Square Enix - Player Survey 2018

[Storm]

https://gematsu.com/2018/06/square-enix-running-2018-player-survey

"help shape the future of Square-Enix", the tagline says.

also 14 participants will receive $500 in funds to spend on the Square-Enix Store.

link >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SQUARECRO

edit:

over

 

[T.O.T]

14. We’d like to talk to you about Square Enix. What, if any, are your thoughts about Square Enix?
Square Enix should stop announcing games when they are not going to be finished for another 5 years or more.

 

[Leonhart]

I just wrote Final Fantasy XVI in every possible sentence where It could belong.

 

[AnGer-dono]

I wrote that I want Final Fantasies XVI through XVIII to feature a similar superficial structure but have differences in narrative and deep gameplay à la IV-IX (WHICH DOES NOT MEAN I WANT ATB BACK!), a second Final Fantasy Tactics spearheaded by Lord Matsuno and I also didn't hold back my displeasure with Kingdom Hearts III not getting any non-English dubs in Europe.

 

[Storm]

told them drastically changing FF everytime is more detrimental than beneficial (also leads to more division in the fanbase), and that they should stick to a formula for a while and refine it = consistency.

 

[Jenova]

told them drastically changing FF everytime is more detrimental than beneficial (also leads to more division in the fanbase), and that they should stick to a formula for a while and refine it = consistency.

Sonic Team ironically could use the same advice.

 

[T.O.T]

told them drastically changing FF everytime is more detrimental than beneficial (also leads to more division in the fanbase), and that they should stick to a formula for a while and refine it = consistency.

With the success of FFXV, I'd be highly surprised if XVI is not an ARPG. I will say that there will always be a lot of division within the fan base, and naturally that will grow with time; more so with this series than most. Far as the consistency aspect, the other side of the coin to that would be if the company was aiming for consistency in an aspect that was a huge turn off for a fan. So instead of maybe waiting for the next title to pop up say 5 years from the current, they'd have to wait even longer...which may lead to the impression of being alienated (I have a friend at work that has been a fan longer than I have. While he did enjoy FFXV, he'd love to play a new title that gives more of a FFVI or FFIX feel). Granted, one could argue that there are older games that may be of ones cup of tea more, but there are some fans that would prefer to have a more modern title aimed toward their interests more.

 

[AnGer-dono]

With the success of FFXV, I'd be highly surprised if XVI is not an ARPG. I will say that there will always be a lot of division within the fan base, and naturally that will grow with time; more so with this series than most. Far as the consistency aspect, the other side of the coin to that would be if the company was aiming for consistency in an aspect that was a huge turn off for a fan. So instead of maybe waiting for the next title to pop up say 5 years from the current, they'd have to wait even longer...which may lead to the impression of being alienated (I have a friend at work that has been a fan longer than I have. While he did enjoy FFXV, he'd love to play a new title that gives more of a FFVI or FFIX feel). Granted, one could argue that there are older games that may be of ones cup of tea more, but there are some fans that would prefer to have a more modern title aimed toward their interests more.

This argument makes little sense to me. You can still make a game that has the vibe of VI or IX and still keep, say, AXB as a system, because to me at least, the vibe (or "feel") is dictated strongly by "deep gameplay" (read: any systems that go beyond the basic world structure and combat) as well as the aesthetic side of a game (read: visual design, music, characters, narrative themes). And to me, Final Fantasy has been stagnating more in these parts (the aesthetic side more than the "deep gameplay" side).

 

[Guitar (pseudo)God]

My feedback was simply: "Don't let Drake anywhere near the series again."

 

[Storm]

This argument makes little sense to me. You can still make a game that has the vibe of VI or IX and still keep, say, AXB as a system, because to me at least, the vibe (or "feel") is dictated strongly by "deep gameplay" (read: any systems that go beyond the basic world structure and combat) as well as the aesthetic side of a game (read: visual design, music, characters, narrative themes). And to me, Final Fantasy has been stagnating more in these parts (the aesthetic side more than the "deep gameplay" side).

FF stagnating is something i really disagree.

its one of the only franchises that keeps changing and trying new ideas and settings, one doesnt feel like the other; the aesthetic side especially is one of my favorite things from the last FF games.

main problem i see is that all of the latest projects suffered from development issues which harmed execution.

anyway i do think they're making things harder by themselves by making drastic changes to each game, while the competition simply refine what they already have and change only after 3 or 4 games (see God of War or Souls); the constant change of development teams also leads to a certain inconsistency i feel; FFs in the past slowly evolved while refining the same basic formula, and that culminated in the "golden age" (took them five entries of refinement to reach that level).

 

[AnGer-dono]

FF stagnating is something i really disagree.

its one of the only franchises that keeps changing and trying new ideas and settings, one doesnt feel like the other; the aesthetic side especially is one of my favorite things from the last FF games.

I feel like it's stagnating mainly because there's not been enough new games coming out (see below) plus the SciFi-/Fantasy-based-on-reality-setting is something I've always been kind of lukewarm about when it comes to FF (in contrast to, say, something like the Xeno games or the Persona series) which is why I feel like the return of FF VII is one of those instances where there's not enough forward momentum, especially in absence of any news regarding XVI. But that's just my personal take on it.

main problem i see is that all of the latest projects suffered from development issues which harmed execution.

Yeah, I think thoses issues cause more harm than good. Taking one's time with a game is good, but taking too much time can lead to the game feeling outdated or at least hampered by the desire to play catch-up in the process of creation. (Looking at you, Duke Nukem Forever)

anyway i do think they're making things harder by themselves by making drastic changes to each game, while the competition simply refine what they already have and change only after 3 or 4 games (see God of War or Souls); the constant change of development teams also leads to a certain inconsistency i feel; FFs in the past slowly evolved while refining the same basic formula, and that culminated in the "golden age" (took them five entries of refinement to reach that level).

Yes. Final Fantasy isn't really at the point where there is a fear of sameyness and stagnation (apart from the people preferring the more "classic fantasy" style not getting an offline game for a little over a decade now) - contrast it with say, the output of Ubisoft which has been labelled as being highly formulaic for quite a while now; or The Legend of Zelda, where the last three home entries prior to Breath of the Wild were structurally very similar to Ocarina of Time/A Link to the Past, but loaded themselves with an increasing amount of gimmickry (and also uninteresting story fluff) to the point where a cut was truly a necessity for the series to be enjoyable again.

 

[Storm]

I feel like it's stagnating mainly because there's not been enough new games coming out (see below) plus the SciFi-/Fantasy-based-on-reality-setting is something I've always been kind of lukewarm about when it comes to FF (in contrast to, say, something like the Xeno games or the Persona series) which is why I feel like the return of FF VII is one of those instances where there's not enough forward momentum, especially in absence of any news regarding XVI. But that's just my personal take on it.

it comes down again about making a new game with plenty of changes... it will take longer because of that.

FF already has to deal with creating new worlds, stories and characters for each entry, if they reused more of the previous games they would come out faster.

 

[T.O.T]

This argument makes little sense to me. You can still make a game that has the vibe of VI or IX and still keep, say, AXB as a system, because to me at least, the vibe (or "feel") is dictated strongly by "deep gameplay" (read: any systems that go beyond the basic world structure and combat) as well as the aesthetic side of a game (read: visual design, music, characters, narrative themes). And to me, Final Fantasy has been stagnating more in these parts (the aesthetic side more than the "deep gameplay" side).

Basically my friend would like a newer title with a more traditional turn based system that has a more medieval setting to it. Say for example, FFXVI, FFXVII, and FFXVIII end up being some variation of an ARPG. Some of the fanbase would naturally feel alienated since some became a fan of the series originally partly in due to the standard turn base systems older games have/had. I really can't agree with you on the stagnating part with the aesthetic aspect. Prior to FFXV for example, the last game that pushed for realistic playable characters was FFVIII back on the PS1. Music wise I also don't agree. There have been multiple composers just for FFXV alone, and we may start to see this as a more common standard in the future. Narrative themes on an overall level may share the same premise (e.g. save world from evil enemy/organization), but how it's executed imo is a majority of the time done in a fashion where it does not feel rehashed.