Last time, I was really happy with the amount of comments recieved and this time as promised is the Square Enix part.
SQUARE ENIX
Ah! Square Enix, the merger of unarguably the two RPG titans. Marriage of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest (which is male and female, you decide:P :lol: )
Some might, argue that today SE no longer holds the No.1 spot in RPG's. But if not them, then WHO? Bethesda? They only have one franchise with hardly TWO big hits! Two???
What this merger ensured was that the growth of any SE franchise won't be one sided! Means they will not only pamper FF and DQ but also any new franchise they might create.
And that new franchise came from SquareSoft actually, but it's sequel was in many ways better than the original.
Yeah, it is those SE AND Disney's game:
KINGDOM HEARTS II ( PS2)
RELEASE YEAR : 2005/ 2006
One of the greatest successes of Square Enix has been reaching to the hearts of the Westerners. And whether you are a kid,teen or adult, a Disney character will always be in your heart. And adding a few cameos from FF characters made the sailing in Gummi Ship a lot easier.
KHII improved from the original KH of 2003 in many ways other than gameplay. It's storyline became much more complex and hence more engrossing. The fun factor is always high in KH games compared to the usual bursts of humor in FF. The game depends highly on the mood of the player. If you play normally, the game will addict you. If you play frustrated or depressed, KH might just seem to be the Worst game on the planet at that time.
However, the mood of the game is what makes KH special. From the humorous jokes to a sudden serious boss battle in a matter of seconds, KHII has got it all. This does indeed seem to be a franchise on rise in the RPG market, and besides FF and DQ, it seems to be the future of SE.
Ajay
FINAL FANTASY VII : ADVENT CHILDREN ( DVD, PSP)
RELEASE YEAR: 2006
One of the greatest achievements of any great thing is turning the past failures into success. If anyone knows the appropriate reason for the death of SquareSoft, then you know where I am going. If not, then, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was made by Square Pictures Co.
It had no relevance with FF series and turned out to be the Second BIGGEST FLOP in Hollywood history. Around 141 million $ loss. The rest...is now history.
However, making a sequel movie of a game is always a little too risky. Perhaps, that is why Square stuck to their guns,and made the story not off track. But the action scenes and the animated graphics were something to be awed of. SE had truly created an eye candy that was surrounded by a decent plot.
The main achievement of Advent Children was that it stayed quite faithful to the original game. Apart, from straying on a few adventurous paths, it's story remained good.
But that was where the critics were exploited. They criticised the movies' story for being too confusing, but they also said that they had never played the FFVII video game. So, Advent Children can only be truly enjoyed if you have understood the more complex and confusing story of FFVII.
Otherwise, like so many Non-FFVII players who enjoyed this, do not take heed to the story and watch the awesome action scenes, the great graphics, and OMG! The One-Winged Angel......SEPHIROTH!!!......SEPHIROTH!!! 8)
DRAGON QUEST VIII: THE JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING (PS2)
RELEASE YEAR : 2005
Another long running RPG series, got an installment on PS2. DQVIII was a great game in all rights, apart from it being too one-centred towards the storyline. Yes, like all RPG's DQVIII too does concentrate on it's story more, but it does it way too much.
However, DQVIII represented a fresh new look, graphically and gameplay wise too. It is turn-based and random battles, but there is a much more need of exploration required than DQVII. The critics seemed to like this as it recieved a bunch of positive reviews. It also helped it's franchise sales figures to cross the 40 million mark.
FINAL FANTASY XI ( PC, PS2, XBOX360)
RELEASE YEAR: 2003,2006(360 only)
Probably, an arguable entry but MMORPG is something not all can accomplish so easily. Square even before has showed their lack of prowess in making PC games as good as their console counterparts( FFVII for PC for example). However, with FFXI Square stepped further high into the RPG market. FFXI not only presented a fresh new gameplay and battle system, but it was the first ever multiplayer game of FF.
FFXI has around 200,000 to 300,000 players active daily. Not only, this but FFXI after all the cross-language and cross-platforms translations it remained suitably unscathed. Probably, FFXI is a step that will encourage Square to include multiplay on their next-generation of games.
PORTS GALORE
FINAL FANTASY I&II : DAWN OF SOULS (GBA)
Two old-school RPG's in one package. A real value pack of two games that though might be two decades old are still highly enjoyable.
FINAL FANTASY IV ADVANCE (GBA)
The influential 2D RPG remade and ported onto GBA. The magic it held 16 years ago is still the same when you play this revolutionary RPG.
FINAL FANTASY III (DS)
A game that never was released on foreign shores, was brought onto a brand new DS, immediately liked by fans for it's job system and Wi-Fi enables modes.
FINAL FANTASY V ADVANCE (GBA)
Another excellent RPG that never reached onto the Western shores. The job system offered a lot of innovative and replayabilty options. Excellent graphics.
FINAL FANTASY VI ADVANCE (GBA)
Square had indeed saved the best of the ports for last. FFVI represents the pinnacle of 2D RPG's and shows that how far the RPG genre has travelled since then.
FINAL FANTASY XII ( PS2)
RELEASE YEAR : 2006
Unarguably, the freshest of all FF titles since a long time, FFXII brought the much needed change into this legendary franchise, for the newer generations to accept. It departed from the basic love/emotional themed storyline the past FF's had.
Instead, FFXII had a very mature political centred (something like FF Tactics), with minor hints of emotion and love. The graphics were the most artistic the PS2 will probably ever see, but not as revolutionary as FFX's graphics were in it's day. The gameplay and battle system were completely turned around.
No more random battles! *huge sigh of relief* The gambits and the license board (a derivative like thing of Sphere Grid) were really innovative and brought about a change in a way we play FF's. Ivalice, the setting of FFXII has always been my favorite place ever since Tactics and Tactics Advance.
Vivek
CONCLUSION: Seeing all that makes us realise that in order to be evenly compared, SE has a long way to go, but games like FFXIII and FF Versus XIII along with a bunch of promising spinoffs like FFVII: Crisis Core and FF Tactics A2, it does look like SE might have what it takes to regain it's former glory. HOWEVER, SquareSoft will always be in the hearts of those whoever have played it's masterpieces.
WINNER: SquareSoft (obviously!)
Now, to the normal life, I am getting spooked out in Raccoon City. No! It's not RE2, it's REIII : Nemesis.Why did I buy it?
Well, I really wanted a spooky title. I fought over REIII and Silent Hill, but finally went for what I hope is the better of the two. What made me take this decision?:roll: Well, I don't know but it might have been Jill.:P
ALSO!!!!!!!! I bought (or should I say borrowed) Chrono Trigger. It's for SNES and not PS. I borrowed it from my friend, and guess what he asked me for??? You know which game? Final Fantasy VII!
It's as if the entire world has bad eyes on my poor FFVII CD!!!:cry: Whatever, I will kill zombies and play as Crono and enjoy hell lot!
Btw, I completely forgot!! I completed FFVII!!!!!! It was nice, though the ending was all too through the brain stuff. The final boss battle against (both Bizarro and Safer Sephiroth) were shameful. I went there with something like (Cloud L69, Tifa L68, Vincent L67) and won so easily. Safer Sephiroth s**** in battle!
Anyway, is it true that once you complete the game by defeating Sephiroth, you cannot play again. I got stuck on an never ending stream of stars after the Red XIII scene(after credits roll) please tell me, is there no return?????
The things I will remember, from FFVII : Great graphics(especially FMV's), good overworld music, superb story(only if you understand it), Cloud, Sephiroth, mini-games, Summons, AND THE ONE WINGED ANGEL!!!!!!!!!!
That track rocked out of the hell!!!! Here I go again... SEPHIROTH!!!!.....SEPHIROTH!!! One Winged Angel ROCKS!!!!!
AND last but Certainly NOT the least of the things in FFVII I will remember, is Tifa!!!!!:P :lol: 8)
Though, I like her, she seems better toned down ( you know what is toned down,right?:P) in Advent Children.
C ya!!!