Square Enix or Atlus

[chupon]

I've been a SE fan since they joined, and used to love both SquareSoft, and Enix. Lately though my love for SE has turned into love for Atlus.

With the way Atlus is moving, could they overtake Square Enix in the RPG realm?

[aaron]

potentially, they don't have the quality back catalog or brand recognition though. final fantasy is synonymous with gaming. shin megami tensei, not so much. i will say that i'm just as enthused about a new square enix title as i am about a new atlus title, though.

[chupon]

I just see Atlus catering to a wider fan base then SE.

They take care of the retro gamers with updated rereleases (Dark Spire)
They take care of hardcore gamers (Demons Souls)
They're innovative and try new things (Trauma Center, Knights in the Nightmare)

I guess I just don't see Square Enix pushing the boundary any more. Besides graphics, and continuing successful franchises they aren't doing much else. Sure FF13, and 14 will be great but in my opinion they really only have Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Dragon Quest. Thats certainly enough to keep them alive forever, but they never take risks anymore. Maybe thats there way of staying on top though.

[Anayo]

Camelot wins.

[corn619]

I like Atlus because you can tell they love their fans and show it with free goodies included in most of the games they release. Atlus brings a breath of fresh air to the RPG world where SE hasn't released anything I would play for awhile now. Atlus has some really great games as of late. Persona 3 and 4, Devil Summoner 2 and Demon Souls are all great, popular games. I just don't see them gaining the mainstream success that Final Fantasy has which is a good thing. I think if Atlus became as popular as SE you wouldn't see the cool freebies anymore and the games would lose originality and have more of a mainstream feel to them. In other words, becoming a big company would ruin what makes them special and awesome.

I like Atlus because its a smaller company with great, original ideas and love for the fans. SE is seen as the juggernaut of the RPG world but are losing steam lately. Most of their releases as of late have been subpar, unoriginal and just not fun. Final Fantasy IV The After Years was one of the biggest ripoffs in history in terms of price and substance. I hope FF13 doesn't suck but its looking like a linear, uneventful adventure stripped of any extras. I just don't feel SE has any love for the fans at all.

I like a RPG where I can go off the beaten path and or mess around with different gameplay ideas. Dragon Quest VIII was the last SE game I played to completion and was the best game they've released in years. FF13 just doesn't look like its gonna be that great. I hope DQIX is just as fun as VIII was but we'll see. My DSi is all Dragon Quest IX equipped and ready to go. I have the Slime speakers, Slime headphones, Slime stylus, Slime DSi case, Dragon Quest figures, and various other DQ themed stuff. Needless to say, I'm excited.

[casterofdreams]

I thought this very same thing the other day. Along with NIS, Atlus has become a godsend to RPG fans. If your a big portable freak like me, you would fall for Atlus. The games they bring to the table are some of the best games an RPG fan can ask for. The last thing SE threw out that was good was The World Ends With You and honestly that game felt very "Atlus" to me which is good of course.

[J T]

I don't want to hate on Square-Enix because I do like a lot of their output, but Atlus is just such a great company. Atlus is about the only company that I pre-order new release games from. Everyone else I wait until they go down in price several years later.

[MrPopo]

Make sure that you understand the difference between Atlus and Atlus USA. Atlus is a company based in Japan that makes the SMT series, the Etrian Odyssey series, and the Trauma Center series. Then you have their subsidiary, Atlus USA, which is a publisher in the US. They spend their time localizing games for the American marketplace. So they localize the games of their parent companies as well as games from companies such as Sting. In this way, they are very much like the old Working Designs. In my mind there are two things happening here. The first is that Atlus makes some quality titles that don't quite have the mainstream appeal that SE games do. And second is Atlus USA localizing all kinds of awesome stuff that appeals to a wide range of tastes, but all can be considered niche.

[J T]

^ yeah, I get the US/Japan distinction. I like the games that Atlus Japan makes and I like the way Atlus USA does business with localizations that others don't dare to bring plus lots of bonus materials for their fans.

[Snickerd00dle]

Atlus now a days, Square has been letting me down