The mystery of Square Enix's secret 360 lineup
by Dustin Burg 
{ May 22nd 2008 at 9:45AM }
Square Enix fanboys can break out the bean dip, party streamers and begin their rejoicing rituals, because it's all but confirmed that Square has a few other projects headed to our beloved Xbox 360. How can we be sure? Well, it has just been brought to our attention that the press release announcing the release date for Infinite Undiscovery also (ever so subtly) mentions that it will be "the first in a completely new lineup of Square Enix titles for Xbox 360". A new Square "lineup" that could be as few as two titles or as many as ten, but a lineup we're sure includes Last Remnant. Though, we advise following Joystiq's advice and not getting our fanboy hopes up for the next Final Fantasy installment, because only a bunch of disappointment and sadness will result. And yes, we would love to be proved wrong.[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cal @ May 22nd 2008 10:03AM
I want a real Final Fantasy on 360 =(
Haohmaru @ May 22nd 2008 10:08AM
Chrono Break. Believe! :/
dancingtosirens @ May 22nd 2008 10:25AM
If Chrono Break was ever resurrected and brought to the 360, Im pretty sure the 360 would sell a 100 million units on day one of its release
reson8er @ May 22nd 2008 11:45AM
You can have Crystal Chronicles, well let that one slide.
Haohmaru @ May 22nd 2008 8:13PM
"We'll" let that one slide? Oh, fanboy.
thisguyrighthere @ May 22nd 2008 11:09AM
I stopped caring about FF about halfway through FFX.
I got through FFXII out a sense of obligation. I used to have hope the series would correct itself and go back to being the game I dreamt about when not playing and the game I couldn't stop talking about even years later but the steady downhill direction of the series and stories and characters I just don't care about has, well, made me not care about FF anymore.
Crisis Core has been okay but I don't really care about it either. It's just a hack and slash with some fanboy elements.
So sad.
I am really excited about a Lost Odyssey sequel. Without a complete overhaul FF can rot and die for all I care.
James @ May 22nd 2008 4:48PM
I think of Crisis Core as a sorta-kinda spiritual successor to Seiken Densetsu, actually. Sure, it's just one guy, and yeah, the setting is completely different, but the way they focus on play mechanics over story just strikes me more as Secret of Final Fantasy than Final Fantasy VII-2.
Haohmaru @ May 22nd 2008 8:20PM
As much as I enjoyed FFX's storyline, you're right. I've always maintained that the last truly great FF was the sixth installment. Since then, Final Fantasy has gradually degraded into a 40-hour computer animated movie, with some minimal gameplay during the intermissions. It's tragic in a way. That's why I'm hoping for more original offerings for Squenix's 'Box lineup instead, or at least some of the better series. A good, new Mana game would be refreshing, as would a Chrono sequel. I'd be happy for either of those to arrive on ANY system, though, as long as the gameplay is good.
James @ May 23rd 2008 11:39AM
I think #8 is a bit harsh. FF7-9 all had plenty of "gameplay" with well-designed, *fun* mechanics. In fact, 9 barely had any cutscenes IIRC (much more in-engine stuff that sticks out in my mind, at least), and 8's cutscenes struck me as particularly engaging. 10 definitely had a bit of a hard-on for cutscenes, and I remember the gameplay as being somewhat lackluster. 12 had some interesting new mechanics, but I feel like I played through a lot of "filler" -- I bought it on day one, I'm ~50 hours in, and still haven't effing beat it yet. If I had to pick an all-time fav, it'd probably still be 6, but 8 comes close for story, and 7 and 9 could probably both tie for fun gameplay.
Holy crap, I'm such a nerd =-o
Haohmaru @ May 23rd 2008 1:07PM
@9. James
First of all, thanks for not flaming me despite my being somewhat harsh, as you said. :) When I said that the FF series has gradually become essentially an extremely long interactive movie, I meant just that - the transition has been a gradual one. That is not to say that FF7 - FF9 were bad games; on the contrary, I enjoyed FF7 even if I think it's sometimes given more praise than it really deserves. With each installment, though, comes a bigger reliance on long, drawn out CGI sequences. FF9 bucked this trend somewhat, and is actually among my favorite jRPGs of all time. The biggest culprit of the cutscene-fest Final Fantasies so far is FF10. The story itself is great, but there seemed to be more of it than actual gameplay. I found myself spending more of my time playing Blitzball (which was fun as hell!) than playing the actual game. FF12 did a number of things right, and I enjoyed the MMO-like vibe that the battle system lent to the game. Still, it just didn't have the memorable characters from some of the earlier FF's. Based on what I've seen of FF13, I think it's going to be more of the same, albeit with improved HD graphics. I'm more interested in the action RPG Versus XIII at this point.
Deck @ May 22nd 2008 11:35AM
This is great news! Infinite Undiscovery!
I now have another RPG to put on my must buy list for this fall. The list just gets bigger and bigger! But I love it so!
Rowdehaj @ May 22nd 2008 11:48AM
You would ... but you won't!
ZeroCorpse @ May 22nd 2008 11:52PM
What's the mystery? I tell you what the mystery is:
Why do Square Enix's games suck so much, yet so many fanboys drool over them?
Solve THAT mystery, and I'll be impressed.
Drachen77 @ May 23rd 2008 12:41AM
Whatever happened to the Dragon Quest (aka Warrior) series? Didn't it used to be the the most popular game in Japan?
Could it come to the 360?
I love those games but haven't seen one for a while.
Haohmaru @ May 23rd 2008 1:10PM
The last one to come out was Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2. The next installment is actually going to the DS, and looks great. I wouldn't count on it coming to the 360, since it's unfortunately not doing so well in Japan. Let's hope for some decent new or revived IPs instead.