What I want from XVI

VillainFan42

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I've played every Final Fantasy game except for XI (I'm waiting for the mobile version that I'm fairly certain will never get released) and I have a good idea of what I want from a Final Fantasy game. Here are a few things I hope to see in Final Fantasy XVI.

1- A more traditional magic system
FFXV's elemancy eventually grew on me. Given how much XV is based around melee combat, it makes sense how magic functioned like grenades. However, I didn't appreciate the lack of variety in the spells in XV. I'd rather have the traditional lineup of spells like previous games. I'd rather the more grenade-like spells not become the status quo.

2- Customizeable yet distinct characters
As much as I love Materia, I do have to admit, it makes each character interchangeable- you can just move all of a character's abilities to another character. I'd like a system like the License Board where everyone has access to the same spells/abilities, but you can send them all down different paths and make them distinct from one another to fill certain roles.

3- An FFVI approach to abilities
One of the reasons I love Final Fantasy VI so much is because even though you can teach magic to everyone, each party member has their own unique special skill in addition to that. Granted, some (Edgar's Tools or Sabin's Blitzes) were more useful than others (Cyan's Bushido) but it went a long way to making each character play uniquely. I'd love to see another system like that.

4- Blue Magic
I actually like Blue Magic. I seem to be in the minority on that one, but I've always loved the idea of learning spells from enemies. I feel like if we had a system where Blue Magic wasn't relegated to Limit Breaks, and was learned like Kimahri's Rages in X (use a certain ability on an enemy who has it to instantly learn it) that would be the ideal system.

5- Classic Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh was my favorite character in Final Fantasy V, and his cameos in VIII and XII were hilarious and awesome at the same time. However, as is the case with IX and XV, we sometimes get Not Gilgamesh. If Gilgamesh makes another appearance, I want the hilariously incompetent, fun to fight, multiverse-trotting, wielder of cheap replicas of legendary swords Gilgamesh I came to know and love back in Final Fantasy V.

6- The Haven/Camping/Meal System from XV
If there is one aspect of XV I do hope becomes a series staple, it's the camping. The Havens feel like a natural progression of the classic Save Points, there was a lot of fun to be had with coming up with new recipuhs and gaining various boosts and finding various ingredients, and the camping scenario offers a lot of potential opportunities for characters to interact with one another.

7- XII levels of openness/linearity
X and XIII were way too linear, and while I did like XV's open world structure for the first 2/3, it is incredibly sparse. It wasn't like Breath of the Wild, where every inch of the world contained something cool. I personally think XII had the ideal balance of openness vs. linearity.

8- A female protagonist
Because why not? It's the least Square can do to apologize for Cindy.

9- A more sympathetic villain
Two of my favorite villains in the series were Kuja from IX and Vayne from XII. Both of them were complex, had redeeming qualities, and understandable, sympathetic reasons for wanting ultimate power. Utter monsters like Kefka, Sephiroth, or Ardyn are fine and all, but then you run the risk of having villains like Barthandelus or Lahabrea, who while they may be intimidating, aren't really that compelling.

Do you guys agree? What do you want to see in Final Fantasy XVI? What do you NOT want to see?
 
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I agree with most of these points.

I quite liked having distinct characters, and I don't even mind if they are rigidly distinct (like in FFIX), but I can see the benefit of them being mildly customisable as well (perhaps like FFVI as you say).

It is also about time that we have another sympathetic villain like Kuja. He's Final Fantasy's Roy Batty. We need a villain that we feel sorry for when they pass away as we understand their motivations and can feel for them.

Ardyn was a compelling villain, and I loved his tragic arc, but I didn't feel sorry for him because he was so spiteful and arrogant and never seemed to change. I still loved him though, and he was easily one of the highlights of FFXV.


As for the female protagonist, I'm neither against nor for. Final Fantasy has had a number of FF female leads (Lightning is the most famous, but we've also had Terra and Celes, Yuna, Serah) and critically important supporting characters, so it isn't new territory for the franchise. That said, there have been more male leads than female, so balancing it out would be absolutely fine. If the lead character is good, that's the main thing. In fact, it would be interesting if we had a lead character who was non-human this time. Characters such as Red XIII, Kimahri, Quina, etc, are usually tertiary characters and not critically important to the plot. It would be interesting to see the world from the perspective of another species, but with some human party members. Maybe the non-human might have prejudices of their own, or might have experienced hardships from humans and learn how to overcome this.


For setting... I think we've had 'modern day' now in FFXV (and sort of in FFVII and FFVIII too). We've had a lot of FF games in a medieval or renaissance setting, and also in steampunk settings... FFX remains the only FF which really stands out as trying something entirely unique by having a South Asian style setting.
If FFXVI could be as experimental as FFX then that would be brilliant. Perhaps an Aztec or Mayan inspired culture, or an ancient Greek / Roman style culture would be fairly fresh for the FF franchise. I doubt we'll see it though.
 
Thanks for the response! I want to clarify that I do really like Ardyn quite a bit- I actually think he's the second best villain in the series- but I'd love to see another villain like Vayne or Kuja. They're just fascinating to me.


In terms of setting, there hasn't been a setting I flat-out disliked. Aside from XIII, but I can't put my finger on why. Something about Final Fantasy and pure sci-fi doesn't work for me. I think my favorite was XII, but you're right, there's a lot of potential for creativity outside of modern day and medieval steampunk. I'll be happy with whatever. Of the ideas you suggested, an Aztec/Mayan setting would be pretty cool.
 
I just want a classic JRPG approach, but Square don't seem to want that anymore. What I want is just what I wanted from 15...and 12...and 13:

- A good, well-told story; something we haven't had since 10.
- A good soundtrack, which is also something that we haven't had since 10. Hell, 15 relied on you to listen to music from older FF games in order to enjoy it.
- Classic turn-based combat. 10-2 did this perfectly, but 10's battle system was great too.
- A leveling system that wasn't just thrown in like with 13. Something like the sphere grid is perfection to me.
- A world map, towns, equipment shops etc. The good stuff from JRPGs.
- A complete game upon release.
- A proper, varied party with character choices. Even 13 did this one right.
- Less forced, overly complicated language. Just keep to basic fantasy terms rather than words with so many consonants next to each other that they're impossible to pronounce and spell.
- A villain that anyone cares about. Again: we last saw this in 10.

That's all I can think of for now :wacky:.

Either way, it'll probably be a good decade or y'know...century before 16 comes along anyways.
 
I do want all those things, although I disagree that everything after X was a disaster. (Though XIII definitely was)
A good, well-told story; something we haven't had since 10.
I would contend that XII's story was decent, as was XV, but both of them were full of problems due to the troubled production of both games (and in XII's case, Vaan having to be crammed haphazardly into the already finished plot) but for what they were, I thought they were good. X was the last one to have a truly great plot, though.
A good soundtrack, which is also something that we haven't had since 10. Hell, 15 relied on you to listen to music from older FF games in order to enjoy it.
What are you talking about? XII and XIV had amazing soundtracks! Just because Uematsu was involved doesn't mean it's not good. Not overly fond of XIII's music though.
Classic turn-based combat. 10-2 did this perfectly, but 10's battle system was great too.
No arguments there. I doubt they'll go back to traditional Active Time, but I'd rather they backed off from the action style of XV. As much as I enjoyed it, XV isn't what I'd consider a good status quo for the series. I'd accept a more fleshed out version of XII's system. My personal pipe dream would be the return of 10's battle system, but that is but a fantasy. A FINAL fantasy!
...I'll see myself out.
A leveling system that wasn't just thrown in like with 13. Something like the sphere grid is perfection to me.
A world map, towns, equipment shops etc. The good stuff from JRPGs.
A complete game upon release.
A proper, varied party with character choices. Even 13 did this one right.
No arguments with any of those. Although the party systems in XII and XV, I had little issue with.
Less forced, overly complicated language. Just keep to basic fantasy terms rather than words with so many consonants next to each other that they're impossible to pronounce and spell.
I think I get what you're talking about. Half the names in XIII sounded like something from some obscure prequel-era Star Wars novel no one read.
A villain that anyone cares about. Again: we last saw this in 10.
Am I the only one here who thought Vayne was a top-tier villain? Anyone? What about Ardyn? He was an absolutely fantastic villain! And while I do think Seymour was a worthy addition to the series' rogues gallery, I'd hardly consider him one of the greats. (Unless you were referring to Jecht. Who WAS the villain of 10, anyway?

You're entitled to your opinions, though, and this post is all just us hoping all the parts of games we love wind up in the next one, so fair enough.
 
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