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Top 5 Things About Square Enix That Drive Us Crazy

Top 5 Things About Square Enix That Drive Us Crazy

Growing up loving SquareSoft and attempting to remain a fan of Square Enix can be difficult at times. The Final Fantasy name continues to hold a powerful claim on its fans, and to simply ignore it is nigh impossible. However, Square Enix has developed some infuriating habits over the years, and they threaten to distract us from enjoying their RPGs. Here’s a list of five things that Square Enix does that continues to piss us off, yet they know they can get away with it due to the popularity of their games.

5. Bizarre Naming Conventions

5. Bizarre Naming Conventions

The announcement of Kingdom Hearts 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue caused me to shake my head, reminding me of everything I hate about Square Enix’s naming conventions. We’re beginning this list with the nit-pickiest of complaints, but it’s quite indicative of Square Enix’s baffling pretentiousness. The Kingdom Hearts games are the worst offenders with names like 358/2 Days or Birth By Sleep. Although the games have ostensibly enigmatic titles, the content of these games reflects themes as shallow and predictable as the power of friendship.

4. Arrogant Pricing Strategy of Ports

4. Arrogant Pricing Strategy of Ports

On one hand, I’m all for the constant porting of classic Final Fantasy games so as many gamers as possible can experience the franchise – totally cool. The problem is that Square Enix uses these ports as excuses to see what they can get away with – particularly on the mobile front. Rather than pricing their ports at the typical $0.99-1.99 range, they instead charge up to $18 for older titles like Final Fantasy Tactics . Granted, sometimes they touch up the graphics for games like Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI (to mixed results); but that doesn’t always excuse the price. Did we really need to pay $50 for the slightly-enhanced (not to mention buggy) version of the Final Fantasy X remake on the PS4?

3. Sales Expectations

3. Sales Expectations

I remember when Square Enix discussed how the sales of Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS fell below expectations, not quite meeting 1,000,000 copies sold. As a result, Square Enix continues to tease us by porting games like Chrono Trigger whenever possible yet promises no plans for a sequel. Fast forward to modern day when Tomb Raider sold millions yet was considered a sales failure in the eyes of Square Enix. Considering the crazy amount of graphical power the company strives for, it’s no wonder that their technically impressive projects risk staying in the red and possibly in development limbo.

2. Announcing More Games Than They Can Chew

2. Announcing More Games Than They Can Chew

I breathed a sigh of relief when Square Enix finally revealed a trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3 , even though they apparently announced it, at the time, too soon. Finally, we no longer had to slog through the various side games. Then I saw the news about Kingdom Hearts 2.8 with yet more new content leading up to the third game. Hold on, I thought that’s what all of the ridiculously planned (as in, they didn’t appear consistently on a single console) portable games were for? Then there’s the Fabula Nova Crystallis project consisting of Final Fantasy XIII , Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII . That project is practically dead in the water, as Versus XIII is now Final Fantasy XV because somewhere along the line the company decided to focus on creating a new trilogy of Final Fantasy XIII games. Square Enix needs to pick a project and stick with it.

1. Overcomplicating Things

1. Overcomplicating Things

I understand that the Final Fantasy franchise is one of experimentation, making it suitable for beginning each new numbered entry in its unique world. However, Square Enix tends to add more bells and whistles to each new Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts game. For instance, the first Kingdom Hearts was a simple adaptation of the classic Final Fantasy gameplay except in action form. If I were to describe Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance’s combat, then I could pen a separate article describing the flashy nonsense. Sure, this can keep things interesting, but by giving us fleeting battle mechanics that will change dramatically in the next game, they’re never able to evolve or improve upon a popular system.

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