I'd agree with you on that about Square-Enix. Or at the very least, they can't pump them out nearly as often. Possibly just a personal thing, but I think Atlus could (or already has) made a game that could compare to some of those classics. Too bad they're a really small developer, so they can't really make anything quite as epic as some of Square's best games. Of course, if they were bigger, they might be less likely to take risks and try something new.
I share in MisterPink's doubts/depression about Square, and JRPGs in general. I played games like Xenosaga and Chrono Cross, and I kinda said to myself "I can't see RPGs getting any better than this. It's gotta be all downhill from here." And sadly, that's kinda held true. Does anyone else notice that Xenogears and Chrono Cross both succeeded as kind of dark-horse games, both in the shadows of nearby Final Fantasy releases? Xenogears kind of came in FF7's wake. There wasn't a ton of fanfare leading up to or even during its release. It took it a little while to be fully appreciated for being as great as it was. Chrono Cross was an even more extreme case... people seemed to largely ignore it as soon as they heard that the "dream team" of developers wasn't back from Chrono Trigger, and that FF9 was going to be released at about the same time. It wasn't accepted into RPG canon as soon as almost any given FF game was. I think both those games speak to RC's point about taking risks, trying something new. I feel like part of the reason they flourished is that the development teams were more-or-less left alone compared to the latest FF titles, which I feel continue to focus more on epic scope style, and graphics than they do on great gameplay, sidequests, and storylines that haven't been sterilized to the point of being uninteresting. And... sidenote... RC, I still don't know how I haven't played Persona 3 or 4 yet. I did buy P3: FES. I really mean to play it when I get the chance, and then move on to P4. I whine about no more great JRPGs, when these are sitting right in front of me. I really should get on that, they're probably fantastic. I just have such a backlog of games, though... I've said for awhile that once I finish Lost Odyssey (maybe 15 hours in), 3 games are next on my list: RE4, Mass Effect, and Tales of Vesperia... that's not even mentioning MGS4, Zelda: OoT, DMC4, Dead Space, both Ninja Gaidens, Mario Galaxy, Skies of Arcadia, Metroid Prime 3... the list just goes on and on... ...there will never, ever be enough time.
Yeah, I was trying to hint at this possibly being a problem at Square-Enix. I think one of the great things Square-Enix (or more so Squaresoft) did early on was that they let a number of their staff work on their own ideas for games. Even FF games, which they continue to alternate teams for, although I think lately they've been trying to conform to certain standards maybe a bit too much (FF12 might have been altered a bit from Matsuno's original designs). But they wouldn't mind letting some young talent try out a new idea with a new IP. This would give them some experience as well as allow the company to remain innovative. Eventually, this young talent would get a shot at directing a FF game, allowing FF to remain fresh. It doesn't seem like they're doing as much of that anymore...or if they are, these guys aren't very successful at it. The experienced guys are busy working on FF (or possibly other major IPs), but probably relying heavily on ideas from 5-10 years ago. But the younger talent hasn't been given the chance to try out their ideas. Tetsuya Nomura is a bit of an exception I guess (although some might even be tired of him), but that's about it as far as new talent at SE IIRC. Yeah, that's understandable. Same for me pretty much. I will say that I think SMT/Persona is probably more divisive than other JRPGs, especially Final Fantasy. It isn't for everyone. But IMO at least, it has a lot of the qualities that made the older games great: innovative gameplay, great story, likable characters, good music, etc. And these were all accomplished by taking some risks by doing something a little bit different than anything else on the market. Except for other SMT games anyway.
It is because they are being blown away by western RPGs. TES III and IV, Fallout 3, KOTOR, NWN, etc. have the depth of JRPGs, but much better and more engaging gameplay. That doesn't even bring in the MMOs.
FF: Spirit Within really messed up Square bad. And IMO the main cause for my ex-favorite gaming company going into the gutter. With them losing so much money in that field followed by the forced merger with Enix, Square Enix does nothing but live off of remakes. I pretty much no longer have any faith in the abomination known as Square Enix these days. I'll buy FFXIII when it comes out, but that's about it.
I'm just going to answer this question. Yes. Yes they are, and anyone actually interested has already read what I have to say about 'em.
The unfortunate thing though, for me at least, is that western RPGs never seem to manage to tell a story with any real impact. They're great, fun, gameplay-focused games. But they aren't stories that are still with you a decade later (Chrono Cross, Xenogears, FF7...). But then again, I don't think there's been any game of any genre that meets the bar those games set lately...
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If Square put some of its old games on the Playstation store, they could make some easy money. Why they don't do this confuses me to no end. They could then take some of that easy money and funnel it into some of their other projects.
Dude... no joke. Especially considering what you have to pay for a copy of FF7 these days ($60-ish last time I checked)... people might pay as much as $20 for it in downloadable form, especially if they packaged in some tiny extras like concept art or something. Easy money.
IIRC, I think Sony acted like there are some issues with putting (some?) old PS1 games on the PSN. Licensing issues or something like that. Of course, I don't know if that applies to SE, and even if it does, the potential profit they could make would outweigh these issues. I'm pretty disappointed in how this kind of thing has turned out. I sure would like to have the ability to PAY for some of the old PS1 classics. I don't even care if it is more than $6. FF games, Suikoden II, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger (well, PS1 version), Parasite Eve, etc. I'd probably pay ~$15 for those at least...and I may still have the games on discs. I actually thought Square-Enix was starting support this a while back when they put up Xenogears on the Japanese store. But I don't even think they brought that to the US, let alone put up any other noteworthy games IIRC.
That's the one that kills me the most. Just knowing that Xenogears has actually already been released in the PS store in Japan, but not in the U.S. I actually want to replay that game more than FF7 because I'm sure I missed some of the nuances in the storyline when I was younger.
Xenogears isn't magical. It's great, but it isn't magical. It has MAJOR problems, the most notable of which is the entirety of Disc 2. The game is COMPLETELY unfinished. That's a damn shame. I think Squeenix is smart to not rape the Xeno/Chrono corpses like they are Final Fantasy. I think they realize that those games are now nearly sacred to many of their fans.
