Square Enix stock has dropped 30% since Final Fantasy 16 launch
Square Enix stock has dropped 30% since Final Fantasy 16 launch
Stock in Japanese games giant Square Enix has dropped by 30 per cent since the launch of Final Fantasy 16. As reported by Bloomber g, around $2 billion has been shaved from the company's share pri...
Stock in Japanese games giant Square Enix has dropped by 30 per cent since the launch of Final Fantasy 16. As reported by Bloomber g, around $2 billion has been shaved from the company's share pri...
Oh, FF16 was released? No one in my gaming circle of friends even mentioned anything about it.
Its hard to hear it in circles because its a jrpg first (which on its own, is a niche) and only on PS5 at the moment, which not everyone has. Theres about 40m ps5 sold, and less than a tenth has bought the game.
FF XVI isn't even an RPG; it's an action-RPG; it's like Stranger of Paradise, but it's much easier.
And while the PS5 was supply-constrained for about two years, the chip shortage that constrained the supply ended a while back, so anyone can get a PS5 now without having to watch for drops or winning the PS Direct lottery.
From my understanding "Fans" were obsessed and loved it. But generally was considered meh by general audiences?
@OttoVonNoob I'm an oldschool Final Fantasy fan and the new FF16 looks not very interesting to me. The fights aren't what I want it to be and the players reported the game has a much higher playtime on watching cutscenes. I'm just not very hyped about the game, and disappointed in the direction the newer titles are going.
But that does not mean it's a bad thing. Game series change over time and not every game has to please me, such as going from FF6 to FF7 or to FF8, or the Zelda games several times. So don't see my reply as bashing, just saying that a longtime fan of the series is not interested into it.
I'm a pretty hardcore FF fan who bought FF16 Day 1. I enjoyed it enough. Enough that I finished it, when I've only finished two other entries: FF6 and FF10. Neither here nor there, but I usually get pretty close to finishing the games....but then take a break, for like years. Yeah, I have a problem.
Anyway, it's not like 16 was my favorite FF ever. Nor the worst; just middle of the pack.
I don't play a lot of active battle games; I like FFs and other JRPGs for the traditional turn-based combat, which 16 did not have. But I also get that that's a niche market these days and consumer tastes change. I actually like that SE has been experimenting with different combat systems over the years in FFs.
Either way, the fighting system was easy enough for a bad like me to enjoy. But I will also say that the game still felt overly simplistic. A lot of big fights had "cutscene fights," where you had QTEs; simple QTEs where you literally just have to mash X or something.
The accessories/equipment system was super simplified down to weapon and 3 accessories. Of course you should upgrade your weapon, so there's no customization there. And most of the accessories were worthless, IMO. There were only a few that really stood out so I used those for most of my run.
Even learning the various summons and their powers was basic. Like it seemed like the system was in place to allow people to choose their own combat style, but that also largely meant that once you settled on a style, there was no reason change unless a stronger summon/power for that style came up. I never felt forced to learn and use a specific summon for a certain fights or anything.
In a way, because SE tried to cater to both the JRPG crowd and the non-JRPG crowd, they ended up with a somewhat mediocre game, that disappointed both groups. Again, FF16's not a bad game, but it's not great. Like you said, it's just "meh."
Don't really care what wealthy white rich men think of Japanese JRPGs, tbh.
They don't think anything about them except how much money those games make, and FF16 didn't move tons of copies.
I’ll get it when it comes to PC (if it’s playable) but it didn’t get me hyped like FF 15 did.
I wish everyone would think the same. :-/
Kinda expected, majority of Squeenix's shareholders are big banks, they are expecting FF16 to sell a lot more than the current 3 mil copies.
Squeenix also had a kind of disappointing year between 2022 to 2023, with Babylon's Fall failing, and Forspoken not doing great. The only big thing in the near future that's announced is FF7 Rebirth, so I could see why shareholders don't have much confidence in the company.
But I gotta admit, Square Enix of these past 2 years, have released tons of games that I want to play / enjoyed playing, albeit many of them are either remakes or smaller titles, e.g. Tactics Ogre Reborn, Chrono Cross Remastered, Octopath Traveler 2, Live a Live, Crisis Core, Paranormasight, FF Pixel Remaster, etc.
I hope this is just a stumble, and they will regain their footing, instead of them ended up getting acquired by large corporations.
They need to reboot the Supreme Commander games.