WOW!! FFXI Sales are the BOMB(ing)!!!!

I disagree. Squaresoft are still doing the same thing with their RPG\'s? How many RPG\'s have they released recently? 3. Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XI, and Kingdom Hearts. How many of these are still doing the same old thing? 1. Final Fantasy X. It seems to me that you, like most people are confusing Square with Final Fantasy. Sure it is their largest and (IMO) still their best games (ive loved them all except 8) but you cant pigeon hole an entire company based on their most successful franchise.

In the reference altered was referring to, which is pretty obvious with the mention of FFVIII, is how little it has changed THROUGH the past six years or so.  The problem isn\'t just with Square though, it\'s with most RPG\'s.  The wealth of creative ideas has almost been completely exhausted.  However, the tried and true tactics of the FF series that continues to sell through based on brand name alone is what\'s hindering the industry and is making Squaresoft step backward in the grand scheme of innovation and force other developers with less budgets and resources to try and create something new and different.

Lets hope Enix will try and bring us out of this slumb, but they make games about as fast as Rareware so I hope the new Star Wars RPG\'s offer something new to the genre along with Project Ego.

[Bobs_Hardware]

But he is still making reference almost soley to the Final Fantasy series and not the rest of Square.  How much has Square changed THROUGH these past six years?  well theryve madde quite a few original games such as Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Ergeiz(sp? bah) and others that dont match the one Final Fantasy mold that is supposedly holding back the RPG industry.

How much have they changed?  You can only tell by analysing their most recent of games.  Final Fantasy X, a game that is final fantasy through and through and hasnt changed much, for that reasons.  Kingdom Hearts, a game that is vastly different to almost every game out there (although that might also be due to the style of it) and with a great battle system, and an online Final Fantasy.

Lets see, FFX, slightly changed, Kingdom Hearts, completely different and FFXI, once again completely different.

So how exactly has over the past 6 years Square not changed?  They are still putting out a variety of games with different styles.  

I guess we will have to wait for the next Chrono and Final Fantasy 12 to see how much they have really changed.

I dunno..  I think that Square attempts enough changes in its own.  Personally, I dont think Japanese like change much, so they dont really change anything until it fails..  Look at the Dragon Quest series.. NOTHING has changed asides slight improvements in graphics.  the stories are the same, the spells are always the same, the actions are all the same..  and they\'ve been best sellers on every release.  Originality would be nice.. but in this economic downturn, the big companies aren\'t willing to take the risks I guess.