In a shock move by Sony who have held stakes in Square since 2001, announced they would be letting go of their 8.25% stock holdings in the Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix. With Sony losing money on every PS4 sale to date, combined with the fact Square Enix have left a lot to be desired with recent Final Fantasy releases over past years this comes as no surprise to fans.
We saw it coming
When Final Fantasy 7 was released unto the world in 1997, That marked a turning point for the franchise, making the move into the 3D gaming world. The title was a complete hit with over 9.72 Million units sold to date with Japan holding 33.7%(3.28m units) and North America in a close second with 31% (3.01m game units).
However since their success with FFVI, they have left a lot to be desired releasing mediocre after mediocre title (with the exception of FFX and FFVI which have been the best releases to date) often reinventing the wheel, leaving you relearning how to play a game you have essentially played your whole life.
As humans we yearn for familiarity and this is no exception with our favorite game titles, Look at Crash Bandicoot while not the same genre, it may have been enhanced over the several very successful releases but the fundamentals of the game never changed, you went through zones, U beat bosses and complete the game.
The same cannot be said for final fantasy, How many times did they change the leveling system? Regardless of the community feedback that they loved the system?
They Should of Taken a Leaf out of FFX’s Boat.
tidas and yuna share a moment
Having played every title since 5, Square Enix made a vital error – they changed the game far too much, leaving people who referred friends often feeling under / overwhelmed the immense amount of changes release to release.
Take a look at the hit role-playing game World of Warcraft, It’s now in its 5th expansion, while its competitive following has decreased since the release of Wrath of the Lich King, it’s still an immensely popular game, Its core leveling and talent point system has not changed since its original release, only with refinements to the system in the way it operates. Enticing gaming play and familiarity kept users playing.
Final Fantasy 10 the best game to come from the FF series
- The skill sphere system was perfect and refreshing to use, its was an innovation for Square
- An amazing storyline that left us all waiting for part 2
- Spectacular Visuals
- Genuinely hard puzzles that lead to reward
The response from the community from Final Fantasy X was immense, yet with future releases they strayed as far away from this gaming modal as possible, while I understand their trademark for Final fantasy is reinventing the gaming wheel time after time, but with such a widely loved and popular gaming title they should not of experimented as much as they had, especially when the community screamed for its return.
I loved 7 and 8, bit they went down hill after. Ten was ok, but I think the voices killed it for me. After that they were just terrible
7 was really good and a step in the right direction but it really lacked the wow visuals and a smooth gameplay, for me ten was best. They kept the game play similar to 7, adding in a nice level system and the puzzle rooms were genius topped off by the fact bosses were hard I was sold.
Agree with you thou, everything after ten has been a terrible.
I found ten very linear, not sure why because I don’t think it was any more than the others, might of helped if I actually completed it. I got close but just lost interest.