Square Soft vs Square Enix: Understanding the Merger Myth

Did Merger with Enix really cause the end of Square Soft's glory days for Final Fantasy? Today we assess the Square Enix Merger Myth.
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[@Valynis]

Before the departure of Sakaguchi, there was another. Tetsuya Takahashi, lead on Xenogears, took another bunch of people with him to form Monolithsoft. They're now enjoying a lot of success with the Xenoblade series under Nintendo. Another departure was Yasunori Mitsuda, who went independant after his work on Chrono Cross. Losing talents like that must cause an impact at some point.

[@petercampi2840]

Reminds me of Blizzard, who lost Blizzard North after a spat in 2003. The company was never the same once it picked up its first publisher.

[@426Studios]

Square Enix just recently have a new CEO right? I think they will finally get back to their roots on FF7R. Honestly I think they really want to go back starting from FFvsXIII but unfortunately higher ups intervened. You really could tell from the statement of Nomura once he left the FFXV team. The way the statement goes, it feels like he didn't voluntarily agreed to leave the team. There are still competent people in SQEX. If the higher ups let them create what they want, then I think they will be back to their glorious state. The fact that Nojima, Kitase and Uematsu vouched for Nomura says something.

[@offill1]

4:26 Studios they’re still trying to sell graphics engines... no true change yet 😓

[@brantheilman8178]

@@petercampi2840 Considering that WoW, Starcraft 2, Hearthstone, and Overwatch have all been huge hits, I'd say it's a stretch to claim that Blizzard has declined since Blizzard North was closed. Most of the saltiness towards them seems to be surrounding their handling of the Diablo franchise and their merger with Activision.

[@wheresatari6242]

I absolutely love Chrono Cross, maybe even moreso than Trigger, personally. It has one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. Maybe top 5 for me.

[@lordnica2023]

"A unhealthy obsession with high graphic"

[@fattiger6957]

One of the few complements one can give to FF games the last 20 years is they look pretty. But, having a good looking game isn't exactly a huge accomplishment nowadays.

[@hian]

The merger did not cause the decline in quality, but it was a symptom of the "Wada direction" that did. The push for the merger, and ousting of Sakaguchi from his board direction was a part of the desire to merge and so ties together with the problems that arose post the merger. The merger did not happen because of TSW, it happened in despite of it. If anything, the failure of TSW nearly tanked the merger talks until the profits of FFX and KH rolled in, which you yourself took note of. The failure of TSW was just a convenient reason to push Sakaguchi aside, as one of the major opponent of the merger talks and the new direction of FF which was decided to begin featuring sequels and more spin-offs. Even with the losses of TSW, the largest reason Squaresoft went into the red that year was due to FFX being delayed which shifted the projected profits for that fiscal year, a year forward. However, the overall losses were quickly covered. Wada and other shareholders simply used that to bury Sakaguchi as he wasn't playing ball. Sakaguchi trademarked Mistwalker before TSW was even in theatres in prep for the move. This is why so many people quit and you have people like Uematsu reiterating this point in interviews to this day. So sure, while it's technically right to say the merger didn't cause the decline in quality, you could say the corporate elements that desired the merger did. Ultimately, it's a distinction without a difference, because the point still stands that there is a generational shift in quality between the classic Squaresoft and what came after. Whether you draw the line to a year or two before the merger, or to the merger is basically just quibbling over trite details since you don't characterize a company by two years of over a decade long period of daily operations and titles. By which I mean to say : You could merely say, shit started going downhill roughly around the merger and the point would stand. The argument that the merger "caused the decline" is not one I hear very often, but when I do, it isn't generally meant as "Enix screwed over Squaresoft". Rather it's a clumsy way of saying "When Square and Enix merged, SE became a huge corporate hellscape with little soul left, with the creatives left under the bootheel of their corporate overlords". They're not saying the merger caused decline because of faults in staffing on projects etc. That's not an ureasonable read at all.

[@ThatGuy-ky2yf]

Very good points here!

[@asdaz0r]

I came here to post all this. I also want to note that Sony bailed Square out when they lost money with TSW so really TSW didn't affect the company much, it was just used by Wada to convince the investors that Gooch was a risky man (This happened right after delaying FFX put them in the red). I also want to note that it has been confirmed in interviews that Wada ordered the employees of the company to not speak to Sakaguchi at all during his last days there, that was done in order to demotivate him and reduce his influence. Wada literally usurped Sakaguchi's position and stabbed him in the back, it might sound like some mexican drama but it's all true. Uematsu also has said that after Gooch left he himself remained with the company for a few more years and there was a very clear shift in the direction of the company, specifically everything became about "money money and more money". His words.

[@danielramsey6141]

@@asdaz0r Corporate politics, in other words, "some ol Bullshit"

[@Azure-Star]

This is all really sad.

[@ThatGuy-ky2yf]

@@Azure-Star AAA sucks in various aspects unfortunately and said things hit Squeenix around the early 2000s....

[@Cetra29]

Everytime somebody says "uh, FFX-2, uh SE, proof that after the fusion it was crap" I tell them about the Japanese cover which flat out says the old brand name.

[@belias360]

That too. FFX-2 wasn't bad and even brought back the Job system which until that point hadn't really featured in the series since FF5 and Tactics.

[@richardthompson790]

I also liked FFX-2 :) I thought it was a lot of fun

[@meteornome2556]

@Final Fantasy XIII Like Fang and Vanille?

[@akiinmoonlight79]

Squaresoft: ultimate masterpieces Square enix : flawed masterpieces

[@Cetra29]

Soft was not their name. It was a brand name they used. But it is not like people do not knot what you mean.

[@akiinmoonlight79]

@DarkSchneider FF7 is a masterpiece FF8 is my fave game of all time FF10 is also a masterpiece get over yourself and don't bother me keep your opinion to yourself thx 😧♥️

[@jorgemurilo7779]

Akiin Moonlight FF 12 FF14 Nier Series, KH3

[@akiinmoonlight79]

@@jorgemurilo7779 FF12 is a hidden gem ♥️ most likely in my top 5 ^^ Nier (especially Automata made me cry for days) i'm not playing FF14 but i have friends who are telling me what an amazing mmo it is and that after shadowbringers launch it has become one of the best games in general .... sooooo°~° and Kingdom Hearts is and will always be one of the most special and beloved franchises in gaming ever ♡

[@nathanielranney9163]

@DarkSchneider And thus the elitist dick who's opinion is the only correct opinion has emerged.

[@Chewy2nd]

To be honest, Final Fantasy has been sort of back on track for years, XIV is going from strength to strength, XV, while not perfect was still pretty decent, World of Final Fantasy was a solid turn based RPG that harkened back to the older games. That being said, I'm really happy they're starting to use third party engines, I honestly think XV would have been a whole lot better if they'd have used Unreal

[@roxas1802]

Agreed

[@nathanielranney9163]

Don't forget Dissidia and Bravely Default

[@426Studios]

FFXV (or rather FFvs13) would have been great if higher ups didnt intervene. It was their decision to use their own game engine, not Nomura or any other from their team. Aside from that, they always borrowed people from Nomura's team so they can't develop FFvs13 fast enough, not to mention the difficulty of their own game engine. Higher ups always intervened with that game. I was always anticipating that game, and so I was always searching for news. There so many leaks that time. At first I also didn't believe them, then months before Nomura "left" the team, there were already leaks that most of the team were already demotivated. Many were questioning the decision of the co-director. Many designs were rejected. Many story parts are almost completed but suddenly they were told to scrap it out. Then soon after the news came that Nomura left the team. It was not just him, but Roberto Ferrari also followed him. Then an article was released about the complaints of Roberto Ferrari that majority of his works were suddenly rejected by Tabata. Then soon after FFXV was released, Tabata left SQEX. Maybe its just coincidences, but I think its too much.

[@426Studios]

I guess we could blame Wada for these decisions. We can have the final conclusion once FF7R releases. If the game turns out great, then we can now say Wada was to blame

[@roxas1802]

@4:26 Studios this is all very true. They had a lot of problems last generation because they tried to use the Crystal Tools Engine for all their games. FF13 was also more prioritized than Versus 13, that’s why they kept taking people off of Nomura’s team to help develop FF13. There was just too much mismanagement going on last generation. That’s why not much came out when it came to consoles except for FF13 and it’s sequels. They were mostly releasing stuff on handhelds (The World Ends With You, KH Spinoffs, ports of old FFs). At least under the current president of Square, we got games that we never thought would come out even if they didn’t meet everyone’s expectations (FFXV and Kingdom Hearts III).

[@spongebobfan78]

Just wanna randomly squeeze in the fact that the merging and relationship between Square Soft and Enix was represented in Megadimension Neptunia VII through the character S-Sha, who almost died filming, gets saved by E-Sha by putting inside her the soul of S-Sha and how E-Sha tells S-Sha in the story that she was never a bother nor a detriment despite them being in one body.

[@TheKingOfN0thing]

This video was really cool and informative. I learned quite a few things that actually never knew

[@greglancaster9053]

Chris Mason Same here, well said!

[@12ealDealOfficial]

In response to the question at the end: I loved FFXV and Kingsglaive. I hadn't been as hyped or vested in anything Square related since X. SE being less fondly looked at now is down to similar reasons as the rest of the current AAA gaming industry, only SE (Enix especially) is far, far less guilty than Bethesda, ActiBlizzard, EA, and even Ubisoft.

[@NIXNE]

I really believe FF7R will be the turn around SquareEnix needs

[@johnvonshepard9373]

Thor: Is it though?

[@jesseberg3271]

I hope so, but it can't be the end. The turn around won't be complete until we get a main line single player game worth playing, something we haven't seen in a long time.

[@fnspidey3825]

@@johnvonshepard9373 it is

[@hagron5702]

Nah...they are dead.

[@LoneGamerNerd]

I think the VII remake only really appeals to die-hard VII fans. Others either want Final Fantasy XVI already... Or, at the least, for SE to stop milking VII. It's possible the remake will pull newcomers into the franchise, simply because it's a current-gen release... But mostly, it seems to only be attracting fans already familiar with the game and/or FF franchise. I'm not saying it will succeed. I'm not saying it will fail. But I am saying that people are, again, putting a lot of stock into a game they haven't played yet. It's Final Fantasy VII... You cannot tell me, undoubtedly, that nitpicks will not be made when the game releases. The slightest changes with the remake and heads will roll.

[@MISTERWONKA7]

Squaresoft had a better logo though.

[@paulcrotty3006]

Can't argue there!

[@guidorussoheck2100]

looks super dated.

[@Mystra]

Does the logo matter when you play the games?

[@cliffturbo2146]

@@Mystra *More than anything else!*

[@Mystra]

@@cliffturbo2146 why

[@BearBoyJW]

I typically do talk about XIII being the reason for things going the way things did with Versus, but it is interesting to really think about the fact that the domino effects of Spirits Within lingered that far up the timeline to affect a lot of the decisions and such that has plagued the franchise. Which also coincidentally still affected other titles and teams as well.

[@fattiger6957]

I think it all goes back to losing Sakaguchi and the fundamental shift in the company's philosophy with the new management.

[@BearBoyJW]

@@fattiger6957 Actually I thought about that yesterday when watch another video. Spirits within's crash is what set the change for Sakaguchi to feel the need to go on and do his thing and for wada to later come in. It's crazy to think, because with Sakaguchi still on board we might not have had certain games like X2 and the FF Compilation (I really enjoy CC and AC so I wouldn't want to lose those), but with Wada we have those and the FNC along with the domino effect that killed Versus XIII. So it makes me wonder, in a timeline where Sakaguchi stayed or Spirits Within actually did really good, where would we be with the Final Fantasy series now? What different games would we have and what games would we lose? Would 14 1.0 still be as bad as it was and would we need Yoshi P to fly in and save the game? Would the FNC still exist and thus would FF Agito and Versus just simply go on to be Type-0 and Versus, but with or without elements of the FNC? Sooo many questions.... I should honestly do a video on this particular topic myself.

[@Seabass_Fiction]

BUSHIDO BLADE PARASITE EVE XENOGEARS VAGRANT STORY FF: TACTICS

[@ihavetubes]

they were in top of their game in the psx era

[@ty_sylicus]

What are games that need an HD remaster?

[@josecruz8803]

@@ty_sylicus All of then, but for me especially Parasite Eve and Xenogears

[@recklesflam1ngo968]

@Snatcher Claus Shame parasite eve was never released here in australia/PAL :(

[@zeropolicy7456]

@@ty_sylicus Tactics is available for purchase and download on Mobile. There's no controller support, but the touch UI is very well adapted to fit the game. Not only that, but the mobile port is an enhanced version of the original, with animated cutscenes and various pieces of art not in the original. Despite Square's shitty record for mobile ports, Tactics and Valkyrie Profiles: Lenneth are two I can wholeheartedly recommend. They're both reasonably priced, too.

[@Gounen]

I'm (re)playing X-2 remastered right now - I love it!

[@azuraflame1]

i feel like there is a lot more to talk about on this topic but you did a really great job of condensing some main issues. i would love to see this talked about at length in an upcoming video.

[@funghazi]

FFX-2 is a perfect game don't @ me

[@wheresatari6242]

I have been around since the beginning, and I love XIII (though it wasn't always that way) and DQ11. X-2 had its issues, like a campy story, but its combat was fun. I will never understand elitists. They spend more time complaining and boycotting on principal than they do gaming, it seems. You don't have to play something, but please stop dragging everyone down because of your opinion. Honestly, I have found something to enjoy about every entry, problems or not. So, I will continue to spend my time actually playing and having fun while they live in anger and rage in comments sections.

[@jaygo870]

X-2's campy story made sense though. There was a pending doom that was permanently defeated for the first time in a millennia, people are discovering life after Sin which is both scary, exciting, and fresh, and Yuna's life goes back to the role of a teenager instead of savior discovering life, being curious on what's around her, and having fun (which FFX was nearly void of).

[@wheresatari6242]

@@jaygo870 Believe me, I get it. Like I've said I enjoy something about every entry. The 1,000 words part was awesome. The only real issue I had with the game, personally, was chapter 4. Only being able to view things through the spheres kinda sucked, but all in all I had fun and that is what gaming is all about.

[@wheresatari6242]

@Águila701 I'm more than happy to debate its ups and downs, since no game is perfect, but I won't entertain blind hatred.

[@wheresatari6242]

@Águila701 The OST, the battle system, Hope's development, the graphics, the villains, the bosses, the paradigm system, need I go on? Being around since the beginning and not really giving it a chance at first myself, I also felt that way. However, upon subsequent playthroughs I came around and it is now my second favorite FF. There is a ton to love about XIII. From buffs and debuffs actually being useful instead of simply being ability list fillers, to the deep mechanics of battle, the game is awesome. Try going through it again using all 6 paradigm slots instead of only 2 and you may be surprised. Brute force is not the answer here.

[@zura8879]

I agree. Too many diehard old school FF fans who go out of their way to shit on anything post 9, with 10 being a hit or miss (even excluding 10-2) for quite a few of them, it gets tiring. It's even to the point where I read some people straight up get their facts wrong about some of the plot elements in later installments, like they may not even have played them and is just parroting what others have said.

[@Odinstrongheart]

Thank you For the shout out! and Keep up the great content!

[@TheNightSkyPrince]

Thank you so much! Any time!

[@faidou9954]

Good thing FF7R is being made in Unreal Engine 4.

[@fattiger6957]

I just how they didn't screw up the story too badly and the combat is not taking cues from the (hold down X and spam potions) combat of XV.

[@kyrolazioko4783]

And the fact it's on Unreal is why this game will never be on PC. Unreal engine is too mod-friendly/accessible. SE goes out of their way to prevent mods to their games for some conceded reason.

[@aamrakamran7275]

There was a dude named hian who broke down the merger and misconceptions well on the reasonant arc podcast.

[@alfreddominguezlll5417]

I remember watching this movie DVD and having different views on different scenes I was only 13 and was happy to see a final fantasy movies and was so lost I was like whaaat......so confused....and it's no wonder why lost oddesey was so awesome based off this info thanks again Ryan keep it up.

[@ngu0061]

I haven't enjoyed a Square game since FFX and that changed when I played DQXI, which was an Enix franchise...

[@oniadrian]

Takahashi's departure most likely hurt square way more than Sakaguchi's. Considering the success of the Xeno series on Nintendo's platforms and Sakaguchi has only produced garbage all these years with Mistwalker.

[@RulerOfYore]

*Enraged and Unreasonable elitist who won’t accept facts want to know you’re location*

[@TrueRedRabbit2]

That's easy its gaia

[@lordsephiroth2029]

Send me location -Khabib Nurmogamadev

[@SquareInsider]

I have so much knowledge on this topic, that if I spoke, everyone's head would literally explode. I leave you only one name to research on your own. I give you the power of all of Square. The power greater than even Nomura. Sakaguchi. All of them. MASATO KATO.

[@digitalrex5]

The thing about the engine problems though is there weren’t good tools accessible to Japanese developers circa 2005 (see their early attempts at using Unreal on the last remnant before epic had opened their office in japan) they didn’t have much choice than to roll their own. The combined with a company (square not Enix) that had grown exponentially since 1997 led to problems of leadership as teams grew and tech got more complex..... even with all that 13 and 15 are still fun games, perhaps not reaching the ps1 era heights but not nearly as bad as people think. I personally like the polymorphic style of 15.

[@CrimsonRayne]

Intresting topic. I always wondered this

[@Oleg_Ivanov.]

Talking about FF X-2: moreover, Sakaguchi was listed in credits as executive producer. So, merging more likely doesn't have anything with development of sequel. And, I think the problems of Square in these years are more depend on the bad management than anything else. P.S: And nevertheless, The Luminous Engine is amazing. Sometimes, FF XV delivers mindblowing scenes with it. I hope that SE doesn't abandon this engine, and that new tech demo that was released recently is a sign that SE will do us something on it in the future. It has every needed feature to shine even in next generation.

[@FloofPuppy]

My old kh1 copy had the Square Enix logo on the box but in the game's opening logos it had the SquareSoft logo

[@meteornome2556]

I have the original 2002 cover of the game and it says Squaresoft on mine.

[@SS3Jake.]

When I think of the difference between Squaresoft and Enix, the saddest immediate thought for me is this: Squaresoft - Brave Fencer Musashi SquareEnix - Samurai Legend Musashi Sigh 😫😟

[@saladinboss2507]

Dude, NSP, that Versus XIII box art! That looked dope!

[@Reyalp-Lla]

The one title Square doesn't want to mess up is the VII Remake. Alot is riding on this particular game. From what they've shown thus far, I don't think it's going to be a problem.

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

I blame the struggles on the combination of Sakaguchi leaving, and Wada emerging. Wada was involved before the merger.

[@fairamano6165]

Great video!

[@rasaanshakur9491]

I remember going to see The Spirits Within as a kid and literally falling asleep. Tried watching it as an adult... I fell asleep.

[@fattiger6957]

I remember going to see it and getting increasingly angry about the lack of Final Fantasy elements in a Final Fantasy movie. No swords, no magic, no weird non practical designs of things, and set in the real world. Even FFXV which was set in a bland modern real world looking universe felt more like FF.

[@TailsMPrower]

The creatures in the movie from what I remember have some similarities to the gnosis from Xenosaga, so it had some redeeming qualities. The movie may have worked if it was not marketed as fantasy, but as sci-fi 🤦‍♂️. Maybe one of those mysterious parts of the Xenogears story that never got made. It would have to be less boring too, because it was a total snooze.

[@texanman7191]

@@TailsMPrower those same developers were actually thinking of changing the Final Fantasy franchise into a sci-fi franchise. And they started doing that with FF7. I can see why Square wanted the series to go back to it's medieval roots. I mean it is called Final "Fantasy".

[@SilverScarletSpider]

The Polymorphic content model is ridiculous

[@chrisstone-streetlightinte5629]

I always call BS when people say that Enix ruined everything simply because there's not been a bad Enix game since the merger.

[@Mangomesh]

Was it Enix that bought Square Soft or the other way around?

[@richardthompson790]

Eric bought Squaresoft. Squaresoft was going bankrupt and Enid saved them

[@Omega666Evil]

@@richardthompson790 They saved it. Then milked it to death.

[@funnyguy150]

IIRC Sakaguchi said that while Enix was a small company, because it partnered with development studios to develop its games, the majority of employees were business people and so they had quite an impact on SE especially with some of the old staff leaving around the time.

[@mohammadjalloul2443]

Omg thank you for this video

[@sh4d0wfl4re]

So, aside from the long production times making great problems for squareenix (which resulted in cut content when they forced themselves to release a game before getting everything they wanted up to snuff); am I the only one whom thought that square was doing about the same after the merger? sure ffxiii and xv had a whole slew of problems thanks to the proprietary engines, but they took great effort to follow those games up and make them much better in the years after initial release. I personally think that ff13's two sequels were pretty great games, and think they were judged too harshly due to people hating the "endless corridor" in the base game prior. I presume that now that they don't have a half-baked engine to struggle with, square will once again have the time to make universally loved games again

[@NevermindThee]

Regarding XIII: Back then, FFXII was already a huge disappointment for me. And FFXIII was even worse. That's when they lost their credit and I didn't want to check XIII-2 and XIII-3 anymore at all. Why continue with a series you didn't enjoy in the first place?

[@kyrolazioko4783]

@@NevermindThee I beat them. It was a pain. Lightning Returns was a desolate wasteland; the whole game felt empty and void of life.

[@RafaelSolMaker]

Like #35, View # 273 Keep the good work, Prince. We all love you and your videos!

[@MrGothicruler666]

What's your outro song?

[@Starnech]

1000 words from FFX-2

[@andreszydlowski5546]

Thank you my prince

[@hardr0ck]

this is interesting but doesn’t really explain terrible business decisions like FFXIV 1.0’s release before it was even done because they assumed fans would be ok paying monthly for a half-baked game that they could complete later on in updates. Or completely disregarding all desires for sequels to beloved games like the Chrono series or remakes of FFVI and FFVII (until now). 90s Squaresoft actually published a lot of interesting minor titles that would interest fans today, like Ehrgeiz or Tobal No. 1, what happened to that? Seems like the company never takes any risks on new IPs anymore. They just want to do a bunch of mobile and portable games and bad ports to every platform under the sun.

[@paulcrotty3006]

My FF journey started with FFVII on the PS One. Loved both VII and VIII. It wasn't until XII (an SE title) that I my expectations were once again met (exceeded, actually) by the franchise. I realize my experience is quite subjective... but this makes me realize that I should not cringe just because I don't see the beloved Squaresoft logo.

[@prieatknight]

Was around when both companies were just that. And have no complaints since they merged.

[@TBoneTony]

In PAL region, we never got any Dragon Quest games until Dragon Quest 8 on the PS2 after the Square and Enix merger. I do agree that Square Soft was better at the Final Fantasy games than after the merger. (mostly because of the complicated Game Engines that Squre Enix tried to make themselves as you perfectly explained in this video and other videos based on the problems of Final Fantasy 13 and 15 games) But the merger with Enix opened their games up for the PAL region that had to wait long time for the entire Dragon Quest series. Also there was that Chrono Trigger game that was a collaboration between Square Soft and Enix during the 90s. That was awesome they could do that during the time when they were fierce rivals at the time. Mistwalker is also a good company to research on as they made some good JRPGs on the XBox 360 as well as one on the Nintendo Wii called Last Story.

[@Coreisus]

Acthually,.. The Bouncer was the last major Squaresoft game. Last Squaresoft game in general in fact.

[@meteornome2556]

Kingdom Hearts was the last major Squaresoft game that was released and stayed as a Squaresoft game. The Bouncer came out in 2000 2 years before Kingdom Hearts was released.

[@tHeWasTeDYouTh]

Sakaguchi should have never tried to make a CG movie! it bombed and he lost all his power and standing. I think the SE will never be able to return to the old days as a lot of key talented people have left over the years but they can still make good games. Squaresoft and Enix had very different ways of making games as Squaresoft had a lot of in house dev studios while Enix served more as a publisher and a lot of their best games got contracted out.

[@MrOmega97]

Since ff7 remake is 2 disc that means at average the size of the game is 100gb .Thats crazy big for a game the Witcher with all its dlcs is not even 100gb . So I think square is confident in the FF7 remake and how well it will preform . Sqaure could change jrpgs in a very big way this March .

[@cmdiaz91]

This video is awesome!

[@tlightsylvan]

I would love to see some stability in my fav game series again. Idk whst form it takes tbh, even if it is ff7r.

[@stevegallo8483]

Interesting point, in an early Final Fantasy ( I can't remember if it was IV (2 on SNES) or 6 (3 on SNES) there was a graveyard in one with a headstone that said "Here Lies Erdrick" referencing the hero of the original Dragon Quest (aka Dragon Warrior in the US).

[@meteornome2556]

It's Final Fantasy 1 that had it. I believe in the Japanese release it said "Here lies Link."

[@stevegallo8483]

@@meteornome2556 I knew it was an early one, just not which one.

[@zeropolicy7456]

Hey, man. Could you lower the volume on your transition music sequences? There is such a huge contrast between the volume of your narration and the volume of your music pieces, that I have to essentially play tennis with my volume bar just to maintain a comfortable listening experience. I'd really appreciate it if you could make the volume of your videos more uniform in the future.

[@uAlienatedIllusion]

I owe my fandom to Enix for their Star Ocean series. Sadly mistakes were made in the recent mobile game killing the game here in the west. Figures.

[@OfficialDjTalksick]

Is there a patreon option to fund a video idea on a possible revival of the square enix brand with 14 reaching new levels of story telling in the series and ff7 remake shaping up to be the game of the generation?

[@floydwilliams2414]

Sounds like they need to make a SE engine!!

[@AfroNinja89]

So the Moral of the story is Square Enix don't use proprietary engines and focus on the games themselves.

[@JojoBojob]

That Yuna pic was REALLY Good! Name of artist?

[@TheNightSkyPrince]

Me. Lol I made it!

[@JojoBojob]

@@TheNightSkyPrince shieeeet son! That aint bad at all. wanna upload it somewhere? Shame to have such a fine piece of art as nothing more than a single thumbnail. deserves more than that

[@ThisICommand666]

I've always looked at The Spirits Within's failure as the catalyst for the merger. Since it was Sakaguchi's baby, I also figured he was given the old heave-ho because of it, as it seems is how it's done in Japanese business culture (and elsewhere) when one person causes a sizable financial disaster. My biggest problem ever since has been that Square Enix hasn't put story first in Final Fantasy since then. It's been about proprietary engines, graphics...everything BUT story. Final Fantasy XII gave you no one you cared a whit about. Final Fantasy XIII doubled down on that, and packed half of the game's story away in those stupid datalogs. I skipped XIV because I don't do online, and Final Fantasy XV still couldn't write characters you cared about even when the focus was almost wholly upon the central four characters. And let's not even mention the fact the story to this day remains unfinished, despite story updates patched in along the way. I loved the series once, I still give it a fair shake when a new major installment comes out, but my hope for the series' future is gone unless they can figure out how to tell a cohesive story again with characters you can give a rat's ass about.

[@danielramsey6141]

You aren't wrong, Wada was the one who ousted Sakaguchi. What Square Needs is a new Visionary Director, someone who can appeal to the spirit of the past Square soft while directing people not like that of a boss, but like an actual human being. There needs to be balance between the Corporate Party and the Master Builders who craft the games they sell together. It is clear that the teams at Square Enix need a break, its the only way for them to hit Home-runs again. If the Corporate side doesn't get their prideful heads out of their ass, than the fall of the company would/ Wiil be beyond Squares' ability for Damage control.

[@PandaXs1]

"Square Enix hasn't put story first in Final Fantasy since then" "I skipped XIV because I don't do online" see there's your problem right there, also not sure where you get off saying that about XII but you do you I guess.

[@PandaXs1]

@@danielramsey6141 did you miss ff14 and nier: automata or are you just that willfully ignorant

[@fattiger6957]

@@PandaXs1 Square f'd up so bad with the original version of FFXIV, I think the execs were willing to let the creatives fix it. Nier Automata wasn't developed in-house at Square. Platinum Games and Yoko Taro deserve all the praise for that game.

[@PandaXs1]

@@fattiger6957 Square also could've ended ff14 entirely, in fact they probably stood to save a lot of money that way, but decided to fix it, and that's despite all the heat they were getting for ff13 at the time. Yoko Taro is still a SE director, and Platinum Games was only involved because he couldn't get his game together. hell, Nier: Gestalt is probably a good example of a "creative" having not enough direction.

[@Thesakuraharona]

I just thought it was the same company that changed its name later on XD thank you for the info.

[@baldpipesmoker1]

Nothing like the days when Squaresoft and Enix were separate companies! Love the PS1 and SNES RPGs! I'll never understand why the FF movie was futuristic. 🤷‍♂️ Why didn't they make it a fantasy like in FF 4 or 6? Maybe that's why it flopped.

[@theworldsayshello1211]

I love your intro

[@knightshade8785]

Even tho this will get some hate i will say i wish Square could use the Luminous Engine without issues it looks like a nice Graphics Engine based off what i saw with FFXV and early KH3 trailers and i really do love those games so i do hope in the future they can have time to use it on another FF or KH

[@WindowOfFantasy]

Enix is doing remake only . This will save them a bit but not for long if all Squaresoft games finished !

[@FelixzWrath82]

competition breeds innovation, with no one to compete with they became complacent.

[@captain_dsz6049]

the most complete game ever versus 13 dont kill me night sky

[@m4r_art]

The soul of Final Fantasy died with Squaresoft. It was always about the Team of Sakaguchi, Uematsu, Kitase, Nomura, Nojima, Amano making a product for the truest of fans. Now all its become is a piece of loving history, one thay warms the heart when you think about it. The final fantasy we all loved back then is long gone. FF7 Remake is a homage, but a lot more is needed to be done by Square Enix to restore my faith. They need to hire Sakaguchi again and build a team based on the best of what was then and what they have now. Otherwise Squareaoft will be nothing but a memory of the best times for Final Fantasy.

[@sirboxalot6654]

Versus is where it went down hill

[@Chimpyboi]

Definitely a new take on the saga as far as I'm concerned. I honestly had no idea that Square Soft lost that much money on the movie, that makes sense why a merger was needed. End of the day, I am glad that they chose the Unreal Engine over Crystal/Luminous.

[@r0ne85]

What happened to Yuna's face on the thumbnail??

[@scifu7e91]

It's good and better for the Players that they came in the past together. I always love the music of the Game "Terranigma" and hope that the nice "Legend Of Mana" get a remake in the future too, but first the nice looking "Final Fantasy 7 remake" (and Romancing SaGa3 and...). Have happy days + Fun ;) Only for you Night Sky Prince: After Talking about a possible Remake of "Final Fantasy 8" a dreamed about it with a new look (like the current/coming Next gen technic). Squall was on Top of a Mountain and jumped with his Sword + an Enemy down and meet later edea... After that i think more that it could be great to play a new version of FF8 , if they have the Money, Time and Fun to make it

[@Dopamine9481]

I think FF7 Remake will be Squares redemption. They have learned a lot these last few years.

[@Killer_Kris7]

I played the demo. It seemed square has got the message. And even they said they can't fuck it up

[@426Studios]

@@Killer_Kris7 I hope they will release the demo to the public T_T

[@Killer_Kris7]

@@426Studios same. But the likely of that isn't high due to stupid Dataminers.

[@fattiger6957]

@GamingWithLeppy The thing is, Square is able to make good small-scale jrpgs and FF spinoffs. I assume they are so low priority, the execs leave those teams to do what they want. The problem comes with their big tentpole games. Since DQXI was fricken amazing, we know SquareEnix can still make good AAA games. Hopefully that will rub off on Mainline FF games.

[@kyrolazioko4783]

@@Killer_Kris7 what's wrong with data mining? As long as they don't share their findings to the general public as spoilers. A consumer has every right to pick apart something they purchased. You don't buy a house, and then have the contractor builder tell you that you're not allowed to take down walls, repaint, add in new insulation, etc. It's yours to do whatever you want to it. Buy it and throw the game in the trash for all you want. Buy a house and burn it to the ground. It's your purchase.

[@Ragnarok182]

So it all began with Final Fantasy The Spirit Within....no surprise.

[@MercenaryTau]

I remember playing the old NES FF games, and I always thought that X-2 felt more like a "Final Fantasy" than X did. I dunno, FFX never really clicked for me. It's probably my 2nd least liked FF after Mystic Quest and after casually hitting a Speed Run time, I vowed never to touch MQ again (though I may give X Remastered a shot, but I'm not exactly rushing to do so).

[@nelivv]

They will be back on track, when they actually finish final fantasy xv. Im still depressed, a bit sour and hurting from not have any clousure. I mean they could've at least finish the rest of the remainig episodes. And released episode dusce, demo platuinm and the chocobo moogle festival as acessable dlc.

[@ultima2399]

Not to sound weird but Yuna looks absolutely BEAUTIFUL on the thumbnail

[@OfficialDefinitionUK]

Hello to all FINAL FANTASY fans (Especially 7)! due to the pending release of FF7 remake I have dedicated my time to produce the ultimate Final Fantasy 7 Victory Fanfare remix! IF YOUR A REAL FF7 FAN YOU WILL LOVE THIS REMIX: soundcloud.com/definition_uk/final-fantasy-7-victory-fanfar-remix

[@blakesmith699]

Ya know this video was informative but the real question is when will it the final fantasy series get fixed. I loved that series right up though 10. And would love for more games of the like I really miss the active time battle system of 7 and all and I even miss the turn based of 10.

[@DVo-fe8ew]

All I need is a Parasite Eve remake, like RE2

[@MidnightBlackandVictoria]

Perhaps "remake" refers to more then just FF7.....Maybe we are looking at a fresh start accumulated from trial and error...Hell, they even solved the real time vrs turn based argument for the first time in any franchise, by including both....THATS the trend setting innovation from them that I remember!

[@user-qj3vc8tx5c]

Don't forget Tri-Ace

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

How did monolith soft and up with Nintendo from square soft?

[@jesseberg3271]

I would warn you to be careful speculating publicly about what went wrong. I'm happy to discuss it, but if you are still worried about KZbin's algorithm tanking you for thumbs downs, you might want to avoid that topic.

[@paulnewhouse5126]

i miss 2 different great company making lots of games, now its one company making not as many semi great games.

[@jasonsmarr3621]

I think they'll get the remake right but who knows after that.

[@fawkkyutuu8851]

That merger was the second worst decision Squaresoft ever made. The first was making Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within... an expensive flop that changed the course of the franchise and was probably the sole reason for the merger. Before that movie and creating X-2 to make money back ( the real reason? ) they could do no wrong. Squaresoft was arguably held In higher regard than CDPR or FS of today. They used to say top 5 90's developers were Nintendo , Squaresoft , Rare , Sony , Sega I think. Bushido Blade 1 & 2 , Vagrant Story , Einhander , Xenogears , FF 1 - X , Chrono Trigger , Chrono Cross , Super Mario RPG , Secret of Mana , Final Fantasy Legend 1 - 3 , Parasite Eve 1 and 2 , Tobal 1 and 2 , Mystic Quest , Final Fantasy Tactics etc etc. With that said I don't think It was Enix fault , they had a very strong line up of RPGs and an even larger history of published titles. Game budgets were getting big like movies In the 6th gen and everything was going to cost more and compete on a bigger production value scale with PS2/Xbox/GC/PC and Square probably got full of themselves then didn't know how to handle the transition of mainstream success and topping themselves while setting bigger expectations each year. They were relying on 1 franchise almost entirely to keep them afloat back then so I think they just overspent and tried to broaden their brand and development too much and fell Into an Identity crisis. There was far less pressure when they were the kings of a niche genre and rode the wave like a secret that just exploded with Final Fantasy VII... like the grunge/ alt rock scene going on In the 80's then rising to the top In early 90's even though that crowd hated mainstream and didn't anticipate or ask to be the new leaders of rock. Square just lost It's way for a long time trying to handle a growing business juggling more money and risk imo... *shrugs* It happens everyday.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

Monolith soft?

[@OwtDaftUK]

Kazushigee Nojima went freelance around the time of the merger and Sakagochi left Sqaure around the time too. Kitase started been producer rather than director. Though these don't explain why FF9 turned out so good. Obvously Nobuo left around the time of the merger too. I dunno if the merger had anything to do with the restructureing but there defo was a dip around that time. X-2 was kinda like a spin off really so I judge the drop to be with XII. Story and sountrack were not as good in it and story for me is the most important part of an FF game. The issue could be completely diffrent and new hardware bringing the cost of development up and making more focus on graphics over story. shrugs. Though Lost Odyssey was a better game than 12 and 13. 12 and 13 feel like big budget games and very high quality, for me it was mostly the creative side that held them back.

[@jonah_da_mann]

They actually lost more than $52 million on The Spirits Within. Movies generally need to make back twice their budget in order to break even, because half of the money goes to the theatres that distribute the film in the first place. With this in mind, The Spirits Within ended up losing them approximately $189,000,000.

[@TheAvram25]

Square Enix on April Fools was not a Joke.

[@MarcosBay_]

Well i can't pretend i didn't see FFXV and deffend SquareEnix, but they gave two of my favorite games FFXIII Trilogy (Specially LRFFXIII) and The 3rd Birthday, so i kinda can't say when square was better

[@Omega666Evil]

Before the merger.

[@tyto3948]

The problem with Square Enix is that they place more emphasis on making games look petty and not enough on story or gameplay. If they would just redirect all the resources they utilize for movies books and other materials maybe we could see a return to form for square enix. I personally feel like the last good Final Fantasy was X.

[@dick8997]

The advancement of tech is what fucked em

[@mrrandom3064]

I'm kinda only here for the thumbnail. Yuna lookin' hot.

[@amronfaro9728]

It's very sad that so many key veterans like Sakaguchi, Uematsu, Nojima, Matsuno, Takahashi and Mitsuda all departed because they're no longer promoted on the upper management. I miss old days of Sqauresoft and the classic JRPGs. Since Square merged with Enix, the only incompetent man is Yoichi Wada who keeps changing things around and breaking the tradition the way Final Fantasy used to be. But the only competant employee who remained in Square was Ito, Kitase, Nomura and Hashimoto. Yoshi-P is also competant because he saved FF14. And I don't know about Toriyama because he's very notorious for FF13 trilogy. However, Yoichi Wada then resigned due to financial loss and was soon replaced by a new CEO. After Wada's departure, Sqaure Enix has lost its focus over the past decade and they made a promise to reform structure and go back to traditional roots by making JRPG more appeal to core audiences.

[@brendangoodell6233]

I hear that, despite FFX-2 being the beginning of the end for SE, which it kind of is a good marker, probably better marker is leaving of Sakaguchi, us not getting games that were at least fun and only more "graphically pleasing" I think was a wrong direction to take (I actually liked the gameplay of X-2 better than X, more fast paced). I totally agree with them making the biggest mistake with wasting time developing engines when it isn't a good idea pushing everything back. Also, them making more titles/entries to one franchise to expand is fine... if they did it that way. What they set out to do and what they did were two totally different things. FF7 compilation was good, I enjoyed Dirge of Cerberus (was a bit clunky but fun) kinda DMC meets FF, and I like DMC, and Crisis Core was great, this is what they should have continued doing! But then FFXIII was a big miss and we got 3 of those (tho they did make money), and FFXV was strange since not only was it a mess, but was more of a whole game that was purposefully split apart to fit that model instead of just having everything in game, and even then they had to update it multiple times and add 2 season passes and still couldn't fully finish it. That is a special kind of mismanagement. I think despite most of the Square team staying after the merger, the higher ups making wrong calls really turned this into a domino effect. This is probably why they had to hit the FF7R button, kind of desperate but I get the reasoning at least from a brand recognition standpoint, for them, it has to be good so it should be getting special care, at least I hope.

[@SeraphCircle]

I see songstress yuna, I click. Best FF in the franchise.

[@jojoa.3916]

This is why I watch this channel. Its cause of content like this... you understand you just shut the mouths of those who complain of the merger? You realize what you just did? Lol.. Night Sky Prince, your knowledge of this franchise is... (Insert Pacha meme) 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽

[@TheNightSkyPrince]

Genuinely appreciate it! :)

[@BrennySpain]

Its still hard to believe that these two companies used to be seperate at one point. I almost sometimes forget too. But I personally think square enix is a more catchier company name than square soft. It definitely feels old hat now.

[@saphiresray]

"Nice video NSP" walks away lol