Electronic Arts(EA) has definitely been one of the companies I wanted to hear more from this year, specifically in one title alone. Nevertheless they brought forward some good candidates for games at this year's presentation, so let's talk about them!
Mass Effect Andromeda was definitely a strong contender in their arsenal. Being such a huge hit with their trilogy, this franchise definitely has a strong following with fans ready to play this. Unfortunately with nothing more than a teaser for this game, all fans can do right now is wait in anticipation for this title to be released.
EA's second title showcased was Need for Speed, their video game version of the Fast and Furious franchise without Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. With the very interactive customization offered, you can make your car your own as you build a reputation to being L.A's #1 driver with a reputation wanted by man. So you essentially get to build yourself up to being Vin Diesel minus the raspy voice and butt kicking muscles with lame puns.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is slated to get a massive expansion that's free for everyone to play. Seriously? This game is still out and running? I don't think I'm alone in this thought, but I wanted a separate single player or co-op campaign, that focused on a very driven story that could unfold in the way you wanted it to, not another segment of an already failing MMO game... Why...?
Unravel was definitely EA's artistic side coming out as they showed you a lovely creative game with a great message behind it. With an adorable presentation and exciting looking gameplay, I'm definitely pretty excited to see how this game goes and look forward to getting my hands on this title.
Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2, aside from its lame introduction with a dancing zombie mascot, definitely brought a fun looking wacky shooter game to the table that felt unique and entertaining to watch. With all the exciting new content to see in this, I can definitely imagine this game will be a huge hit with the fans. Who doesn't love blowing up undead and garden creatures up with guns, right? With a solid work ethic EA's supporting with giving fans plenty of content and free updating means to give themselves an epic gaming experience, EA definitely intends for this game to act as more of an overall expansion to their series than a new game entirely, giving existing fans plenty to keep them wanting more. Why can't all companies be like this...?
EA's sport section was definitely large this year, featuring none other than Soccer legend Pele to talk about his love of Soccer, while belittling American football as well. With various sports games coming out this year, EA Sports definitely intends to bring you the most hands on interactive sports games you could play without actually having to go outside and do things! Now even I can feel like a pro athlete! One of the bigger things I actually got interested in seeing more of was the fact that FIFA16 is going to actually feature female athletes as well. I know that a majority of gamers tend to run in the male department(no offense ladies!) and that the evergrowing female population is even smaller for sports games, but needless to say, female athletes definitely don't get the attention they deserve, so I'm pretty excited to see how this is going to play out and whether or not this will be a decision they love or regret doing.
The ever expanding mobile market is definitely a strong source of lucrative business with gaming companies, so it's not surprise that EA is definitely trying to maximize their business in every category they can. With the convenience of people always having their phones on them, dropping a deuce has never been more entertaining! That being said, EA is definitely smart in maximizing their mobile titles, even using the ever popular Minions from Despicable Me to essentially bring customers another version of Farmville. Ohhhh... Wait...
While I haven't gotten into the first game Mirror's Edge Catalyst brings players an incredibly interactive experience with EA's new Frostbite engine (which is powering every game they showcased by the way) to brings players the largest most in-depth detailed world they can with limited load time. The fact that you can essentially free explore an entire city without needing to worry about in game loading options impresses me quite a bit, but makes me thing the initial start up of the game is going to run somewhere north of an hour. Here's hoping I don't die before I can start playing!
EA would save their biggest title for last... It's no surprise either. 2 months ago they announced the return of the ever popular Battlefront series. With nothing more that a teaser trailer running the game's engine, fans had little more than speculation at what to expect from this title. Honestly, I thought it could go either way. We were either going to be really impressed or really disappointed. I'm glad they listened to fans and showcased some ingame footage for us to see. All I can say is after watching that video, I needed to change my pants. Holy Moly... Looks like I have to get to preordering this game...
While not nearly as impacting on me as EA's press conference Ubisoft definitely didn't pull their punches this year with their panel, hosted by the lovely Aisha Tyler, we got to see quite a bit from devlopers about what's to come from them.
The unvailing of South Park's sequel title South Park Fractured But Whole (hehehe) is set to expand on where the first game The Stick of Truth left off. I can't say anything but wow to this game. Being such an avid fan of the last game, I can't wait to see what more the creators can do with a better processing console to run the already perfect game that was last gen's big hit. Considering how short the first game was, I'm only hoping that the sequel will be bigger and better otherwise I might have to hold off until it goes on sale because $60 for a short game definitely isn't a good deal...
Ubisoft debuted a new type of game focusing on the competitive market of gamers with their new Medieval Third Person battlefield title For Honor. You and a small group of friends take on the role of either Knight, Viking, or Samurai and fight your opponent's team to the death. I don't know about you, but that definitely sounded pretty amazing. Nothing like coming home after a long day of work to an epic battlefield where you can chop someone's head off, am I right?
Tom Clancy was definitely pretty profitable this year as he currently has not one, but three titles (two of which are MMO style games!) getting released sometime next year. Rainbow Six Siege, The Division and Ghost Recon, fans of Clancy definitely have quite a few games to look forward to. My impression on all of these titles is that rage will be fueling most of those players. I'd recommend getting some protection plans since this series will be troll filled. With Rainbow Six having a permanent death status when killed, you can imagine all the players throwing their controllers against their TV. The Division, a post-apocalyptic raiding simulator shooter, heavily emphasizes looking out for only yourself and will most likely be filled with nothing but trolls. Not expecting that is like playing GTA Online and expecting people not to kill you randomly. Clancy's last title Ghost Recon focuses more on the cooperative aspect of the shooter franchise having you work with your comrades to stop enemies. This probably seems like the only game that won't be having people rage quit, but I could always be wrong about that. Good luck guys, I like having my TV and controllers in good condition.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate! Seeing how I never follow anything revolving around the series, I can only say that I'm not surprised. With a new title coming out once a year, this has definitely become one of Ubisoft's staples in their company.
Trials Fusion Awesome Level Max A gun wielding cat on a fire-breathing horse? I'm sold.
City Builder in Space is like Sim City with the option of going to the moon. Seeing as how Sim City is currently in shambles right now, I can only say that this will definitely be a welcomed addition to a city simulator. I'll sure miss that Simspeak though...
Monday, June 15, 2015
Pollocabra's E3 Coverage: Microsoft Edition!
So I figured I would do a coverage report on E3 as it was going on, since I'm going to be watching it anyways. With Microsoft's conference panel they showcased quite a bit of content for the fans to enjoy. I felt like I would just cover the big things they announced since everyone is already writing on it too.
Dark Souls 3! Yes, I'm excited and my body is ready.
Anyone remember Sony's attempt at motion controllers with the Playstation Move? No? Yeah neither do I. Unveiling their big hardware project, Microsoft showcased their HoloLens product with the Minecraft game. This visor(which makes you look like Star Trek's Geordi La Forge) is essentially Microsoft's attempt to create an Oculus Rift, allowing players to take a step further into the gaming world. While it sounds like it'd be fun and interesting, I have no interest in playing God in Minecraft. This product overall sounds like it's going to be an incredibly expensive tool that looks cool, but like the Playstation Move, it probably won't sell nearly as many units. With the ability to play wherever you want, you could go anywhere. I doubt I'd want to trip over anything trying to move out of people's way looking as obnoxious as I would wearing that thing on my face. Honestly while it looks amazing, I highly doubt it will be a big hit.
So Rare did a showcase... All I can do is shake my head in sorrow as I look back at all that they've accomplished and see that they're essentially doing nothing with that now and that they've lost their former glory. While the Rare Replay collection sounds fun with over 30 of their epic titles, I only remember there being a few that were worth playing before. Banjo Kazooie, Conker's Bad Furr Day, Perfect Dark and Donkey Kong. While these titles, with the exception of Donkey Kong, are in this package, I was honestly hoping for something new with these titles. Instead we get a first person pirate MMORPG... Really?
Gears of War 4 was definitely a strong surprise. Seeing how the franchise's story ended with the third one, and a hell of a finish it was, I was definitely surprised(but not all that surprised) to see that Microsoft is planning another installment in the series. I guess if something it that good, keep milking it, right?
The fact that indie games are making huge waves in the gaming market is no surprise. We've had epic titles being released that have honestly surprised plenty of people as it is. This gives the little man a voice to be heard and a great chance to get their name out there in hopes of sharing their passion and love for games with us all. With Microsoft sharing this opinion as well they've opted to support the indie gaming world too. With this new program they're working on, fans can essentially play games before they're finished and help the developers enhance their experience to create the perfect game! That sounds pretty perfect to me. What? We have to pay for this service? Really? Microsoft wants to take our money yet again with this service as fans have to pay in order to utilize this service. Thanks...? This really makes our feedback seem welcome... The fact that they said "select games" as well gives me the impression that Microsoft is the team captain of the dodgeball team and is essentially picking and choosing who they want on their team with indie titles usually being the fat/lanky kid that nobody wants. Give the fans the right to pick a winner, that's our job, isn't it?!
Dark Souls 3! Yes, I'm excited and my body is ready.
Anyone remember Sony's attempt at motion controllers with the Playstation Move? No? Yeah neither do I. Unveiling their big hardware project, Microsoft showcased their HoloLens product with the Minecraft game. This visor(which makes you look like Star Trek's Geordi La Forge) is essentially Microsoft's attempt to create an Oculus Rift, allowing players to take a step further into the gaming world. While it sounds like it'd be fun and interesting, I have no interest in playing God in Minecraft. This product overall sounds like it's going to be an incredibly expensive tool that looks cool, but like the Playstation Move, it probably won't sell nearly as many units. With the ability to play wherever you want, you could go anywhere. I doubt I'd want to trip over anything trying to move out of people's way looking as obnoxious as I would wearing that thing on my face. Honestly while it looks amazing, I highly doubt it will be a big hit.
So Rare did a showcase... All I can do is shake my head in sorrow as I look back at all that they've accomplished and see that they're essentially doing nothing with that now and that they've lost their former glory. While the Rare Replay collection sounds fun with over 30 of their epic titles, I only remember there being a few that were worth playing before. Banjo Kazooie, Conker's Bad Furr Day, Perfect Dark and Donkey Kong. While these titles, with the exception of Donkey Kong, are in this package, I was honestly hoping for something new with these titles. Instead we get a first person pirate MMORPG... Really?
Gears of War 4 was definitely a strong surprise. Seeing how the franchise's story ended with the third one, and a hell of a finish it was, I was definitely surprised(but not all that surprised) to see that Microsoft is planning another installment in the series. I guess if something it that good, keep milking it, right?
The fact that indie games are making huge waves in the gaming market is no surprise. We've had epic titles being released that have honestly surprised plenty of people as it is. This gives the little man a voice to be heard and a great chance to get their name out there in hopes of sharing their passion and love for games with us all. With Microsoft sharing this opinion as well they've opted to support the indie gaming world too. With this new program they're working on, fans can essentially play games before they're finished and help the developers enhance their experience to create the perfect game! That sounds pretty perfect to me. What? We have to pay for this service? Really? Microsoft wants to take our money yet again with this service as fans have to pay in order to utilize this service. Thanks...? This really makes our feedback seem welcome... The fact that they said "select games" as well gives me the impression that Microsoft is the team captain of the dodgeball team and is essentially picking and choosing who they want on their team with indie titles usually being the fat/lanky kid that nobody wants. Give the fans the right to pick a winner, that's our job, isn't it?!
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Why is Caitlyn Jenner news?
So last week Bruce Jenner made the life altering choice to change himself to Caitlyn Jenner and the media took to this like the first oasis in a desert. The tabloids have been filled with nothing but how Bruce's transformation is shocking and the country has literally gone nuts talking about it. Honestly, as much as I'm an advocate for the choice of sexual identity, I'm pretty tired of the Kardashians and Jenners in the news. Seriously, why are they famous again?
Bruce's choice to do whatever he does to his body if his and his alone to make. It honestly isn't anyone's business and I don't know why people are making such a big deal about it. There have been plenty of other people going through the procedure who haven't ever gotten any screen time or done interviews. Hell I live in San Francisco, one of the most sexually ambiguous cities in the world. You could be anything or anyone you wanted. Between the furry orgies to the all day sex-themed festivals that happen here regularly, I'm honestly surprised the media is giving something as miniscule as this the attention it's been getting.
I mean sure I'm impressed that Bruce went through such a drastic life change at such a late age in his life, and that's gotta take a toll on the body with the hormones and drugs, and eventual operation (if it didn't already happen) so kudos on doing it so late. But giving it as much hype as it's been getting is ridiculous.
And one of the things that bugs me the most about all of this is that Caitlyn is getting all of this attention in the media about this sex change and isn't doing anything good with it. It'd be another thing if she intended to go around speaking at events that helped educate people on the matter and how important it is to individuals to feel comfortable in their own bodies, but Caitlyn is doing what all the other Kardashians are doing with their lives. Honestly not doing a single gosh darn thing to benefit the greater good bugs me. Go Caitlyn for living your own life, but get out of the spotlight. More important things need to be discussed.
Everything Right and Wrong with Nintendo
Nintendo has been one of the major icons of the gaming world since it's creation and overall peak. They've essentially led as pioneers of the market, creating fun and innovative games that have gone on to define gaming as we know it. With the dawn of the Nintendo Entertainment System(N.E.S) or Family Computer(Famicom) Nintendo definitely stood at the foundation of gaming's core, helping to inspire many gaming companies to follow suit. It's not secret that with the dawn of Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's X-box that Nintendo began to trail behind the ever popular growing competitors, resulting in being in the butt of jokes. Even the Big Bang Theory did an episode on which of the two consoles Sheldon Cooper should pick from with the Wii being a big joke that audience laughed at. Being that I grew up with the Super Nintendo in the 90's I couldn't help but feel saddened by the current state Nintendo is in, and have been trying to wrack my brain on what they've essentially been doing wrong with their company and how they could once again rise up to the top again. So let's dive into what I essentially think they're doing right and wrong.
The Right
Nintendo original titles Icons
Nintendo made several smart moves that insured it all the rights it could want when they decided to create original characters of their own instead of relying on third party characters like the other consoles do. With titles like Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid and plenty more, Nintendo has the rights to do whatever they want with the series to create the most exciting game possible. By doing this, they can essentially collaborate their titles into something amazing like Super Smash Bros, which features all of their characters going head to head against one another without needing to pay other companies to use their characters unless they want to. With their own characters Nintendo essentially has icons to push the system for them. Everyone knows Mario and Zelda which will always be associated with the Nintendo systems, which allows for stability of the company in terms of not needing to constantly update the list. Relying on these icons really helps the company with familiarity too. Produce good games with a stable character and the fans will stick to you forever.
Handhelds
While not always this way, the handheld consoles Nintendo has produced seem to sell more than the home consoles unfortunately. Most of my friends own a Nintendo DS/3DS/New3DS as opposed to a Gamecube/Wii/Wii U nowadays. With the handheld consoles being a lot cheaper, and their games being more affordable and abundant, it's no surprise the handhelds are what's keeping Nintendo afloat these days. The fact that their handhelds are online capable also helps push Nintendo's capabilities. We have to essentially treat the handheld and home consoles as two different parts of the company because they handle both systems differently. While the home console tends to be more weary about risk taking and outsourcing their games, Nintendo seems to have no issue doing this with the handheld system as they have plenty of games not specifically done solely by the company. This style of business is exactly why Sony and Microsoft are so successful and push more home consoles than Nintendo. Nintendo's handheld console does a much better job of handling this because the DS/3DS blows the sales of the PS Vita out of the water, with no competition to even mention.
Giving us great games
Rushing anything is never a good thing, it produces a sloppy product with a lot of problems. Nintendo is very good about not doing this with their products. While this might come across as scared and passive to most, I consider it good work ethic. Making sure you produce a quality product is the most important thing with any consumer related field. Nobody needs garbage games and Nintendo does their best to follow this.
The Wrong
Bordering constant limitations
Nintendo's main focus above all else with any of their consoles, home or handheld is to be innovative with their systems. While this initially comes off as cutting edge it also has it drawbacks to the company. While Nintendo focuses a lot on giving the fans the best game possible, they often times border on limitation within their own hardware. Every system Nintendo seems release doesn't seem to be good enough to run their cutting edge games. This happened with the S.N.E.S and their Nintendo 64, with several titles that required roundabout methods to support their game. Donkey Kong 64 and Majora's Mask required extra hardware with the expansion in order to support them. Come on Nintendo, you gotta know your hardware better.
No static controller
Since Nintendo's first console controller to the most recent one nothing about any of the systems has stayed the same. With video games, I think there needs to be a certain amount of consistency that allows players to continue wanting to play your console. Playstation and X-box have, for the most part, maintained the same style of controllers, altering things only slightly. Who honestly enjoys the Wiimote? While fun, it couldn't necessarily bring the same level of comfort that the competition does with their products. The latest Nintendo console has around 4 different types of controllers for their system. With all those options, I don't even know what to play with!
Shying away from third party titles on the home console
With all the freedom the handheld console gets with third party companies making games on your system, you'd think Nintendo would do the same thing with their home console. Unfortunately Nintendo tends to play it very safe with their bigger projects, which has hurt their sales too. When you're the only developer, it's hard to push games at the same rate as Sony and Microsoft who have other companies merely use their hardware to showcase their games. While this doesn't necessarily maximize profits with Sony and Microsoft, it does push console sales. Why Nintendo felt the need to stop doing this baffles me. Anyone remember the Super Nintendo? A majority of their best selling titles weren't necessarily made by Nintendo directly, as other companies used their hardware similarly to what Sony and Microsoft is doing now.
While Nintendo definitely has its fair share of problems, I honestly feel the good outweighs the bad in most cases which is why I continue to stay faithful to the company in both the handheld aspect, and the home console and will continue to do so, but what do you guys think? Do you guys have a Wii U or are most of you guys sticking specifically to the handhelds? Reasons? Share at the bottom! Thanks for reading!
The Right
Nintendo original titles Icons
Nintendo made several smart moves that insured it all the rights it could want when they decided to create original characters of their own instead of relying on third party characters like the other consoles do. With titles like Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid and plenty more, Nintendo has the rights to do whatever they want with the series to create the most exciting game possible. By doing this, they can essentially collaborate their titles into something amazing like Super Smash Bros, which features all of their characters going head to head against one another without needing to pay other companies to use their characters unless they want to. With their own characters Nintendo essentially has icons to push the system for them. Everyone knows Mario and Zelda which will always be associated with the Nintendo systems, which allows for stability of the company in terms of not needing to constantly update the list. Relying on these icons really helps the company with familiarity too. Produce good games with a stable character and the fans will stick to you forever.
Handhelds
While not always this way, the handheld consoles Nintendo has produced seem to sell more than the home consoles unfortunately. Most of my friends own a Nintendo DS/3DS/New3DS as opposed to a Gamecube/Wii/Wii U nowadays. With the handheld consoles being a lot cheaper, and their games being more affordable and abundant, it's no surprise the handhelds are what's keeping Nintendo afloat these days. The fact that their handhelds are online capable also helps push Nintendo's capabilities. We have to essentially treat the handheld and home consoles as two different parts of the company because they handle both systems differently. While the home console tends to be more weary about risk taking and outsourcing their games, Nintendo seems to have no issue doing this with the handheld system as they have plenty of games not specifically done solely by the company. This style of business is exactly why Sony and Microsoft are so successful and push more home consoles than Nintendo. Nintendo's handheld console does a much better job of handling this because the DS/3DS blows the sales of the PS Vita out of the water, with no competition to even mention.
Giving us great games
Rushing anything is never a good thing, it produces a sloppy product with a lot of problems. Nintendo is very good about not doing this with their products. While this might come across as scared and passive to most, I consider it good work ethic. Making sure you produce a quality product is the most important thing with any consumer related field. Nobody needs garbage games and Nintendo does their best to follow this.
The Wrong
Bordering constant limitations
Nintendo's main focus above all else with any of their consoles, home or handheld is to be innovative with their systems. While this initially comes off as cutting edge it also has it drawbacks to the company. While Nintendo focuses a lot on giving the fans the best game possible, they often times border on limitation within their own hardware. Every system Nintendo seems release doesn't seem to be good enough to run their cutting edge games. This happened with the S.N.E.S and their Nintendo 64, with several titles that required roundabout methods to support their game. Donkey Kong 64 and Majora's Mask required extra hardware with the expansion in order to support them. Come on Nintendo, you gotta know your hardware better.
No static controller
Since Nintendo's first console controller to the most recent one nothing about any of the systems has stayed the same. With video games, I think there needs to be a certain amount of consistency that allows players to continue wanting to play your console. Playstation and X-box have, for the most part, maintained the same style of controllers, altering things only slightly. Who honestly enjoys the Wiimote? While fun, it couldn't necessarily bring the same level of comfort that the competition does with their products. The latest Nintendo console has around 4 different types of controllers for their system. With all those options, I don't even know what to play with!
Shying away from third party titles on the home console
With all the freedom the handheld console gets with third party companies making games on your system, you'd think Nintendo would do the same thing with their home console. Unfortunately Nintendo tends to play it very safe with their bigger projects, which has hurt their sales too. When you're the only developer, it's hard to push games at the same rate as Sony and Microsoft who have other companies merely use their hardware to showcase their games. While this doesn't necessarily maximize profits with Sony and Microsoft, it does push console sales. Why Nintendo felt the need to stop doing this baffles me. Anyone remember the Super Nintendo? A majority of their best selling titles weren't necessarily made by Nintendo directly, as other companies used their hardware similarly to what Sony and Microsoft is doing now.
While Nintendo definitely has its fair share of problems, I honestly feel the good outweighs the bad in most cases which is why I continue to stay faithful to the company in both the handheld aspect, and the home console and will continue to do so, but what do you guys think? Do you guys have a Wii U or are most of you guys sticking specifically to the handhelds? Reasons? Share at the bottom! Thanks for reading!
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Pollocabra's E3 hopes and dreams (Prediction post)
With E3 coming up next week, I thought I'd spend this post talking about what I am and am not looking forward to. Since it's such a big gaming convention, there is usually a lot of hype and buzz about the new stuff coming out, so let's dive into it!
Star Wars Battlefront
This is a game I'm very interested in seeing an announcement about. With nothing more than a teaser trailer with the game's engine, we've actually seen little to nothing to go on besides sweet cutscenes. Seeing as how I'm a huge Star Wars fan, I'm really nervous to see how this game is done and what we can hope to expect on the latest gen hardware. If this blows my expectations out of the water, you can damn well be sure to take my money. I was a big fan of Battlefront 2 and definitely enjoyed playing it, and so you can imagine my anticipation for this release. Come on Disney/Marvel/Lucas/etc, don't let us down!
Final Fantasy XV
Square's nearly 10 year project. Anything other than a release date on this title is garbage news for me. With Square essentially leaving the tradition RPG genre for a new hack and slash style Kingdom Hearts hybrid, I've honestly lost the interest to even continue with a series that no longer has the appeal it once did. I'm going to guess Square is going to push this title to 2016 because they can't figure out what they like and don't like about the demo.
Yooka-Laylee
I grew up playing Banjo Kazooie on my N64 and loved every single bit of what Nintendo/Rare gave us. So you can imagine my sadness to hear that Microsoft wasn't planning on doing anything good with their acquired series(who has a Kinnect anyways?). I'm dying to hear something about this if anything. I know it's essentially a small indie title that might not get a whole bunch of spotlight at a big convention, but any more news or a demo about this game would be absolutely fantastic. Let it happen!
Dark Souls 3/Bloodborne DLC
No surprise here, I'm a glutten for punishment and can't wait to be spanked around in this game! With the recent release of Bloodborne earlier this year, you can imagine my surprise at From Software's announcement that Dark Souls 3 was already on its way and apparently slated for an early 2016 release (so the rumors have said.) Needless to say, between the expansion of Bloodborne, which I loved but thought was altogether too short, and Dark Souls 3, I'm going to have my fill of masochism for a while and love every second of it. My cnaldewax is ready!
Assassin's Creed/Call of Duty
I don't play these games at all, but I'm betting money on an E3 announcement about these titles and some sneak info about their newest title to the franchise. Here's hoping Assassin's Creed doesn't do a Samurai style game.
Monster Hunter X
While I enjoy the Monster Hunter games, and I know they have a strong following, I can't help but be overall displeased at Nintendo and Capcom's announcement that a new title was already underway for a series that in all honesty that has really time consuming games. With all the time and money people spend on the series, especially because it's somewhat online, it's a bit discouraging for me at least to spend so much time on a game, only to hear that a new one is already on it's way. If anything Capcom should release these games simultaneously for both Japan and other regions and give everyone the same amount of time to play these titles rather than nearly a year apart. I mean come on, how hard is it to have someone translate dialogue? It's not like you need to hire new voice actors, just have a small team work on text...
Devil May Cry 6(5)
I've been a huge fan of the Devil May Cry series since it debuted on the PS2. Nothing shouts awesome like a trenchcoat wearing, sword wielding, gunslinging, demon-infused, cheesy phrase dropping badass. Did I add enough adjectives in there? Hmmm yeah thatfeels pretty good. With nothing more than a title shot for Devil May Cry 6(I say 6 because I actually liked the D.M.C reboot and definitely consider it worthy of continuation) and several rereleases of older games, here's hoping we see something else about it this year!
Street Fighter 5
With how popular the series is and it's really strong comeback, I'm sure we'll see something new about Capcom's biggest title. I'm being overly optimistic, but I'm hoping we get a solid release date and maybe some sneak previews at more characters to come in the butt-kicking series, but we'll see. Would be cool.
Tekken 7
Being that the arcade edition already came out in Japan, I'm pretty sure Bandai/Namco will give us a release date prediction about the home console version. Whether or not it's coming out late 2015 or 2016 is still up for grabs. My hunch is on next year.
Fallout 4
Nothing takes away the stress like wandering a nuclear wasteland laying waste to mutants, raiders and giant roaches like the Fallout series. After a long day of whatever I'm doing, you can bet I wanna use my V.A.T.S to blow peoples heads off in this post-apocalyptic masterpiece. I'm not hopeful, but I would love a 2015 release please.
Silent Hills
A shot in the dark I know, but I would love to see this project get made. If I had the funds I would sponsor the damn game myself. Such a shame... Big names like Kojima and Del Toro with Reedus?! The more I think about it, the more it kind of feels like it was too good to be true anyways.
Pokemon
With Ruby and Sapphire getting their remakes released late last year, I'm kind of expecting Game Freak to come out with a Gen 7 sometime soon. I'm honestly just looking to see what else they'll do with the franchise and if there is a possible end in sight. We'll see... All I know is I'm a little tired of trying to catch them all. I know we're to expect some news on the new Mystery Dungeon game already, so all there is left to do about this is hear what Game Freak and Nintendo have to say on this matter. Pokemon MMO?! I want to abandon my life to play this.
Metroid Prime/Classic Metroid reboot
I'm honestly hoping we get something along the lines of a revival for this series. Nothing broke barriers like Metroid did for the classic NES and SNES. With epic gameplay, fun dungeons/puzzles, This series deserves more justice than what Other M brought it. I'm honestly hoping they port this trilogy to the 3DS and release a WiiU title as that could do wonders for Nintendo, bringing a lot of people back. Let it happen Nintendo!
Star Fox
With Star Fox for the SNES and N64 being such huge hits, it's only normal that one would have high expectations of a new Star Fox title. It's such a shame that the last titles in this series were such epic let downs. After Nintendo's announcement at E3 2014, I'm honestly hoping we get some solid news from Nintendo about this series that could potentially bring them back on the market.
Zelda Wii U
There is already a lot of news about this game, so honestly I'm just hoping we get a release date on this title and they do away with that lousy stamina bar. I enjoy the Zelda titles with an actual controller as opposed to a terrible motion joystick. I'm sick of the demos about this game and just want it out already.
Mario
Was I one of the only people who actually enjoyed Mario Sunshine? Aside from the water gun aspect of the game, the whole thing felt really nostalgic, giving me big flashes of Super Mario 64 and why I loved the game so much. With Mario Galaxy giving me a massive headache with the crazy camera changes, I'm hoping Nintendo does something a lot simpler with our favorite plumber and give us another really good adventure game. Please?
HellBlade
I was one of the few people that actually enjoyed D.M.C the reboot. Being that I enjoyed the gameplay, style and music, you can imagine when I heard Ninja Theory and Combichrist were working together again that I'd be amped for this game too. So honestly I'm hoping we hear something awesome about this game too.
Wow, so this list was definitely longer than I thought it would be. Here's hoping that everyone gets what they hope for with 2015's E3 and wish for the best! I'll post an update after the week is over to see if I got any of these right and talk about what I've been surprised about that I'm looking forward to. Anything you guys are excited to see/hear/or play? Please leave a comment and let's chat about it! Thanks for reading!
Star Wars Battlefront
This is a game I'm very interested in seeing an announcement about. With nothing more than a teaser trailer with the game's engine, we've actually seen little to nothing to go on besides sweet cutscenes. Seeing as how I'm a huge Star Wars fan, I'm really nervous to see how this game is done and what we can hope to expect on the latest gen hardware. If this blows my expectations out of the water, you can damn well be sure to take my money. I was a big fan of Battlefront 2 and definitely enjoyed playing it, and so you can imagine my anticipation for this release. Come on Disney/Marvel/Lucas/etc, don't let us down!
Final Fantasy XV
Square's nearly 10 year project. Anything other than a release date on this title is garbage news for me. With Square essentially leaving the tradition RPG genre for a new hack and slash style Kingdom Hearts hybrid, I've honestly lost the interest to even continue with a series that no longer has the appeal it once did. I'm going to guess Square is going to push this title to 2016 because they can't figure out what they like and don't like about the demo.
Yooka-Laylee
I grew up playing Banjo Kazooie on my N64 and loved every single bit of what Nintendo/Rare gave us. So you can imagine my sadness to hear that Microsoft wasn't planning on doing anything good with their acquired series(who has a Kinnect anyways?). I'm dying to hear something about this if anything. I know it's essentially a small indie title that might not get a whole bunch of spotlight at a big convention, but any more news or a demo about this game would be absolutely fantastic. Let it happen!
Dark Souls 3/Bloodborne DLC
No surprise here, I'm a glutten for punishment and can't wait to be spanked around in this game! With the recent release of Bloodborne earlier this year, you can imagine my surprise at From Software's announcement that Dark Souls 3 was already on its way and apparently slated for an early 2016 release (so the rumors have said.) Needless to say, between the expansion of Bloodborne, which I loved but thought was altogether too short, and Dark Souls 3, I'm going to have my fill of masochism for a while and love every second of it. My cnaldewax is ready!
Assassin's Creed/Call of Duty
I don't play these games at all, but I'm betting money on an E3 announcement about these titles and some sneak info about their newest title to the franchise. Here's hoping Assassin's Creed doesn't do a Samurai style game.
Monster Hunter X
While I enjoy the Monster Hunter games, and I know they have a strong following, I can't help but be overall displeased at Nintendo and Capcom's announcement that a new title was already underway for a series that in all honesty that has really time consuming games. With all the time and money people spend on the series, especially because it's somewhat online, it's a bit discouraging for me at least to spend so much time on a game, only to hear that a new one is already on it's way. If anything Capcom should release these games simultaneously for both Japan and other regions and give everyone the same amount of time to play these titles rather than nearly a year apart. I mean come on, how hard is it to have someone translate dialogue? It's not like you need to hire new voice actors, just have a small team work on text...
Devil May Cry 6(5)
I've been a huge fan of the Devil May Cry series since it debuted on the PS2. Nothing shouts awesome like a trenchcoat wearing, sword wielding, gunslinging, demon-infused, cheesy phrase dropping badass. Did I add enough adjectives in there? Hmmm yeah thatfeels pretty good. With nothing more than a title shot for Devil May Cry 6(I say 6 because I actually liked the D.M.C reboot and definitely consider it worthy of continuation) and several rereleases of older games, here's hoping we see something else about it this year!
Street Fighter 5
With how popular the series is and it's really strong comeback, I'm sure we'll see something new about Capcom's biggest title. I'm being overly optimistic, but I'm hoping we get a solid release date and maybe some sneak previews at more characters to come in the butt-kicking series, but we'll see. Would be cool.
Tekken 7
Being that the arcade edition already came out in Japan, I'm pretty sure Bandai/Namco will give us a release date prediction about the home console version. Whether or not it's coming out late 2015 or 2016 is still up for grabs. My hunch is on next year.
Fallout 4
Nothing takes away the stress like wandering a nuclear wasteland laying waste to mutants, raiders and giant roaches like the Fallout series. After a long day of whatever I'm doing, you can bet I wanna use my V.A.T.S to blow peoples heads off in this post-apocalyptic masterpiece. I'm not hopeful, but I would love a 2015 release please.
Silent Hills
A shot in the dark I know, but I would love to see this project get made. If I had the funds I would sponsor the damn game myself. Such a shame... Big names like Kojima and Del Toro with Reedus?! The more I think about it, the more it kind of feels like it was too good to be true anyways.
Pokemon
With Ruby and Sapphire getting their remakes released late last year, I'm kind of expecting Game Freak to come out with a Gen 7 sometime soon. I'm honestly just looking to see what else they'll do with the franchise and if there is a possible end in sight. We'll see... All I know is I'm a little tired of trying to catch them all. I know we're to expect some news on the new Mystery Dungeon game already, so all there is left to do about this is hear what Game Freak and Nintendo have to say on this matter. Pokemon MMO?! I want to abandon my life to play this.
Metroid Prime/Classic Metroid reboot
I'm honestly hoping we get something along the lines of a revival for this series. Nothing broke barriers like Metroid did for the classic NES and SNES. With epic gameplay, fun dungeons/puzzles, This series deserves more justice than what Other M brought it. I'm honestly hoping they port this trilogy to the 3DS and release a WiiU title as that could do wonders for Nintendo, bringing a lot of people back. Let it happen Nintendo!
Star Fox
With Star Fox for the SNES and N64 being such huge hits, it's only normal that one would have high expectations of a new Star Fox title. It's such a shame that the last titles in this series were such epic let downs. After Nintendo's announcement at E3 2014, I'm honestly hoping we get some solid news from Nintendo about this series that could potentially bring them back on the market.
Zelda Wii U
There is already a lot of news about this game, so honestly I'm just hoping we get a release date on this title and they do away with that lousy stamina bar. I enjoy the Zelda titles with an actual controller as opposed to a terrible motion joystick. I'm sick of the demos about this game and just want it out already.
Mario
Was I one of the only people who actually enjoyed Mario Sunshine? Aside from the water gun aspect of the game, the whole thing felt really nostalgic, giving me big flashes of Super Mario 64 and why I loved the game so much. With Mario Galaxy giving me a massive headache with the crazy camera changes, I'm hoping Nintendo does something a lot simpler with our favorite plumber and give us another really good adventure game. Please?
HellBlade
I was one of the few people that actually enjoyed D.M.C the reboot. Being that I enjoyed the gameplay, style and music, you can imagine when I heard Ninja Theory and Combichrist were working together again that I'd be amped for this game too. So honestly I'm hoping we hear something awesome about this game too.
Wow, so this list was definitely longer than I thought it would be. Here's hoping that everyone gets what they hope for with 2015's E3 and wish for the best! I'll post an update after the week is over to see if I got any of these right and talk about what I've been surprised about that I'm looking forward to. Anything you guys are excited to see/hear/or play? Please leave a comment and let's chat about it! Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Constant DLC vs. Constant New Games = A Losing Consumer
Bringing the video game market online proved to be both a successful and lucrative business move for video games companies. Developers showed that games didn't just end with the hardcopy release but could be expanded upon to further enhance one's gameplay experience. Through either patches to fix bugging issues with gameplay or simply expanding the story, the developers showed that buying the game wasn't all they were able to do. This development was simply incredible. Before consoles going online building expansions to games were virtually impossible without the aid of the internet. It was only within the last 10 years or so that game developers were really able to continue developing games after their initial release so the pressure was on to make everything perfect. The only other way we could get any content related to the same game we wanted was waiting for a sequel and we all know how most of those turn out... *cough* Bioshock 2 *cough* Releasing a new game isn't necessarily a bad thing though as sometimes there are new things developers want to add to the core that simply can't be done without redoing the whole game, and sometimes DLC just isn't enough. The big issue I think comes with the constant creation of both of these options and why sometimes, it's not such a bad idea to slow things down a bit and enjoy the ride of success.
DLC however is amazing. I love the fact that nothing has to end with games that are huge hits. Developers can add as much as they want with these installments and it does wonders for a game. Dark Souls' DLC was incredible and I loved every minute of it. Being that no game really needs to end gives a near endless amount of opportunity to really take the game as far as it can be taken. There is of course a massive downside. DLC also comes in the forms of the useless bunch with cosmetics that do little more than to make you stand out. While I'm all for decorating my favorite characters in funky special costumes, I can't say I'm a fan of alllllll the crap that is offered by companies for a price. Remember when earning costumes and extra stuff used to mean something? I do... Final Fantasy XIV just launched their online store where you can pay real money for in game content. They are charging $24 for a special mount. I'm sorry but I don't think having that mount wouldn't qualify as anything other than sad...
In the 90's I grew up with having to wait quite a bit for a game sequel to come out before it did. I scoured Nintendo Power in search of any info on when Majora's Mask would officially release, getting nothing but lame screenshots to satisfy my palette until the game's release. While utterly painful to wait for, the demand for the game really just made me want the game even more, and you can be damn sure I played the crap out of it when it came out. Lately I feel like most gaming companies strive for a new game as often as Apple is popping out a new iPhone. We've got more than our fair share of Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed titles, people. Is a new version really needed right now? According to Activision and Ubisoft, yes. Yes it is. While I'm definitely not one to argue for more video games, I honestly feel a bit overwhelmed at the frequent supply of games out there. My pockets aren't horribly deep, so I like to feel I need to pick and choose my decisions carefully when it comes to my next game title. I need to do my homework, see if it's really something I want to invest my time in and then make the purchase after thinking long and hard. I need to be wooed before these pants come off. Say what you will, I have my dignity and self respect. So it's kind of hard to base my decision on a franchise when they've got a new game coming out once a year, especially where it's an online game. Sorry Call of Duty, this is one guy who's not going to fall for your smooth moves.
Either way between all the constant DLC that comes out with every game or the constant releases of new games every year, I can't seem to figure out which is the bigger enemy. What do you guys think?
DLC however is amazing. I love the fact that nothing has to end with games that are huge hits. Developers can add as much as they want with these installments and it does wonders for a game. Dark Souls' DLC was incredible and I loved every minute of it. Being that no game really needs to end gives a near endless amount of opportunity to really take the game as far as it can be taken. There is of course a massive downside. DLC also comes in the forms of the useless bunch with cosmetics that do little more than to make you stand out. While I'm all for decorating my favorite characters in funky special costumes, I can't say I'm a fan of alllllll the crap that is offered by companies for a price. Remember when earning costumes and extra stuff used to mean something? I do... Final Fantasy XIV just launched their online store where you can pay real money for in game content. They are charging $24 for a special mount. I'm sorry but I don't think having that mount wouldn't qualify as anything other than sad...
In the 90's I grew up with having to wait quite a bit for a game sequel to come out before it did. I scoured Nintendo Power in search of any info on when Majora's Mask would officially release, getting nothing but lame screenshots to satisfy my palette until the game's release. While utterly painful to wait for, the demand for the game really just made me want the game even more, and you can be damn sure I played the crap out of it when it came out. Lately I feel like most gaming companies strive for a new game as often as Apple is popping out a new iPhone. We've got more than our fair share of Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed titles, people. Is a new version really needed right now? According to Activision and Ubisoft, yes. Yes it is. While I'm definitely not one to argue for more video games, I honestly feel a bit overwhelmed at the frequent supply of games out there. My pockets aren't horribly deep, so I like to feel I need to pick and choose my decisions carefully when it comes to my next game title. I need to do my homework, see if it's really something I want to invest my time in and then make the purchase after thinking long and hard. I need to be wooed before these pants come off. Say what you will, I have my dignity and self respect. So it's kind of hard to base my decision on a franchise when they've got a new game coming out once a year, especially where it's an online game. Sorry Call of Duty, this is one guy who's not going to fall for your smooth moves.
Either way between all the constant DLC that comes out with every game or the constant releases of new games every year, I can't seem to figure out which is the bigger enemy. What do you guys think?
Monday, June 8, 2015
Final Fantasy: Square Enix's awkward teenager trying to fit in
With the upcoming release of Final Fantasy XV some time this year(we can only hope) I thought it'd be a good time to discuss the future of Square Enix and the difficult trial it's been to get them there with the Final Fantasy series, which I'm no longer convinced falls under the RPG genre anymore.
From slow gameplay driven by plot, to the more fast-paced MMORPG that has losers blaming most of their problems on lag, it's no shock that Final Fantasy has definitely evolved over the 28 and a half years since it's creation as Hironobu Sakaguchi's all or nothing gamble at a successful game. It's eventual critical success helped put Square on the market for the many years to come, giving fans plenty more games to play, spanning over several platforms(25, and yes I counted...).
With the evolution of video games comes the necessity of innovation for developers as they need to meet the demands of their fans to maintain the ability to keep their fans loyal. While this is a necessity for most of the games out there, Final Fantasy is one of the exceptions to this rule overall because of it's origin.
Final Fantasy has been known to many fans as a timeless masterpiece because it paved the way for a new genre of games commonly known as RPGs. The simplicity of the menu-based system allowed for Sakaguchi to focus on the story and world itself to essentially capture the players in an interactive world. It strayed away from the modern setting of games with high paced action and played out like a digital book the player experienced first hand. Players were driven to explore the world around them and interact with the story.
With the later installments, Sakaguchi continued with this tried and true method, creating success after success with future installments. Each new game had more elements in there that captured the players even more. What went from a simple story with nameless protagonists had stemmed into full playable stories of characters going through dangers in order to save the world. Nevertheless, the story drove the players to continue playing the games and it was what essentially kept them playing.
With the dawn of bigger and better technology brought forth the desire to evolve gaming as we know it. Mario went from computer generated sprites moving along a 2D setting with the N.E.S and the S.N.E.S to a 3D environment, revolutionizing the way games were made with the Nintendo 64 and so forth. This inspired the trend of games breaking the third dimension, fundamentally changing the way games were played. Final Fantasy also followed suit as it also evolved from the usage of computer generated sprited to rendered models that progressed along a more detailed background that was drawn out in its seventh installment of the series. This change essentially revolutionized the RPG genre as companies now had more freedom to expand their worlds, giving players more to see.
It was Final Fantasy VII that ultimately brought Square to the top of the charts. With the development of the next gen console capabilities of the Playstation, Final Fantasy VII broke out of its classic 8-32-bit style graphics to a new stronger and more upgraded form. Utilizing high end hardware, Square was able to break their old limitations with previous games to give players an absolutely stunning world to interact with. They utilized computer generated models combined with stunningly drawn backgrounds to showcase their game's full potential. I often refer to FFVII as the Ocarina of Time of the series, comparing it to Nintendo's legendary series Zelda, because both games did the exact same thing for their franchises. Both Square and Nintendo ultimately changed the way their classic games were played. While Zelda broke away from it's classic style completely with Ocarina of Time, FFVII showed that their graphics could ultimately enhance the storytelling experience allowing players to really dive in deeper than what previous games could allow them to. While I'm not arguing that the graphical improvements ultimately made the game better, these upgrades were definitely a big boost to the franchise's capabilities at creating games. This was arguably the beginning of the repeated trend Square attempted to showcase better graphics over anything else.
With the creation of Final Fantasy XI is where I argue Square began losing track of it's roots for the franchise altogether. XI was Square's attempt to jump in on the online market with a game that could potentially break ground for the company to expand. While I'm not one to argue the ability to expand the company, there isn't a need to use the franchise's name to do this. Many fans did jump into Final Fantasy XI thinking it would count as an official segment of the franchise only to be disappointed by the fact that it was simply an MMO. While I personally enjoyed the game, spending many years of my life playing it, I very much disapproved of the fact that Square was using their star franchise to market the game when they could have simply made it another title entirely. Utilizing a franchise name to experiment on a different market can be off putting for several gamers.
The saying "If it isn't broken, don't fix it" comes to my mind a lot with the discussion of Final Fantasy XII. After FFXI this was arguably the biggest change the franchise has seen, ultimately stepping completely away from turn-based gameplay with a heavy focus on active time. This became an issue with playing with speed and stress, as opposed to simply using your wits. The game essentially forced you to play with the A.I unless you were determined to spend even more time manually inputing every command yourself. While some will argue that they're willing to because they are determined, it shouldn't have to be as frustrating to micromanage one's team as badly as FFXII makes it. The game's overall tedious nature of gameplay left me unable to complete the lackluster story, forever to collect dust on my shelf as I put other games ahead of it.
And now we come to the last of the single player titles that Square Enix had created to this point. What can I say about this installment that hasn't already been said? Final Fantasy XIII is arguably the worst title in the franchise and a chaotic mess of a game. It's only redeeming quality was its soundtrack and graphics. Square decided to essentially eliminate the need to control your party as a whole and merely change around their jobs to your presets. The chaotic battle system left many unable to really grasp how to play as it contained a rather difficult learning curve. Square, I know you want to branch out to new gamers, but this definitely isn't the way to go about it.
Final Fantasy XV is where I have a large problem with the series overall. Inspired by the huge success of Kingdom Hearts, Square wanted to synthesize this success with their 15th installment, originally named Versus XIII. Kingdom Hearts, albeit an unofficial Final Fantasy spin-off, isn't an official Final Fantasy title. Turning the strategic combat of a turn-based RPG in a hack and slash style game cheapens what made Final Fantasy the success that got it to the top and honestly feels like Square is simply trying to find a way to refresh the series. Kingdom Hearts worked as a game, because it stood out from the traditional content Square Enix was producing and made it's success on its own. Having Final Fantasy ride the coattails of this other game doesn't help but cause more confusion overall as now Final Fantasy doesn't fall under the standard RPG that it used to be. You can't even control other characters besides your own. Square should have just started fresh and made a new series hack and slash that could have won fans over rather than butcher the originality that was the series as a whole.
With the large amount of changes the games have seen overall since the tenth installment of the series, I can't help but realize that Square doesn't know what they want from their series any longer. Branching out from the RPG setting to a more action oriented game utterly crushes the reason why people play the games. Square seems to merely be using the brand name to get their game out there without actually keeping any of the other elements that made the series loved by many. Why feel the need to change what made a series so great? While RPG's weren't essentially a big selling point with many gamers, the whole point of playing Final Fantasy was for the story, and less with the gameplay. With all this being said I can't help but worry over the next several titles in the franchise and what direction Square is going to take with their star pupil. Thanks Square, you've definitely lost a faithful customer over here.
From slow gameplay driven by plot, to the more fast-paced MMORPG that has losers blaming most of their problems on lag, it's no shock that Final Fantasy has definitely evolved over the 28 and a half years since it's creation as Hironobu Sakaguchi's all or nothing gamble at a successful game. It's eventual critical success helped put Square on the market for the many years to come, giving fans plenty more games to play, spanning over several platforms(25, and yes I counted...).
With the evolution of video games comes the necessity of innovation for developers as they need to meet the demands of their fans to maintain the ability to keep their fans loyal. While this is a necessity for most of the games out there, Final Fantasy is one of the exceptions to this rule overall because of it's origin.
Final Fantasy has been known to many fans as a timeless masterpiece because it paved the way for a new genre of games commonly known as RPGs. The simplicity of the menu-based system allowed for Sakaguchi to focus on the story and world itself to essentially capture the players in an interactive world. It strayed away from the modern setting of games with high paced action and played out like a digital book the player experienced first hand. Players were driven to explore the world around them and interact with the story.
With the later installments, Sakaguchi continued with this tried and true method, creating success after success with future installments. Each new game had more elements in there that captured the players even more. What went from a simple story with nameless protagonists had stemmed into full playable stories of characters going through dangers in order to save the world. Nevertheless, the story drove the players to continue playing the games and it was what essentially kept them playing.
With the dawn of bigger and better technology brought forth the desire to evolve gaming as we know it. Mario went from computer generated sprites moving along a 2D setting with the N.E.S and the S.N.E.S to a 3D environment, revolutionizing the way games were made with the Nintendo 64 and so forth. This inspired the trend of games breaking the third dimension, fundamentally changing the way games were played. Final Fantasy also followed suit as it also evolved from the usage of computer generated sprited to rendered models that progressed along a more detailed background that was drawn out in its seventh installment of the series. This change essentially revolutionized the RPG genre as companies now had more freedom to expand their worlds, giving players more to see.
It was Final Fantasy VII that ultimately brought Square to the top of the charts. With the development of the next gen console capabilities of the Playstation, Final Fantasy VII broke out of its classic 8-32-bit style graphics to a new stronger and more upgraded form. Utilizing high end hardware, Square was able to break their old limitations with previous games to give players an absolutely stunning world to interact with. They utilized computer generated models combined with stunningly drawn backgrounds to showcase their game's full potential. I often refer to FFVII as the Ocarina of Time of the series, comparing it to Nintendo's legendary series Zelda, because both games did the exact same thing for their franchises. Both Square and Nintendo ultimately changed the way their classic games were played. While Zelda broke away from it's classic style completely with Ocarina of Time, FFVII showed that their graphics could ultimately enhance the storytelling experience allowing players to really dive in deeper than what previous games could allow them to. While I'm not arguing that the graphical improvements ultimately made the game better, these upgrades were definitely a big boost to the franchise's capabilities at creating games. This was arguably the beginning of the repeated trend Square attempted to showcase better graphics over anything else.
With the creation of Final Fantasy XI is where I argue Square began losing track of it's roots for the franchise altogether. XI was Square's attempt to jump in on the online market with a game that could potentially break ground for the company to expand. While I'm not one to argue the ability to expand the company, there isn't a need to use the franchise's name to do this. Many fans did jump into Final Fantasy XI thinking it would count as an official segment of the franchise only to be disappointed by the fact that it was simply an MMO. While I personally enjoyed the game, spending many years of my life playing it, I very much disapproved of the fact that Square was using their star franchise to market the game when they could have simply made it another title entirely. Utilizing a franchise name to experiment on a different market can be off putting for several gamers.
The saying "If it isn't broken, don't fix it" comes to my mind a lot with the discussion of Final Fantasy XII. After FFXI this was arguably the biggest change the franchise has seen, ultimately stepping completely away from turn-based gameplay with a heavy focus on active time. This became an issue with playing with speed and stress, as opposed to simply using your wits. The game essentially forced you to play with the A.I unless you were determined to spend even more time manually inputing every command yourself. While some will argue that they're willing to because they are determined, it shouldn't have to be as frustrating to micromanage one's team as badly as FFXII makes it. The game's overall tedious nature of gameplay left me unable to complete the lackluster story, forever to collect dust on my shelf as I put other games ahead of it.
And now we come to the last of the single player titles that Square Enix had created to this point. What can I say about this installment that hasn't already been said? Final Fantasy XIII is arguably the worst title in the franchise and a chaotic mess of a game. It's only redeeming quality was its soundtrack and graphics. Square decided to essentially eliminate the need to control your party as a whole and merely change around their jobs to your presets. The chaotic battle system left many unable to really grasp how to play as it contained a rather difficult learning curve. Square, I know you want to branch out to new gamers, but this definitely isn't the way to go about it.
Final Fantasy XV is where I have a large problem with the series overall. Inspired by the huge success of Kingdom Hearts, Square wanted to synthesize this success with their 15th installment, originally named Versus XIII. Kingdom Hearts, albeit an unofficial Final Fantasy spin-off, isn't an official Final Fantasy title. Turning the strategic combat of a turn-based RPG in a hack and slash style game cheapens what made Final Fantasy the success that got it to the top and honestly feels like Square is simply trying to find a way to refresh the series. Kingdom Hearts worked as a game, because it stood out from the traditional content Square Enix was producing and made it's success on its own. Having Final Fantasy ride the coattails of this other game doesn't help but cause more confusion overall as now Final Fantasy doesn't fall under the standard RPG that it used to be. You can't even control other characters besides your own. Square should have just started fresh and made a new series hack and slash that could have won fans over rather than butcher the originality that was the series as a whole.
With the large amount of changes the games have seen overall since the tenth installment of the series, I can't help but realize that Square doesn't know what they want from their series any longer. Branching out from the RPG setting to a more action oriented game utterly crushes the reason why people play the games. Square seems to merely be using the brand name to get their game out there without actually keeping any of the other elements that made the series loved by many. Why feel the need to change what made a series so great? While RPG's weren't essentially a big selling point with many gamers, the whole point of playing Final Fantasy was for the story, and less with the gameplay. With all this being said I can't help but worry over the next several titles in the franchise and what direction Square is going to take with their star pupil. Thanks Square, you've definitely lost a faithful customer over here.
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