Square Enix

[WhiteShark]

!	Message from: WhiteShark
	Split from the Larian thread.

"It's a turn-based RPG featuring everything you've seen from us in the past, but it's brought to the next level"

I wonder what Square Enix higher-ups think when they see the massive success of BG3 after years and years of trying to turn Final Fantasy into an action series to appeal to westerners or the modern audience or whatever.

[Oyster Sauce]

"It's a turn-based RPG featuring everything you've seen from us in the past, but it's brought to the next level"

I wonder what Square Enix higher-ups think they see the massive success of BG3 after years and years of trying to turn Final Fantasy into an action series to appeal to westerners or the modern audience or whatever.

"whoa we need more gay *******!"

[The_Mask]

I wonder what Square Enix higher-ups think they see the massive success of BG3 after years and years of trying to turn Final Fantasy into an action series to appeal to westerners or the modern audience or whatever.

I wasn't gonna mention this, but since you've brought it up...

The investor who uploaded the 112-page manifesto now owns the second-highest stake in SE.

and Vara did a video on this, too:

[Hyborian]

"It's a turn-based RPG featuring everything you've seen from us in the past, but it's brought to the next level"

I wonder what Square Enix higher-ups think they see the massive success of BG3 after years and years of trying to turn Final Fantasy into an action series to appeal to westerners or the modern audience or whatever.

"whoa we need more gay *******!"

They have plenty of those.

[WhiteShark]

@Val the Moofia Boss, is that shareholder who made the giant memo now owning 15% of SE a good thing? I read your summary but I only remember the stuff about the current state of SE, not what changes he wanted.

[Bhaalspawn Jr]

This is good news. A purge was essential if they wanted to continue doing business. They still need to scrap their ethics department though.

[maidenhaver]

Has he shot anybody yet?

[GhostCow]

That shareholder needs to pressure them into making an actually good remake of FF7. Doesn't need to be as high fidelity as the **** "remake" they've been putting out. Just make it turn based and HD. They can keep the locked camera angles and even the 2D backgrounds if they want.

[rusty_shackleford]

Square oonix needs to divest its western assets so it starts actually expecting its japs to do work again

[Val the Moofia Boss]

@Val the Moofia Boss, is that shareholder who made the giant memo now owning 15% of SE a good thing? I read your summary but I only remember the stuff about the current state of SE, not what changes he wanted.

I am not sure. When the slides started circulating last week, people were speculating as to the agenda behind it and that it may have been a prelude to buying more shares and trying to pressure change upon SE. Apparently this Singapore based "3D Investment Partners" investor group specifically targets Japanese companies with the intent to change how they run.

The slides didn't specify what exactly he or they wanted besides more granular KPIs for each department and game in the reports. There was an insinuation that he wanted the publishing department cut because he didn't understand what value it brought to a gaming company, and that he wanted SE to maximize how many games they made with their projects, like how devs make a fighting game that is both sold conventionally for home consoles/PC and also sold as arcade cabinets, and how Konami and SEGA have a big Pachinko business using their videogame properties.

The only maybe positive for us is that the slides criticized FF16 for spurning its fans, and criticized poor localization. But who knows if they will be able to affect that.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

That shareholder needs to pressure them into making an actually good remake of FF7. Doesn't need to be as high fidelity as the **** "remake" they've been putting out. Just make it turn based and HD. They can keep the locked camera angles and even the 2D backgrounds if they want.

Will never happen. Not with Kitase and Nomura there. When they were chatting in an office about a hypothetical FF7 remake, they were fantasizing about how they'd make it different and everything they'd do, and then they walked out of that meeting and decided to get the project rolling. Kitase is the vice president and brand manager of the franchise who can greenlight stuff. I doubt he'd greenlight a "faithful" remake.

[GhostCow]

That shareholder needs to pressure them into making an actually good remake of FF7. Doesn't need to be as high fidelity as the **** "remake" they've been putting out. Just make it turn based and HD. They can keep the locked camera angles and even the 2D backgrounds if they want.

Will never happen. Not with Kitase and Nomura there. When they were chatting in an office about a hypothetical FF7 remake, they were fantasizing about how they'd make it different and everything they'd do, and then they walked out of that meeting and decided to get the project rolling. Kitase is the vice president and brand manager of the franchise who can greenlight stuff. I doubt he'd greenlight a "faithful" remake.

Any chance of at least some high budget turn based JRPGs?

I ******* hate Nomura with a passion.

[Lich]

FF should lean into otome game elements and return to turn-based combat with good graphics to appeal to casual and female gamers. They want a cozy game with lots of shipping potential to nitpick and obsess over in internet communities.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

That shareholder needs to pressure them into making an actually good remake of FF7. Doesn't need to be as high fidelity as the **** "remake" they've been putting out. Just make it turn based and HD. They can keep the locked camera angles and even the 2D backgrounds if they want.

Will never happen. Not with Kitase and Nomura there. When they were chatting in an office about a hypothetical FF7 remake, they were fantasizing about how they'd make it different and everything they'd do, and then they walked out of that meeting and decided to get the project rolling. Kitase is the vice president and brand manager of the franchise who can greenlight stuff. I doubt he'd greenlight a "faithful" remake.

Any chance of at least some high budget turn based JRPGs?

Dubious. Square have been acting like headless chickens for the past 15 years when it comes to new mainline Final Fantasy games. Sakaguuchi had them set up with a production pipeline where they had at least 3 mainline Final Fantasy games in development simultaneously during the late 90s/early 2000s, so a new game would be coming out each year every year, and talent was being mentored. Sakaguuchi was ousted and then a talent exodus ensued and that pipeline brokedown and the higher ups have never cared to fix it. Kitase and Nomura became preoccupied with their own projects like Kingdom Hearts or the FF7 Compilation. Versus XIII was grabbed and rebranded as FF15 because they realized "oh crap it has been several years since we last had a flagship FF game released, and we don't have another in development!". Worse, you have Yoshi-P saying insane **** about MMOs players don't want an MMO and how Final Fantasy fans don't want turn based combat, and then in a recent interview he was asked about FF17 and said that it wasn't in production yet, he didn't know who would direct it, and didn't know if it would be turn based or not. There is just no will to get new mainline FF games made.

FF should lean into otome game elements and return to turn-based combat with good graphics to appeal to casual and female gamers. They want a cozy game with lots of shipping potential to nitpick and obsess over in internet communities.

FF14 has flirted with this before. Heavensward had that dinner scene with Aymeric, and then when Ishikawa became the leader writer we got bishounen guys in the story who obsess over the player. G'raha Tia is the most conspicuous here especially with his rowboat date scene towards the end of Dawntrail. The Sil'dah quest in Endwalker is coded as a date with Nanamo. Yoshi-P interviews has been asked a few times about adding dating sim mechanics and has said that they are considering it.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

As I had suspected, there was indeed an agenda behind the doc. Along with the Epstein files about influencing the games industry, the truth have come to light. It turns out that one of Square Enix's largest shareholders, JP Morgan, was responsible for having ex-Activision Blizzard suits and insane alphabet localizers appointed to Square Enix. When the new Square Enix CEO Kiryu started trying to layoff the bad starting in 2024, he caught the ire of JP Morgan. Kiryu told them he would not capitulate. JP Morgan has hired this activist investor group to go in and strongarm Square, and they are rapidly buying up shares. The group now owns 18% of Square Enix.

This Kiwi Farms thread has archived and screenshotted all of the articles and tweets. Incidentally, the thread also covers Nintendo, and after the N64 and Gamecube, the Yamauchi family wound up losing control of the company and having to sell out to JP Morgan and Blackrock, which is then when the woke stuff started being inserted like the girlbosses, the homosexuality in Fire Emblem Fates, the censorship, etc. Also a reminder that Blackrock has been buying up shares in Nihon Falcom. There is no escape. Unless you are looking to Mihoyo, which is the largest privately owned videogame company in the world, but Dai Wei had to become a CCP officer and a CCP branch established on the company's premises.

https://kiwifarms.st/threads/jp-morgan- ... gy.238675/

[Segata]

Incidentally, the thread also covers Nintendo, and after the N64 and Gamecube

Some of that Nintendo story is complete headcanon. N64 and GC sold at profit despite dwindling sales, and the dude didn't even acknowledge the handhelds and Pokemon which have been incredible money makers for the Big N. Also they're known to have ignored shareholders requests predating the appointment of the new CEO guy, who apparently is more corporate and less in tune to the Nintendo philosophy, any new decline developments can't be simply traced to decades prior.

[rusty_shackleford]

Incidentally, the thread also covers Nintendo, and after the N64 and Gamecube

Some of that Nintendo story is complete headcanon. N64 and GC sold at profit despite dwindling sales, and the dude didn't even acknowledge the handhelds and Pokemon which have been incredible money makers for the Big N. Also they're known to have ignored shareholders requests predating the appointment of the new CEO guy, who apparently is more corporate and less in tune to the Nintendo philosophy, any new decline developments can't be simply traced to decades prior.

Epstein is capeshit, apparently nothing at all has ever happened without Epstein first causing it.
A middle class new money Jew that wanted to be seen as a power broker, he'd probably love the way everyone treats him as a minor deity now.