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NEWS: Square Enix Launches New Studio, RPG Project With Tales Producer Hideo Baba




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ChibiGoku



Joined: 29 May 2004
Posts: 675
PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 1:17 am Reply with quote
Before anyone thinks it's mobile: Studio is looking for developers on high end hardware. So that should be a relief.

Still, color me shocked to see Hideo Baba go over to Square Enix. Wonder what happened?
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Soaringfalco1



Joined: 03 Feb 2016
Posts: 56
Location: IA
PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 1:31 am Reply with quote
ChibiGoku wrote:
Before anyone thinks it's mobile: Studio is looking for developers on high end hardware. So that should be a relief.

Still, color me shocked to see Hideo Baba go over to Square Enix. Wonder what happened?
that's exactly what I thought. what kind of fall out did Baba and bamco have for this to occur? but whatever that may be I predict it may have been due to Zesteria's poor reception, I hope for the contrary and I hope for the best on both parties involved.
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bleachj0j



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 923
PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 1:51 am Reply with quote
Soaringfalco1 wrote:
ChibiGoku wrote:
Before anyone thinks it's mobile: Studio is looking for developers on high end hardware. So that should be a relief.

Still, color me shocked to see Hideo Baba go over to Square Enix. Wonder what happened?
that's exactly what I thought. what kind of fall out did Baba and bamco have for this to occur? but whatever that may be I predict it may have been due to Zesteria's poor reception, I hope for the contrary and I hope for the best on both parties involved.


From the Berseria interviews, it sounds like they wanted to start a new direction for Tales games starting with it. I wonder if it has to do with that.
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pikopika



Joined: 21 Nov 2014
Posts: 195
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:30 am Reply with quote
I wonder what Studio Istolia's debut game will end up becoming in the future. Very Happy
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Flare-kun



Joined: 26 Jun 2010
Posts: 92
PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 10:48 am Reply with quote
The mission statement for this project doesn't bode well, at least to me. Tales of Berseria was the best Tales in years, in my opinion, because it was a 100% character-driven story. But based on the early description it seems they're more focused on world building and player experience. It all sounds like a setup for an utterly generic RPG.

Of course I could be reading too much into it. But as a writer and author, I've learned it's great characters that make for memorable stories. We don't always remember all the plot points, but we always remember Harry Potter and Voldemort; Luke and Darth Vader; Cloud, Aerith, and Sephiroth; Kirito and Asuna -- take your pick. So it's alarming that they seem to be building the game around abstract concepts and setting, rather than focusing on developing an interesting cast of heroes and villains who will drive the story. It's like they're totally missing the point.
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Alkeia



Joined: 08 Nov 2010
Posts: 24
PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:43 pm Reply with quote
ChibiGoku wrote:
Still, color me shocked to see Hideo Baba go over to Square Enix. Wonder what happened?


He took the fall for Zestiria. Along with the misleading PR, there were rumors of him shoehorning in Rose because he really liked her VA, and her being hired several months after the others. He also went into hiding post-release and as a result, Rose's VA had to do a dogeza (very shameful apologetic kneeling bow) in front of a huge audience at TalesFes, only enraging fans further. Rose's VA and character designer got a lot of unwarranted hate because Baba wouldn't step up to meet his mistakes. This along with the rage of Alisha fans, Zestiria's huge production faults, and the controversy surrounding it, Bamco had to get rid of him.

For Tales of Berseria, he was promoted to a position where he couldn't do anything and pretty much had no choice but to leave. I am surprised Square Enix picked him up, though.
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CurseTheSky



Joined: 21 Nov 2015
Posts: 236
PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 4:04 am Reply with quote
Flare-kun "Tales of Berseria was the best Tales in years, in my opinion."

I really don't understand why Berseria is being rated so highly. Basically just a copy/paste of Zestiria with a different combat system. And on the combat system, I actually like it less than Zestiria's. Oh well, to each their own, and I guess I am in the minority in not liking this more than Zestiria.
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Flare-kun



Joined: 26 Jun 2010
Posts: 92
PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:11 am Reply with quote
CurseTheSky wrote:
Flare-kun "Tales of Berseria was the best Tales in years, in my opinion."

I really don't understand why Berseria is being rated so highly. Basically just a copy/paste of Zestiria with a different combat system. And on the combat system, I actually like it less than Zestiria's. Oh well, to each their own, and I guess I am in the minority in not liking this more than Zestiria.


Meaning no offense, but I spelled out exactly why I had that opinion in my comment. It's because it had an excellent character-driven story. To extrapolate further, the entire cast of characters was well-developed, with strong personalities and motivations that contributed to a compelling group dynamic which felt both authentic and yet unique. And it was the characters who drove the story forward. Having almost all of them be anti-heroes of a sort was also an incredibly original take.

So while admittedly, in the end spoiler[there were grand overarching world-saving goals], every single thing that actually happened in the game was still instigated by either the heroes or the villains. And even the spoiler[stereotypical god-like end boss] in fact had spoiler[a human heart and motivation.] I just don't think Sorey and company captured anything near that kind of magic. It's got nothing at all to do with gameplay or that they occupied some of the same locales.
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