Topic: Square Enix forces employees to play Super Mario RPG

[jestercolony]

...in order to learn how to make good games again. It doesn't sound like it worked out too well though...


http://www.p4rgaming.com/?p=1507

Simple... Screw Enix... bring back Squaresoft and the dream team... And GGs?

[VladCT]

I wouldn't screw over the Dragon Quest fans if I were you.

[DragonSlayr81]

Simple... Screw Enix... bring back Squaresoft and the dream team... And GGs?

I actually don't believe Enix is the problem. Despite merging, Enix is still producing a steady stream of quality as they did prior to merging. Square's the one that tanking, though one could say prior to the merger, they were already headed down that route. The reason why so many have fond memories of Squaresoft is because of the good choices they made back then, but with guys like Wada, and Toriyama being given far more power than he can control with capable abilities, those glory days are over. Particularly the Square side, it needs a tighter restructuring. They need to trim the fat and re-analyze what made them great in the first place.

Like I said in the other post, it's not part of the joke article, but some Japanese developers realize that they can't pretend to be what they aren't. Some are reassessing their own history and are working on strengthening what made them great in the first place. That's something I think could be beneficial to Square(which is why the notion of RPG-juku was great). I said this before, but sometimes, if you "loose your way", maybe it's time to get a firm reminder of the good you CAN do when everything in the game is done RIGHT. It's not just to go back to an "old way" of game developing more than it is a method of igniting a sense of inspiration. "Why were these games so good?" and "Why did they resonate with so many gamers, and continue to be favorites among the industry?", are questions that should be asked, as well as "What ideas from that development process can we use to improve our new titles?".