Friday, February 20, 2009

Opinion: Sony fans SHOULDN'T care if Square Enix RPGs are on the 360

In the shadow of Star Ocean: The Last Hope being released and getting pretty good reviews, I started thinking about the other RPGs Square Enix has released on the 360 this generation. Sure, PS3 early adopters were more than aliitle upset with the defection of Square’s flagship game, Final Fantasy 13 to the competition, Mircosoft’s Xbox360. And more still at the sight of SE throwing more and more support behind the 360, while leaving the PS3 out in the cold has fans worried. But after reviewing the reviews and opinions about the RPGs released so far, I wonder why people are so up in arms about the move.


It started with Infinite Undiscovery. And the results were not as pretty as SE and MS would have liked. The mighty Metacritic has it sitting at a interesting 68 out of 100. Most gaming outlet panned it, saying mostly that the presentation was flawed and full of all the clichés of most JRPGs. While some, like X-Play, praised the combat. Others like Gameradar, called the system “unsatisfying.” The game did well for the 360, selling about 400,000 copies. Making the new marriage seem, at the time, like peas and carrots.



Up next was The Last Remnant. And things seemed to go south. The game, again, was relatively met with mediocre reviews. And again, the Metacritic score lingers around 65 out of 100. Reviewers sited the game’s “repetitive battles, cluttered screens, and annoying 'quests'” (Gamepro) and “abysmal frame-rate problems and awful texture pop-in as well as obtuse combat mechanics” (Gamespot) as major problems. Gametrailer put at an 8.0, citing “The Last Remnant is a hard game to judge. A person's enjoyment of it will be directly related to how much they can tolerate the persistent graphical issues.” X-Play and IGN shared the sentiment, saying that the presentation was not up to par. X-Play went so far as to criticizing “the load screens, long cutscenes, and the battle system, saying the game played itself.” It didn’t seem to set the world on fire, but sold well at about 550,000 copies.


So, this leads us to the next in the line of SE RPGs only for 360, Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Reviews are filtering in and they are sounding good. IGN’s review is good for the game and will sell well regardless of reviews or Metacritic scores. But where does that leave the Sony brand? A console that doesn’t have a lot of JRPGs? Nothing. Fallout 3 was the game of the year and is a blast to play. The over-looked Folklore was very good, albeit different kind of role playing. The CRIMINALLY over-looked Valkyrie Chronicles is an awesome game that people who complain about the PS3 not having games need shoved in their asshole. On top of the other non RPG, PS3-only games that you know about already and the gems on PSN like PJ Monsters, Burnout Paradise, Super Stardust HD and Warhawk and I say “Why worry about games you aren’t going to play anyway?” (well, The Last Remnant is coming soon, but whatever)


The perception that Sony has no games is almost taken as a painstaking fact by the general public, even though it’s an outdated claim only used by partisan console owners and well…..fanboys. With Sony getting great reviews on the exclusives that are out (Flower; Pixel Junk Monsters) and that are coming out, (Killzone 2) Sony fans shouldn’t worry about what’s going on the other side. Sure, 360 folks have been riding high in the quality games department for awhile, but the PS3 is coming along alot better then people think. Stop worrying about what other people have and you don't .You should buy games that are out (and are rated great to awesome) before bitching about betrayals and whatnot.

And buy Valkyrie Chronicles already, lugnuts……….

J.

10 comments:

Larry L said...

After seeing FF13's acctual in-game in action, you'll notice most PS3 gamers don't really care anymore. There's no reason that needs to be toned down to work on 360 in-game. All the rest is just CGI video, which the 360 can play just as good as PS3, and most PS3 gamers are well informed and understand this.

The only reason people were SO pissed off about this when the announcment first came, and right up until the in-game was shown, was because......the in-game hadn't been shown. We (me included) were lead to believe that those early vids of "Lightning" was representative of the acctual in-game. It was FAR from that. And if that WERE in-game, I'd still think 360 couldn't do it. But that's just video basically. When in-game was finally shown, I mean let's be honest, it looks like a REALLY good looking, futuristic FF12 (the in game battles I mean).

There's no reason at all the 360 can't handle that to the point it would take away from the PS3 version. The 360 version may just have to have a slight visual downgrade, an almost un-noticable one, and maybe none at all to look and run fine. So no one really cares any more.

"We" were just worried the 360 version would take away from the quality of the PS3 version. I don't think it will anymore. The only thing at this point, that I AM pissed off about, is the fact that the US PS3 version is getting held back until the 360 version is ready. And THAT IS the 360's fault 100%. It could be out in the US and EU MUCH earlier than that since SE already confirmed work on the 360 version wont even START until the games done and out for printing on PS3 in Japan. I hope you guys aren't blinded by 360 love to think the 360 isn't to blame for the extended wait for PS3 owners outside of Japan.

I personally really hope SE reconsiders on that. It's really not fair. I don't care if 360 owners also get a great game, thats a great thing, but I do care if they are the only reason the game is being postponed for ME. It's just not right, I don't care how much M$ paid them.

Anonymous said...

You're ignoring the core problem....many traditionalist JRPG fans aren't upset with SE but instead Sony. Sure, Sony is releasing many great games, but in the wrong genre! Fallout 3 is a WRPG so it's incomparable to a traditional JRPG. Valkyria Chronicles is a SRPG set during WWII with guns and all...once again, closer, but no cigar. Folk Lore is a controller wagging, pretty action adventure, White Knight Chronicles is just what we're looking for, but unfortunately, still doesn't have a releas date outside Japan.

Quit ignoring the issue and trying to convince us DIEHARD JRPG fans that Sony has something for us--they don't yet---unless you expect us to count Enchanted Arms.

The review scores of the 360 JRPGs are inconsequential--they're JRPGs so you have to automatically add 2 full points to their scores to get an accurate portrayal. Western reviews hate JRPGs, and have an annoying fixation for docking games without online, crystal clear graphics, or total innovation. By the way, innovation and genre defining have come to mean butchering classic, GOOD gameplay, to try an impress bored, arrogant reviewers. Don't fix what isn't broken.

Don't try to put a spin on the lack of JRPGs on the ps3...you just look foolish. The truth is they're nearly non-existant. And maybe they would sell, who knows? Truth is, most JRPG fans can't be bothered to buy a next-gen console because there isn't enough good, traditional JRPGs to justify it. We're better off with our ps2's at this point. I do own a ps3, but can't help being disappointed--so I enjoy my blu-rays, play Rock Band, and just accept the truth and move on.

Anonymous said...

aslong VERSUS doesant go to 360, im happy,

Wolf26pack said...

What most PS3 owners are forgetting is there is at least 1 JRPG out on the PS3 although it isn't a PS3 exclusive but is a port of a game on the 360.Can anybody guess what it is?

It's Eternal Sonata & I for one am glad it came to the PS3 because I thought I would end up missing out on it with it supposedly being a 360 exclusive and me only owning a PS3.

I admit there is a drought of JRPG's for the PS3 and instead there should have been a steady stream of them coming but I have a feeling soon it will pick up and there will be many coming all at once.

Hey at least we can say the PS3 has the most diverse line up of games in many genres and not all shooters.Personally though the game I am looking forward to from Square Enix is Kingdom Hearts 3 & of course Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep & 352/2 Days. I just hope Microsoft doesn't get there dirty little hands on the Kingdom Hearts series, because then I'll be mad :-\

Anonymous said...

^ theres children that still think the 360 is just a shooter box, thats great...

Anonymous said...

I don't care that they're on the 360. I do care that they're not on the PS3.

I understand that companies have to go multi-platform with the rising development costs. But if you're going to go multi-platform, then go multi-platform. SE has thrown almost all of their support behind the 360 with no explanation as to why these games are not on both systems.

THAT is what pisses me off.

Anonymous said...

No to be nit picky, but Burnout Paradise is on the 360 and PC as well, its not a ps3 exclusive. Anyways...

I agree that Sony fans should not care. People should not be mad at their favorite companies going multi-platform. In today's economy they are doing what they need to do to survive. I would much rather still be getting new exciting titles from my favorite companies than see them go under with all the other companies that are failing right now. As for the people that whine whenever something goes to the other console, they are (generally, not every one of them)just insecure babies who need to feel superior to other people, and don't realize we are all just human. No one is better than anyone. If you think you are better because of what console you play, or any other reason, than you have the intelligence of mayonnaise and the societal acceptance of an amoeba.

(sits back and waits for the flaming amoeba's to start retaliating and showing off their imbecility) :P

Anonymous said...

Let's just face the fact - millions of Square-Enix and JRPG fans grew up playing their fantasies on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles.

As such, these people believe that Square-Enix (the largest JRPG maker) "betrayed" them.

They also believe that console success in Japan is a "requirement" for JRPGs in order to justify a jump on another console - Star Ocean comes to mind.

Some people out there are just over-sensitive and over-emotional, to the point that their logic gets overwhelmed. The next thing is obvious - JEALOUSY!

Wolf26pack said...

@ Anonymous (below me)

Look I'm not saying it is just a shooter box but the 360 is predominantly known for it's shooter's since they are so popular such as (Halo & Gears of Wars series)I know they are plenty of games out on the 360 in other genres and I can list some of them now

Shooters - Halo & Gears of Wars Series
Racing - Forza & Project Gotham Series
RPG - Fable & Mass Effect Series
JRPG - Star Ocean & Infinite Discovery
Flying - Ace Combat Series
Family - Banjo Kazooie & Viva Pinata Series
Action - Dead Rising Series
Adventure - ???
Platform - Banjo Kazooie Again
Strategy - ???
Puzzle - ???

That's all I can think of ATM so I am quite informed about what the 360 has to offer and I tried to make sure only to mention exclusives for the 360.

Still from the beginning the 360 has been taking exclusive from the PS3 left and right without many exclusives coming from the 360 such as

PS3 to 360 Exclusives
- Ridge Racer Series (Racing)
- Devil May Cry Series (Adventure)
- Final Fantasy Series (JRPG)
- Resident Evil Series (Action)
- Assassin's Creed (Was supposed to be Exclusive)

360 to PS3 Exclusives
- Bioshock (Shooter)
- Eternal Sonata (JRPG)
- Lost Planet (Action)

and I'm sure there are many more I haven't mentioned on both sides but to PS3 owners we have lost what seems like a lot more exclusives than the 360 owners & with Microsoft buying it's way through this generation with exclusive DLC & games. It is very frustrating to hear us lose another exclusive but not gain one of the 360's exclusives, I mean if we lost one PS3 exclusive & gained one from the 360 than it wouldn't be so bad but it just hasn't be that way.

We all know that publishers know it is better to go multiplatform with their games yet we see games that thrived on Playstation consoles become exclusive to the 360 & that just screams that Microsoft paid them some major $$$ for it. So now we see JRPG's becoming exclusive to the 360 and that is yet another thing we have to deal with.

In the end I think all 3rd party games should be Multiplatform no matter what including the DLC and 1st parties should be the one showing what they can do on their respective systems.

Anonymous said...

ok im not upset or jelous about ffxii being on the 360 because i own both a ps3 and 360 and ill probably pick up a copy for each console , and i dont think sony fanboys are justified at thinking square enix have betrayed sony or somthing like that , as i remember a time when final fantasy's were exclusivly on nintendo consoles , in fact there has still been more exlusive ff's for nintendo consoles than sony as there were 6ff's before they switched to sony and sony have had 5 exlusive ff's as 11 was an mmo which was released on xbox aswell, and squre have also continued to make games on nintendo handhelds at the same time as the psp in recent years . i think its a good thing that more people will get the chance to play a great game and will hopefully bring people together more than drive them apart.