Square refocusing on JRPGs

[KitsuneNight]

and the coffee is lousy

[EclecticGroove]

Some people seem to really like the combat system, but personally I'd rather have either something more like the tales series, or go back to something more like the previous FF games.

I don't know about lightning returns... the first 13 was enough punishment for me, and I not only didn't care for the characters, I actively disliked the majority of them. So I had negative investment in any further use of the characters.

[KitsuneNight]

FF went downhill for me with 10
there is nothing about 10 i like 10-2 is even worse

12 didnt grab me and 13 is just ...urgh

[EclecticGroove]

For me 7 I can see as being the start, but I still enjoyed it.

8 is where they really started paring back some of the "game" content, but I still liked it overall.

9 I didn't care for much, but liked some of the characters.

10 Wasn't a bad game to me, but it had some REALLY annoying characters, it made me miss the blessed silence of years gone by when some characters spoke.
In terms of gameplay it certainly suffered from cutting a lot in favor of some prettier cutscenes and a more linear story.

10-2... pass, the only advantage of it was a slightly more friendly combat system. That and playing dressup if it was your thing.

11 was an MMO of course (and I wish they would remove the MMO's from their main series numbering system, it's dumb).

12 I actually enjoyed. Sure, the main character was almost as annoying as tidus, but the gameplay was more complex and involved, it gave you more freedom overall, and it had a story that was (up until the end) fairly well done and grounded. Nothing earth shattering, but it was a great change from the super evil for no reason force that wants to destroy the world/universe/time/reality. Of course up until they just HAD to introduce something like that right out of nowhere... sigh.

13 was a bright and shiny polished piece of steaming shit. Bad story, bad characters, anemic gameplay, and a combat system I just couldn't get into.
As mentioned, the spin offs I can't get into as I basically hate every character in the games.

[WarmSignal]

So how does this affect Crystal Dynamics and the other good western studios they devoured? Time to give them the axe? I know last year they were whining about Tomb Raider and Sleeping Dogs sales, even though they were good. Did Bravely Default really sell better than Tomb Raider reboot? I doubt it. Also, I don't get the "chasing the COD market" bit? Where exactly, were they doing that?

[KitsuneNight]

^ they were chasing the cod crowd by courting the western gamers and hoping for cod level of sales
something only mario titles the elder scrolls battle field and gta can achieve

[old man]

So how does this affect Crystal Dynamics and the other good western studios they devoured? Time to give them the axe? I know last year they were whining about Tomb Raider and Sleeping Dogs sales, even though they were good. Did Bravely Default really sell better than Tomb Raider reboot? I doubt it. Also, I don't get the "chasing the COD market" bit? Where exactly, were they doing that?

They were probably referring to that demographic, and not specifically talking about making that type of game

[midnightrider]

I'm not familiar with Suikoden, but when it comes to grinding/levelling, I really like the way Elder Scrolls handles it where you gain experience in something by using it, the fact that my character gets better at using bows the more he (or she I guess since I play as a chick) uses them just makes too much sense for me to understand how games handle levelling any other way.

No offence though but the fact that you said yourself that considering the expenses on some items that provide little gain, that sounds a little unbalanced, surely players shouldn't be spending their earned currency if what it gives them is useless?

I meant things were too expensive for the financial gain. The final attack level for each weapon(15 here, usually 16 in Suikoden) is 480,000. You can gamble for 100,000 in the final chapter. Likewise, enemies in the first hallway of the final dungeon give about 30,000-50,000 when beaten. The best armor goes for 500,000 a piece as well. Anyway, with how 50/50 gambling is, for the gain, it's probably just faster fighting enemies at the end game.

Suikoden's experience system, which the game does use, is 1000 exp. for a new level. So when enemies give less than 50 exp.(20 battles to a new level) they're just not worth fighting anymore, and by that point you're definitely ready for any bosses coming up(also, "run" turns into "let go" when you're above enemy levels in Suikoden. Here you can "bribe" enemies to not even start a battle. Basically you pay money for battles to not happen). The exp. system is effectively an anti-grind, to an extent. Thing is, Suikoden has a level 60 cap, and you're not likely to gain more than a couple levels each dungeon. This game would go to 99 if enemies gave the exp, and you could often fight for 4-6 levels in a new dungeon.

I beat it last night, at about level 86. Didn't take on the optional bosses(well I did beat 2 that were a little closer in levels/stats), or anything, but still(not sure if Suikoden even has optional bosses, outside of character recruitment anyway). Clocked in around 60 hours, and I don't want to touch another adventure/RPG game as long as I live. Now I know why I love the Genesis so much .

Maybe Japan does, but I don't think Sega missed out without Square and Enix's support.

[jerry coeurl]

Good news for me!

[KnightWarrior]

What's grinding/levelling?

[KitsuneNight]

fighting a load of random battles to level up for money and stats so you can tackle the next section

[The Coop]

Hey Square-Enix?

Einhander II, or GTFO.