Despite its long and distinguished history as a pioneer of fantasy RPGs, Square Enix has gradually lost its foothold in the genre given the under-success of its more recent releases, and now the company has announced a massive rollback of numerous projects. While certainly nothing new in the industry, the root cause of Square Enix's crisis lies in poor decision-making, most notably their odd decision to force their best concepts into a AAA package.
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To get back on track and rediscover the soul of true RPG craftsmanship, they must leave that farce behind.
Starting out as a much smaller company in the 80s called “Square,” their bold vision for gaming was no less ambitious, and filled with ingenious ideas that would pay off right from the start. While their debut text-adventure IP The Death Trap was a roaring success, it wasn’t until the release of games like Dragon Slayer and most notably Sir-Tech’s Wizardry series that Square’s roadmap began to noticeably gravitate in a specific direction: RPGs.
In 1987, Square president Hironobu Sakaguchi released a new IP that would redefine the definition of an RPG, calling it Final Fantasy. It introduced eccentric character classes for players to choose from, integrated a universal magic system, and innovative gameplay mechanics such as turn-based combat. The game injected a new, unique "fantasy" element that seamlessly blended with classic elements already established in the genre, and brought them all together into a new formula that would eventually skyrocket its popularity.
