Despite Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth being the highest rated (92 rating) Final Fantasy game on Metracritic since 2006’s Final Fantasy XII (92 rating). Back in April, industry analyst, Daniel Ahmad, said that research in sales tracking data revealed that the latest Final Fantasy game based on the franchise’s most popular game (Final Fantasy VII) is has sold only half the amount of copies that Remake (its predecessor) sold in the same amount of time.
By May, Square Enix had kept a tight lid on the game’s sales numbers. This is usually not a good sign. When a game is performing as, or better than expected, publishers are quick to release numbers to the press in order to further boost the game’s popularity. Suspicions of the game’s slower than expected sales where all but confirmed when – as reported by Bloomberg-Â Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu told analysts that FFVII: Rebirth is among several titles that have recently fallen short of expectations, along with Final Fantasy XVI.
It would seem that critical acclaim did not help Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth to break the downward commercial spiral that has plagued the series.
Given the fact that Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth addressed many of the issues present on Remake, and delivered a far more compelling Action-RPG experience, why is it selling less?
It its Possible Massive Story Changes Including the New Alternate Timeline Turned Off Long Time Fans?
Personally, despite the fact that Rebirth looks and plays better than Remake, the game still runs on Unreal Engine 4, and an argument can be made that despite the ageless artwork, and Square Enix’s masterful conversion of 1997 visuals to the modern era, the game is nowhere nearly as visually impressive as say…Horizon Forbidden West. So, visuals weren’t something that attracted me to this product (or Remake). I waited months to play Rebirth, mainly because I disliked Nomura’s “new Timeline” shenanigans.
Final Fantas VII Remake and Rebirth are sequels to the original game. Sequels that were marketed as a remake, but sequels at their core, nonetheless. I have seen many angry comments regarding the direction Nomura and his team took Final Fantasy VII’s universe into. I believe this decision has comeback to bite Rebirth, which is a vastly superior game to Remake, in the proverbial arse.
Frankly, if Rebirth ends up selling half of what Remake did lifetime wise, Square Enix will finish this trilogy (it would be a massive blow to the company’s image if it doesn’t), but I assume other potential FF remake projects will be put on hold.
It is Also Possible Final Fantasy is Just no Longer the Juggernaut That it was in the 1990s, and Early 2000s
Firing a series creator, and prostituting a franchise to different development teams can be costly. The Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario have thrived since the 1980s, Final Fantasy hasn’t shared the same fate because Square Enix has never been able to replicate the critical and commercial success of Hironobu Sakaguchi’s run with the series.
Over the last decade and a half, Final Fantasy has lost its appeal, and frankly, gamers have moved on to other games. Square Enix did a fine job in alienating many of its core fan base, and an equally poor job in attracting a new wave of Final Fantasy zealots. Until Rebirth (which despite my reservations in terms of storytelling is a pretty good game), the company’s Final Fantasy efforts were caught up in no man’s land. These games were too different from what the core base had loved to keep that fan base happy, and too pedestrian in its modern take of the gaming to garner massive success with a new generation of gamers.
It seems that Rebirth is now paying for the sins of its forbearers. That said, if Square Enix ever decides to remake the legendary Final Fantasy VI, my first advice would be not to change the outline, and major points of the story. The 2nd would be not to split the game into different parts.
Gamers who play these single player RPGs usually want complete experiences.
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