calm and kill Chaos

Nah man, I last played FFI in 2007-2008.

You should hate Square because they are not producing anything as good as they did in the 90s.

They have FFXIV and that's about it. FFXVI might be good since it's the same people that make XIV.

Square has been defunct for 18 years now.

Judgmenl posted...

Probably worst company in gaming.

I agree that Squeenix is terrible, but this statement is utterly laughable.

Gaming is full of monstrous assholes running massive engines of corporate suck.

Squenix is very much not without its problems, but when you've got Ubisoft and Actiblizz actively covering up systemic sexual abuse and several companies openly exploiting children and mentally ill people for profit to a far greater degree than Squenix does, calling them "the worst company in gaming" is pretty silly. Even then, the majority of the genuine criticism that can and should be levied against them has to do with their manipulative marketing and predatory monetization strategies, not merely making games you don't like. Get over yourself.

ObsceneAnarchy posted...

You should hate Square because they are not producing anything as good as they did in the 90s.

Let's see, KH started in 2002.

Octopath Traveller and Triangle Strategy are also Square-Enix.

And just because games are not surpassing FF5, does not mean those games are not good.

Judgmenl posted...

They basically only care about pandering to 90s nostalgia.

What? The new games they are making now bear little resemblance to anything they did in the 90s and most long time fans don't like their current stuff. Sure they keep barfing out remakes, but it's mostly because they can't make anything new that's any good.

Point being: they COULD be making games that are similar to what they did in the 90s (and many people would likely enjoy that) but they have decided to go in a different direction.

ObsceneAnarchy posted...

You should hate Square because they are not producing anything as good as they did in the 90s.

Yeah, this.

What they are doing is trying to adapt their model to fit the new western/open world/cinematic trends...while throwing a couple of lame bones (a radio in a car) to old timers to say "look, we still care about you". And it's not working (although, yes, FF7R would have been solid if they had resisted the urge to add ghosts).

I don't hate Square Enix for any of their corporate policies. I am annoyed that they wanted to get into the PC market but for the most part do so by porting mobile games over or essentially just running them in emulators. But compared to the likes of EA, Activision Blizzard, Epic, and Ubisoft, they are god damned saints.

That said, the majority of the games don't interest me that much. Final Fantasy XV is probably the most fun I have had with one of their games in years (excluding Hitman, but IO Interactive were all but gone by the time that came out). Even then, I can't say it was a favorite by any means.

I actually didn't even like Hitman (the all caps version). The last Hitman game I genuinely enjoyed was Absolution. I don't know what turned me off from the reboots, but Silent Assassin, Blood Money and Absolution were all good games.

Nichtcrawler X posted...

Let's see, KH started in 2002.

Octopath Traveller and Triangle Strategy are also Square-Enix.

To be fair, the point where the company mostly started to suck was the merger. Both Square and Enix were great. The combination of the two was worse than the sum of its parts. The original KH was developed/published by Square, not Squeenix. And even KHII was at least partly conceived, written, and developed before the merger fully kicked in. Once Squeenix took over full-time the franchise basically got flushed down into a vortex of shit. So that tracks.

As for the latter two, their release dates don't really matter if they're being included in the "not as good as their stuff from the 90s". Which they might be, because a lot of people don't necessarily like them. Especially when some people will point out that Octopath just feels like a shittier SaGa Frontier. But even beyond that, it also depends on whether you're complaining about Squeenix as a developer or a publisher. They're directly responsible for FFVII Remake, but Triangle Strategy is technically someone else's game and they only publish it, whereas Octopath is sort of a hybrid of the two.

Well Triangle Strategy is awful and basically everything wrong with modern JRPGs.

Considering I am currently playing it and greatly enjoying it. Just saying you dislike it is obviously not enough to convince me otherwise.

Nichtcrawler X posted...

Considering I am currently playing it and greatly enjoying it. Just saying you dislike it is obviously not enough to convince me otherwise.

Does it actually have substance unlike the awful demo?

Nichtcrawler X posted...

Let's see, KH started in 2002.

Octopath Traveller and Triangle Strategy are also Square-Enix.

And just because games are not surpassing FF5, does not mean those games are not good.

FFX, KH 1&2 were the last peak quality games Square released. There are a few exceptions like Bravely Default but the majority of Square's major release have been mediocre to terrible.

ObsceneAnarchy posted...

FFX, KH 1&2 were the last peak quality games Square released. There are a few exceptions like Bravely Default but the majority of Square's major release have been mediocre to terrible.

FFX was really not that good though.

Revelation34 posted...

FFX was really not that good though.

If you don't count FF14 due to it being a mmo, FFX is the last solid entry in the franchise.

all companies need be scrutinized for the result of fanboism is kh3 and last poke gen

FFIX was the last truly good final fantasy and everything people complain about now started with X but it's legion or fans act like it didn't.

Judgmenl posted...

Probably worst company in gaming.
They basically only care about pandering to 90s nostalgia.

there is nothing in the 90s worth being nostalgic about.

but there is something to be said for nostalgia its the only drug stronger than heroin.

the 90s? Being nostalgic about that decade is like begging to spend life in a Turkish prison as the weakest target in there.

Conner4REAL posted...

there is nothing in the 90s worth being nostalgic about.

but there is something to be said for nostalgia its the only drug stronger than heroin.

the 90s? Being nostalgic about that decade is like begging to spend life in a Turkish prison as the weakest target in there.

How old were you in the 90s? As someone who lived their teen years through the 90s, I can personally say it was pretty fucking amazing. It was all partying and getting laid. Nobody talking about politics, no boogeyman constantly being shoved down your throat by every form of media imaginable, and when someone wanted to act like an asshole they had to do it in person and face the consequences.

I'll agree there hasn't been a good game in the Final Fantasy series since the 90s, but they have had one or two success stories since then.

They did release Octopath - which is a fantastic game (I struggle with whether I put it above FFV or not).
Dragon Quest IX is very good.
Dragon Quest XI was mostly well done - especially if you play it in 2D mode.
Triangle Strategy was a huge disappointment, but it was still a good game (not great, though)

11110111011 posted...

I'll agree there hasn't been a good game in the Final Fantasy series since the 90s, but they have had one or two success stories since then.

They did release Octopath - which is a fantastic game (I struggle with whether I put it above FFV or not).
Dragon Quest IX is very good.
Dragon Quest XI was mostly well done - especially if you play it in 2D mode.
Triangle Strategy was a huge disappointment, but it was still a good game (not great, though)

Uhh FFIX came out in 2000 but close enough.

Octopath is so bad. It's like one of those semi-obscure RPGs that never got translated back in the day and by the time you finally manage to play it you realize why no company bothered. Just an absolute nothing of a game despite how nice it looks.

Edit: FFX and FFXII are both good. XV is fun even if the story is very bad. XIV is the only MMO that seems to be attracting new players so that's also clearly in the "good game in the Final Fantasy series" camp.

I enjoyed Octopath well enough. It was nothing particularly amazing or groundbreaking, but most games aren't, and that's not a bad thing.

Ozmose posted...

How old were you in the 90s? As someone who lived their teen years through the 90s, I can personally say it was pretty fucking amazing. It was all partying and getting laid. Nobody talking about politics, no boogeyman constantly being shoved down your throat by every form of media imaginable, and when someone wanted to act like an asshole they had to do it in person and face the consequences.

Hear hear. I don't know about the getting laid part, but the internet was home to nerds sharing weird stuff as opposed to screaming revolutionaries. Government was becoming dysfunctional, but there were still a lot of 'adults in the room' and things were still generally functioning. The generation that remembered WW2 was still around and making sure the world didn't make the same mistakes again. Movies and games were just made for fun (as opposed to polarized messaging).

There were problems, sure, but I doubt it'll be as good again my lifetime. Heck, I doubt it'll be as good again in my kids' lifetimes unless there's first a WW3 to force everyone to calm the fuck down and get along again. It seems humans are too stupid to remember the lessons of something like WW2 without experiencing it first-hand.

On that note, I should try Octopath sometime. :)

things had a soul back in the 90's when there was still purity left, early 00's still maintained some of it as well
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/9/9/AAQ2WmAADA63.jpg

Wanded posted...

things had a soul back in the 90's when there was still purity left, early 00's still maintained some of it as well
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/9/9/AAQ2WmAADA63.jpg

Damn that's one old meme.

Nichtcrawler X posted...

Let's see, KH started in 2002.

One of the reasons I love Square Enix. Sure part of the reason I love the series is nostalgia but I do enjoy the gameplay too. Even Kingdom Hearts 3 was fun for me.

Judgmenl posted...

I actually didn't even like Hitman (the all caps version). The last Hitman game I genuinely enjoyed was Absolution. I don't know what turned me off from the reboots, but Silent Assassin, Blood Money and Absolution were all good games.

I didn't enjoy Absolution. Taking away the freedom made me dislike it. I do however consider Blood Money to be the best in the series. I've not played Hitman 3 (the new one) but do enjoy 1 and 2 (new ones). I like the levels carry over too. Playing Hitman in VR sounds fun but I've not tried it.

Revelation34 posted...

FFX was really not that good though.

Lies.

Revelation34 posted...

Damn that's one old meme.

Now we just need to slap it into a demotivational poster template with the caption "My Pokemans - Let me show you them."

I understand why Square Enix is held to such high standards. They have made so many amazing games, both as their individual companies, and combined. So for them to not keep up with those standards is a huge bummer. I also don't think we should be too hard on them, as they are one of the few devs out there still making games that are usually at least of acceptable quality.

As for their pandering to '90s nostalgia, I honestly wish they would pander a little more. All us old gamers get nowadays are modest remasters. And there are plenty of great games from that decade that still deserve more love. And do you think those games require nearly as much in terms of capital and resources as their newer IPs and endeavors outside of the classic JRPG genre? They continue to innovate in other genres with quality entries, but me personally, I just want to see those sweet sweet remakes and remasters of the classics. And maybe some additional content and sequels in those worlds.

As a JRPG fan in general, I envy FF fans, as they get to see their favorites from their childhood continue to get remasters, remakes, and sequels. Try being a fan of Suikoden and Konami... Yeah, there's nothing new for us. Except for Eiyuden, which I can't wait for. But I will. Yeah.

beefcake71090 posted...

Try being a fan of Suikoden and Konami...

Is Konami even treating any of their franchises well right now?

Will they destroy or save Gex?

Nichtcrawler X posted...

Is Konami even treating any of their franchises well right now?

Not really, although I am pretty excited to play the TMNT Cowabunga Collection. Their collections(cash-ins) for Castlevania and Contra were honestly good value and solid to play. The most barebones collection of Suikoden games on modern consoles would be so good, it's not even funny. Just a little bit of attention for this franchise would go a long way. Suikoden was always overshadowed by FF, but I've always preferred Suiko for replayability, music, environments, and lore.

i'll never forgive squeenix for ruining supcom 2

ReturnOfFa posted...

Will they destroy or save Gex?

I watched that Deus Ex video.
It was pretty good.

i'm not a fan of them anymore, but worst in the industry is a bit of a stretch when companies like activision-blizzard exist.

Judgmenl posted...

Probably worst company in gaming.
They basically only care about pandering to 90s nostalgia.

The problem is they aren't doing enough of that, or more that they're aimed at the tailend of the decade rather than the beginning.

Judgmenl posted...

I watched that Deus Ex video.
It was pretty good.

I haven't made it through the whole thing yet, but love that hbomberguy does long-ass videos on games in addition to great political-ish videos.

wpot posted...

Hear hear. I don't know about the getting laid part, but the internet was home to nerds sharing weird stuff as opposed to screaming revolutionaries. Government was becoming dysfunctional, but there were still a lot of 'adults in the room' and things were still generally functioning. The generation that remembered WW2 was still around and making sure the world didn't make the same mistakes again. Movies and games were just made for fun (as opposed to polarized messaging).

There were problems, sure, but I doubt it'll be as good again my lifetime. Heck, I doubt it'll be as good again in my kids' lifetimes unless there's first a WW3 to force everyone to calm the fuck down and get along again. It seems humans are too stupid to remember the lessons of something like WW2 without experiencing it first-hand.

On that note, I should try Octopath sometime. :)

I was class of '99, so I'm probably extra nostalgic for the 90s, just because I had such a short window of my young adulthood where things seemed normal. 9/11 happened a little after I turned 21 and the world has kind of sucked since then.