Remember when Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu made a bold declaration during a recent shareholder meeting? He stated that the company would continue to make “safe” video games for its customers.
This came in response to a question about the influence of third-party consultation companies like Sweet Baby Inc and whether Square Enix would maintain their business relationship with them in the future.
The recent history of Square Enix is marked by failures, as the company has become a vessel for promoting “the message” of progress and inclusivity. However, “progress” in terms of socially acceptable diversity and censorship hasn’t translated into profits.
Their latest releases, Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, have suffered as temporary exclusives for Sony’s PlayStation 5, a console that has regularly undersold Sony’s expectations. Coincidentally, the games themselves were also commercial failures.
Final Fantasy XVI features the first same-sex couple in the franchise. Square Enix stood firm on not censoring the game for release in countries like Saudi Arabia that frown upon homosexuality. This contrasts with Insomniac Games for example who were quick to remove their pride flags of virtue for release in Muslim nations.
I really admire Square Enix for sticking to their guns, but only in cases where their anti-censorship stance applies equally to both sexes. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continues the trend set by Final Fantasy VII Remake, which, if you couldn’t tell, is a remake of the iconic 1997 release of FF7.
The games have shifted from turn-based combat to action-RPG, a change that many Final Fantasy fans disapprove of. Additionally, the remakes were crafted in alignment with Square Enix’s commitment to Western ESG hedge fund capital, adhering to their ethics department’s guidelines.
This commitment is evident in how Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth have removed certain elements from the original game, such as the ability to collect Tifa’s underwear.
Speaking of Tifa as a character Square Enix have made it their mission to remove her original profound bust in the original alongside defying the laws of physics by making her breasts impervious to gravity.
Square Enix has a history of censoring the female form, which is also evident in their treatment of Dragon Quest Monsters 3 (Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince), where iconic character outfits were modified to be less revealing.
Additionally, Square Enix has retroactively censored various HD re-releases of their classic games. For instance, the 2022 release of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition features altered sensitive dialogue and added shorts to characters to prevent any naughty glimpses of their underwear that were possible in the original version.
Final Fantasy XVI sold poorly, and surprisingly, despite being a continuation of one of the greatest games of all time (Final Fantasy VII), the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was even more catastrophic.
This puzzling outcome makes more sense when considering that Square Enix undermined the game’s free marketing by releasing an update to Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade that censors Tifa’s cowboy outfit.
This game, which was over four years old, received the update just a week before Rebirth’s release. Square Enix effectively discarded the game’s free social media promotion, which featured popular images of Tifa and Aerith in bikinis, by censoring Tifa’s design in the predecessor right before the new release.
And who could forget Foamstars, the live-service Splatoon knockoff with microtransactions costing more than the base game? It was given out for free to PlayStation Plus subscribers for a month in a desperate attempt to lure players into the game and make them pay once the extended demo period expired. However, barely anyone took up the offer, as the game lost 95% of its player base shortly after the free period ended.
Their Final Fantasy games, however, have flopped spectacularly. In Japan, launch sales for Final Fantasy XVI were down, selling just 262,656 copies domestically, with second-week figures dropping by over 90%. This is a direct result of Square Enix’s efforts to adhere to global agendas by imposing self-censorship on both old and new games. Consequently, they suffered a massive 70% drop in net sales profits and announced a plan to adopt a multiplatform release strategy.
As we await the next installment that might continue to tarnish the Final Fantasy name, Square Enix is going back to basics. They are focusing on re-releasing or remastering their extensive catalog of old and iconic games, ensuring that these classics can be experienced by new players.
Square Enix recently announced HD-2D remakes for Dragon Quest I & II, along with Dragon Quest III, which serves as a prequel. Square Enix proclaimed that these games would feature modern touches and enhancements, and they have declared a “refined narrative” for Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, which is slated for release on November 14th.
Remember when I mentioned how their CEO proclaimed they wanted to make “safe” games that can be enjoyed when asked about their involvement with Sweet Baby Inc? Well, some new information about the upcoming remake of Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation has been released.
The original game had a strictly male protagonist when it first launched in 1988. However, its 1996 recreation for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System introduced enhanced character customization, including “personality types” which affect stat growth.
Theoretically, you could select to play as a female in the original NES release, however the sprite was exactly the same and you’d be referred to as a man in dialogue regardless, so I wouldn’t say it counts.
The game features 45 total personalities, with one assigned to you at the start. Recruited party members also come with a personality based on their stats. Additionally, there’s a variety of class selections such as Warrior, Mage, and Thief, with others like Martial Artist, Merchant, Gadabout, and Sage serving as unlockable classes as you progress through the game.
You also have the option to play as a female protagonist if you wish. There are exclusive personalities that can only be obtained while playing as a male or female character, such as the Sexy / Vamp personality, which boosts strength and resilience but is available only for female characters.
One issue that other progressive companies, such as Bandai Namco, have imposed on their recent video games is gender neutrality. In today’s climate, the term “modern audience” is often used to pander to individuals who reject traditional definitions of sex. This means that a woman is no longer inherently defined by her skeletal structure or the fact that she has breasts, a womb and ovaries. Instead, these games cater to those who embrace a more fluid understanding of gender.
Bandai Namco has introduced “body type” options in games like Elden Ring and SYNDUALITY: Echo of Ada, replacing traditional male or female character choices with selections based solely on body type without gender definitions. This concept caters to individuals who don’t identify as either gender. However, the majority of people, including those who are transgender, typically identify as either male or female anyway.
This approach is unnecessary and retarded, but it improves a company’s ESG scores by appearing more inclusive, so they’ll continue doing it.
According to the Japanese entertainment scoop outlet Ryokuta2089, rather than being referred to as Male or Female, the two options will instead be labeled “Look A” and “Look B” in the upcoming release of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake.
Square Enix has lost a significant amount of capital by imposing unnecessary censorship on their products, losing their identity by forcing action-RPGs on fans of the Final Fantasy franchise, and accepting any exclusivity contract that comes their way, alienating their audiences. Now, they’ve gone entirely off the deep end by adhering to “global standards” and removing gender definitions.
Furthermore, the artwork shown for each version of the hero still “definitely” looks like a biological male or female, according to the source. This adds to the confusion, considering there are some personalities (which affect stat growth) for the hero that are gender-exclusive.
The last concerning thing mentioned in the article is that other jobs in the game are also no longer distinguished by gender in name, further confusing things as each subsequent job had a male and female variant.
Not mentioned in the article, but worth noting, is the revised depiction of Boss Trolls in the upcoming Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, seen in the top lefthand side of the image.
Traditionally, in the Dragon Quest franchise, Boss Trolls have been portrayed as comical fat green blobs, barely clothed with a fluffy fur-like outfit with distinct thick pink lips. They first appeared in Dragon Quest III, and this depiction has remained consistent until now.
In the HD-2D Remake, the depiction of the Boss Troll has been altered. The pink lips have been removed, and now the lips are the same shade of green as the rest of its skin. This change comes after the passing of the great Akira Toriyama, making it seemingly acceptable to modify his creations and thus destroy his legacy.
There has been a persistent issue in the West where fictional monsters such as Trolls and Ogres are deemed problematic, with some critics claiming they evoke racist stereotypes by reminding them of Black people.
Akira Toriyama has often been labeled as a racist by liberalized Westerners, despite the worldwide acclaim his creations, particularly in Dragon Ball, have received. Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped individuals like Sweet Baby Inc employee Chris Kindred from taking advantage of Toriyama’s unfortunate passing. Kindred proclaimed that Toriyama created some of the best and worst Black characters in anime, likely referring to Mr. Popo.
Square Enix is doing everything but course-correcting in hopes of reversing their financial woes and commercial failures. They are now not just censoring old games but transforming them into “safe” and sanitized creations free from any distinct “racial stereotypes.”
Characters with over-exaggerated thick lips are being altered to avoid being perceived as offensive. Additionally, gender distinctions are being removed to create a gender-neutral experience that has become common in today’s climate.
This approach does nothing but piss off the nostalgia-driven crowd these remakes target, while modern audiences might refrain from purchasing such games considering how they view “child-like” chibi characters and aspects like “Puff-Puff” as problematic.
