Square Enix: Whole at Last?

Japanese hardware numbers are in and the PlayStation 3 saw a 250% boost last week thanks in large part to the release of Blu-ray movie Final Fantasy: Advent Children and a corresponding special edition console.

Significant to the success of Advent Children – the 2002 movie based off the original PlayStation megahit Final Fantasy VII – was the accompanying playable demo of the upcoming sure-to-be-megahit Final Fantasy XIII.  But let’s take a break from all this number-juggling for a moment and reflect on the massive success of parent-company Square Enix.

Few among the industry can lay claim to a richer history or deeper catalogue than Square and Enix.  The one-time rival studios, each with a major franchise in their arsenal, united to form SE in a historic merger early 2003.  Working together, their goal has been to strive toward a more perfect harmony between brands – and if their upcoming slate of releases is any indication, they may have finally reached the point of  indivisible enterprise.

Context of a Conquest

Enix’s greatest contribution to the singular SE is, without question, Yuji Horii’s Dragon Quest.  The quintessential home-cooking of the RPG world, it is a series that finds its charm in a delicate blend of new tech with familiar flavors.  Its release is an event which prompts holiday-like jocosity in Japan, the next two of which will happen on Nintendo consoles.  And with its focus on the memorable over the fashionable, Dragon Quest is a series that plays exceptionally well to the strengths of the DS and Wii.  The previous installment of the series (Dragon Quest 8) was the best selling Japanese game of 2004 at over 3 million units, despite having only been released the last week of November that year.

And then there’s Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Final Fantasy – a title which was bestowed upon the original in 1986 for its potential role as his exodus not only Square, but video games as a whole.  However, with eight additional Fantasy’s under his belt since (and three more in his absence), things obviously went a bit different for the series than originally expected.  While older entries may have closely followed the standard set by Dragon Quest, as the series progressed a wholly unique identity began to take shape.

In 1999, Sakaguchi’s masterwork would at last change from Dragon Quest simulacrum to sci-fi sublimity – and ultimately into a series which would come to rely on increasingly powerful tech as not just a central theme to its narrative, but also its principal construction.  With a lengthy and complex plot involving rebel warfare against the overlords of a destitute cyber-slum, VII was the first in the series to span three discs and include a series of computer generated story sequences showcasing, if nothing else, the space CD-ROM afforded over the classic gray cartridge.

Enix Levels Up

There was now enough of a difference between the two key franchises that when Enix absorbed Square four years later, it garnered a great share of enthusiasm from press and fans alike.  SE was not only the alliance of the houses of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, but countless secondary franchises as well – from SaGa to Star Ocean.  Fans fantasized about the potential for new Chrono Trigger-like efforts from the mega studio, but as time went on it became clearer that the two, and their respective franchises, would still function largely independent of each other.  Instead, their focus would be on multi-platform penetration, striving to best match audience base with desired franchise.  Alas, during the previous era of PlayStation dominance, it became increasingly hard to tell one SE production from another, as most touted the same porcelain visuals and fifty-hour story lines as the next.

However, with a fresh batch of successful consoles on the market, both in-house and handheld, comes a new opportunity for diversity within the SE portfolio.  We’ve already seen examples of successful cross-platform franchises with Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles on Wii and DS – a trend that looks to continue with the announcement that Final Fantasy XIII will be hitting Xbox 360 as well as PlayStaton 3 this Winter (in America at least).  And now that its two flagship franchises are venturing out to opposing consoles for the first time ever, the company looks poised to reach its biggest audience to date.

It may have taken five years, and a few rough patches along the way, but with Dragon Quest IX hitting DS in July and the Final Fantasy XIII due out by the holidays, 2009 is set to be the best year on record for a freshly cohesive Square Enix.

Images Courtesy of Square Enix, VG Frequency and CHUD