Final Fantasy Yoshitaka Amano A Square Enix Research Document By Vincent van Haarlem Who is Square Enix? Square Enix is the company behind one of the most well known JRPG franchine in the world called ‘Final Fantasy’. But their name hasn’t always been Square Enix. The company started of as Square and was founded by Masafumi Miyamoto in 1983.(Daiji 2006) In 1989 Squaresoft was was established as a subsidiary of Square in North America. Enix is a software publisher that was founded in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushimaas Eidansha Boshu Service Center. (Square Enix History Timeline, 2007) While Square had their eyes on Nintendo development, Enix decided to develop for both Nintendo and Playstation.(ENIX TO DEVELOP TITLES FOR THE PLAYSTATION, 1997) In 2003 the 2 companies finally merged to form the now known Square Enix. But a merger had been talked about since 2000. (Long, 2008)“Yasuhiro Fukushima, former chairman of Enix, told Mainichi that a merger with Square had been under consideration as long as three years ago” after the financial loss of Square’s first movie ‘Final Fantasy: A spirit within’. Enix went on to proceed the merger while Square was losing money. While Square/Squaresoft has developed some all time classics, under the name SquareEnix the company has known the most succes. Partly due to the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. (Final Fantasy, 2017) Square Enix 23plusone Model 23plusone Method explained My 23plusone choices To identify and analyze Square Enix as a brand, I’ve chosen the After careful reasearch into the Square Enix brand. The main brand research tool from BR-ND called 23plusone. This method brand values displayed in a 23plusone model in my opinion are as is designed to analyze the specific feelings a certain brand wants followed (from top to bottom and left to right): to portray to its users. It is done though cards with images that evoke a certain feeling lead by 2 keywords. Playful/Fun Creative/Fantasy (Cortino, 2010–2021) Order/Structure “23plusone is a scientific method to create connection and Beautiful/Beauty stimulate positive action. It influences behaviour, both in business Challenging/Winning and private life, based on positive motivations.” Discovery/Curiosity Square Enix 23plusone Model Playful/fun - Creative/Fantasy - Order/Structure Playful/fun Square Enix is a software company that produces role playing games. And games should be fun, or else you won’t keep playing it. Square Enix thinks so too, at least making “The Best Entertainment” is one of their codes of conduct. “The Group shall make every effort to meet or even exceed customer’s expectations through creation and offering of the best entertainment content.” (Corporate Philosophy, About Square Enix Group, SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD., 2017) Creative/Fantasy Square Enix as a company values creativity as one of their highest points in their code of conduct. Yoshitaka Amano “By giving rise to new expressions and ideas and creating experiences like none ever encountered before, we will deliver contents and services that surpass the expectations of our customers. We believe that it is in our unrelenting efforts to this end that our existential value and the value of our brand lie.” (Corporate Philosophy, About Square Enix Group, SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD., 2017) Order/Structure Not only within their games, but also outside of them. Square Enix aims to provide order and structure in their games, and other content around it. “Through our games, amusement offerings, publications, merchandising, and other contents and services, we will be steadfast in our efforts to deliver unparalleled entertainment to our customers.”(Corporate Philosophy, About Square Enix Group, SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD., 2017) Yoshitaka Amano Square Enix 23plusone Model Beautiful/beauty - Challenging/Winning - Discovery/Curiosity Beautiful/beauty Ever since Square Enix started using FMV (Full Motion Video) in their games with the release of FFVII (Full Motion Video | Final Fantasy Wiki | Fandom, z.d.). Their games were considered to be one of the most beautiful games on the market, and they have been inproving ever since. (Glennon, 2020) “Final Fantasy VII Remake is an outrageously beautiful masterpiece”. FFVII Remake Ingame Sscreenshot Challenging/Winning The Final Fantasy series is considered to be very challenging if you go looking for a challenge. Most of their games have secret bosses within the game that require a lot of extras to be completed before you can even unlock these monsters. Reseach by (Baird, 2018) states: “These are monsters that are more powerful than the actual end boss of the game and will provide the ultimate challenge for the player.” Secret Boss By Yoshitaka Amano Discovery/Curiosity Exploration and Discovery is a big part of the Final Fantasy series. Not only are there 15 main games in the franchise there is also a ton of exploration to do inside these games. (Adler, 2020) states that: “Another recurring element of the Final Fantasy games are airships, large skybound vessels that are used to transport the heroes all over the world.” Airship By Yoshitaka Amano Fujii, Daiji (January 2006). Entrepreneurial choices of strategic options in Japan’s RPG development (PDF). Faculty of Economics, Okayama University. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2006. Re- trieved April 26, 2008. Square Enix History Timeline. (2007, 30 mei). Square Enix. https://web.archive.org/web/20070530053804/ http://www.square-enix.com/jp/company/e/history/#top Long, A. (2008, 13 oktober). RPGamer > Square-Enix Gives Chrono Break Trademark Some Play- mates. RPGamer. https://web.archive.org/web/20141113044027/http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q2- 2003/042503e.html ENIX TO DEVELOP TITLES FOR THE PLAYSTATION. (1997, 9 januari). IGN.com. https://web.archive. org/web/20160313145518/http://www.ign.com/articles/1997/01/10/enix-to-develop-titles-for-the-playsta- tion Final Fantasy. (2017, maart). FFXIVCensus.com. https://ffxivcensus.com/active-experiment/ Cortino, M. (2010–2021). When science and feelings merge. THINK EMOTIVE. https://www.23plusone. org/about-23plusone Corporate Philosophy, About Square Enix Group, SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD. (2017, 1 april). Square Enix. https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/company/philosophy.html Full motion video | Final Fantasy Wiki | Fandom. (z.d.). Final Fantasy Wiki. https://finalfantasy.fandom. com/wiki/Full_motion_video Glennon, J. (2020, 6 april). “Final Fantasy 7 Remake” review: An outrageously beautiful masterpiece. In- verse. https://www.inverse.com/gaming/final-fantasy-7-remake-review Baird, S. (2018, 14 mei). Final Fantasy: The 15 Strongest Secret Bosses Ranked From Weakest To Most Powerful. Screenrant.com. https://screenrant.com/final-fantasy-every-secret-boss-ranked-weakest-power- ful/ Adler, M. (2020, 8 mei). Why Final Fantasy is the Biggest RPG Series of All Time. IGN. https://www.ign. com/articles/why-final-fantasy-is-the-biggest-rpg-series-of-all-time.