I Will Not Be Buying Final Fantasy VII On PS4... and neither should you

written by Justin Prince (@prince_justin)

I've been very vocal as of late regarding my disdain for this. I'm not clamoring for a remake (though certainly I'd take them up on that) but rather we need to talk about why this is a problem.

Final Fantasy VII was for many gamers their first JRPG. Swinging open a door that brought JRPGs to the forefront of consumers and publishers alike. Let's not forget on the SNES they chose to skip on bringing Western gamers the original versions of Final Fantasy II, III, and V; while localizing a watered down version of IV and VI to be more appealing to Western gamers. But with Final Fantasy VII through IX, plus other notable JRPGs like entries from the Suikoden and Wild Arms, the PSONE became this powerhouse system for the RPG player.

“you did that one sweet thing years ago... but almost 20 years later you choose to just rehash a happy memory”

Let's fast forward a bit, Square Enix doesn't have the splendor it once had. Gamers waiting years for Final Fantasy XIII to be released only to be disappointed, even Final Fantasy XV... which if you remember was originally called Final Fantasy Versus XIII... has been in development so long I don't even know how this company can still stand in front of its fans and ask us to "please be excited."

Do you remember what you were doing over eight years ago? If I remember correctly, I had just started working with the company I'm still employed with today, first met the girl who would eventually break my heart three years later... OH, and caught my first glimpse of Final Fantasy Versus XIII. A whole new console generation has come and already has a year in, we still haven't seen a single confirmation about a release date. Nathan Drake experienced five adventures, Commander Shepard went from space marine to humanity's last hope, and we as gamers got to experience the tales of a Grey Warden, a Champion, and an Inquisitor... all in the time that Square Enix has been developing this one game.

over 8 years of development?!?!? WTF Square-Enix...

Square Enix... and being a fan of theirs... is like being in an unhealthy relationship with someone who doesn't respect you as they should... but you just can't walk away. They're constantly reminding us of something they did to make us love them in the first place... but it isn't until we begin to weigh the number of times they did something new and exciting for us versus the times they banked purely on nostalgia that we really open our eyes to what this company has been doing to its fans. Sure you did that one sweet thing years ago... but almost 20 years later you choose to just rehash a happy memory instead of trying to create more. This wouldn't work in a relationship, this wouldn't work in a marriage, so why should it work as consumers.

While I have many fond memories with this company... and hey I even recently played and reviewed the Kingdom Hearts II.5 HD REMIX collection (and gave it high marks). But to be honest, the last time I truly enjoyed a game from them was Final Fantasy XII... how many years ago was that?

I bought Final Fantasy VII on PSN to have it mobile, beyond that I had no other reason to get it. So with this PS4 port, I decree that I will not buy it nor will I review it for Lifted Geek. I can't help but love you Square-Enix, we shared some great memories. But you can only rehash something so many times before the sweetness wears off... I'm sad to say, this time, it's not enough.