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Sales Data Famitsu Sales: Week 9, 2024 (Feb. 25 - Mar. 3)

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DecoReturns said:
I was wondering why this thread popped off compared to others.

I honestly expected a low debut for Rebirth. And while I’m loving the game. There’s a ton of stuff that will kinda turn off people. Especially these mini games lol. From my experience it’s so uhh. Gamer centric (I can’t described it, but I’ll try when I can figure it out).
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if ya think it popped off here, other site has 16 pages already lol
 
Midway-AGNC- said:
I highly DOUBT Square will keep FF7 Rebirth exclusive for PS5 forever after how this bad this underperformed in Japan.
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Oh trust me, there are already people insisting they will, and that Remake and Rebirth will stay off Switch 2. I say they should bring both to Switch 2 provided it is capable. But the "exclusivity" article yesterday was discouraging.
 
WestEgg said:
It's not just fami, I think this is the first time a Japanese sales thread on era outpaced an install base one.
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Yea, well a lot of people at the other site are probably having their bubble popped real hard right now.

If only there was a group of users that had been tracking this topic for years and was regularly sounding the alarm on FF and PS performance in JP 🤔
 
I think we can safetly put the kiboosh on any notion that the next Dragon Quest will be a PS exclusive, it doesn't matter how much money Sony throws at them for it
 
Lugia667 said:
I think we can safetly put the kiboosh on any notion that the next Dragon Quest will be a PS exclusive, it doesn't matter how much money Sony throws at them for it
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At this current rate I’m pretty sure the next Team Asano game is going to outsell the next FF game. Even if it’s not DQ3 Remake.
 
Lugia667 said:
if ya think it popped off here, other site has 16 pages already lol
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Also on Reddit with 700+ comments so far. 💀

VepTXNE.png
 
I really want to see an alternative universe where F7 remake is just more like the Super Mario RPG one. New backgrounds, make it look prettier, maybe a few little nips and tucks to make it more playable. Multiformat.

Imagine how lovely those battle screens could look with even the Switch's power.

I honestly think it would have sold at least as much and cost way less to develop.
 
Lugia667 said:
if ya think it popped off here, other site has 16 pages already lol
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It's the perfect storm of a formerly massive Japanese series underperforming at historic levels in Japan, a Japanese game not coming to Switch and a AAA-game not coming to PC.

 
terribleidiot said:
I really want to see an alternative universe where F7 remake is just more like the Super Mario RPG one. New backgrounds, make it look prettier, maybe a few little nips and tucks to make it more playable. Multiformat.

Imagine how lovely those battle screens could look with even the Switch's power.

I honestly think it would have sold at least as much and cost way less to develop.
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We need more remakes a la OOT 3D/SMRPG instead of grand scale
 
shoptroll said:
Yea, well a lot of people at the other site are probably having their bubble popped real hard right now.

If only there was a group of users that had been tracking this topic for years and was regularly sounding the alarm on FF and PS performance in JP 🤔
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TBH most on Install Base are also underwhelmed by the results since they expected Rebirth to do better or at the very least on par with 16.

Bonejack said:
I unironically think that this is basically also what FF7 fans initially wanted instead of a multigame pseudo-sequel / "Apocalypse" thing.
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When Ever Crisis was being announced I was hoping that it would be a more simplistic and faithful remake, but unfortunately it's just a mobile spin-off. I don't think I was alone in that since I saw quite a few people say the same thing online, so here's hoping that they reuse the assets and actually do it once the game eventually goes offline. Very unlikely, but hey, a man can hope (and cope).
 
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ziggyrivers said:
Square Enix really is turning into a case study as to how not to manage your IPs, huh
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I mean, they've tried a lot of things at this point and it's unclear why none of them are working.

FF7R's battle system is pretty close to the ideal that Final Fantasy had been aiming for since 1991 and they even made the level design and minigames interesting in Rebirth.

I don't know if it's the horrible endings to these games that are turning people off, but I would be surprised if so (they're not much worse than the endings of some major selling titles like God of War Ragnarok or Arkham Knight)
 
Bonejack said:
I unironically think that this is basically also what FF7 fans initially wanted instead of a multigame pseudo-sequel / "Apocalypse" thing.
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And how about the fact that a game which was originally one game is chopped up in a trilogy spanning multiple console generations, two at the momet, and maybe three if the next one releases on PS6. It's bizarre thinking about it.
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
I mean, they've tried a lot of things at this point and it's unclear why none of them are working.
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In the case of FF, i'd argue they didn't try to make a "Final Fantasy" game again. As much "old FF" Remake and Rebirth are, there's still the caveat that it's one game split up into three parts.

DQ team make DQ games, it works.
Persona team makes Persona games, it works. (Partially applies to SMT too here)
MonHun teams make MonHun games, it works.

Of course, there's also long running series which made a big break-out by changing the formular, see GoW and Zelda.
Though in this case i'd argue the dev teams went to think about how a change in formular might work, and went to deliver good games on this base.

So, SQEX either has the option to go back to what made FF big to begin with, or try not to half-ass things and change formula with every new game in hopes one of them works.
 
Also: maybe limit the influence of Nomura and just have him design a belt here and there. New talent with new ideas are very welcome I feel.
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
I mean, they've tried a lot of things at this point and it's unclear why none of them are working.

FF7R's battle system is pretty close to the ideal that Final Fantasy had been aiming for since 1991 and they even made the level design and minigames interesting in Rebirth.

I don't know if it's the horrible endings to these games that are turning people off, but I would be surprised if so (they're not much worse than the endings of some major selling titles like God of War Ragnarok or Arkham Knight)
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I really don't think it has anything to do with the quality of the game. The install base of PS5 is just simply dead. PS Software has continued to drop and drop and drop. To the point where their active userbase is getting worse and worse, despite selling some PS5's.
 
ziggyrivers said:
Depending on the game, all its fans want is a not so ambitious graphical upgrade and voice acting
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I'm not sure the wider audience will give a shit if FF17 was a Switch-spec game. FF's time as a graphical tour-de-force hasn't really amounted to too much compared to other elements. sure it might piss off internet warriors, but SE needs to be selling FF to a new audience, not just the entrenched-for-decades
 
Bonejack said:
In the case of FF, i'd argue they didn't try to make a "Final Fantasy" game again. As much "old FF" Remake and Rebirth are, there's still the caveat that it's one game split up into three parts.

DQ team make DQ games, it works.
Persona team makes Persona games, it works. (Partially applies to SMT too here)
MonHun teams make MonHun games, it works.

Of course, there's also long running series which made a big break-out by changing the formular, see GoW and Zelda.
Though in this case i'd argue the dev teams went to think about how a change in formular might work, and went to deliver good games on this base.

So, SQEX either has the option to go back to what made FF big to begin with, or try not to half-ass things and change formula with every new game in hopes one of them works.
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What makes a "Final Fantasy game"

Because FF7R is very similar in gameplay to what the old games wanted to do and in story, it's comparable in tone etc to 8 and 13.

Music and art wise, it's a very direct continuation of 7 and 10.
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
I mean, they've tried a lot of things at this point and it's unclear why none of them are working.

FF7R's battle system is pretty close to the ideal that Final Fantasy had been aiming for since 1991 and they even made the level design and minigames interesting in Rebirth.

I don't know if it's the horrible endings to these games that are turning people off, but I would be surprised if so (they're not much worse than the endings of some major selling titles like God of War Ragnarok or Arkham Knight)
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I think part of it is a long-term handling problem that can't really be fixed with a single game "getting it right"

Like you said, they've tried a lot of things. There's not a lot for people to latch onto about the series that could make them "Final Fantasy fans" in general vs say "Final Fantasy 7 fans" or "Final Fantasy 14 fans". It's just been a lot of flailing around and being something completely different every time, and while that can work to some extent I think Final Fantasy has maybe overdone the "every game tries to reinvent the wheel" aspect of the series to it's long-term detriment

IMO there needs to be something a little more coherent and cohesive about what Final Fantasy is to keep people invested in more than a specific game or sub-series of the franchise
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
What makes a "Final Fantasy game"

Because FF7R is very similar in gameplay to what the old games wanted to do and in story, it's comparable in tone etc to 8 and 13.

Music and art wise, it's a very direct continuation of 7 and 10.
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That's not my job to find out. It's SQEX's. ;D

Three possibl explanations that immediately come to mind for a "failure" are:
1. "Remakes" of an old game
2. One game being cut into pieces with filler added to have each part fill that "full game" threshold
3. A way too long running project, where it's possible that three parts launch on three different consoles (Remake PS4, Rebirth PS5, Part 3 potentially a cross-gen PS6 / 5 game)

But generally said, if your statement about Nomura being the voice of reason in this case is legit, well ... that's one thing to look at too.

If Mr. Kingdom-Hearts-I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on-anymore Nomura is the one with the most grounded take and approach to a project and "against" the plans brought up by others, you kinda failed at planning already.
 
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ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
I mean, they've tried a lot of things at this point and it's unclear why none of them are working.

FF7R's battle system is pretty close to the ideal that Final Fantasy had been aiming for since 1991 and they even made the level design and minigames interesting in Rebirth.

I don't know if it's the horrible endings to these games that are turning people off, but I would be surprised if so (they're not much worse than the endings of some major selling titles like God of War Ragnarok or Arkham Knight)
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I’ll keep saying it but missing a pc day 1 release for all their mainline games is probably the biggest misstep for the franchise.
There’s a lot of growth potential in that market and they’re just ignoring it for some quick bucks from sony. Even the ff7 remake universe while a pretty misguided idea could have worked but they needed to release this game on everything to attract the maximum number of people into the trilogy. Instead they limited themselves to the sony ecosystem and they’re just failing to create new fans. We’re at a point where the quality of the games is there but they’re self sabotaging themselves with their management. The fact that the first final fantasy to get a 90+ metascore in 20 years will lead to another decline instead of being a breakout hit shows how badly managed the ip is.
 
BlackthornOrion said:
I think part of it is a long-term handling problem that can't really be fixed with a single game "getting it right"

Like you said, they've tried a lot of things. There's not a lot for people to latch onto about the series that could make them "Final Fantasy fans" in general vs say "Final Fantasy 7 fans" or "Final Fantasy 14 fans". It's just been a lot of flailing around and being something completely different every time, and while that can work to some extent I think Final Fantasy has maybe overdone the "every game tries to reinvent the wheel" aspect of the series to it's long-term detriment

IMO there needs to be something a little more coherent and cohesive about what Final Fantasy is to keep people invested in more than a specific game or sub-series of the franchise
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I mean, they've had a fairly consistent tone, art style, and music style for all of the games in the series other than 12 and 16. The gameplay systems have often had changes, but this was true at all points in the franchise.
 
Xenoblade 3 said:
There's probably a whole generation of kids/teens who have never played a Final Fantasy game because it hasn't been on Switch.
I would guess that it's mostly people in their late 20s who are buying FF in Japan.

New fans(kids/teens) are extremely important to any franchise because fans will eventually age out.
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Late 30’s mid 40’s

FfVII is 25 year’s old iirc
 
Bonejack said:
If you told me that SQEX suits had a visible "fuuuuuuuck" expession on their face when they heard of the (rumored) delay, i would believe you.
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If it launched with sowtch 2 it litterly would have been the number 2 choice after Mario.

Guaranteed hit to guaranteed flop is crazy.
 
Kartina said:
I’ll keep saying it but missing a pc day 1 release for all their mainline games is probably the biggest misstep for the franchise.
There’s a lot of growth potential in that market and they’re just ignoring it for some quick bucks from sony. Even the ff7 remake universe while a pretty misguided idea could have worked but they needed to release this game on everything to attract the maximum number of people into the trilogy. Instead they limited themselves to the sony ecosystem and they’re just failing to create new fans. We’re at a point where the quality of the games is there but they’re self sabotaging themselves with their management. The fact that the first final fantasy to get a 90+ metascore in 20 years will lead to another decline instead of being a breakout hit shows how badly managed the ip is.
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Their current PC strategy is bad. Missing D1 is a complete misstep but even had they been there the poor quality of ports is not a confidence booster.
 
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Trying to limit what the dev teams can do based on some arbitrary conventions of what "Final Fantasy" is, which differ from person to person anyway, would be pretty creatively stifling. Final Fantasy has had some common tropes and elements but one defining factor since forever has been its ability to change, innovate and surprise. I'm not entirely happy with all their decisions regarding the series but I'd never want them to deviate from this philosophy.
 
Djehuty said:
If it launched with sowtch 2 it litterly would have been the number 2 choice after Mario.

Guaranteed hit to guaranteed flop is crazy.
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still could be. not that I expect it

BlackthornOrion said:
I think part of it is a long-term handling problem that can't really be fixed with a single game "getting it right"

Like you said, they've tried a lot of things. There's not a lot for people to latch onto about the series that could make them "Final Fantasy fans" in general vs say "Final Fantasy 7 fans" or "Final Fantasy 14 fans". It's just been a lot of flailing around and being something completely different every time, and while that can work to some extent I think Final Fantasy has maybe overdone the "every game tries to reinvent the wheel" aspect of the series to it's long-term detriment

IMO there needs to be something a little more coherent and cohesive about what Final Fantasy is to keep people invested in more than a specific game or sub-series of the franchise
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not following up FF15, a 10M selling game, is the biggest own-goal I seen from them in a while
 
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Dardan Sandiego said:
Trying to limit what the dev teams can do based on some arbitrary conventions of what "Final Fantasy" is, which differ from person to person anyway, would be pretty creatively stifling. Final Fantasy has had some common tropes and elements but one defining factor since forever has been its ability to change, innovate and surprise. I'm not entirely happy with all their decisions regarding the series but I'd never want them to deviate from this philosophy.
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it's a great idea on paper, but FF is suffering from the downsides of that idea. a person could really like one style of game, but the next one doesn't follow it, so they don't play it. and the one after that is different still, so they don't play it. by that point, we're almost 10 years past the game they liked and they almost surely don't give a shit about FF anymore.

Legend of Zelda also changes every game, but if there's on thing that's constant, it's its core gameplay mechanics. for as different as Breath of the Wild was, that was Zelda-ass Zelda in the moment to moment gameplay, augmented by a new method of world design and the chemistry engine.
 
soundchaser said:
Rebirth has already given me more moments of pure joy than probably everything else combined will this year, and I'm only halfway through the story. For my money, it's the best Final Fantasy since XII. It's a shame that the game's sales haven't matched its quality. I was a little surprised when there was no one waiting with me to pick it up at Best Buy on release morning (there was a LINE for Zelda), but I guess people just aren't as interested.
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Zelda is an event release, ff is just another jrpg at this point.
 
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I realize Japan is maybe falling off FF, or JRPGs do better in the west than they do in the east, but this is kinda the issue that was discussed last year on this forum. I forget the exact thread. But Final Fantasy has needed BOTW's "back to basics" approach for the last 10 or so years. It's cool that XIV is good, it's cool that XVI is good (it's well documented how much i loved XVI), but every FF game is such a different project that it's tough to know what to expect. That level of mystery is okay if you build trust with your audience. But clearly the audience has not adapted.

Through playing more of Rebirth, there is absolutely a safe but pure Final Fantasy template here. It's borrowing a little too much from its contemporaries, but it's LOADED with charm. It's unfortunate that the template is shackled to the second game in the FF7 remake project (which isn't even called remake). It has everything going for it. Familiar gameplay loops, great visuals, sprawling open-ish world, great characters. Just such a tough product to sell.
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
I mean, they've had a fairly consistent tone, art style, and music style for all of the games in the series other than 12 and 16. The gameplay systems have often had changes, but this was true at all points in the franchise.
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The PS1 Final Fantasies alone vary so wildly in tone, art, and music style.

For the better.

Conformity is death.
 
Dardan Sandiego said:
Trying to limit what the dev teams can do based on some arbitrary conventions of what "Final Fantasy" is, which differ from person to person anyway, would be pretty creatively stifling. Final Fantasy has had some common tropes and elements but one defining factor since forever has been its ability to change, innovate and surprise. I'm not entirely happy with all their decisions regarding the series but I'd never want them to deviate from this philosophy.
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This is a good point. FF is since, I'd say IV but maybe even every game, constantly changing, and in radical ways. And it has always been for the best I feel. It's ability to adapt to the times and technology is imo core to FF as much as Chocobos and Cid are for example. That's why I said earlier in this thread that young talents at SE should get a shot at giving the next installment of FF direction. A fresh new perspective on a storied IP so to speak.

And maybe not enormous projects anymore like FFVII Remake of FF Versus and the likes but stand alone games, maybe accompanied with some DLC, but not like a multimedia project or something.
 
I would argue that FF I to X were pretty much very FF at it's core gameplay, no matter how much the rest around that part changed.
 
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