Square Enix Favorite Square-Enix Franchise?

Shaissa

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I think we all know that Square-Enix has many games and franchises outside of Final Fantasy, the next biggest one being Dragon Quest, You also have Kingdom Hearts, Star Ocean, Front Mission, Tomb Raider, Hitman... the list goes on and on.. so is Final Fantasy your favorite franchise or is there another one you like more than Final Fantasy? If Final Fantasy is your favorite what is your second favorite from Square-Enix?

For me, I have to go with Star Ocean, I think that is the last franchise to really stay true to the core of how it started out, Graphics and gameplay were updated, and the games do have a weird storyline from time to time, but overall with the main series, I have enjoyed it greatly and hold it as a great franchise that can continue into the future if they keep the elements of the core the same.
 
My favorite is FF. My second is probably Kingdom Hearts, despite so much of it being so poorly made. Those few moments where it does work, are moments you can uniquely get only from Kingdom Hearts. Then is probably Dragon Quest or the Chrono series. Though it's not a franchise, special mention should also go to Radiata Stories; the best Square game nobody played.
 
Surprisingly enough, I would give this to Kingdom Hearts.

There is so much wrong with the Kingdom Hearts series that one wonders how it's managed to retain its success over the years. Its overall storyline is one of the most convoluted load of nonsense I have ever encountered in any form of fiction and its writing is astonishingly dire and ham-fisted. It takes its central themes on a game-by-game basis and repeatedly hammers it on the player's head with zero regard for any subtlety. It's a very juvenile style of storytelling - and one that conflates genuine, multi-layered complexity with being needlessly convoluted. Kingdom Hearts is a series in desperate need of some form of reboot after this year.

But mostly the rest is a delight, especially on my preferred difficulty: Proud. It isn't so overly tuned that battles feel like an endless series of impossible feats and insurmountable bosses - a lot of which can be feasibly circumvented by using someone like Aqua in Birth by Sleep or with judicious use of certain Drive forms in KH2. It is also sufficiently challenging enough that I can genuinely garner a more thorough feel of the battle systems and mechanics of each installment, while taking the time to study each boss's movesets and map out a rough picture in my head of attack patterns and breaks where I have an ideal window of opportunity to go in for combos. Of all the Square Enix franchises I've played, Kingdom Hearts has offered me the most consistent gameplay experience on the combat front.

Looking away from the combat for a moment is where the consistency of quality stutters and suffers occasionally. The few timed platforming stages are certainly a delight to behold when Sora or Terra/Ven/Aqua can feel oddly floaty and with a camera that can be frustratingly erratic when put against walls and other surfaces. The Gummi ship stages are also the bane of my time. I have to grit my teeth to make it through the compulsory Gummi ship missions to reach a new world and after that, I completely refuse to touch them ever again.

But despite all that, I remain resolute in voting for Kingdom Hearts.
 
I've played some of the Kingdom Hearts games, but when it comes down to it it's definitely Final Fantasy for me. Hands down.

I basically grew up with this franchise starting when I was 7 years old and watching my mom play FF7, so... I guess it makes sense for me to be completely hooked. There's definitely some FF games I've never played, and I wouldn't consider myself the biggest fan of the series, but... It's my favourite for sure.
 
But despite all that, I remain resolute in voting for Kingdom Hearts.

Wait. Bugger. What am I talking about?

Valkyrie Profile's also a SE franchise. I'm changing my vote. :rage:

Now that's a franchise with genuine good writing, protagonists and antagonists I am actually invested in and whose individual plights and side stories I wanted to see more of, and one of the more unique battle systems from Tri-Ace outside of Resonance of Fate (which I haven't played, to be quite honest).

I have no idea what Tri-Ace is working on these days or whether SE will ever give them a budget larger than a shoestring one to work with ever again, but the fan in me can hope - and pray to Odin - that they're willing to give Valkyrie Profile a new jolt of life. The current teaser trailer for Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is presumably for a port, but I'll take it. That and the recent Brave Exvius collaboration in Japan where they received VP units. Here's hoping this is a signal for some form of revitalisation of the franchise, because it deserves another chance.
 
One that I played and really enjoyed was Bravely Default. In all honesty, it's not much different from the Final Fantasy franchise. It adds an extra dynamic to what is basically like a Final Fantasy I turn-based system that can make for some interesting strategies in tougher battles. It has an element of Final Fantasy V for the ability to change classes as well. Admittedly there is a lot of grinding involved to utilize all the bells and whistles from all of the classes, but good grind spots usually weren't too hard to come by. Unfortunately, the utilize the max potential out of the storyline was also a bit of a redundant grind as well. It was still fun, but the sort of vicious loop you hit at the end of the game could have been done in fewer loops and still made it's point. I'm purposely being vague as to not spoil it, but if you play it, you'll know what I mean.
 
My favourite franchise from SE is sure Final Fantasy. But before playing any FF games I played some Mana games and I liked them so much that Mana franchise is my second favourite. :D

I tried Deus Ex and Tomb Raider, too, but only one game from each series so I can't really comment on those yet.
 
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