What Square Enix forgot about product design

TL;DR

• Square Enix asked “easy or hard?” then delivered the same thing either way
• A French indie studio captures Final Fantasy’s essence better than Final Fantasy itself
• Designing by metrics kills the experience
• Remove all friction and you remove all meaning

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I played Final Fantasy XVI and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 back to back.

One is from Square Enix, the company that invented the modern JRPG, with a massive budget and 30 years of legacy.

The other is from a French indie studio, their first game.

Which one made me feel like I was playing a real JRPG?

The French one. And it’s not even close.

What happened to Final Fantasy

FFXVI isn’t a JRPG. It’s an action game with long cutscenes.

• No strategy required. Button mashing works.
• Your dog kills enemies for you.
• Your dog guides you to the objective.
• Die to a boss? Reload at phase two with full potions.
• The skill tree is basic.
• Summons are automated cutscenes, not tactical decisions.

And the best part: at the start it asks “do you want easy or hard?”

I chose hard. Still looking for the difficulty.

The focus group syndrome

What happened? My theory: Square Enix stopped making games for gamers.

Someone looked at the metrics and said:

• “40% quit at the first boss → make it easier”
• “Players get lost → add a guide dog”
• “Long summons bore people → make them automatic”
• “Dying frustrates players → reload with full potions”

Design by committee. Design by fear of negative reviews.

The result: a game that offends no one and excites no one.

Meanwhile, in France

Expedition 33 does the opposite:

• Turn-based combat that requires thinking
• Die and you reload from your save (and savor the victory)
• Characters convey real emotion
• The story breaks your brain
• Real innovation in combat mechanics

A small studio, first game, no Final Fantasy legacy… and it captures the essence of FFVII better than FFXVI does.

The lesson for your business

This isn’t just about video games. It’s about product design.

Square Enix made mistakes I see in companies all the time:

1. Ask and then ignore

“Do you want easy or hard?” → Here’s the same thing.

How many times have you filled out a satisfaction survey and nothing changed?

2. Design for metrics, not experience

If 40% quit at the first boss, maybe the boss isn’t the problem. Maybe the game didn’t hook them before that.

Optimizing the wrong metric makes the product worse.

3. Remove friction until you remove meaning

Friction isn’t always bad. Dying to a boss and trying again IS the experience. Without that, victory tastes like nothing.

Does your product have necessary friction you’re eliminating because “users complain”?

4. Chase an audience that never asked for you

Square Enix thought: “JRPGs are niche, we want to sell more.”

Meanwhile: Persona 5 (turn-based) sells 10 million. Baldur’s Gate 3 (turn-based) wins GOTY.

They abandoned their loyal audience to chase one that didn’t want them.

The uncomfortable question

Are you designing your product for the real user or the imaginary focus group?

Are you removing friction that makes your product unique?

Are you chasing a market that never asked for you while ignoring the one that already bought?

Square Enix had 30 years of legacy and burned it in one game.

You don’t need 30 years to make the same mistake.