I think Monolithsoft could make a better FF game then square ever could.
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yea, xenoblade has been able to get opportunities in HD era Nintendo.
I wasn't comparing xeno to Metroid in that respect. I was responding to the poster making a general sales to attention comparison among those few franchises.
I don't think being a critically acclaimed franchises is the reason Metroid is a Nintendo stalwart. But I brought it up because I think it does play a factor, along with other things. If Metroid was mediocre selling and had no fan fervor or a high critical status, things may be different
Don't know why anyone would assume a 3ds game would be more expensive than a wii u and switch game.
There's no way to know what these budgets are. But one series gets sequels, the other is lucky to even get acknowledgement. If it ain't budget that's the reason, there's something else important at play.
I suppose the quality gets fans asking for new games which keeps it in view. Though its not like the Metroid Prime games didn't do well enough to make money either. They are all million sellers. I feel you though.
Well
1) Critical acclaim. Xenoblade Chronicles critical acclaim and cult classic probably made them want to get it another shot.
2) One is a series that started in 2010 and the other started in 1986 lol. No Metroid game was more expensive than any Xenoblade game while still selling basically as much at the high end.
Maybe they felt they had better avenues of profit than making Metroid but in that exact same notion that applies to Xenoblade too.
So I imagine there is other things at play.
Takahashi himself doesn't consider Xenoblade big budget but sure, go off
what does big mean.
Among JRPGS it's on the higher side but still not near the top budgets, since JRPGS aren't high generally.
but among the whole industry...?
Why have Monolith make a Final Fantasy, when they should finally be able to make a full ground-up remake of Xenogears for Switch/Switch 2? Similar to Baten Kaitos Origins and Bayonetta 2/3, Nintendo and Monolith would treat it as a regular Nintendo title with SE only licensing the IP and offering any consultation (then again, would we want them to? :P).
I feel like there's a masterpiece waiting to happen if Takahashi and Soraya Saga get to fully realize their original vision (to a point as long as it's within a reasonable time and budget this time which they're capable of now).
Same with Xenosaga, but I doubt even Nintendo would want to greenlight a 3-6 game remake of an IP they don't own (but really should, BN ain't doing shit with it and Monolith's at Nintendo). I can see them squeezing two of each game's ideas into one, literally like Xenosaga 1 & 2 DS, but done properly by Takahashi and Saga, since they had little to do with the released Xenosaga 2 and not totally of 3's also?
But most of all I just want Monolith to put their all into a new IP at long last like with Xenoblade 10 years ago. Getting tired of Xenoblade again and again.
I feel like there's a masterpiece waiting to happen if Takahashi and Soraya Saga get to fully realize their original vision (to a point as long as it's within a reasonable time and budget this time which they're capable of now).
Same with Xenosaga, but I doubt even Nintendo would want to greenlight a 3-6 game remake of an IP they don't own (but really should, BN ain't doing shit with it and Monolith's at Nintendo). I can see them squeezing two of each game's ideas into one, literally like Xenosaga 1 & 2 DS, but done properly by Takahashi and Saga, since they had little to do with the released Xenosaga 2 and not totally of 3's also?
But most of all I just want Monolith to put their all into a new IP at long last like with Xenoblade 10 years ago. Getting tired of Xenoblade again and again.
Xenoblade 2 surely has a sizeable budget to execute a lot of its contents but I would say it's several notches lower than say a 3D Mario or a 3D Zelda would get. We can see where it cut corners to reduce cost (no AMVs or special cutscenes, everything using in-game graphics, lower manpower, no huge marketing drive, etc) compared to your usual high-profile Square JRPGs. And the budget is probably good enough to consider 2 million sales a huge success for the game.
I wouldn't be shocked if BOTW had a much smaller budget than other AAA games as well, maybe more comparable to high-end AA games maybe? Nintendo are practically peerless when it comes to budget management.
doesnt mean anything. he probably meant that their main team at monolith soft at the time wasn't big. but you just have to watch the final credits if you beated it and see. hundreds and hundreds (like 500-600 if not more) of people worked on it, that can't be possible on a mid budget game. you cant have 15 hours of dubbed cutscenes with that quality animations on a mid budget game unless you are a god or you work for free. its this simple.
I mean, they already did it. the xenoblade serie is basically a modern final fantasy. most of developers at monolith soft are ex square soft employees. not sure why you re laughing at that post.
I dunno if I'd say that but on a related note I played FFXII last year and it really surprised me how similar it felt to Xenoblade. It's like a proto-Xenoblade.
I would definitely classify Botw as an AAA
Including marketing SMash Bros ultimate is up there as well.
at this point Metroid Prime 4 may as well be considered AAA budget wise as it's basically the budget of two HD AA games combined.
is there anythng else nintendo made that could be considered AAA?
Monolithsoft is more of a time capsule of 90's square in general rather than just final fantasy.
The grand majority of xenoblade 2's cutscenes dont have high quality animations at all, infact they use techniques alot of mid-budget jrpgs do which is stand around in a circle alot and have good use of pre-canned animations.
Xenoblade certainly has a higher than average mid budget jrpg to have that much voice acting but Nintendo also tends to opt for cheaper voice acting, which is why xenoblade has a ton of unknown or new VAs which thankfully the fans tend to latch on to and want to succeed like Skye Bennett and Adam Howden
I don't think all of the FF ever made have dragged in their storytelling as much as Xenoblade 2 did in just one game.
That is probably true, usually FF's recent solution is to just skip to the next thing and hope no one tries to make any sense of the previous scene.
Indeed. Which is indefinitely better than running for the umpteenth rng shingy object for a townsperson.
Xenoblade games have merits. But they are nothing like FF's in good and in bad. And the bad outweigh the good by a lot.
For Xenosaga? There's no need to remake all three episodes. Just combine all three episodes & remake them into one large game using Episode III's gameplay.
Yeah if Takahashi and Saga feel they can compress all three into a single game while getting the story they wanted to tell as faithfully intact as possible, then sure! But they wanted the series to be six episodes. Who knows how they can redo that concept if given the chance.
A series arguably needs developer interest to succeed more than sales numbers. If we look at most if not all successful series, what they have in common is having their own dedicated development teams. This ensures consistent releases which helps building an audience which eventually leads to consistent sales numbers.
Xenoblade and Fire Emblem are the perfect examples, they both did only okay numbers at first but the perseverance of their developers made them find their audiences and now both are consistent million sellers.
This is Metroid's biggest problem. Once both R&D1 and Retro moved on to other series it entered limbo and has not found a solid footing since. Another example is Donkey Kong which went into limbo once Rare was sold and only got decent sales when Retro picked it up, and now looks to be back in limbo again. It's a catch-22 situation: a series won't get a dedicated developer if it keeps doing poorly, and it won't do well if it doesn't get consistent releases.
Xenoblade and Fire Emblem are the perfect examples, they both did only okay numbers at first but the perseverance of their developers made them find their audiences and now both are consistent million sellers.
This is Metroid's biggest problem. Once both R&D1 and Retro moved on to other series it entered limbo and has not found a solid footing since. Another example is Donkey Kong which went into limbo once Rare was sold and only got decent sales when Retro picked it up, and now looks to be back in limbo again. It's a catch-22 situation: a series won't get a dedicated developer if it keeps doing poorly, and it won't do well if it doesn't get consistent releases.
There's no point in revisiting them when Takahashi can just do a reimagining of the same stories and change a few things to avoid copyright issues. He pretty much did that with Xenoblade 2.
Those IPs have been dormant for so long there's no tangible benefit in using them. They may still get new merchandise every now and then but that appeals to only the most dedicated of fans.
Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii, 6.53M) was the second best-selling entry in the franchise, though, only behind the SNES Donkey Kong Country (9.3M). The WiiU game did 2.01M despite being a WiiU game, and the Switch straight port (at higher price lol) is closing in on 3M. DK seems to be performing rather well still in my estimation. But yeah, developer enthusiasm definitely is lacking, which is why the Switch hasn't gotten a proper new entry I think. But its sales seem strong enough still.
Since we're doing the Xenoblade vs. FF hot takes, let me drop mine:
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 > Xenoblade Chronicles 1. The combat is just so much better and more interesting. I fully concede that I am judging a 10 year old game based on 2020 standards, which is always tricky because a game can be revolutionary in its time and feel lackluster 10 years later, so take this just as a personal preference.
- Xenoblade Chronicles (2) suffers from terrible side quest design, which is what drags the experience down. And some resource-based barriers really mar the progression in what is otherwise a sublime game.
- XBC stories are much more interesting in scope than the FF games I've played (X and XV).
- I liked XBC2's combat just as well as I did that remarkably polished turn-based battle system in X (XV was fun but not as polished or entertaining as the other two).
- FF really goes above and beyond in the side content department, which gives it a lot over XBC which does a a small number of things really well but neglects to develop the side content properly. The number of hours I've put into Blitzball is staggering.
IMO, XBC needs to improve its design around extra content to move it up the rank of JRPG GOATs, but it's definitely able to compete with FF in many respects, even if the polish on FFX's game design is clearly superior. I'm hopeful that with the blowout success of XBC2, XBC3 will get a bit more budget and manpower (XBC2 was developed by quite a small core team considering the scope of the game) so they can deliver a brilliant experience. Xenoblade has the potential (lore, gameplay quality) to one day rival FF, but it needs more consideration for side content (which help to expand the lore exposition if done really well) and additional polish to the gameplay loop (and GET RID OF THE EFFING RESOURCE BARRIERS). Story-wise, I'm as engrossed (or more engrossed) by the XBC stories.
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 > Xenoblade Chronicles 1. The combat is just so much better and more interesting. I fully concede that I am judging a 10 year old game based on 2020 standards, which is always tricky because a game can be revolutionary in its time and feel lackluster 10 years later, so take this just as a personal preference.
- Xenoblade Chronicles (2) suffers from terrible side quest design, which is what drags the experience down. And some resource-based barriers really mar the progression in what is otherwise a sublime game.
- XBC stories are much more interesting in scope than the FF games I've played (X and XV).
- I liked XBC2's combat just as well as I did that remarkably polished turn-based battle system in X (XV was fun but not as polished or entertaining as the other two).
- FF really goes above and beyond in the side content department, which gives it a lot over XBC which does a a small number of things really well but neglects to develop the side content properly. The number of hours I've put into Blitzball is staggering.
IMO, XBC needs to improve its design around extra content to move it up the rank of JRPG GOATs, but it's definitely able to compete with FF in many respects, even if the polish on FFX's game design is clearly superior. I'm hopeful that with the blowout success of XBC2, XBC3 will get a bit more budget and manpower (XBC2 was developed by quite a small core team considering the scope of the game) so they can deliver a brilliant experience. Xenoblade has the potential (lore, gameplay quality) to one day rival FF, but it needs more consideration for side content (which help to expand the lore exposition if done really well) and additional polish to the gameplay loop (and GET RID OF THE EFFING RESOURCE BARRIERS). Story-wise, I'm as engrossed (or more engrossed) by the XBC stories.
(Triple post, but it's breaking news. Sorry!)
750k milestone reached! I guess this is sell-through as well? Though we don't know for sure of course.
Regardless, it's going to hit 1M before the year is over at this pace, great to see! The third best-selling Konami game ever is TwinBee at 1.2M, it'll destroy that one. Second best is a YuGiOH game at 1.5M, and best is another YuGiOh game at 2.1M. It has a chance to beat both of those as well imo.
750k milestone reached! I guess this is sell-through as well? Though we don't know for sure of course.
Regardless, it's going to hit 1M before the year is over at this pace, great to see! The third best-selling Konami game ever is TwinBee at 1.2M, it'll destroy that one. Second best is a YuGiOH game at 1.5M, and best is another YuGiOh game at 2.1M. It has a chance to beat both of those as well imo.
konami seems very happy
i wonder how their other switch game (somolon program, iirc) is going to perform like.
i wonder how their other switch game (somolon program, iirc) is going to perform like.
from the capcom leak, ww numbers for okami HD
Switch - 600K
PC - 536K
PS3 - 529K
PS4 - 445K
X1 - 121K
edit:the source is a 4chan thread so take this with a grain of salt until someone else confirms. the numbers are accurate.
Switch - 600K
PC - 536K
PS3 - 529K
PS4 - 445K
X1 - 121K
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And the Switch was a late late port.
It is also the definitive version imho thanks to touch controls.
Yeah, it's going to be the best selling game in the series by next week.
Those are fantastic numbers for Okami HD. Budget must have been really low. I've seen it coming in and out of the top 30 Swtich digital charts for a long time and I think the game will sell a million copies on Switch alone. It always charts when there's a discount.
It's rare to see a very late port outselling all others, including PC.
nintendo should just "bayonetta 2" a sequel to okami and give it to platinum, since kamiya really wants it to happen as well.
Surprisingly close to gamestat numbers, Gamestat under reported.
150k players added this year, should do a million on ps platforms
25% is from JP
That's actually a pretty great idea (assuming a sequel wouldn't happen otherwise). It's also a game that could do really well in sales (well over 1M, perhaps over 2M) and it shouldn't be the most expensive game to make, so there's some ROI opportunity as well I think.
Its sales are excellent (meant "decent" in the relative sense) but if neither Retro nor EPD are interested in developing another entry DK will enter yet another dark era. Tropical Freeze came out in 2014 and the presence of a simple port on Switch (no disrespect to Funky) suggests that a new game isn't coming out anytime soon.
Are you talking Japan sales? If not Japan only, I wouldn't bet on Metroid << Xenoblade