Yoichi Wada: Fans Are Not Very Happy With Final Fantasy XIII [7/14]

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We all know that Final Fantasy XIII had a pretty mixed reception when it launched back in March this year. Some loved it, many loathed it. The battle system is great, but where are the towns? It's too linear and takes too long to get into. Whatever the reason, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada hears them and acknowledges the disappointment expressed by many fans of the franchise.

In an interview with Gamasutra about the current state of affairs of the company, Wada agreed that while Final Fantasy XIII had exceptionally good sales, shifting roughly five million in a short amount of time, the game wasn't exactly well received by the fans.

"Looking at the numbers alone, it is pretty good, because we were able to release the latest Final Fantasy in all three markets of Japan, United States, and Europe in a very short period of time, and we were able to reach 5 million units rapidly — and I think this product will grow further. But when it comes to the customers’ reaction to the quality of the game, some value it highly and some are not very happy with it.

"I think this is a product that was able to meet the expectations for those who know Final Fantasy. There are all kinds of games around in the market today. Should Final Fantasy become a new type of the game or should Final Fantasy not become a new type of game? The customers have different opinions. It's very difficult to determine which way it should go."

It'll be interesting to see how future Final Fantasy titles turn out. It sounds like Wada would like for the franchise to continue exploring different grounds of gameplay and storytelling. Hopefully Final Fantasy Versus XIII will have a better reception. Details about a world map and scans of the game have proven to have given a bit of hope to those hoping for a less linear experience.

Source: FinalFantasyUnion
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I was going to say that it's good that he's listening to fans and actually acknowledges how we feel about it...

Up until he said that it 'met our expectations as an FF'. He must know we didn't really like it, but he mustn't know why we don't like it, because the main reason being it's shifted so far away from what FF used to be... it could have just been another no-name SE title and still sold the 5 mil copies.
 
I am one of those individuals who did not particularly care much for Final Fantasy XIII, mainly for the story/character development, but also the lack of towns and not being able to explore all that much or go back and forth. It made the world seem less accessible, like I couldn't explore it in the way I wanted to. I was okay with the gameplay, but, overall, it was a huge disappointment. I am very curious about Versus, though. And although the only thing I can do is hope that it will be better, we can only see. It's good to know, however, that the people making these games are taking in the word of the people. I hope they utilize the feedback in the best way possible.
 
Of course I wasn't happy. XIII is a mixed experience, but irrelevant to that - it's too safe of a game. Completely sterile and by the book. Not by Final Fantasy book that is.
 
It's good that he is considering things about the series, but it definitely did not meet the standards FF is usually known for. It's a Final Fantasy for people who normally dont play FF games.
 
Wada is just an idiot, I think every man and his dog has worked this out by now. I find it quite sad that I found Final Fantasy XIII an improvement to FFXII yet the game is still diabolically woeful. No one ever asked for Final Fantasy to "become a new type of game", that just sounds like an excuse for failing, all people wanted was a good Final Fantasy title, something they've failed to deliver for about 10 years. Wada doesn't care regardless. There are some companies that probably take to heart what people think about the quality of their games, Square-Enix isn't one of them.
 
The headline for this is misleading. He said people who know FF like it. He more or less said that it was people who weren't FF fans etc who were unsatisfied.
 
Nothing new here. SE tried to take a bold move with the direction of the game, couldn't cater to everyone's tastes and FFXIII ended up being this year's gaming equivalent of Marmite.

As much as I admire SE's resolve to try and bring something really fresh to the table, I still dislike FFXIII for what is ultimately a (visually beautiful) movie where the gameplay is mostly restricted to a one-way linear affair through marathons of battles and wallpaper scenaries just to get to the next cutscene.
 
The battle system is -not- great. As far as I'm concerned, visuals are the ONLY good element for that game. Wada needs to GTFO of Squenix because he's driving it to hell. I vote that Tetsuya takes over everything, then somehow convinces Nobuo and Yasunori to join on as full fledged members.
 
Kelranox said:
The battle system is -not- great. As far as I'm concerned, visuals are the ONLY good element for that game. Wada needs to GTFO of Squenix because he's driving it to hell. I vote that Tetsuya takes over everything, then somehow convinces Nobuo and Yasunori to join on as full fledged members.
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im not familliar with SE names, frankly i never cared etc. but you sir sound wise .!!!! BOOYAH!!! someone rep this foo!! i will.
 
Ohri-Jin said:
im not familliar with SE names, frankly i never cared etc. but you sir sound wise .!!!! BOOYAH!!! someone rep this foo!! i will.
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Tetsuya is the video game director and lead character designer. Nobuo was the lead composer for every FF except for XI, of which was halfway done by Naoshi Mizuta. Uematsu also helped compose for Chrono Trigger when Yasunori (composed for Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, just to name a couple) developed peptic ulcers.
 
ITT: Wada is trying to save face

a lot of people took Final Fantasy XIII as a cockslap in the face, whether they were familiar with Final Fantasy or not. It was completely crap. :monster:

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 is more interesting and immersive than FFXIII, and that is pretty sad considering it is an anime series-based game, which all gamers know fail pretty hard :wacky:

they at least got the basics though, hot anime chicks, giant robots with lazers, and exlposions :monster:

Edit: *anime series-based games.
 
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I don't like this question... "Should Final Fantasy become a new type of the game or should Final Fantasy not become a new type of game?" they can make whatever games they want related to FF like tactics or dissidia or crystal chronicles or whatever but they better not change the main series more than they already have because they gonna lose it, they are going to end up like SEGA
 
Kelranox said:
The battle system is -not- great. As far as I'm concerned, visuals are the ONLY good element for that game. Wada needs to GTFO of Squenix because he's driving it to hell. I vote that Tetsuya takes over everything, then somehow convinces Nobuo and Yasunori to join on as full fledged members.
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Shit if Tetsuya Nomura ever gets to direct a numbered Final Fantasy, I'm officially giving up on Square and Final Fantasy. The only thing that's less inspiring than the games he directs are his character designs.

Bring back Sakaguchi instead I say. He may not have made anything worth playing since he left Square, but we'll be able to comfort ourselves knowing that the franchise is at least being run into the ground by the man who created it rather than the screw-ups he left behind when he jumped ship :P
 
From what I see here it sounds as if he's unsure about the future of final fantasy...........

Since Skaguchi and Nobou left obviously it's been shambolic.

If they do remake FFVII...........it's definately not going to be as good as the original........obviously they are not going to have the same battle system.........and if they make it the same style as FFXIII it will only be hated more and people will hate final fantasy altogether.

The only thing I can say for the future of Final Fantasy is FFVII!
 
Well i have to say that it did suck. Like they said, the battle system was great but no towns, no core plot to the story, and i didn't even really get into it until the end of Ch. 9.
Well maybe versus might save it but i've seen the trailers and i'm not really impressed.
 
Sir Kenneth said:
Shit if Tetsuya Nomura ever gets to direct a numbered Final Fantasy, I'm officially giving up on Square and Final Fantasy. The only thing that's less inspiring than the games he directs are his character designs.

Bring back Sakaguchi instead I say. He may not have made anything worth playing since he left Square, but we'll be able to comfort ourselves knowing that the franchise is at least being run into the ground by the man who created it rather than the screw-ups he left behind when he jumped ship :P
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You don't understand. At this point, Sakaguchi isn't coming back, so we can only rely on the one person at Square Enix who isn't driving the place to hell. Nomura is attempting to revitalize the old school feel with Versus, whilst Wada is continuing to milk anything and everything he can get a hold of.
 
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