Topic: Square Enix forces employees to play Super Mario RPG

[Laina]

Huh. You're the first person I've EVER heard who liked 8 over 9.
And for me personally 6 went downhill once they introduced magicite. Now, I have to mold my team into a band of super-heroes instead of learning their intricacies and adapting to situations presented by my team-layout. Suddenly Edgar and Sabin are nuking just like Terra and Celes. SUddenly Terra and Celes are fighting as hard as people like Cyan and Shadow.

I actually agree with her-I really liked 8 while 9 was just sorta "meh, s'okay" to me.

The magicite thing never really bothered me in 6 because it made me feel like I didn't really have to worry about constantly keeping a healer in my group because anyone could now fill that roll with the right Esper-it was freeing. Edgar & Sabin were always my go to "ANNIHILATE 'EM ALL!" attack multiple enemies at once badasses because of Edgar's "Tool" command & Sabin's martial arts abilities. I really never used them for much else than those skills. But I can see where you're coming from too-what was freedom to me was taking away a good challenge & making the characters sorta bland to you.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

HE CAN SUPLEX A MOTHERFUCKIN' TRAIN!

I'm into FFVI, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana, Illusion of Gaia, and Breath of Fire 1.  SO MUCH of my Tween years were spent with those games.
That and pummeling (and getting pummeled by) my God-brothers in Super Street Fighter II.  Gotta love that SNES.

[Pfil]

Huh. You're the first person I've EVER heard who liked 8 over 9.

Actually that's what I've been told and read elsewhere.
I played FF6, then FF3 on NDS, FF4 on NDS and FF1 and FF2 on PSP but not complete. Also, FF5 emulated, and I played a couple hours of FF8, FF9, FF10, FF12 and FF13 (but I can't tell because I didn't play them until the end). I never played FF11 or FF13-2, I just have some opinions of people who played them.
And, as I said, I tried more than once playing FF7 but I just can't like it, so I quit it.
And played a few spin-offs, some FF:CC games, the FF7 shooter for PS2, the fighter for PSP, and so on...

But from my experience and opinions I've been told, FF6 is the best by far, and until FF6 it was all perfect, and then every new game seemed to be a little worse than the previous one.
I can't say with accuracy which one is better between 8 and 9 since I only knew a couple hours from each one, but I've been told 8 is better.
Some day I will play them all.

[Cursed Joe]

I think Squeenix should force their employees to play great games made by their own company like FFVI and Star Ocean. Tell them to do this, only better. If they can do that, they can make quite possibly the best JRPG ever made.

Also, I liked FFVIII more than IX.

[Rugal]

Still got our save file? Rugal?
THE MAGUS SPRITE RULES ALL!

No hard feelings, Jorge.

Funnily enough, I just bought Secret of Mana on my iphone. I had no idea they re-released it back in 2010. They added some interesting new features to the game like icon shortcuts so you can use spells without going through the entire menu.

As for our save file.. Long gone. I still remember we stopped right before the boss fight with Dark Lich. Why didn't we ever finish?

But yeah.. I forgot Super Mario RPG was a turn based RPG.

[Rugal]

Oops double post!

[Lelygax]

You two ignored my question...

[Neobelmont]

Err. How does playing a classic go horribly wrong?

[Rugal]

You two ignored my question...

Sorry didn't see your post.
We played through ZSnes.

[Lelygax]

No problem, thanks, we should play sometime

[DragonSlayr81]

I think Squeenix should force their employees to play great games made by their own company like FFVI and Star Ocean. Tell them to do this, only better. If they can do that, they can make quite possibly the best JRPG ever made.

Also, I liked FFVIII more than IX.

If a company is questioning their future, and were at one time, an admirable force in the gaming industry, I think they SHOULD do things like this more often. Look back, almost a history lesson, to games THEY created that were BIG and FUN. Games that were not only resonated with the audience, but were also very solid gaming experiences with tight gameplay fundamentals. Sometimes, I think over the years, companies and franchise try to distance themselves from what they once were only to loose themselves completely. Sometimes you need that reminder of your greatness to inspire you to reach for that level again.

I think the idea of RPG-juku was brilliant. Shame they cancelled it. Secret of Mana(maybe even Seiken Densetsu III), FFVI and Chrono Trigger should've ALL been mandatory for the staff to play through to get a good firm grasp at what Square can accomplish when they get everything RIGHT.

Funny that the person who said one of the top aspects of SMRPG was going from point a to point b, and they were fired. Isn't the whole point A to point B thing what Square's been doing a LOT of lately(especially with Final Hallway XIII)? Maybe in light of this reaction, it means they are finally changing their approach and the way they are thinking regarding their future RPG projects. No more ultra linear roadtrips. I can only hope. It IS funny to see even DO something like this(RPG-juku). It shows that they ARE reassessing their RPG future, and maybe the way they PLANNED some few years ago isn't going so well for them. Hell, if it makes them see the light and we get a age of great Square RPGs, SO frickin' BE IT! Do it, Square!!

Interestingly enough, does anybody think this has some connection to the response that some Japanese gaming companies are abandoning the "making games more Western-like and aimed" to re-evaluate what makes Japanese games good in the first place? It seems like it(Square digging up a title from it's "good old days" to show staff(no doubt a lot of the younger ones) "the right way" to do things. The whole, "We were great once, and we can be great AGAIN!!!". Like I said, I don't mind one bit. Bring it on. It if results in a third Chrono game... FFs with as much stuff to do and explore as the SNES-PS1 games, here are my arms open to embrace you! Give me some sugar!!!

EDIT: DAMMIT, the article was a JOKE. Really wished the Square would've done something like this(looks like they HAVEN'T learned). My standing is still the same, nonetheless.

[VladCT]

Huh? But it's not even April yet.

[Lelygax]

They thought that this would be funny when in reality it isn't.

Really wished the Square would've done something like this(looks like they HAVEN'T learned). My standing is still the same, nonetheless.

Ditto.

[DragonSlayr81]

They thought that this would be funny when in reality it isn't.

Ditto.

It's not funny because it actually GIVES HOPE that Square might've learned from their mistakes. Realizing it's a joke brings the obvious disheartening answer, "No, they haven't!". I think a lot of us(a lot of fans) want Square to return to it's golden age where their games were tight, well-balanced experiences, where pacing, exploration, story and gameplay felt "just right". Something happened and the balance went all out of wack. It's more harsh because, when they CAN do good things(they come together, put the bullshit aside, and work on making a damn fine game), it's GREAT.  I want that Square back, the good one....

[Neobelmont]

Crotch punch much?