Konami vs Square Enix (Squaresoft) You can only keep one.

[marvelvscapcom2]

The star studded battle of ages.  I was thinking of getting Metal Gear trilogy for black friday. I just got silent hill 2 remake. And I realized Konami might be the most stacked publisher/developers of all time.  True chefs kiss to the culture. 

So I was wondering where they fair against another dev that's been around since NES and SNES as well. A tried and true classic.  Square Enix formerly Squaresoft. Which seems to hold favor around these parts because I noticed many of you love JRPGs and Action RPGs games from them.


Konami is known for its Turtles Games, Metal Gears and Castlevania games. 3 franchises that changed how we view the genres.  Castlevania specifically having a whole genre half named after it. That changed the landscape of gaming forever. They also nailed us with great survival horror games. Suikoden. Zombies ate my neighbors and more. Its almost a no brainer.


But Square Enix is known for mostly rpg entries. But those rpg entires include Final Fantasy III (6 in japan) a game historians have as a top 10 video game of all time.  Orchestral masterpiece. Final Fantasy 7 which is yet again beloved.  And Kingdom Hearts trilogy. The bouncer.   Square has games like chrono trigger.  Breath of fire. Parasite Eve and more.  Its endless with the turn based. They absolutely dominated the SNES and PS1 era.


So which do you choose? The variety of Konami's epicness? Or the less diverse but much denser heavy hitting Arsonal of Squaresoft (Enix)


Add other hats in the ring if you feel someone else deserves stake as best.  (Not including Nintendo because its truly unfair)

[sworddude]

Depends, if where talking games of all time I'll take konami easily.

If where talking current era and beyond square enix ez. Konami is pretty much death these days.

[telekill]

Konami for the early days of gaming through the 16bit days. Then Square from the PS1 and on. The only game I fell I would miss is the first MGS, but as FF7 released the year before it and I like it better, the line had to be drawn somewhere.

[bikingjahuty]

Man that's tough. Since I'm not nearly as big into JRPGs as I used to be, you'd think Konami would be the easy answer, however there are some Square games that are among the best games I've ever played, including way better than most Konami games I've ever played. However, based on my current gamings tastes as well as Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Silent Hill 2 beating out any Square games I've ever played, Konami gets my vote.

[conduit]

Konami if we're strictly talking about them pre-7th gen. I got nothing against Sqauresoft, but Konami's output in the 20th century was insane. They set the standard for many of the genres I enjoy outside of RPGs. Post-6th gen Konami has fallen so far down I treat them as a separate entity entirely. To my knowledge Square has retained a better reputation over the years, even after the Enix merger.

Both have a strong and lasting legacy that is well deserved.

[dhaabi]

If overall legacy is being questioned, then I would argue that Konami is more deserving. Much of Konami's credit relates to arcade machines, not just home consoles, and they're with much more variety too. They're better known for long-lasting franchises whereas Square and Square Enix—besides a few prolific franchises—mostly focuses on more standalone titles or franchises with few entries, which is especially true in more recent years.

Below are notable franchises from both companies:
Konami: Beatmania, Bomberman, Castlevania, Contra, Dance Dance Revolution, Ganbare Goemon, Gradius, Metal Gear, Pop'n Music, Pro Evolution Soccer, Silent Hill, Suikoden, Tokimeki Memorial, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Square Enix: Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Front Mission, Itadaki Street, Kingdom Hearts, Mana, SaGa, Star Ocean

[Cartagia]

Konami pretty easily for me.  I'm just not really a JRPG guy.