Like a Dragon: Yakuza has me curious

 

The great conversion of video game properties to TV video has left many an interesting project in it's wake, arguably none more so than those that try to take something entirely stringent on it's interactive elements and create essentially new media with it. Borderlands is a first person shooter that briefly deluded itself into thinking it was a comedy franchise- but with more entries being tiresome exercises in humourlessness- that label is becoming harder to ratify with each passing day. Thus the movie really had hardly anything to work off at all- does that justify how boring the final product was? No. But I guess I can understand why Eli Roth got the project and went- yeah, I've got nothing to work with might as well half ass literally everything. People already don't respect the gaming space- giving out licences to Borderlands wasn't going to change that.

But what about 'Like a Dragon'? Well, that is honestly a franchise that has been very cinematic in it's long years, covering many of the tropes of romanticised crime fiction and imbuing a high octane bipolar attitude that can have you contemplating the erasure of the forgotten class by a supposedly confrontationally justice-centred society to a straight slug-match with a shark. Sometime ago this franchise might have made a decent movie, but by now it's transcended that medium entirely and has become as much about the video game exclusive diatribes into distracting minigames as it has been about the serious drama that rocks the narrative. To say that the new Like a Dragon series has me slightly on edge about what they propose to do to my favourite property is a bit of an understatement.

Of course there was a movie based on Like a Dragon years ago by a studio who seemed wholly invested in capturing the insanity of being a video game movie. With nonsensical shifts in pace, taking healing item breaks and presenting Majima as a megalomaniacal mass murderer- which was a very easy conceptual mistake to make before Yakuza 0 reframed him so masterfully. What we have today doesn't really feel all that interested in celebrating the medium as the franchise itself, which is fine on paper- but I wonder how much of the Like a Dragon property is infused with it's identity as a game- and consequentially- how much we can really get out of an adaptation that wantonly shirks those ties.

Now, we have ourselves a full trailer giving us what to expect with the full launch later this month and I'm not going to pretend that I'm fully impressed with everything I saw. On a production level the show appears to be decently budgeted- and solid enough with the gun-toting violence that I think we won't suffer 'violence withdrawals' as some feared. But does it feel like Yakuza? Not yet. There's a drab blue/green-wash tint over the footage that seems to share more in common with a melodramatic crime story than the colourful, seedy world of the franchise- wherein every square inch of land is secretly hiding some kind of lush underground wonderland of illegal activity. Kamaroucho alone should be home to a prostitution/fighting metropolis underneath the homeless-run park- do you get that impression from glimpsing this world?

And maybe that's the point they're going for right now. Like a Dragon is renowned for their intentionally bizarre balance between the ridiculous and the series that springs back and forth so suddenly the whiplash alone keeps your blood pumping. Maybe what this show wants to do is capture the essence of the realistic drama so acutely that when Majima goes careening into a soaphouse with a truck it blares out as even more insane and over the top- but I guess we'll not know until it's in front of us because that is not the experience they're selling right now. At the very least the show has explosions, so there's that.

What I'm most worried about at this moment is obviously the changes that are inevitable in any project like this. We know this is more than just an adaptation it's a reimagining- which means we won't be getting a one-to-one with all the characters and stories that we know- I don't even know if we'll be getting Kazama or Sunflower Orphanage. It kind of looks like Kiryu grew up watching street fighters and decided to become a Dragon based on that alone- and unless the trailer is hiding her completely it seems we're not getting Haruka- which is insane to me consideringly she is literally the single most important person in Kiryu's life- throughout nearly the entire franchise! Everything he chooses to do in his entire life is framed around Haruka- if she really is excluded this time around... whew- god knows what that means for our boy.

Then again I do love this world, love it's style, love it's characters, so many giving us an alternative look at the story of the ten billion yen would be exactly what we need to breath a new life into this done and dusted story. Whilst Kiryu is busy handing off his legacy to Ichiban, real-life Kiryu is stalking an entirely different path leading in a different direction. Heck, who even knows if this Kiryu is going to be a virtue-touting hero or a down-dirty Yakuza rocking his way through the underworld with something to prove? He certainly does seem a lot younger than we would expect Kiryu to be at this point in his career. It's just very unclear right now.

All of this is to say that I'm not exactly burning with anticipation for what I'm seeing right now, despite having been pretty open to the idea of an adaptation for this franchise dating back a while now. But I don't rightly know what a perfect adaptation of this series would look like, so I'm keeping an open mind that I can be proven wrong. This is what I like to call 'healthy skepticism' so that I don't build up hopes too high just in case this turns out to be another mid dud like Netflix's Avatar. At the very least- I think this will be a good show. Will it be a good 'Yakuza' show? Wait and see.

Okay, I care about ReFantazio now

 

There's that sensation when you've been around the hype train ringer a few times and you just can't be bothered with it all anymore. Feeding off every single press junket and little snippet of information stringing you along for months, rising heartrates every time you see a headline only to endure a puff-piece about how some guy on Reddit who super promises they're trustworthy is pretty sure that Persona 6 is gonna release in a couple of weeks and you'll be able to customise your own protagonist including making them a sentient teddy bear- stuff like that just wears on you. And in that sort of state marketing can start to develop an adverse effect- the more you see of it the less you care- at this point there's been so many Dragon Age: Veilgaurd info drops that I've stricken the game off my radar entirely. I don't even wanna hear reviews- I'll see if I care again in a year or two at this rate.

This was kind of the way I was with Metaphor ReFantazio- but from a slightly different perspective. You see, I just saw that that this game was going to be 'Persona but with a Fantasy setting' and that was it. Job done. You've made your sale, I don't know why you keep talking. I'm always an advocate for Sci-Fi over fantasy because a mediocre Sci-Fi is nearly always still fascinating and fun whereas Mediocre fantasy is the pits of humanity- but a kick-ass Fantasy will top all but the pinnacle of Sci-Fi every day of the week. And if there is one thing I know about ATLUS- it's that they don't do half measures. Quarter measures. They just don't take shortcuts, period. If they were committing to a new genre- it's because they have something exciting cooking and I want to experience fresh on release.

Or at least- that was my original stance. Then I start seeing that the game has a demo out and as a demo purist who believes in the transcendent sanctity of this oft forgotten part of the game marketing process I simply had to bite. Final Fantasy XVI's demo sold me on that game's release- I was already sold on Metaphor but a little bit of early gameplay couldn't hurt things, could it? At the very least it would bring me up to date on exactly what everyone is getting so excited about with this game apparently being the 'most stylish game yet' and a 'masterpiece' according to Yoko Taro. (But then again, it's impossible to know when Taro is being serious and when he's simply mugging.) And after giving a substantial amount of time over to a heftier demo than I was expecting, what did I get from ReFantazio?

Playing Persona 3 Reload earlier this year kind of reset my expectations about what the next game from ATLUS would be. I saw the vast improvement to the gameplay flow and readability of that game and just sort of accepted those as steps forward for the game design philosophy of ATLUS without contemplating the very real fact that most of the fundamentals were unchanged from the original game. Tartarus was still a mono-dungeon, Social links were still mostly tied exclusively to summoning, the narrative was still largely in the hands of the players as early as possible- I forgot that overall Persona 5 is the closest predecessor to what ReFantazio would ultimately be: which made my experience a tad more new feeling than it otherwise might have felt.

ReFantazio is not a Shin Megami Tensei game, and it carries it's ties to major ATLUS franchises very loose on it's sleeves. You aren't seeing the same spells as you usally do covering the various elements- with a few exceptions like 'Hama' and 'Rakunda'- you won't find ATLUS' extended family of Demons/Personas- with the exception of one Jack Frost cameo I saw tucked away in the trailer- this feels like a successor to those works in many ways even more so than an addendum. I also get this sense of grand purpose in this game right from the outset- I know that it wants to says something out of the gate- which is nothing new for ATLUS- that's practically their entire MO- but this time around I'm feeling that purpose baked dutifully into every facet of the game- kinda like ATLUS at their utmost driven, such as for P3,4 and 5; rather than them at their decent such as for Soul Hackers 2.

This world is brimming with purpose, from the very charged atmosphere of widespread fear, racisim and political turmoil and rich with actionable lore logs detailing the various tribes of the world, the peculiarities of societies relationship with magic and even how the currency works. Effort went into realising ever facet of this world to feel as real as possible, even as it sits as a metaphor for what I can only assume is to be compared to our own. Heck, the game asks for your real name at the beginning from which point it weighs you as an entity within it's narrative. Not in the cringe way that the fourth wall is bent so a protagonist can make a witty joke, but more in the poignant fashion that the value of a fantastical narrative could effect the larger world placed against your own head as a challenge to the real person behind the keyboard. I've yet to know what comes of it but I'm already invested.

My only point of worry with the game is the slight turn-based action combat hybrid they have going on. Entering into any dungeon gives you a basic set of tools to play as free of turns as you want, swinging like a madman, although that is only really to break the 'guard' of an enemy unit in the open world so then you can start the proper fight with advantage. It feels like an evolution upon Persona's dungeon exploration on a raw level- however the fact there's an actual healthbar to deal with and a dodge button to dodge their swipes and the risk of entering disadvantage if you get clipped makes it feel more involved- whilst simultaneously lacking actual action-gameplay depth. I'm not sure if more will come of the system as the game stretches on but I'm doubtful off the bat- might be the weakest portion thus far.

Metaphor was always going to be a good game, that was never in doubt, but now I'm certain it's going to be exceptional and with a hit of something more. I get the inclination that this really is something of a passion fuelled swansong moment for the talent involved and if it really can stand on the shoulders of Persona 5 and reach that much higher this could mark a brand new precipice for the JRPG genre of games as a whole! Could this be a new masterpiece about to drop? I would never make such a prediction with my chest out before release but I'm certainly getting the sense that it could be in the cards. At the very least- this game makes me excited right from the get-go: and I'm not sure I've felt quiet like that since Persona 4 Golden. 

What is up over at Assassin's Creed?

 

Though I am currently up to date with everything going on it would be quite a stretch to call myself an 'Assassin's Creed fan'. More like am 'Assassin's Creed curios' bystander. Heck, I may have played every game up until now until completion but never year one and never even close to at full price. I'm just dipping my toes back into the pool every now and then to see if the waters are warm enough to stir something in the dead vessel I call a soul. And, uhh... that's been a 'no' so far. Mirage was fine, but reeked of a non-committal to it's own supposed core design principals that it overall undermined itself in the most ridiculous ways. Trying to finagle a core-gameplay-style stealth system out of the rough confines of the Valhalla iteration game engine was a trying experience to witness- but I guess it got the company their biggest comparative financial success of the past few years and that's all this industry is to Ubisoft- a financial endeavour. (No 'art/commercialism' balance here!)

But that doesn't mean I don't keep up to date with the franchise and watch what's coming on the horizon. Because otherwise how else would I be able to see their newest attempt at doing a dual protagonist story when they still struggle to make a single protagonist with a personality deeper than a mid-day puddle. (I genuinely think that Assassin's Creed writers are hard-line limited to developing a single new character trait each game. Maybe by Assassin's Creed 2040 we can have an actual complex character to play around?) I see with the utmost chagrin that they're still trying to make their milquetoast third person action combat thing work- really hope they learned moderation this time around, and seem to be making a Stealth system that at least looks fleshed out and fun- we'll see when the thing drops soon. But what I want to talk about has nothing to do with that.

I want to talk about the absolute war that Ubisoft seems to have unintentionally sparked within their Asian community. Of course it started when chuds saw now white or male characters in the reveal trailer and suffered mild strokes- I can only imagine the recent 'Ghost of Yotei' trailer has them all in the emergency room- but since then the Japanese audience and just general Ubisoft sceptics have really picked on the depiction of Yasuke the black Samurai. Now first I really need to recover from the absolute flashbang of people rushing around declaring the Assassin's Creed franchise as pure historical fiction wherein accuracy to the time period was never an important part of the franchise... umm, yes it was. It always was. Yes, the games are historical fiction but they were intentionally tied to worlds close enough to the history books that they could survive the integrity of a thirty second Wikipedia search- and that isn't just me speaking my feelings, that is literally the guidelines they themselves exposited about the series back in the Ezio days. You don't spend hours of development time tirelessly writing codex entries describing the historical importance of local impeccably modelled architecture if history is just a wet rag you wipe your narrative inconsistencies with. With that in mind- let's talk Yosuke.

I'm going to go ahead and call this horrendous bad luck on Ubisoft's side because as an artistical void pure corporate business hell hole- they have absolutely political bias or leaning they try to put out into the world. If it makes money, it's their new mantra- that is as far as any of that flies around a Ubisoft office. And Yasuke very much survived the 'thirty second google search' rule when the game was first conceived. But since then, and independent of this title- the validity of the historical sources detailing him have come into question and suddenly I'm betting Ubisoft deeply wished they stuck to the 'invented protagonists' rule they developed ever since the days following Ezio- who himself was actually tied to a real family of small historical note. (I'm not sure they ever had a son called Ezio, though.) 

Now Yasuke has been said to perhaps not even be a Samurai, let alone be of foundation importance to Japanese History- but none of that should even matter because the way Assassin's Creed uses it's protagonists shouldn't reflect in history anyway- right? It seems Ubisoft has allowed itself to be dragged into the mud and now have squashed themselves into a state where they're not even welcome at Tokyo Games show anymore! That's right, they finally make a Japanese based game and they can't even show it off in Japan! All because Ubisoft latched onto a protagonist based on a real person and were foolish enough to assume that being dead for several hundred years makes one safe from fresh controversy. I'm sure Yasuke thought the same, Ubisoft- doesn't make that belief any less right.

Assassin's Creed is of eminent importance this year too, given the shakey grounds that Ubisoft has been on in recent years- with even their Star Wars game not hitting it out the park like they promised it would. Some would say that the general mediocrity of Ubisoft has snuck up on them- and there might be some truth to that. As the rest of the industry shores up it's talents and becomes more refined, maybe the middle of the road 'everything game' that Assassin's Creed regularly trips itself up trying to be is finally putting people off. Maybe that's why people are freaking out over every little thing, like horses not perfectly syncing in their walking animations or sword strikes not always hitting their target. And in kind maybe that's why Ubisoft are getting spooked and dodging conferences? I doubt it though. I just the reality is dawning on Ubisoft that this controversy might actually affect sales in the one year that Ubisoft can't afford to lose out on sales.

The most recent information is that Assassin's Creed Shadows is going to be delayed even further into 2025, which could be seen as a strategic move to get them away from the packed holiday season- or perhaps a sign of weakness because, you know- Assassin's Creed used to own the holiday season! They used to be the big boy that others were afraid to go up against but this year- they need to make sure they get as many game copies out there as possible. Of course, now they're sharing their window with Monster Hunter and Like a Dragon- so maybe it's an 'out of the pot into the fire' situation for Ubisoft right now. 

I truly think it hasn't dawned quite how screwed Ubisoft is if Shadows is a bomb. Which it won't be... but it might be? I cannot overstate how utterly inconceivable it is that even with the uncommon levels of vitriol around this game's community that any of it will translate to sales in a meaningful manner... but what if it's just enough to make this game short of it's sale goals? In a perfect world that would mean next to nothing, but when Yves Guillemot is currently having his competency heavily questioned by internal forces looking to seize control out from under him in order to gut Ubisoft for spear parts? We may be looking at a very precarious Jenga block to an empire wobbling under the weight of responsibility. And in that light- yeah, I'd probably delay the game too.

A new Ghost...

 

Whilst I have yet to put up a review here, I actually just managed to work myself around to playing through the brand new PC release of the decently old Playstation title 'Ghost of Tsushima' literally earlier this month- which turned out to be so very well timed for the announcement of a new sequel/ follow up to this story with the 'Ghost of Yotei'. (Forgive the missing accents on the i- that won't be the last time you see that in coverage.) And from the prospective of a relatively new fan of the franchise I want to go over how the reveal made me feel and my concerns regarding what exactly we might see out of a game in this camp. Although I will start by saying- surprising to no one, I'm sure- I really liked the Ghost game and was hoping for a follow-up; perhaps not as Sucker Punch's very next game but I'm hardly going to kick up a fuss now that it's coming. (Besides I'm betting Sony is desperate for a more sure-fire success story around about now.)

Now first off we have ourselves a brand new setting in it's entirety coming towards this game both in setting and location- which comes as a surprise to the many out there who assumed the ongoing Mongol invasions would be the focal point of this franchise. Their two campaigns would have provided plenty of content for historical fiction fodder- not to mention the slightly incomplete feeling of giving us a villain in a character literally verbally identified as the cousin of the Khan but never giving us a one-on-one with the Khan himself. This is historical fiction, afterall- it's not like sticking to the letter of events is essential! Then again perhaps that's the Assassin's Creed in me whittling down this eras into neat stories where the hero literally meets and/or kill every famous person of the age within the space of a couple weeks. Maybe the story is better told with a ellipsis at the other end of it.

Visually Yotei has very little to worry anyone with. It's another gorgeous land that feels rendered for the sole purpose of being as aesthetically transcendent as technologically possible and for a game like Sucker Punch's Ghost games- that is perfectly okay. Do I think sometimes they let the actual spirit of the real breathing world disappear underneath a volley of overly cinematic sweeping wind effects, fluttering leaves and striking fields of monochrome flowers- well, by the very fact I brought it up in the first place you know that's a yes- but I'd hardly call their replacement a disservice to the eye. Although I must say, having just played the last game, this one doesn't stand out as distinct either graphically or artistically as of yet. I guess I'd have to see more to really detail how different his land actually is.

In a manner that most historical games seem eager to nowadays, Ghost also ramps up the gameplay with brand new guns to the period that look interesting purely for the introduction of gunpowder to a society naturally free of it- although I suspect little actual impact to the game. The bow and arrow already present acted about as brutally as a gun would and something tells me we're getting ready to settle into the steady rhythm of listening for some dude shouting 'duck' before rolling out the way of a single volley of shots. I can't see systemic gameplay overhauls from such a concept- which is a shame because their introduction was a total shake up for the Sengoku era. But I guess we'll see what Sucker cook up.

Now taking us to the Sengoku era means one thing in any Samurai themed video game- We're going to get a bit of the Shogun himself- Tokugawa Ieyasu action up in the house! One of the most legendary leaders of the Samurai age- which naturally means a show down with the big man himself, the demon king, the very quintessential archetypal evil ruler of whom so many Japanese villains have been inspired including Ganon himself- Oda Nobu- wait, what was the date again? 1603? Twenty years after the demon king was murdered? So... we're doing Sengoku but no Oda? That feels... wrong, to be frank. Hell, even supernatural monster killing game Nioh found a way to resurrect Oda Nobunaga as the penultimate boss of the base game! Any other choice would have left the game, and me, feeling... naked...

But I guess that's just the direction we're taking with our new Hero- who isn't a 300 year old Jin- as hilarious as that would be. Instead we have a woman who appears to be on some sort of revenge hunt against Ronin- making our foes countrymen this time around- curious indeed! One of Ghosts many strengths was a great grasp of a formulaic but deeply effective character driving, if not driven, narrative which may not surprise, but satisfies. That aspect of the setting certainly appears to be what is headlining this teaser telling me that Sucker Punch recognises their strengths and are playing into them. Good news there. 

I do wonder about how Sucker Punch are thinking of solving their open world question, because I really think their Iki Island expansion demonstrates a intention to change up their approach from the base game. Base Ghosts had very quick and simply world icons you could breeze through easily in order to kill time as you explored the gorgeous world- whereas Iki Island introduced more involved and complex open world objectives somewhat similar to Horizon Zero Dawn. Both work on paper, however Iki Island's offering suffered from the fact that as endgame content there really weren't any worthwhile rewards left worth sticking around and completing an archery contest to unlock. Maybe introducing these design paradigms earlier into the development process will create worthwhile content for decent progression-based rewards.

Overall there's nothing inherently amazingly different about what we're seeing for Ghost of Yotei- but I just know there's a whole cadre of excited folk out there just eager to get some of that Samurai fix again. Personally I think the original game is very special- even if the combat wasn't quite as solid as it looks from the outside. (It's pretty much 'match the combat form with the enemy type and mash to win'; I wish there was a bit more to it.) A sequel like this has the chance to really refine the experience and nail the Game of the Year spot that you just know the original missed by barely more than a hair's breadth. And can I just say thank god Sony haven't cannibalised all of their first party talent in their self destruction campaign yet!

Square Enix and expectations

 

I've always had something of a soft spot for Square Enix. Perhaps the biggest Japanese game developer in the world after Nintendo, Square have pretty much always championed the proliferation of Japanese game media in the west in the pig-headed determination that there would be a market there. (Barring some odd years in the late 80's and early 90's.) Where 'traditional logic' would dictate that such markets are so diametrically opposed you would be burning money to even attempt that- and honestly given the size of the market back then such dissention might have actually been right- within the age we live now gaming has become so wide spread and the generalised experience has become so saturated that any experience from a fundamentally distinct viewpoint is going to stand out in blazing glory. Such was the case with Square Enix and their constant output of high quality, overwise niche, JRPG games. (And yes, there is a value towards separating Japanese RPGs and Western RPGs for the fundamentally distinct way both exist and serve their audiences- it's frankly silly to see otherwise.)

But as much as I respect the company, I can't help but critique their approach to the past few years wherein it seems like they've kind of lost the grip on who they want to be in the market and how to sustainable stay there. Which to be fair is not exactly a unique problem to Square- 2020 pretty much drove the entire industry absolutely insane and birthed a plethora of short sighted drives, the consequences of which are still being felt to this day across the industry. But Square's problems seem to be curiously unrelated to 2020. In fact, they don't appear to have been affected nearly as bad as some other studios and in fact have a totally different, and perhaps more insidious, issue creeping up to their company- they don't know how to sell games anymore. At least, no as well as they once did.

Square were superstars of their day, publishing the biggest RPG in the world at one point 'Final Fantasy', partnering with Eidos to bring their genuinely iconic selection of games and licenses to the world through 'Tomb Raider' and 'Deux Ex' and maintaining Disney's only remaining foot into the world of gaming with Kingdom Hearts. They made gangbusters, no one could match what they made and theirs was something of a loyal and captivated audience- if not a captive on because no one published the sorts of games they did. Even Dragon Quest, arguably a more popular franchise in Japan, couldn't hold a candle to FF to anyone off those shores. (I kind of understand why- Dragon Quest never quite appealed to me as much as I wish it would.) But we don't live in those days anymore.

Eidos stopped being the money printer that Square wanted it to be and after a few less than successful outings Square, somewhat abrasively, sacrificed them to the mysterious eldritch flesh pit known as the 'Embracer Group'- much to the dismay of all. (They haven't put out a new game since.) The Japanese video game market has blown up even further outside of their purview now that SEGA has caught up with the adult market pawing superstar offerings such as 'Yakuza/Like a Dragon' and 'Persona'. And their once loyal audience just aren't turning up their games like they once did and that is shaking one of the core foundations of any business venture- it's ratting against expectations.

Now in recent entries Final Fantasy has hit something of it's cultural zenith following the record sales of Final Fantasy XV and then Final Fantasy VII Remake- and since then we've not heard a good internal word about their performance. Oh sure, FFXVI and Rebirth hit the sales charts strong but all you'll hear from the earnings reports is grumblings about projections and tightening belts. And I suppose when you run a franchise as ungainly large as Final Fantasy, anything short of a phenom is going to rub a little raw. If people aren't buying this game five times over for every member of their family then why are we really here making games to begin with, know what I'm saying? And in that comes the somewhat backwards perception that recent Final Fantasy games have been flops.

They haven't, to be clear. Profit generators and critical darlings, more like. But they haven't been smash mega hits, either. And I suppose this comes down to that tricky word, doesn't it? That word of 'Expectations' and what a company thinks it should be worth outside of what it is actually receiving. Success doesn't soothe when you wanted a certain degree of success, and mitigating circumstances aside- such as the fact that Square Enix are the only JRPG developer sticking to the now-antiquated practice of first serving a specific console with 12 months exclusivity, failing to hit expectations is failing to woo upper management. Although- perhaps one might argue we've hit something of a self-fulfilling prophecy here, when you really think about it. 

Square Enix go out of their way to establish deals that limit the availability of their launch games to, let's generously say half of their potential audience. (Because by this I'm just discounting Xbox as a viable platform for Square fans given it's lack of popularity and Square's seeming disdain for ever releasing there.) Marketing money goes towards giant campaigns to let everyone know the game is releasing- and then it drops as a Playstation exclusive only to limp onto PC quietly a year later- and they wonder why their numbers don't match the same as an international launch? And then they turn around and let everyone know how disappointed they are with Sales figures, which spreads the perception that their franchises are struggling which propagates the reality that there's something wrong with recent Square Enix games.

I'm not saying that everything Square is suffering from is their fault- I think they are encountering a changing market which they used to hold a full monopoly over. I think as the market grows and their internal projections for predicted sales scale accordingly, they aren't factoring how many JRPG fans are suddenly discovering how they like the Megaten style of games more, or maybe the Xenoblade solution. Maybe they're just tired of Square's 20 year long battle to make turn-based games not turn-based, before they gave up and just started making action-based games like they wanted to all these years. Maybe Square needs to pay a bit more attention to the reality check arriving at their door. Or maybe just keep complaining that ever launch doesn't match the hype of the Apollo 11 mission- what do I know, right?