should I be afraid now?

[Taisen]

In additional, Yasumi Matsuno mentioned that Square has acquired the rights to Quest's entire Ogre Battle series, which Matsuno began develop on Super Famicom. Square will be producing and publish the future Ogre Battle titles.
Although:

Square's producer Yasumi Matsuno has revealed new details on the GameBoy Advance port of Final Fantasy Tactics. The GBA version is being developed by the original staffs from Quest who prodcued the Ogre Battle series.

So if square does future ogre saga titles it might be basically quest staff developing the games.

[Betamax]

moved to game discussion

[Hydra]

SO?

[Ninjaa]

Yeah, I wasn't too happy about this news either. I suppose we should have seen it coming, but I guess this is going to mark the beginning of the end for one of the greatest franchises ever.

[Quatro]

could you guys please elaborate... I'm a little bit slow and confused???

[Ninjaa]

Square basically bought out Quest, who makes the Ogre Battle series. I am not too happy about this news because Square doesn't really have a great track record for quality games as of late. Ogre Battle was one of the last untouched franchises. It just got better and better with every game. Now that Square owns it, I hope it doesn't go downhill like all of Square's franchises.

Oh well. Tactics Ogre for GBA comes out in a couple of weeks. That should keep me happy for a while.

[<Id>]

I didn't think FFX is too cad though. You got to give them some credit for that game.

[Quatro]

thanks ninja for the info, well so far square is doing fine for their series release... like you said, let's hope that it doesn't go down the hill. But if they still hired the original programmers of orge, maybe they would let that happen either

[Eface]

Well, FFX will have to be A lot better then VIII or IX cuz they just suck....

[Ninjaa]

In my mind, Square has destroyed every franchise I cared about.

Chrono Cross - sucked.
Legend of Mana - sucked REAL bad.
Final Fantasy 8 & 9 - sucked to the point I don't want to play 10.
Parasite Eve 2 - sucked REAL bad.

Those were the Square games that I truly loved. Yet the recent games have had me disgusted with Square. I just pray they don't corrupt Quest.

[Quatro]

I respect your opinion ninja, well legend of mana also suck for me but with due respect to final fantasy... I think its not bad. Well like you, I liked the orge saga on PSX and hope they won't ruin the series if there gonna make any.

[Ninjaa]

Actually, I didn't like it so much on PSX because my CDs were scratched, causing some very annoying problems. On the SNES and N64 the games were fantastic. The only PSX one I played was Tactics Ogre because I couldn't find a translation for the SNES version.

[Raziel]

The N64 version of Ogre Battle isn't that great.
Kinda boring(in fact I didn't even really liked Ogre Battle on SNES,maybe that explains why :p).
Let's just hope they'll release a new FFT on GameCube(that would be GGGGGGGRRRRRREEEEEAAAAATTTTTT).

[Strider]

>In my mind, Square has destroyed every franchise I cared about.
>
>Chrono Cross - sucked.
>Legend of Mana - sucked REAL bad.
>Final Fantasy 8 & 9 - sucked to the point I don't want to play 10.
>Parasite Eve 2 - sucked REAL bad.
>
>Those were the Square games that I truly loved. Yet the recent >games have had me disgusted with Square. I just pray they don't >corrupt Quest.

i agree with you that square screwed up a lot of games as of late... i still have to disagree that cc was a total disaster, but i do agree that they made some things horrible which were really good in ct...

[Ninjaa]

Chrono Cross is on the list because it is nowhere near as good as Chrono Trigger. It wasn't even close to being the game that Chrono Trigger was, and it didn't feel right at all.

Raziel, FFT might be out on GBA by the end of the year. We can hope for a sequel on GameCube, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[REi_FoX]

maybe te only thing in the mind of square is making games on all consoles...

we know that squares 19% was own by sony...

so they have to buy quest for creating games in other consoles...

just to catch up for the loss of money...

[Ninjaa]

Square recently started up a new company. It's 51% owned by a high ranking Square executive (I forget who), and 49% owned by Square. It only has one employee. It is basically a front for making Nintendo games. All the actual development is done externally from Square's second production unit.

This is how Square got around their dealings with Sony. I don't think that they needed the Quest name.

[Taisen]

Variety and new ideas die when consolidation or buyouts occur as I see it, but a franchise may not evolve if held by the same hands. Square didn't buyout Quest but they did take a large chunk out of it imo.

Personally I enjoyed Legend of Mana more than Secret of Mana.

[Cless]

I agree with ninja compeltely. And square has sucked recently the only square psx games that I like are FFT and xenogears.

[Darkhound]

Square going downhill?? I havent played a bad Square game except Final Fantasy 8...not played 10 but it looks awesome, is it some kind of cool thing to do to hate square and be one of these "hardcore RPGers"?

[Cless]

FFX does look awesome, Square made some good eyecandy. It goes downhill from there... I disliked FF8, CC, vagrant Story, and the list goes on. But they did make xenogears and FFT but they were made a while ago too.
And strider there we found another area to argue about.

[Strider]

are you referring to my 2 week old post?

sincerely,
The Mundane Orc-Hunting Ranger

[Darkon]

As soon as square hit FF8, it started going downhill...

[Hydra]

Oh well you never know they may just do a good job with the next game they make. Only time will tell.

[systemid]

ffx was horrible but the graphics are amazing but graphics are nothing or atleast a very small part when making a great rpg. And cc was a great game in my opinion. And ff 8 did suck but not as bad as ff10 so if you know this and you say the series is going down hill why would you buy 10.

[Cless]

Hey more people that agree with me... I bought ffx becuase i read a couple of reviews that were postive(like 10) and i rented first but didn't get far enough to give a decent opinion of it so i bought and sold to buy morrowind.

[Gamer1]

what if square still holds the xeno franchise? would xenosaga be any better... that's just the question i ask myself.

i heard the people that made xenogears, cronotrigger and chronocross went to namco and made Monolithsoft. I wonder if they would make a sequel to CC. Chrono Cross wasn't that bad.

Plus I hate Square because of FFXI. I hate game companies that makes you pay for their game and makes you pay more to play it. **Everquest, cough.. cough..** Darn you Sony

[Ninjaa]

Originally posted by Darkhound
Square going downhill?? I havent played a bad Square game except Final Fantasy 8...not played 10 but it looks awesome, is it some kind of cool thing to do to hate square and be one of these "hardcore RPGers"?

Have you played Parasite Eve 2? Or how about Legend of Mana? Maybe try some FF9? Or how about the wonderful world of SaGa Frontier?

Now I gather that you started playing RPGs with FF7. That's just my impression. If that is the case, then you have no clue what a good RPG is. FF7 was good, but if it is the only good RPG you have played, then you have no freaking clue what's good and what isn't.

Play Chrono Trigger, and FF6. Then play Legend of Mana, and Parasite Eve 2 right afterward and try to tell me they are good games.

[Florindel]

It's so bad.. it looks like Square has no good idea anymore:

CC "could" have been great if it was a bit more in CT spirit (I really hated the new CT version in CC when you see Marle and Chrono and Lucca gohst... I loved CT so much...)
LoM is not sooo bad in my opinion, but not as good as Seiken 3.
I cannot judge Vagrant Story because of I hate Dungeon RPG.
And I really HATED FF9... I couldn't stand anything in this game, especially the characters... They tried to remake a FF6 kind (I personnaly donnot really love this game) and completely missed..
It' s ike Front Mission 3 (even if I didn't like the others..), it's not a good T-RPG....
I hated Saga Frontier 2, too...

[Strider]

> And I really HATED FF9... I couldn't stand anything in this game, especially the characters... They tried to remake a FF6 kind (I personnaly donnot really love this game) and completely missed..

wasnt ff9 sorta cartoonish? FF6 was one of the most serious final fantasies in the whole series, i think you mistook ff6 with ff4 because of some of the graphics *ahem* mages

[systemid]

gamer1 monolithsoft is made up of most of the people who worked on xenogears so it would make a difference if square owned them because monolith soft worked on the game. Isnt there a new chrono coming out called chrono break or somthin

[Raziel]

Originally posted by neoid2000
gamer1 monolithsoft is made up of most of the people who worked on xenogears so it would make a difference if square owned them because monolith soft worked on the game. Isnt there a new chrono coming out called chrono break or somthin
Square said that there was a new "Chrono" game in their plans,but didn't give name,and it seems that it still isn't in development(or in early stages).
BTW,Chrono Cross just doesn'lt live up to the legend that Chrono Trigger is,it's not a bad game,but it's not good either.
Legend of Mana,well...plainly sucks, almost no story at all.
And, well, everyone knows what I think of FF9:laser:

[Quatro]

Originally posted by Darkon
As soon as square hit FF8, it started going downhill...

I TOTALLY disagree... Square have a large game database and you should not judge it because FF series is becoming less fun or whatever. Other games of Square still excel.

[Ninjaa]

Excel????? LMFAO!!!! Name one.

[Šhiva]

Most of the FF games were really good. I'm just not sure about FFXI. But I'll wait before I judge an online Final Fantasy game.

[Quatro]

Originally posted by Ninja
Excel????? LMFAO!!!! Name one.

well ninja, I know that you dislike square on some part... but I know that there are games that others consider as a good game... like xenogears.

well anyway, everyone has his own opinion about it;)

[Darkon]

Quatro, xenogears came out quite a while ago... We are talking about the present state at which square is in now, not then...

I agree with you, the games were amazing until suddenly, they started going downhill...

[Nameless]

Why r we still judging Square by standards it made more than 20 years ago when the first final fantasy game was made???? Why do we think CC is bad....only because it's not as good as CT??? Now that's odd. We all know every FF game is trying to be special from the others in the series and I find this harsh attack on Square very, very unfair. Square's quality of games might have decreased (I admit) but haven't u noticied how new-comers and (most) oldies :p enjoy these games. Sure, we enjoy some more than the others but if we keep comparing then we'll never get to have FUN...and that is all that matters. I loved each and every FF game and both chrono games. I am yet to play any of the Xeno games and I'm sure I'll enjoy them. U migh call this low-standards but I've had a hard time finding any game that I haven't enjoyed......so, plz stop this.

[Ninjaa]

Nameless, I hated Chrono Cross because it bore the Chrono name, and simply butchered the franchise. It should have at least contained some continuity from the previous game, and at least have been above average in quality. I saw a lot of eye candy and not much else.

I hated Parasite Eve 2 because it sucked. Regardless of how much the first one ruled, I would hate the second one just the same. I can't find anything about the game other than the shower scene that I liked. (Although I did get so sick of the game that I quit without seeing the ending in the last level)

[Šhiva]

Well this just shows that graphics aren't everything. It seems to some people the better that graphics get, the worse the game becomes.

[Quatro]

Originally posted by Darkon
Quatro, xenogears came out quite a while ago... We are talking about the present state at which square is in now, not then...

I agree with you, the games were amazing until suddenly, they started going downhill...

ok... so you mean on the PS2 platform... ok

[Nameless]

Ninja, I actually "hated" the gfx of CC because they made the charecters lose their charm. but it's still a great game with many new ideas (esp the battle system). It will never be as good as CT, that wasn't a game..that was heaven in 2D :D. I still don't think Square deserves the beating it's getting all the time. As for PE2 or even the first one, I didn't play them yet so I can't comment. But who doesn't make mistakes, huh? And everytime u guys say something about a Square game u compare it with another??!!! When I try to re-write a letter I already wrote, it would never be the same. And if I try to improve it by adding things..it just might work and it just might make the whole letter look stupid. The only other thing I have against CC is that, unlike CT, it's forgettable. That's about it for me :)

[Cless]

I think the reason Square takes teh beating it does is becuase somewhere along the way they title the king of rpgs.

[Ninjaa]

Square games nowdays may be alright, but they are simply mediocre. In the olden days they were king. That's why they take the beating that they do. The current generation may be ok, but there is absolutely nothing remarkable about them.

Quatro, we are talking about the PS2 games, and most of the PSX era games. Xenogears, FFT, PE, and FF7 were the first generation of PSX games, and they were all excellent. The later ones just got worse and worse.

[Nameless]

and hopefully the newer ones will be better and better. esp under the care of Nintendo. I'm not foolish enough (not now anyway :p) to think the snes days will be back but it's a start.
Does Square get too much attension? More than it deserves? Perhaps. But I don't think they've abused that advantage yet. It's not them who do good but it's the other companies which do bad most of the times :( That's why they're so trusted. I, like most of u, also think that, given the chance, many great game developers would give out better results if given the same attension. Well, that's the market for u. Square won the race and it's really holding on to it.

[Quatro]

Originally posted by Ninja


Quatro, we are talking about the PS2 games, and most of the PSX era games. Xenogears, FFT, PE, and FF7 were the first generation of PSX games, and they were all excellent. The later ones just got worse and worse.

Ok, thanks for filling me up ninja... but hey, there are still games to come up and maybe those new batch could make a difference, but you can't tell... let just hope it does.

[Ninjaa]

Yeah, I would really like to see Square come back in and kick some ass. But right now, I think that just about any RPG maker is better. Enix has the lead right now I think, with Capcom and Namco trailing. Square is in a distant place far from the lead in terms of quality.

Nameless, I don't think that most RPG makers do bad in terms of quality. In comparison, they usually make better RPGs than Square. (Enix for example). Square is no longer the king, but they still outsell anyone else in the US.

[Nameless]

yes, Ninja, but how many games can they produce each year?? I meant Square r selling more 'cause they're bigger. I agree that many others have surpassed Square in terms of quality. But the name "Final Fantasy" is so strong that they don't really get their chance. They r many companies who do bad RPGs but the good thing is...the ones that do it right r so good :D Well, here's for a bright future.

[Ninjaa]

Yeah, I guess I am a little too hard on Square. I really hope they get out of their slump soon. I think that they have payed their debt in full by now.