Square Enix Admits Final Fantasy XIV Damaged Brand

_xeno_ writes "It's taken a year since Final Fantasy XIV launched to what can at best be called unfavorable reviews, but Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada is finally willing to admit that the (still subscription-free) MMO 'greatly damaged' the entire Final Fantasy brand. Despite this damage, Wada said Square Enix will continue to work on 'reviving' the game, with an upcoming patch promising to finally introduce such series staples as chocobos and airships. Even so, there's still no word on the PS3 release, which was delayed until the game was 'fixed,' nor is there any sign that Square Enix feels the game will be worth a subscription fee any time soon."

Stability and Performance Issues

[ShakaUVM]

It wasn't just "Stability and Performance Issues" that caused the game to suck so bad.

It was, well, everything.

A map that wouldn't show you where things you wanted to find were
A bizarre bazaar and shop system
No real story or major quest line (that I could find at least, in the week or so I spent playing it)
A UI that was designed for consoles - which is ironic since it never launched on the PS3.
Sloow animations on the menus. You have to hit menu (and wait for all the elements to slide in) then click on the submenu, and wait for all the elements to slide in and then click on "map" (instead of just being able to hit 'm' or whatever).
Class system didn't make any sense.

I dunno, there were other things I can remember really hating about the game, but it's been a year and I've tried to black out that part of my memory as best I can.

The problem is

[chispito]

they are still JRPGs, and the industry (outside of Japan) has grown. Western RPGs keep growing and innovating. I feel like Western developers learned from Japan back in the 16 bit era, but Japanese developers are stuck in a time warp. There is more to life than turn based combat and angsty teenage heroes.

Yeah I'm sure it wasn't 13+ sequels.

[Beelzebud]

No such thing as brand dilution. No sir. At no point did they stretch the brand thin.

Re:Never considered the MMOs part of FF

[genner]

FF11 and FF14 never seemed like they were FF games in the first place, so they didn't tarnish my perception of the brand, at least as far as I'm aware. On the other hand, FFX, FFX-2, FF12, and FF13...

Hey now FFX was a good game and I'm pretty sure the sequel was just some lame fan fiction that people mistook for a real release.