Adam Bruno

Wow, how’s that for an alliterative title? Anyway, you may not be old enough to remember the first Final Fantasy game for the NES when it came out in Japan in the end of 1987 and the United States in May of 1990. Its sales both here and in Japan single-handedly saved Squaresoft from going bankrupt. Now, after over 20 years, 13 (well, soon to be 14) main titles, and numerous spin-offs, the curtain may finally close on the franchise.

Are you crying yet? Why not? Eh, I’m kind of not crying either, but I’ll certainly miss it if they choose to go this way. But there’s a silver lining to this cloud!

Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada told Edge Online, “…whether we are going to continue to internally create this type of game remains to be seen, because I actually feel that the team that was involved with Final Fantasy XIII should next move on to create and generate some ‘next generation’ forms of play.”

Still, he did say that believed that Final Fantasy XIII would be something special, and he clearly holds the development team responsible for the franchise’s latest iteration in high regard.

Does this mean that Squenix is moving on to bigger and better things? “Internally and externally I feel there’s an expectation of Square Enix to offer something new,” Wada said, “and I really think that the Final Fantasy team could create something completely different, but at the moment they’re strictly catering to the particular audience they have now.”

I’ll definitely miss Final Fantasy, but maybe it’s time to let it go. Just so long as they let the Mana series die, too; that thing’s gone way the hell downhill. As for what Square Enix is doing next…well, they’ve acquired Eidos, and they’re definitely branching out in the games that they’re making. Despite my love-hate relationship with them (much like a hot, crazy girlfriend), I’m expecting great things from their future works.

Maybe they’ll follow through with it, maybe they won’t. Either way, I’ll always have my childhood Final Fantasies.

Source: Edge Online