Square Enix Needs To Stop Sending Cool JRPGs Out To Die
DioField Chronicle came out the other week. I bet you didn’t know that though. Valkyrie Elysium came out last week too. I bet you didn’t know that either. Dungeon Encounters came out last year and it kicked ass. Not ringing any bells? That’s cool, I don’t blame you. Square Enix has done almost nothing to promote games that deserve so much more.
The publisher has been all over the place in recent months. It sold off developers Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal for pennies while iconic properties like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex slipped through its fingers like they meant nothing. Meanwhile, it’s currently busy flogging Final Fantasy 7 NFTs despite the game’s themes actively fighting against everything its corporate identity is striving for. Few companies are taking as many Ls these days.
Related: Makoto Shinkai Is Really Going To Make The Same Film Three Times In A Row
Blockbusters like Final Fantasy 16 and Octopath Traveller 2 will no doubt attract massive audiences, and the nostalgia formed around existing properties will continue to ensure that remasters and remakes remain financial successes, but so many smaller projects are being released without even a sliver of marketing, and thus are doomed to fail. Many of these games are made on smaller budgets and don’t require a continued push to get over the break even line, but anything to ignite the conversation would be appreciated. Instead, we get nothing, with a few games in the past year releasing to a whimper bordering on pathetic.
Valkyrie Elysium isn’t a particularly good game. It abandons the strategic gameplay and gorgeous aesthetic of previous games for a character action title more akin to Devil May Cry or Bayonetta. You are a fast, responsive heroine tasked with
Read more on thegamer.com
