Posted March 7 (edited) 1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said: Game is having a rough time in Japan. Selling a lot less than the first part and even being outsold by FFXVI. That exclusivity deal ain't looking that hot right now... Gotta wonder how it would sell if it was on the Switch? It seems like if its not on that platform then you haven't got much hope of doing crazy numbers in Japan. The series as a whole has seen a big decline in recent years. I think some of this is down to S-E keeping the franchise exclusive. Problem is that Nintendo's hardware is never powerful enough to pull off what S-E want to do with new FF games. Bloody hell! I can't believe it sold less than FF16; that's a full on gigabomba. The FF franchise is just done in Japan. Fire Emblem is now officially way bigger than FF in Japan and FF now roughly on par with Xenoblade, absolutely crazy! Edit: Just realised that there's a very good chance that FF7 Rebirth might not even beat the original Bravely Default on 3DS when all is said and done... (which sold 360k at retail), oh the irony! Edited March 7 by Dcubed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 7 4 minutes ago, Dcubed said: Bloody hell! I can't believe it sold less than FF16; that's a full on gigabomba. The FF franchise is just done in Japan. Fire Emblem is now officially way bigger than FF in Japan and FF now roughly on par with Xenoblade, absolutely crazy! Xenoblade 3 done roughly 113k in its opening week. Rebirth done 262k. Still a long way off from Xenoblade but certainly a big decline from recent entries. In comparison, the latest DQ Monsters game on the Switch sold 346k on its opening. That's a game with a fraction of the budget of Rebirth but done stupidly well for S-E. They actually under shipped it so it probably would have sold more. People were essentially forced to go digital if they wanted to play it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 7 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Xenoblade 3 done roughly 113k in its opening week. Rebirth done 262k. Still a long way off from Xenoblade but certainly a big decline from recent entries. Xenoblade 2's latest Japanese retail sales number is at 303,758 according to the Game Data Library, while Xenoblade 3 isn't far behind at 214,062. Both games had remarkably strong legs for an RPG (a genre while typically sells around 90% of its lifetime sales in its first week or two of sale; a standard sales pattern which FF7 Rebirth will almost certainly fall in line with). So yeah, there's a very real possibility that FF7 Rebirth may fail to beat Xenoblade 2 in the end (and Xenoblade 3 hasn't finished selling either). Quote In comparison, the latest DQ Monsters game on the Switch sold 346k on its opening. That's a game with a fraction of the budget of Rebirth but done stupidly well for S-E. They actually under shipped it so it probably would have sold more. People were essentially forced to go digital if they wanted to play it. Yup, bonkers. And yes, you're right. S-E purposly undershipped most of their 3DS and Switch games at retail in order to try and force people to buy digital (famous examples being Bravely Default and Octopath Traveller), so the real sales numbers of their 3DS/Switch games are actually probably quite a bit higher than what is being reported. Edited March 7 by Dcubed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 7 10 minutes ago, Dcubed said: Xenoblade 2's latest Japanese retail sales number is at 303,758 according to the Game Data Library, while Xenoblade 3 isn't far behind at 214,062. Both games had remarkably strong legs for an RPG (a genre while typically sells around 90% of its lifetime sales in its first week or two of sale; a standard sales pattern which FF7 Rebirth will almost certainly fall in line with). I was just going by the opening week sales but seeing as most PS4/5 games are front loaded and don't really have legs, Xenoblade may very well outsell it. Surprised that Xeno 2 sold better than 3. 3 was the much better game, IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 7 (edited) TBH, I don’t think we can pin all the blame on it being a PS5 exclusive (though that certainly doesn’t help), because the series has been in terminal decline in Japan ever since FF13. The bigger issue lies in how they’ve continued to abandon the series turn-based RPG roots, in a misguided attempt to chase western publisher trends by continuously trying to force the series into becoming an action game. All the while, their “low effort” “throwback” games like Bravely Default and Octopath Traveller have gone on to become explosive successes that sell almost as well on a fraction of a fraction of the budget. If they want to restore the series’ prestige in its home country? They should make an actual turn-based Final Fantasy game, and one that’s actually good (unlike FF13!). That means a reduced graphical scope, an expansive handcrafted world, meaningful side quests and side stories, a traditional world map, dungeons with proper maze-like level design and meaningful puzzles to solve, and a well thought out and strategic turn-based battle system. Edited March 7 by Dcubed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 7 1 hour ago, Dcubed said: Just realised that there's a very good chance that FF7 Rebirth might not even beat the original Bravely Default on 3DS when all is said and done... (which sold 360k at retail), oh the irony! I don't call Bravely Default "New Final Fantasy" for nothing, you know? Seems Japan agrees with me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8 Now that I've finished the game, I've been able to look at the trophy list and have been mopping up some of the them. I've no intention of grabbing the platinum yet. It would require another playthrough on the hard difficulty but I also want to make it my 750th, which is 30 games/platinums away. Maxing your level your super easy. I finished the game at level 50 and that was without doing sidequests. Those who do decide to tackle them, I imagine max level could be hit before the credits roll. I've been having fun with the Queen's Blood card game. I didn't really faff on with it during the main story and wasn't really paying attention on how to play it. I've got the hang of it now and have won a few tournaments and nabbed a trophy for it. I've read that some of the trophies tied to mini games are a bit of a pain but I've not come across any difficult ones yet. I did grab one that was tied to playing a piano. Spoiler You have to get an A rank on 6 songs that are found throughout the game. Its a little rhythm game that requires you to use the control sticks to keep in beat with the music. 5 of them are pretty easy but 1 of them took some doing. One of the pianos has a couple of cool posters next to it that is a nice call back to the PS1 version of the game. Clearing each of the open world maps is gonna be a slog. Definitely something to just keep picking away at in-between other games. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8 34 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: I've read that some of the trophies tied to mini games are a bit of a pain but I've not come across any difficult ones yet. Only annoying one so far for me has been the "we have Fall Guys at home" mini game. Took me 7 tries to get it done Somehow I don't get a lot of gaming time these days, so I'm still not too far into the game. Just finished Chapter 6 (which was great fun). Looks like Chapter 7 has an open world area again. Can't wait to explore it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8 1 minute ago, drahkon said: Looks like Chapter 7 has an open world area again. Can't wait to explore it Crazy SOB. Yeah, a friend of mine said the Fall Guys one is a bit of a nightmare. I've yet to come across it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8 15 minutes ago, drahkon said: What can I say, I'm enjoying it 41 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Crazy SOB. Don't worry, I'm very much in the minority when it comes to disliking the open world stuff. As long as you're having fun, that's all that matters. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8 25 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Don't worry, I'm very much in the minority when it comes to disliking the open world stuff. As long as you're having fun, that's all that matters. Real talk, I've gone right off of playing this game once I realised that this was a thing. A shame too, because I really enjoyed Remake. But I didn't enjoy it enough to subject myself to that torture, thank you very much. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8 17 minutes ago, Glen-i said: Real talk, I've gone right off of playing this game once I realised that this was a thing. A shame too, because I really enjoyed Remake. But I didn't enjoy it enough to subject myself to that torture, thank you very much. To be fair, you don't need to explore the open world. I pretty much sacked it off, just continued the story and it was fine playing it that way. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8 I also want to make it my 750thInsane In the membrane Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8 Concert tour for this has just been announced, September for London. Think I might have to go again. Remake's was great. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 14 The Crunch-Off mini-game can fuck right off. Made my way through more of Chapter 6. Lots of fun. Now more open-world is available to explore. Gimme 'dat intel! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 14 Dropped this game somewhere in Chapter 3. No fault of the game really - I was just starting to enjoy it - but it's just come at a bad time for me personally, and I wasn't totally gelling with it the way I remember gelling with Remake on top of it, which makes me happy to leave it as is and come back to it when I'm ready. Going to move onto some other games for now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 14 Man, it really fell flat over there, didn't it? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 14 2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: Man, it really fell flat over there, didn't it? It seems like Japan have just had enough of Square's action based philosophy in regards of FF. Don't blame them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 14 15 minutes ago, Glen-i said: It seems like Japan have just had enough of Square's action based philosophy in regards of FF. Don't blame them. I dunno, I mean things like Octopath 2 and Persona 3 Reload also sold pretty poorly on the PS5, with Octopath 2 also hardly moving copies on the Switch as well. The Japanese market is just really weird now. There was a time when games like I mentioned would have set the charts on fire for weeks on end. Now? Not so much. It seems the Western Market does a lot of the heavy lifting now. Be interesting to see what numbers Dragon Quest does (both III remake and XII) when they finally release. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 27 Won't be watching until I've come back to and completed the game, but Episode 1: Shaping the World of Inside Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has just been released on the PlayStation channel: Quote Inside FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH - A look behind the scenes of the making of one of 2024's most anticipated games. Love stuff like this. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 28 10 hours ago, Julius said: Love stuff like this. Agreed. The God of War documentary SSM released is one of my favourites to watch. Watched it a few times now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
