Ode To Squaresoft

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Oh, how I miss you...

   
     So during the end of March, I got the chance to go to Square's Distant Worlds concert, which was basically two and half hours of straight-up fan service. Nobuo Uematsu was in attendance to enjoy a full orchestra playing some of the best music from the Final Fantasy series while a large screen showing footage from the corresponding games. From HD video from XIII to old pixel art from I, II, and III, it was all there and I, as well as the rest in attendance, sat back and enjoyed the tunes from some of the games we grew up on. They even went as far to re-enact the famous opera scene from VI prompting the guy behind me to literally moan in ecstasy, which was both a little disturbing but understandable

    As I boarded the train ride home, my mind was filled with the warm sense of nostalgia and it really shocked me how many of the games I LOVED growing up came from one group. Squaresoft. Back in the day they really were one of the top tier developers in the industry, and with RPGs, it wasn't even close. The conversation simply began and ended with Squaresoft. Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Xenogears, FF VII, Parasite Eve, I mean, the list goes on and on. To anyone who was gamer back then, the name Squaresoft will now and forever conjure up memories of quality title after quality title. But that was then...

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Hang on to yo buttz, it's gonna get bumpy.

   Not that Square's output post the Square-Enix merger has been bad. They're still making solid games. Dragon Quest has its crowd. Kingdom Hearts is an unorthodox but solid series. But I don't know if it was just a certain development team that moved on to other things, or the mercurial nature of the industry, or I dunno, space aliens, but the magic just seems gone that the name Square used to imply. They just aren't the same anymore.

    The clearest indication with this is Square's flagship series, Final Fantasy. I was a huge fan of X but after that, the connection just feels like its missing. XII was definitely a good game and I was even a fan of the MMORPG like combat system, but it just didn't feel as memorable as any of the games between VI and X. With XIII, I was definitely disappointed with the EXTREME linearity that loosened up only slightly after 20+ hours and found the story both convoluted and, frankly, dull. It's a shame too because it had some beautiful cut scenes. On the online front, XI had a decent following but it's clear that XIV was a rush job they planned on just patching later because, besides get blasted by all the media outlets, even the diehards are finding the empty servers disconcerting. Square would never have attached their name to a product so disheveled back in the day. But then again, times have changed.

   I am intrigued by FF Versus XIII (which apparently was created because of irreconcilable differences among the development team - indicating another whole slew of problems) but I'm not going crazy. FF XIII-2 holds as much weight as a fluffy pillow in my book after XIII ripped my heart out. But hope is not lost. The ace up their sleeve is still yet to be played.

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Who were you expecting? Zidane looking even more girlie?

   One thing that I realized from my night at the Distant Worlds is that VII simply holds a special place in gamers hearts that were around in the Playstation days. The concert opened to hoots and hollars as the orchestra played the music from the opening scene  that pulls back to reveal Midgar. Later on, Aeris' theme left not a dry eye in the room and, to go out with a bang, they played Sephroith's theme, complete with diabolical Latin lyrics. Uematsu knows it's awesome. We know it's awesome. It just makes too much sense for it not to happen.

    It's been rumored to death and I say it's coming. If Square wants to regain its street cred with its fanbase, VII will get all of us back on the train faster than a chocobo in Gold Saucer with a mouth full of Sylkis Greens. In an age where it takes alot for a company to risk failure on a new IP, a VII remake would be a safe project the developers can cash in on. Hell, when they released it on PSN, it did over 100k the first few weeks and it was a ten year old game and the Playstation install base was a fraction of what it is today. I remember the boys on IGN's Podcast: Beyond! talking about it, hinting that the team that would be more likely do it is the one finishing up Versus XIII. With that in mind and next year being the 15 year anniversary of VII's original release, my gut says the stars are aligning.

   A VII remake would definitely get this guy singing the company's praises once again. How could it not?