Gaming Squaresoft and Enix, good Merger?

[Guest TriGunMaSta68]

I want to know what people think about this Merger.
Personally, i think this is gonna suck. I mean, Enix is a good company and all, but the arent anything compared to Squaresoft.Anyone feel the same way or am i in the minority? Guess the poll will tell us.

[Semjaza]

Anyone that thinks Enix isn't anything compared to Squaresoft is crazy and doesn't know their history lol. No matter how you slice it, DQ is still in front of FF in terms of popularity and staying power in sales in Japan. Enix is also a very profitable company, unlike Square who has faltered quite a bit in recent years. DQ7 was the biggest selling PSX game in the country, despite being launched at the end of its life cycle.

Perhaps if you compare recent games, this could be true. DQ7 suffered from the art direction of Heartbeat, which was responsible for the older DQ games. This is the reason is looks like utter crap, as they apparently wanted a "nostalgic" look. It should be noted that Enix ALWAYS outsources the graphics engine for Dragon Quest games to outside companies and does the rest itself. DQ8's graphics are being done by Level 5, who is most notably known for Dark Cloud 2 and the upcoming True Fantasy Live Online for Xbox.

The translation also sucked horribly, and was obviously rushed. Enix's earlier games on PSX were all translated by Sony, which did horrible rush jobs as well (Star Ocean: Second Story is a great example). Star Ocean 3 and Dragon Warrior 8 look to fix both of these problems (especially DW8 if you've seen the latest stuff, it's amazing -- and for all the whiners out there, the fights are 3rd person now heh).

Then you have games like Valkyrie Profile on the opposite end. It looks fantastic, sounds fantastic and is really unique in concept. The story is great, the characters are good, the translation is excellent and it has amazingly good voice acting.

I'm apparently the resident Enix/Tri-Ace fanboy, so I'm most likely in the very small majority. I'm not going to argue if Square or Enix is better, but to think that lowly of Enix really gets to me.

Really, though, it's beneficial for both. Square and Enix are both monstrous companies in Japan, with Enix doing substantially better financially thanks to their foundation. In Japan, the release of a new Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) game is a pseudo national holiday practically. So many people would skip work and school to buy it that they forced Enix to only start selling it on established holidays or weekends. Words from the game are now part of their vocabulary and even appear in dictionaries there. Enix is part of culture.

Meanwhile, in the US, Square is doing very well, while Enix is basically non-existant. They've opened and closed their local offices twice now, and went several years without a US branch whatsoever. They recently closed up again, thanks to this merger. Enix can help Square in Japan, and Square can help Enix here.

At first I was scared that Square would somehow infect tons of Enix games, but thankfully they still remain seperate entities. This isn't going to make FF suddenly like DW or vice-versa. It's strictly a financial/publishing thing that really won't affect the end user... but most likely will give them far more money to make far better games, and I'd assume they'd have good influence on eachother thanks to their rather different histories.

So I think it's a good idea.

[Guest TriGunMaSta68]

Well i think Enix is a very good company, its just i grew up playin wit Square games. So, in turn, i like Square much better. Sure Enix has had its fair share of good games(Dragon Warrior), but i feel Square just outruns them in the more-better-games-that-have-come-out-race. The only game that i feel that Square didnt do good on was FF9. Besides that, i cant think of one other.

[Nerdsy]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by TriGunMaSta68 [/i]
[B]i feel that Square didnt do good on was FF9. Besides that, i cant think of one other. [/B][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=deeppink]Never played FF8, did you?


Eh, I really don't have enough of an opinion on either company... The only Square games I've ever played are the FF and Chrono series, besides Kingdom Hearts of course but I see that more as a Disney game.


I have [i]never[/i] played an Enix game. But personally, I don't really see how a merger of two big-name game companies could ever hurt the other; in fact, I'd imagine that it would at least make one of the better, if not both.[/COLOR]

[Guest TriGunMaSta68]

[quote]Never played FF8, did you?[/quote]
How do you mean? FF8? That was a very good game.unlike FF9 to me, but we all have our opinions.

[RPGchick]

Please. Do not start a ff8 vs. anything war. (
I think that only good can come out of the merger. Maybe with Square and Enix together, they can put their heads together and come out with some decent games. Not that the ones they made individually arent good, but I hope some games do come through that can rival all the Final Fantasys and other popular games.

[Shinmaru]

Whoever thinks that this merger is not a good idea is absolutely insane.

First of all, you're not just taking two of the most popular RPG makers in the world, you're taking two of the most popular [i]developers[/i] in the world. While Enix might not sell that well in the U.S. (outside of the Dragon Warrior series), their track record in Japan is mind boggling (well, not so mind boggling if you know how good they are). And Square's popularity (whether deserved or not) has been proven time and time again. When you take two monstrous companies such as these two, only good can come from it.

And thankfully, they're not infusing each others games. The last thing I need is horrible voice acting in Dragon Warrior games. The voice acting in FFX made me hate the characters, not like them. But that's another story for another thread.

[James]

[color=#707875]Square and Enix are both different in various respects. Square is [i]very[/i] hit-and-miss. They can produce a masterpiece one day, and an utter pile of rubbish the next. I agree with Tony to the point where too many people idolize Square as being some pedestal of great quality in the game industry. It's just not the case.

But, the same can be said about Enix in some respects. Although I'd say that Enix is probably a more consistent company, in terms of its record (particularly in Japan).

In any case, I think that Enix benefits in a major way here. Two reasons for that. First, it now has total access to Square's art capabilities. That's a big plus. Second, Enix has a much greater access to worldwide distribution, thanks to Square. Square is more experienced on the world stage and I think that can really help Enix games to be more successful globally, too.

In any case, there's more to say here...but I'm tired and so I'll stop here. ~_^[/color]

[hiachi]

I still think its too early, because there are either not any or very few (if there are any, post their names) games made under the merged companies, not the independent sides, so i have no opinion on it yet...

[GinnyLyn]

I've mostly enjoyed Square games, but have only dabbled in a few Enix ones, DW7 and one of the GameBoy games. The only thing I particularly detested about DW7 was the battle view--you never saw your own characters (but this sounds to be fixed, as Sem pointed out, so no biggie).

You can't blame us Americans for not having access to Enix or putting it on the pedestal Square is on (which, I agree, is sometimes ridiculous and other times not). What is superhot in Japan is not always the same in USA; Enix probably fell between the cracks somewhere along the way.

Anyways, I think that yeah, the merger is a good idea. Two good companies with lots of positives for each other.