yes Square Enix On the cusp of a new golden age, or still swimming against the tide? Now, it’s honestly hard to tell.
On the one hand, Final Fantasy XVI looks absolutely incredible. You also got the company to come out with a variety of games that really play to their strengths. There are highly anticipated remakes such as Time Travel, Crisis Core and True Life. There are continuations and revivals of series like Valkyrie, SaGa and Star Ocean. There are also fascinating new bets, from lesser-known niche bets like Voice of Cards and Paranormasight to interesting new attempts at some of the company’s most famous concepts, like Harvestella and the Diofield Chronicle.
On the other hand, hardly anyone seems to have played many of these games. Some of them launched with little fanfare; even something like the power of the sea was unleashed, and it was easy to miss. But quality and breadth are at least a badge of honor. As a friend of mine said, even when it failed, this lineup was a breath of fresh air.
Then, obviously, you get Forspoken. Forspoken is a big swing and miss. It’s a decent game, you know — better than the internet really gave it credit for. There’s no denying that some elements of intimidation and cunning serve as lightning rods for haters, some of whom apparently dislike the game simply because of who it is. In fact, Forspoken reminds me a lot of the first installment in a franchise – the first Assassin’s Creed, for example. It’s a spotty, ham-fisted proof-of-concept with a hugely inflated budget that could get even better in the sequel. Mind you, this doesn’t really matter right now: Forspoken developer Luminous Productions is shutting down, and its staff absorbed and dispersed across the rest of Square Enix. That much-improved sequel may never happen.
And thus follows an analysis of the state of Square Enix: an interesting slate, perhaps poorly planned, sometimes undermarketed, and often misunderstood. Quite a few critical successes, but not really the commercial success that was expected or deserved. As always, though, a new Final Fantasy is peeking over the horizon, threatening to completely change the conversation.
The whole thought process was sparked by Square Enix’s anniversary, as today marks the 25th anniversary of the original release parasitic eve。 IT MAKES THINKING: Honestly, this is a typical Square game of its era, not a Final Fantasy game. A little familiar and a little strange. This is very bold. This is exactly the type of game Square Enix should be making more of right now.
When you see people scratching their heads about Final Fantasy 16 being so clearly inspired by Western RPGs and ditching a series of traditions, keep this in mind: this sort of thing has always been Square Enix’s MO — even Before Enix came along. Parasite Eve is the prime example; released two years after Resident Evil, and dubbed a “Hollywood RPG” in Japan, it combined survival horror action with Square’s RPG. It turned out great.
Parasite Eve is as good as a brand new property because, while it’s based on the Japanese novel of the same name, the book had relatively few readers at the time. Square Enix has masterfully capitalized on its skyrocketing reputation and the success of Final Fantasy VII, ensuring that almost every PS1 RPG it releases is unique in some way, taking popular elements and ideas from elsewhere and forcing them to be unique. into some distorted form of their role-playing game framework.
That’s the magic of Parasitic Eve, its X-factor. A perfect combination of mechanics, concept and aesthetics. Fans of FF7 can come to this game and see the lineage of those creators and that game in there. But so can fans of Resident Evil or Silent Hill, who in turn may prefer RPGs.
Parasitic Eve doesn’t feel as big as the new Final Fantasy, but it doesn’t feel small and insignificant either: it feels like Square is throwing everything at the wall. It’s far more assertive and assertive than many of Square’s attempts at brand new franchises today, even if it took the risks. It’s also unquestionably an adventure game — it has horror elements, it’s the company’s first ever M-rated game, and it even has an unprecedented number of Westerners on its team, with some of Parasite’s development taking place in hawaii.
Of course, Parasitic Eve as a series eventually stalled. There was one decent sequel, and then a pretty bad three sequels with (at least) engaging gameplay. But in my opinion, it’s still the template I want Square Enix to follow when trying to build something new. It’s the perfect mix of familiarity and novelty, safety and adventure.
Even today, 25 years later, it’s still brilliant, astonishingly unique. It’s a wonderful piece of historical artefact—perhaps the modern Square can learn a lesson or two from it.
