Hi Ladies & Gents,
With the Last Remains of Final Fantasy XV approaching, I'm left looking forward and wondering what direction the next FF could take. With this, you have to take into account the gaming climate that FF is in - I don't think we could expect it to indulge in a Retro 16-Bit adventure like Octopath Traveller for example. But it makes me wonder what are the demands and expectations of the series?
Final Fantasy was known as the series that really pushed the demands of the games consoles to the max - each game during the PS1 era made massive technological strides really set the standard for production values within the industry. I feel recent FF's have fell short of that demand, which I don't think is completely fair to judge considering just how much bigger games have gotten in recent years.
Art Direction:
I wonder, could a Final Fantasy every break away from having realistic character models again? Most other big JRPG's this generation have had an Anime/Cell-Shaded design too them and most have been pretty successful (Dragon Quest XI, Persona 5, Ni No Kuni 2, Tales of Beseria). But it seems every since it's had the capability Final Fantasy has always strived for realistic character models - Thinking from X onwards here. I personally would love to see more creature based races within Final Fantasy and experiencing something like IX's Condi Petie where you enter a new location which has it's own unique way of life, I feel XIII & XV's realistic Art design just didn't accommodate to have green goblin like creatures or Hippos in dungarees.
When it comes to genre, I am pretty open. I've been happy with FF's approach from Medieval designs to full on Sci-fi. I think the key thing I want is to be surprised, see unique locations and monsters and ravel in it's creativity.
I don't want to pin-point a genre, but I'd be more interested to see a more historical based FF, like having a world set before an industrial age and being more rural - I usually like stories within modern timezones or Sci-Fi more but after seeing how imaginative they we're with IX, I would expect another typical Tolkien knock-off. if I we're to just reference FF, I'd say something similar to V & IX in tone.
A world with actual towns to explore & Scenario Scenes:
This is something I feel Final Fantasy hasn't gotten right in some time and that Is having actual locations with an identity. XIII & XV both suffered from the lack of having meaningful locations to explore. XIII was very narrow in direction and XV has a massive landscape with next to nothing in it. Funnily enough Lighting Returns actually does this fairly well, with board open environments, rich in detail - The downside is due to LR's gameplay structure that there isn't much in like of scenario writing - beyond the 5 chapters of each location broken up by them generic sidequests.
I think if anything I want to see more locations that offer a different culture and way of life, like I mentioned before. I think X's Luca is a perfect example of this. You arrive in the location and you're instantly get caught up in the locations drama with the Blitzball Tournament. It's so exciting and I love how that unique gameplay structure takes over throughout your time there. But while there you also get downtime moments when you can just explore and hear the buzz around the tournament. Add in story elements like Aurons sudden appearance and revelation to tie in the main plot more and you've just got an engaging part of the experience.
There are countless examples of this like IX's festival Hunt or VII's Gold Saucer Mini-games, but if not integrating mini-games I also love it when JRPG's use a location to explore and give depth to one of the party members - Thinking of VII's Red XIII in how he explores the dungeon of his hometown and learns the truth about his father. The worst thing I cannot stand is arriving at an environment and then nothing happening, which was the majority of my experience with XII - Like arriving in Jahara and no event happening.
Battle System:
Could FF ever go back to being turn-based? I honestly don't see why not, as many contemporary JRPG's have done the very same. Once again it comes down to FF's modern presence of being this more realistic JRPG in wanting to offer a combat system which utilises real time elements better. I am in the minority that actually like XIII's combat system, I'm in no way saying it was perfect but I found swapping the parties role during battle being core to the system always kept me engaged. I think I'd like to see this expanded more, but without XIII-2's monster/Pokémon gimmick. Just give me 3 party members that I am able to switch on the fly by cycling with L1 & R1 buttons and the ability to swap roles with L2 & I'd be pretty happy.
World Map:
I've covered how I want more interesting locations than XIII & XV but I think an important part of the experience is the world itself too. I honestly would be happy with a World Map again, I think Dragon Quest has tackled this well (Still yet to play DQXI) in having the locations presented more as icons that you then enter. I know many other games are really expanding this notion of an open world but if XV is anything to go by I'm guessing this is still a challenge for S-E's FF division. Playing XV has really put me off the idea of massive open landscapes within minimal activity, I'm more interested in exploring the actually environments than the world map per say. That said, if the world map had locations accessible upon exploring or only from a vehicle I'd be open to that.
But I have to be honest, I really don't mind X's approach, which doesn't have a World Map, but has interesting landscape locations set between locations, this never bothered me at all. I think XII also did really well at this (Even if the game had too many of them), especially in how you would use Chocobo's on the landscapes.
Sidequests/Mini-games:
Of course this would tie into the world itself but the key point I wanted to mention here was that I want there to be more than just Monster Hunts! Don't get me wrong the concept is fine but I expect something more than just the typical Go to location A. Beat monster B, gain reward C - I high hopes for XV as in it's demo it highlighted a great scenario where you track and plan how to take down t he monster, this was great! This was also the only monster mission like it in the game... I'd be happy with a Coliseum Battle ground to cover all that action.
But when it comes to actual sidequests, I want something that extends beyond the games initial mechanics - Blitzball, Chocobo Hot & Cold, Triple Triad anything that broadens the range of the games appeal and offers the players unique rewards.
I might take some time putting my input into the suggestions, but if you have ideas for what you want to see in the next FF installment please feel free to state so!
DLC:
If it were up to me I'd say flat out NO! I'm getting constantly frustrated with the notion of DLC's integrating in modern games. I don't care for cosmetic tat but buying unique weapons you can't earn (Or Fairly without a massive grind) does irritate me. But the bigger picture is story driven DLC and XV really crushed it's experience with this by withholding important story content out of the initial experience.
If I had to accommodate for narrative DLC I'd try approach more spin off tales with less vital characters - Like say the Turks in VII, i'd be happy to explore them as characters but not withhold details from the main plot within their scenario but even thinking about it now making relevant content for people to buy into is hard without making it relevant - I certainly don't want them wasting time on cross-over episodes like they did in XV... when they couldn't even finish there main focus of a second Season Pass.
With the Last Remains of Final Fantasy XV approaching, I'm left looking forward and wondering what direction the next FF could take. With this, you have to take into account the gaming climate that FF is in - I don't think we could expect it to indulge in a Retro 16-Bit adventure like Octopath Traveller for example. But it makes me wonder what are the demands and expectations of the series?
Final Fantasy was known as the series that really pushed the demands of the games consoles to the max - each game during the PS1 era made massive technological strides really set the standard for production values within the industry. I feel recent FF's have fell short of that demand, which I don't think is completely fair to judge considering just how much bigger games have gotten in recent years.
Art Direction:
I wonder, could a Final Fantasy every break away from having realistic character models again? Most other big JRPG's this generation have had an Anime/Cell-Shaded design too them and most have been pretty successful (Dragon Quest XI, Persona 5, Ni No Kuni 2, Tales of Beseria). But it seems every since it's had the capability Final Fantasy has always strived for realistic character models - Thinking from X onwards here. I personally would love to see more creature based races within Final Fantasy and experiencing something like IX's Condi Petie where you enter a new location which has it's own unique way of life, I feel XIII & XV's realistic Art design just didn't accommodate to have green goblin like creatures or Hippos in dungarees.
When it comes to genre, I am pretty open. I've been happy with FF's approach from Medieval designs to full on Sci-fi. I think the key thing I want is to be surprised, see unique locations and monsters and ravel in it's creativity.
I don't want to pin-point a genre, but I'd be more interested to see a more historical based FF, like having a world set before an industrial age and being more rural - I usually like stories within modern timezones or Sci-Fi more but after seeing how imaginative they we're with IX, I would expect another typical Tolkien knock-off. if I we're to just reference FF, I'd say something similar to V & IX in tone.
A world with actual towns to explore & Scenario Scenes:
This is something I feel Final Fantasy hasn't gotten right in some time and that Is having actual locations with an identity. XIII & XV both suffered from the lack of having meaningful locations to explore. XIII was very narrow in direction and XV has a massive landscape with next to nothing in it. Funnily enough Lighting Returns actually does this fairly well, with board open environments, rich in detail - The downside is due to LR's gameplay structure that there isn't much in like of scenario writing - beyond the 5 chapters of each location broken up by them generic sidequests.
I think if anything I want to see more locations that offer a different culture and way of life, like I mentioned before. I think X's Luca is a perfect example of this. You arrive in the location and you're instantly get caught up in the locations drama with the Blitzball Tournament. It's so exciting and I love how that unique gameplay structure takes over throughout your time there. But while there you also get downtime moments when you can just explore and hear the buzz around the tournament. Add in story elements like Aurons sudden appearance and revelation to tie in the main plot more and you've just got an engaging part of the experience.
There are countless examples of this like IX's festival Hunt or VII's Gold Saucer Mini-games, but if not integrating mini-games I also love it when JRPG's use a location to explore and give depth to one of the party members - Thinking of VII's Red XIII in how he explores the dungeon of his hometown and learns the truth about his father. The worst thing I cannot stand is arriving at an environment and then nothing happening, which was the majority of my experience with XII - Like arriving in Jahara and no event happening.
Battle System:
Could FF ever go back to being turn-based? I honestly don't see why not, as many contemporary JRPG's have done the very same. Once again it comes down to FF's modern presence of being this more realistic JRPG in wanting to offer a combat system which utilises real time elements better. I am in the minority that actually like XIII's combat system, I'm in no way saying it was perfect but I found swapping the parties role during battle being core to the system always kept me engaged. I think I'd like to see this expanded more, but without XIII-2's monster/Pokémon gimmick. Just give me 3 party members that I am able to switch on the fly by cycling with L1 & R1 buttons and the ability to swap roles with L2 & I'd be pretty happy.
World Map:
I've covered how I want more interesting locations than XIII & XV but I think an important part of the experience is the world itself too. I honestly would be happy with a World Map again, I think Dragon Quest has tackled this well (Still yet to play DQXI) in having the locations presented more as icons that you then enter. I know many other games are really expanding this notion of an open world but if XV is anything to go by I'm guessing this is still a challenge for S-E's FF division. Playing XV has really put me off the idea of massive open landscapes within minimal activity, I'm more interested in exploring the actually environments than the world map per say. That said, if the world map had locations accessible upon exploring or only from a vehicle I'd be open to that.
But I have to be honest, I really don't mind X's approach, which doesn't have a World Map, but has interesting landscape locations set between locations, this never bothered me at all. I think XII also did really well at this (Even if the game had too many of them), especially in how you would use Chocobo's on the landscapes.
Sidequests/Mini-games:
Of course this would tie into the world itself but the key point I wanted to mention here was that I want there to be more than just Monster Hunts! Don't get me wrong the concept is fine but I expect something more than just the typical Go to location A. Beat monster B, gain reward C - I high hopes for XV as in it's demo it highlighted a great scenario where you track and plan how to take down t he monster, this was great! This was also the only monster mission like it in the game... I'd be happy with a Coliseum Battle ground to cover all that action.
But when it comes to actual sidequests, I want something that extends beyond the games initial mechanics - Blitzball, Chocobo Hot & Cold, Triple Triad anything that broadens the range of the games appeal and offers the players unique rewards.
I might take some time putting my input into the suggestions, but if you have ideas for what you want to see in the next FF installment please feel free to state so!
DLC:
If it were up to me I'd say flat out NO! I'm getting constantly frustrated with the notion of DLC's integrating in modern games. I don't care for cosmetic tat but buying unique weapons you can't earn (Or Fairly without a massive grind) does irritate me. But the bigger picture is story driven DLC and XV really crushed it's experience with this by withholding important story content out of the initial experience.
If I had to accommodate for narrative DLC I'd try approach more spin off tales with less vital characters - Like say the Turks in VII, i'd be happy to explore them as characters but not withhold details from the main plot within their scenario but even thinking about it now making relevant content for people to buy into is hard without making it relevant - I certainly don't want them wasting time on cross-over episodes like they did in XV... when they couldn't even finish there main focus of a second Season Pass.
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