5 Things Square-Enix Can Do To Save Final Fantasy
Square-Enix has had some problems with the Final Fantasy brand lately, especially in the west. Final Fantasy 13 was a linear, surreal journey through a nonsensical world that made no effort to actually explain anything beyond directing the player to a glossary. Final Fantasy 14 was a middling MMO that angered players so much a major Square-Enix investor pulled millions of dollars out out of the company after playing it. The company seems to be ignoring gamers' called for a remake or legitimate sequel of Final Fantasy 7, and even the vaguely related Kingdom Hearts series has gotten so sidetracked it's seen more prequels, sidequels, and retcons than actual series games. If you're not happy with safe, predictable Dragon Quest games, this isn't a good time to be a Square-Enix fan.
The days of fans holding their breaths for the next Final Fantasy game are long gone, but they can come back. Square-Enix can salvage the brand, but it has to make some major changes and realize just where it started to mess things up. It doesn't have to turn to the Dragon Quest formula of keeping nearly every element the same, but it does need to tone down the bizarre bullshit it's been doing. I still hold Final Fantasy 4, 5, 6, and 7 dear to my heart, so I've put together six things Square-Enix can do to put Final Fantasy back on the right track.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a Giant Interactive Cutscene
I'll admit I had completely missed any mention of this new Final Fantasy title before andriasang posted this trailer, and I'm a little bummed it's not a new RPG for the 3DS. Now the invented word "theatrhythm" makes a bit more sense. The game is a rhythm/music game with scrolling dots similar to Guitar Hero/Rock Band, except it throws a track list culled from Final Fantasy's long, long history at you.
I gotta tell ya, I'm not all that excited about a stylus-tapping game set to the ballroom scene from Final Fantasy VIII and a bunch of other cinematic and gameplay video from the series. I will concede one point, though: I got a little stoked when the boss fight music from Final Fantasy VI kicked in, and the rhythm tapping accompanied a graphically revamped battle with Ultros. That was a track that just always sounded like Go Time to me.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a Stealthy Shooter Triumph
When I first heard that there would be a new Deus Ex game, I was uncertain. It was going to be a prequel. It was going to be made with no input from Warren Spector. It was going to have cover-based shooter mechanics. It sounded like a recipe for worse disaster than Deus Ex: Invisible War.
I was wrong. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
GameStop Pulls Massive Dick Move With Deus Ex: Human Revolution And OnLive
[Update: GameStop has pulled the game from the shelves. Yes, a retailer recall because of this entire screw-up.]
Wow. I mean, seriously wow. GameStop has pulled some shady things over the years, but this might top them all in terms of messing with both gamers and publishers. Square-Enix is packing coupons with copies of the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution
That's right. GameStop is taking material a publisher put in a retail product out of that product before selling it to gamers for the same price. GameStop is literally stealing these coupons as policy. That's kind of a big deal. GameStop's excuse is that OnLive is a competing service for a streaming gaming service they're working on but don't have running yet. That's kind of total bullshit, especially when Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Duke Nukem Forever, and other games require Steam, another competing service, just to install. GameStop didn't do anything when Valve offered free copies of Portal 2 on Steam with the PlayStation 3 version of Portal 2, and that's a competing service offered in a game for a completely different system. With OnLive, unless you get the OnLive Microconsole
This is a bullshit move. There are a lot of grey areas in video game distribution, but removing content a publisher put in because it might compete with something you're working on is simply wrong. If you pick up Deus Ex on PC at GameStop, don't let them charge you full price. Tell them it's an opened game, but you would be happy to accept it as a trade-in for $22.
Have You Played Deus Ex Yet? Do It Now.
Deus Ex came out in 2000, and it remains one of the greatest PC games ever made. I'm not even kidding. It's up there with The Elder Scrolls, Civilization, Ultima, and Portal where you should really pick out your favorite game in a given series, because if I name Morrowind, Civ 5, Ultima 7, and Portal 2 I won't draw the ire of most of the fanboys of any series. PC Gamer actually named it its top PC game of all time. There's a reason for that, which I'll get into below. First, you need to know that you can and should play this game on your current PC. Yes, even if it's a netbook. This is an 11 year old game with some fan patches that make it surprisingly usable on any system made in the last decade.
Dungeon Siege III preview
It's been awhile since since a Dungeon Siege title hit the scene. This one marks the franchise's first foray into the console market, and Obsidian Entertainment has taken the helm for this transition over from original developer Gas Powered Games (with Square Enix taking over publishing duties from Microsoft Game Studios). If that makes fans of the PC series wince, I'm here to tell you that while Dungeon Siege III preserves much of the concepts of its forebears, I couldn't shake how strikingly similar the game "feels" to X-men Legends and its successors, only with fewer playable characters and more equipment tinkering. That's not a negative criticism at all - I loved those games - and it's certainly a well-executed, solid, basic, co-op centric dungeon crawler that will satisfy you if you're having a major craving for isometric swords and sorcery. But otherwise, I find myself balking at the idea of dropping a full $60 on it.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (Review)
Fans have long been awaiting the next main game in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, we received Chain of Memories, an interesting side story that fleshed out the year between the two main titles. While it did add a new level of immersion in the KH back story, playing it wasn’t required to understand the plot in the second game (it does give a good justification for “metroiding” Sora at the start of Kingdom Hearts II, but I digress). One thing the franchise is known for is the difficult to unlock and (at the time) completely incomprehensible Secret Trailers that setup the next main franchise game. While it doesn’t have a 3 in the title, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Final Mix Coming… Just Not To America (Trailer)
In a surprising and wonderful policy shift, Square Enix is now putting up the closed theater trailers from TGS. I'm guessing this has something to do with the amount of people sneaking in cell phones so they could leak footage for those of us unable to go to TGS.
The first trailer to come out is for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Final Mix. Featuring the English vocal track, Final Mix is an expanded version of the PSP game. Final Mix will include a Japan exclusive additional superboss (the armored figure at the end of the trailer), plus a new secret ending trailer. All of that is in addition to the Crown Stickers and second optional boss that were added for the English version. There will also be new fights in the Mirage Arena like the Monstro battle seen in the trailer. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Final Mix is set for a January 2011 release.
TGS 2010: Final Fantasy Versus and Agito XIII Trailers, As Seen By Cell Phone
Well, alright! Thank you, cell phone camera person, for sneaking out the videos for Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII. Now I won't have to wait till this January to see them.
TGS 2010: The 3rd Birthday
I know I shouldn't complain, but why couldn't you sneak one of the FF13A/V vids out instead, GameSpot? Ah, well. The 3rd Birthday is coming out very soon in Japan and is the third game in the Parasite Eve franchise. It's not called Parasite Eve 3 is because Square lost the rights to that name; the first game was actually an adaptation of a Japanese horror novel. Still, any new cult mitochondrial horror is reason to celebrate.
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