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I miss the days when I didn’t have to second-guess myself before I bought an RPG – back when the title meant
something more than dragon slaying, princess saving, or tales about amnesiatic farmboys earning a free ticket
to saving humanity. Roleplaying games weren’t always so in chic: to play an RPG meant that you were too
hardcore for "normal games."
In the past, RPGs were limited by the hardware available at the time, and were forced to focus on the story they
told, rather than the visuals they chose to tell it with. Box art was often a fanciful vision of what you wished the
game could have been in the 8- and 16-bit days, not a fancy FMV clip or pre-rendered game footage. You were
limited by the system you played with, and often forced to choose between one company over the other (and
sometimes faced the consequences if you made the wrong choice). Storytelling was sometimes the only thing
that mattered, while squinting at your screen when you couldn’t quite make out what you were looking at.
And then, the unthinkable happened – Squaresoft, a bastion of great RPGs, made RPGs even more popular.
With all the subtlety of a Mack truck, Final Fantasy VII was loosened upon the unwary masses, and the genre
we came to know and love got a mandatory facelift. As FFVII went on to sell millions upon millions of copies,
three million of which sold within the first forty-eight hours, competitors began to pay more attention to these
rabid fans that demanded more, all to fill that sudden RPG craving they’d uncovered.
In a way, it could be argued that Square was a victim of its own success, brought on by the overwhelming response to FFVII. As RPGs saw a reemergence of popularity not seen since the era of 16-bit gaming, FFVII set the bar so high that not even Square could seem to match it. Square made games that many might call great today – Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Vagrant Story, even Final Fantasy VIII – but they just couldn’t match FFVII’s untouchable reputation. The game that had been called "the greatest game of all time" turned out to be just that, at least in terms of sales numbers.
With each progressing year, as Square amassed more and more popularity with its fanbase, it seemed to be
constantly reaching for its next big hit, and birthing new Intellectual Properties that could have a hope of reaching
FFVII’s success. Square even tried its hand at movie making, with the eerily-haunting, though financially-disappointing Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and acquiring competitive publisher Enix, and its Dragon Quest
IP. Seemingly unable to reach FFVII’s lofty heights, Square-Enix decided to succumb to a case of "sequel-itis,"
by creating multiple spin-offs of its greatest commercial success, with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a movie
following the cast of the game; Dirge of Cerberus, a shooting title starring Vincent, the gothesque vampire of the
game; and Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis, playing on Japanese mobile phones.
Square-Enix, though seemingly on top of their game and flush with success, seems to be content wandering in
the wilderness, focused only on trying to find something that will bring them commercial glory that can match
FFVII’s day in the sun. And thus, its smaller IPs are left to fade away in the dustbin of Square’s history, where other
and – arguably – better stories were waiting to be revisited. It seems a shame to think that some of Square’s best
days are gone forever. But, never fear – at least Square-Enix is going back into the movie business again.
And, after all, that worked so well the first time...right?
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