Throughout my many travels through the depths of the internet and its legions of Final Fantasy (insert number here) fanboys/girls, it's not hard to find people who say Final Fantasy (insert number here) ruined the series. Obviously not everyone will agree on which is the best Final Fantasy or which has the best battle system or even who's the hottest character. With the approach of Final Fantasy XV, I've seen hundreds of threads on just the battle system alone. A lot of people want Final Fantasy to stay turn-based. A lot of people want Final Fantasy to go away from it. And a lot of people just think FFXV is jumping on the "WRPG/ARPG bandwagon"...despite having been developed as an ARPG for about a decade. It seems like everyone forgets that Square was the company that pretty much created the standard ARPG with Final Fantasy Adventure back in 1991 which, two years later, spawned a sequel we all know and love as Secret of Mana. Final Fantasy has always been about change. Every numbered title comes with a different story and a completely new cast. Even from Final Fantasy I to Final Fantasy II, despite being both turn-based, they have vastly different mechanics. As years progressed the combat grew faster paced until becoming a full-fledged ARPG with FFXV. Another complaint that's gone around is the fact that Square's been making sequels and spin-offs to certain games. FFX-2, Dirge of Cerberus, Revenant Wings, FFXIII-2, and Lightning Returns just to name a few. Now there's rumors and such going about that there'll be another sequel to FFX and it seems like there's plans to expand on FFXV with more games. Back in the olden days, there were never sequels to a Final Fantasy game. Once a game was released, that was it. Square moved on to the next numbered title. So, my point is, what do you all think of these changes? Thoughts on sequels and spin-offs to Final Fantasy games? Do you like that FFXV is an ARPG and not turn-based? What kind of future do you think Final Fantasy has? I'll be posting my own thoughts later but I'm curious to see if most of you are happy with the changes the brand has gone through over the years. Despite several rough patches in recent years, I'm glad Final Fantasy has not tried to remain stagnant. tl;dr: Old vs new. Have at it.
At least that' s what its creator trumpet every now and and then, but I don' t see it. I mean sure, it' s not as static as DQ (which waited eight games to update its utterly obsolete menus for the sake of nostalgia), but up until IX the jump from one FF to the next wasn' t nearly as big of a change as, say, going from Castelvania to Castelvania 2. I don' t know about you, but I' d say the drop of the world map (X) and the paradigm shift actionny frenzy (XIII) are the only massive change the main series has known. Funnily enough even SE organizes brainstorming to decide what does or doesn' t a FF make. God only knows if they ever reached a consensus. XD Personally I' d rather have a rather conservative main series and more experimental spin-offs.
I cannot comment on the quality of recent FF games, as the only ones I've completed are I through IV, and I'm currently playing through FFV at the moment. But I will say that what I believe makes the FF series great is that every new entry (not talking sequels like X-2 or XIII-2 here) brings something new and different to the series. And if something in a game doesn't click with certain players, then probably another game will. I don't think there was a rule saying that FF must always be turn-based, so I really don't get that complaint. One problem I can understand with the XIII series though is that for the past few years, XIII was pretty much the face of Final Fantasy, so I can understand why people would get tired of the game's universe.
Much as I like some of SE's forays into ARPG territory, it's a little worrying to see them pushing it so hard for the flagship series. To me Final Fantasy has always been about the evolution of the turn-based battle—from one-action-at-a-time to ATB to staggered actions, with experimental variations along the way but never something so deviant it can no longer be called turn-based. I like that style of combat. I don't want to see a new one, I want to see this one perfected. XIII was a decent effort combat-wise, marred by other design flaws, but the concept of real-time elements mixed in with the turn-based formula is not something I oppose at all; I just want to know that battles are still primarily about patience, thoughtfulness, and outfoxing your opponent, rather than muscle memory and twitch reactions. If XV is going to pretend that's the case the way KH does, then no, I won't be receptive to the change, because I already have KH for that.
My first FF game was FFX, and as much as I liked the turn-based gameplay I much prefer the style of the FFXIII series. The whole real-time strategy aspect is really nicely done, and made it a lot more fun to actually play the game. It kept me on my feet and always having to actually anticipate roughly when the enemy would attack and how long it took them to prepare something, rather than have a bar at the side to tell me when the boss is about to unleash their kickass attack. That being said, I am a fan of the turn-based system in many games, and would like it if from time to time some of the FF games retain that. Wouldn't be too opposed if they didn't though.
