Why Enix Needs To Regain My Respect

by Howard Kleinman

Back when I was in second or third grade a game called Dragon Warrior showed up on US shores. It was a pack in with my subscription to Nintendo Power and it had a nice little charming effect to it. It was fun to play, had some nice looking little graphics and had a sense of exploration and adventure. I considered it to be something like electronic chess. There were some nice secrets to uncover and sense of accomplishment as I slowly built up my little blue hero to take out the ever menacing Dragon Lord. Well, after that game was released a title by Square called Final Fantasy was released and stole a good chunk of Dragon Warrior’s fire, with it’s multi- character parties, larger world and superior graphics and music. Well, Dragon Warrior II came out and showed us the meaning of challenge, while not entirely toppling Final Fantasy, it proved that Enix had game designers who knew how to make a great and deep RPG. I’d play it again, but I lost my makeshift map of the Cave of Rhone. Enix went on to release Dragon Warrior III, which I’ve played little of, but from what I can tell it is superior to the NES Final Fantasy games in most respects.

Of course, the NES era ended after Dragon Warrior III. The release of the Super Nintendo had American RPG fans gushing over the new Square Magnum Opus Final Fantasy II (that was the US title, I’m sure we’re all aware by now that this game was Final Fantasy IV Easy Type). This game changed the rules. It introduced Active Time Battles which made the once tedious level and money building of early RPGs, exciting. It featured the first truly epic RPG musical score which features music that can still stand up to some of the finest composed for the medium even when compared to the most recent and complex of musical scores. It featured some incredible mode 7 effects and some beautiful battle graphics. It also featured a magnificent plot and cast of characters that enthralled me like no other game ever had. I buy every new RPG even to this day, trying to replicate the feeling I first had when I played Final Fantasy II. In short, Square won my support. Enix’s Dragon Warrior IV was for the regular Nintendo, featured drab graphics, and what most reviewers called a comparatively weak story. I haven’t played it until recently. I was now a Square fanatic.

Then, suddenly, pictures of a 16-bit Dragon Warrior began to show up in gaming magazines. I began to wonder. Would Enix counter Square’s victory in the match between FFII and DWIV? Square had the advantage of technology in that round, but now Enix will use the same technology! How will this next game fare? Well, I still don’t know the answer. Enix pulled the Dragon Quest series from our shores. And while Square denied us Final Fantasy V, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger delivered far more than Enix’s Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia. Enix was now the fallen titan in my esteem. And even then, the US was denied Terranigma, arguably the best action RPG for the SNES. Square slighted us, but Enix ignored us. I’d rather have 2/3 games of a flahship RPG series than 0/2. Enix denied us their masterpieces. I was angered.

Final Fantasy VII came out and forever changed the RPG landscape. For better or for worse, RPGs were now bankable in the United States, and Square began releasing ALL of their games to the United States, slowly but surely. Many other developers entered the fold. Game Arts grabbed a chunk of the Old School market with Lunar and Grandia. Konami brought out Suikoden and Contrail brought out Wild Arms. Then Square finally gave us Final Fantasy V. By this point in time I had totally forgotten about Enix. Consigned them to a fate like Atari. Sure they were the innovators, but where are they now? They got beat by more creative people, buried for the sin of pride. So when I bought Star Ocean: The Second Story and saw the word “Enix” appear as one of the developers I was shocked. I had bought an Enix RPG and not even realized it. Well, I enjoyed Star Ocean: TSS, but not as much as I would enjoy Final Fantasy V, VIII and Grandia after it, and not as much as Lunar: Silver Star Story before it. Enix was back, and as I rememebered them, heavy on the searching and the gameplay, weak on the story. But this game wasn’t even truly an Enix production. It was developed by Tri-Ace in conjunction with Enix, thus Enix’s eternally postponed Dragon Quest VII, would be their true return to the United States.

I will buy Dragon Quest VII. I will most likely enjoy it. But will it make up for Enix’s denying American RPGamers their supposed masterpiece Dragon Quest VI which outsold Final Fantasy VI three copies to two in Japan? And while Square built a global market and began giving us quality translations of ALL of their games, Enix didn’t even bother to give us weak Final Fantasy Anthology level translations of the Dragon Warrior games they denied us, which would cost very little to them, and would probably cater well to the old- school gamers who are angered by Square’s latest games. Well, Dragon Quest 7 is slated to arrive on the US eventually, but by that time, we will have had five Final Fantasy games released since the release of the last Dragon Quest on US shores. Does Enix really think that they can win the foreign fans back that they neglected when Square gave us our only tastes of RPG joy for so long? I for one, find difficulty forgiving them so easily for abandoning us for so long.