Oh where, Oh where has Square gone?

by Max McGlocklin

Final Fantasy 1, 2, 3, 7. Chrono Trigger. Mario RPG. Xenogears. These games have a lot in common- they were all great games that everyone could enjoy. However, Square seems to have changed what they believe is a 'good game'. Since the release of Xenogears, Square hasn't released any good quality RPGs. I was looking forward to Final Fantasy VIII very much, but after playing it through right to the end, I was shocked. Discouraged, and frankly- pissed off. How could Square produce such an un-fun game? These days they seem to be focusing on graphics. Not the quality of characters, story, or music. Final Fantasy VIII had such unimaginary characters, that I grew bored of them within the first hour. The music was terrible. Has anyone REALLY heard a worse overworld theme? The story was too basic, and too boring. There were really no large plot twists other than at the end of the first disk. After that, I had to drink 5 Jolt Cola's just to simply stay awake and play the game. Compare this to Xenogears, and you'll see it's alter reflection. Xenogears had likeable characters, immense storyline, very intriguing music- and get this: a good, original battle system. What Square seems to be missing these days is the lack of everything! I loved Chrono trigger- in fact, it's my favorite game next to Xenogears. I was beyond ecstatic to hear that Chrono Cross was on it's way, but... then, I saw the game's characters. What the hell?! The characters were unimaginative, and plain stupid. The storyline better cause hell, or I have lost TOTAL faith in Square. Squaresoft has made Final Fantasy VIII to be one of the worst games of all time (ignoring how bad Saga Frontier was). If they mess up FFIX, and Chrono Cross, I personally have a lil' somethin somethin for Squaresoft to chew on. On a final note: Squaresoft better pull up their pants before they're stinking asses fill the crowd with an unpleasent smell. In other words, they better make better games before their reputation is lost completely.