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What can Square Enix do to make Final Fantasy sell FF7 level again? (Or sell more than a B tier Wrpg?)

Lethal01

Member
Their doing what they need to do,
FFXIV is doing fantastic financially and people absolutely love it.
FFVII:Remake Also made people very happy and did great sales wise.
People are extremely excited for FF:XVI

They just need to keep nailing it and their sales will increase.
 
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Yeah they are selling more games than ever. FFXV is almost beating FVII and it just came out a few years ago.

OP is running with a narrative that I don't think exists anymore. Square is doing pretty good these days. Their new games are selling tons. Maybe 15-20 years ago they needed help.
 
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Dream-Knife

Banned
So Nintendo can put gacha shit on it?

No Thank You Reaction GIF



Anyway, FF is fine, XV was meh, but XIV is amazing, VII Remake is awesome and they are selling well. I can't wait for XVI!
Xenogears isn't XC2.


Highly disagree on FF7R.
 
No, because Mistwalker was the original creators of Final Fantasy.

Some of them. But that's not what this thread is about. It's asking how to get the Final Fantasy franchise to sell better. Current Final Fantasy sells many, many magnitudes more than any Mistwalker game.

I agree Lost Odyssey is better than FFXV, but again, this thread is discussing sales - something Mistwalker has had very little success with.
 
Never make a Playstation exclusive, that shit blocks SE from selling at least 5million more copies at launch window

Not true. Every Final Fantasy game after 6, except for 13 and 15, launched at least as PlayStation console exclusives. They've had no issues selling. Meanwhile, games like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey were commercial bombs by being on Xbox. The audience for these games live on PlayStation.
 

Werewolf Jones

Gold Member
If YoshiP the man who could turn a trash MMO into gold can't make a turn around on SP Final Fantasy there's literally nothing that can be done to salvage it.

However, unlike most of GAF I think XV is actually good but has some problems.
 
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Krizalidx11

Banned
Not true. Every Final Fantasy game after 6, except for 13 and 15, launched at least as PlayStation console exclusives. They've had no issues selling. Meanwhile, games like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey were commercial bombs by being on Xbox. The audience for these games live on PlayStation.

Son, Blue Dragon and LO were new IPs and they needed a long way to go to get off the ground and sell as much as a long running franchise like FF or DQ that started in the 80s where there were no Jrpgs but those 2 titles, in 2009 tons of Jrpgs with a long history of hit releases like Tales games and a new title that goes by the name of DARK SOULS

The Playstation exclusive FF games sold super well because PS was a mega hit in the 90s and early 2000s, PS3 was seling less than 360 in the 1st 4 years at least which means the world changed and that also why FF13/15 came out on 360/X1 along side the PS version.
 
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p_xavier

Authorized Fister
I absolutely loved Fantasian. Basically it's what Final Fantasy is/was in my eyes. FFVIIr was a big success and the battle system was great, so hopefully XVI will continue on this.
 
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Son, Blue Dragon and LO were new IPs and they needed a long way to go to get off the ground and sell as much as a long running franchise like FF or DQ that started in the 80s where there were no Jrpgs but those 2 titles, in 2009 tons of Jrpgs with a long history of hit releases like Tales games and a new title that goes by the name of DARK SOULS

The Playstation exclusive FF games sold super well because PS was a mega hit in the 90s and early 2000s, PS3 was seling less than 360 in the 1st 4 years at least which means the world changed and that also why FF13/15 came out on 360/X1 along side the PS version.

"Dad", they are also dead franchises because they bombed. The fact that you're lumping Dark Souls in this same genre because it's made in Japan proves your ignorance.

JRPGs don't sell well on Xbox. That's not even debatable.
 
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EDMIX

Member
A time machine.

Those days are over. Many of the gamers that even bought the original FFVII may not even be gamers today or might play completely different titles.
 

TheContact

Member
They’d need an all star cast like chrono trigger had and a shit ton of marketing. But the game would suck because people only want action jrpgs now
 
I thought FF7: Remake, FF15 and FF14 all performed quite well with all things considered? I honestly don’t think there is much SquareEnix can do to significantly boost the sales of the franchise unless they totally change the game beyond it’s identity and recognition. The industry shifted and unfortunately JRPG’s aren’t near as popular as they used to be. It would like trying to get fighting games to be as popular as Fortnite or COD.
 
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base

Banned
Their doing what they need to do,
FFXIV is doing fantastic financially and people absolutely love it.
FFVII:Remake Also made people very happy and did great sales wise.
People are extremely excited for FF:XVI

They just need to keep nailing it and their sales will increase.
What people exactly? It was a good game but IMO not really THE Final Fantasy 7 I used to know.
 

Lethal01

Member
What people exactly? It was a good game but IMO not really THE Final Fantasy 7 I used to know.

The majority of the people who played it thought it was great. That's the result you get whenever the question is asked even if it's on a forum that's absolutely dominated by people complaining about it. Most old fans say it's a fantastic rendition of the original game.

Now, online polling isn't infallible by any means, but right now all you get whenever you try to measure how people feel is that people love it. There's people who absolutely hate it ofcourse, but they are the minority.

Aside from you not liking the direction, do you have anything that would point to this not being the case?
 
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The majority of the people who played it thought it was great. That the result you get whenever the question is asked even if it's on a forum that's absolutely dominated by people complaining about it. Most old fans say it's a fantastic rendition of the original game.

Now, online polling isn't infallible by any means, but right now all you get whenever you try to measure how people feel is that people love it.

Aside from you not liking it do you have anything that would point to this not being the case?
Final Fantasy VII Remake:

igfuOib.jpg
 

Krizalidx11

Banned
"Dad", they are also dead franchises because they bombed. The fact that you're lumping Dark Souls in this same genre because it's made in Japan proves your ignorance.

JRPGs don't sell well on Xbox. That's not even debatable.

So i'm talking to someone who doesn't know DS is a jrpg game? ah yes Neogaf rookies
 
.. Huh?
Dude FF7R is one of the fastest selling PS4 exclusives, it sold 3.5M within 3 days! And over 5M by the end of 2020.

How much do you want them to sell exactly? JRPGs will always be niche and FF is the most well known but they can't compete with something like The Elder Scrolls or Fallout which has wide appeal and is much more suited and designed to western sensibilities, western "normie/casual" gamers don't want to play games with a "twink MC with a big sword" and a in weird fantasy world, they basically want a Tolkin fantasy setting with a gruff old man protagonist, FF will never be anymore popular than it already is unless you hand the franchise to a western studio so they can bury it next to Silent Hill and Bionic Commando.
 
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MrSarcastic

Banned
There was a time when I was angry and disappointed with Square Enix ...not anymore. I just don't care. I have several wet dreams about what SE could do to regain that status but clearly, they don't have the vision, talent, and/or the technology.
 
Not sure what the issue is, OP seems to be under the illusion that they aren't selling games as much as they were in the 90s. That seems to be totally wrong.

FFVII seems to have sold around 11 million copies in around 20 years.


By comparison FFXV has already sold 9 million.

If that's counting all the re-releases and digital sales then that's not very impressive for FFVII. On the other hand, FFXV had a development cycle of around 7 years, it should have cost double of what FF7 cost (30 million back then not 80 or whatever stupid figure is thrown around), so the return was not as great as one would expect.
 
They need to ask themselves if they want to use Japanese or Western storytelling, and then lean into it without wavering. I liked FF15 for what it was, but IMO the problems with the actual story and characters stemmed from the attempt to cater to both audiences while satisfying neither.
 

Krizalidx11

Banned
If you think Dark Souls is in the same category as turn-based RPGs, because the acronym is Japanese Role-playing Game and Dark Souls was made in Japan, you're not too intelligent. Lol

Ok, your buddies in Fornite are waiting for you, go back there son and troll them
 
Ok, your buddies in Fornite are waiting for you, go back there son and troll them
Never played it. I have platinumed every Soulsborne game and replay them yearly. I've also played every Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest game multiple times. More than enough to know they aren't the same genre of games.
 

Krizalidx11

Banned
Never played it. I have platinumed every Soulsborne game and replay them yearly. I've also played every Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest game multiple times. More than enough to know they aren't the same genre of games.

They fall under the same genre, DS is a turn based RPG made in Japan = JRPG

AND FF16 is about to follow some DS mechanics (difficulty) hence the very dark trailer, If Square-Enix bois take from DS that means it's a Jrpg
 

Kumomeme

Member
FXIII would sell as low as some C-tier wrpgs.

could you explain expected range sales number for C, B and A tiers? XIII sold 5m though.

by this count, Nier Automata supposed to be C tier and Persona 5 Royal just ...E-tier wrpgs?
 

luffie

Member
Op is talking without facts and numbers, as if B tier western rpgs are selling like hotcakes.

FF7R sells a LOT, it just doesn't generate a long buzz as it used to be, and that is because the market moves very fast these days.

That said, I have a superb suggestion that will propel sales to the moon:

Let players have a choice to romance Aerith or Tifa and see different endings. SquareEnix should hire me.
 

NahaNago

Member
They need to create better worlds. From what I have played of both FF7 and FF15 the world was just boring to okay. I think they need to start smaller and gradually grow the worlds they create as they make more games. FF7 was a just a corridor like paths half the time. FF15 in the beginning was this massive open area but unfortunately it was just bare and boring half the time. They have the character interactions down, the combat down, and the ideas for impressive locations.

Multiplatform barely matters at launch since Sony 80% of sales for a ff game will be on playstation and Sony could easily cover that.
 
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DJTHEGREY

Member
It's selling pretty well, however I think there is mixed views of how well FF XV and FF7Remake are received.

I personally didn't like FF XV much at all and thought FF7REMAKE was.... Ok but not really what I wanted or was looking for. Many people loved both Had they actually completed the Remake I may have liked it more but instead looks like they will drag this out and milk it. Can't knock it if people buying and loving it.

Now if you ask how can they take FF back to it's glory days? I think they should go back to fixed cameras, turn based battles systems and beautiful/interesting worlds. Persona 5 proves that there is still a audience for turn based RPGs so FF should go back to what it does best.
 

ultima786

Member
.. Huh?
Dude FF7R is one of the fastest selling PS4 exclusives, it sold 3.5M within 3 days! And over 5M by the end of 2020.

How much do you want them to sell exactly? JRPGs will always be niche and FF is the most well known but they can't compete with something like The Elder Scrolls or Fallout which has wide appeal and is much more suited and designed to western sensibilities, western "normie/casual" gamers don't want to play games with a "twink MC with a big sword" and a in weird fantasy world, they basically want a Tolkin fantasy setting with a gruff old man protagonist, FF will never be anymore popular than it already is unless you hand the franchise to a western studio so they can bury it next to Silent Hill and Bionic Commando.
Correct. OP has no facts. But here they are:




out of all games sold in 2020, it was number 10. Out of all ps4 titles of 2020 it was #6. On the Japanese psn store it was #1. Imran Khan said square is so pleased with sales that square has decided to expand the scope of part 2. Ff7R killed it in sales on one platform, which they likely also have incredible exclusivity deal that gives them far more percentage of each sale. I’ll have to find the source later, but it was also one of PS4’s highest completed single player games.

What is with all these baseless posts claiming FF7R didn’t sell wel?
 

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
Just bring back some of the key talent that left,

Tetsuya Takahashi
Masato Kato
Soraya Saga
Ubori Mitsuda
Toshiro Tsuchida
 

bbeach123

Member
As a edgy emo teenager I like FF8 , ff7-9 just wasnt edgy enough 4 me .

But Persona 3 is just way more edgier , which i like .
 
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