Poll: What should Final Fantasy do to drag itself from the muck?

[Innegativeion]

*snip*

What I'm saying is that most "new IP" made by Squeenix would usually just be branded "Final Fantasy" anyway for easier marketing. Technically each new iteration of FF is a "new IP" (unless it's a spin-off or doing that XIII-2 and X-2 bullshit).

Given that Lightning returns apparently has real-time elements, it doesn't even have to be turn-based or ATB or whatever anymore to be called Final Fantasy.

 

[Smeggs]

Virtually anything is an improvement over the combat mechanics of the XIII series. I really miss good old TBS combat. They should take some tips from Lost Odyssey for that, combat was both cinematic and fun. When you try to force me to make snap decisions often times it can turn out badly. There's a reason it's called strategy; because you can use strategy.

I don't even know what to call the combat in XIII...timed action segments?

 

[MammothBlade]

My biggest gripe with FFXIII is not the story, in fact that and the environments are one of the better points, but the way battles, levelling, and character levelling just stopped being enjoyable at all. Auto-battle? Useless magic abilities? Just press X repeatedly to win. That's what it felt like.

That and the lack of any exploration or free roaming... I'm okay with going in a direction driven by the story, but when there's absolutely nothing to explore for large segments of the game, I feel sorely disappointed. FFX, now that's the next most linear Final Fantasy. The story drives you in a certain direction for a good part of the game, yet it doesn't give you tunnel vision, it doesn't say that you can't explore a town or cave along the way. It lets you sidetrack a bit, and explore. Something that XIII sorely lacks.

FF needs to do what it's always done: reinvent itself without losing the spirit of Final Fantasy.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Two things would be a great help in my opinion.

1) Go back to open world, or at least the illusion of open world, in the case of Final Fantasy X. The reason I say this is because something that I utterly loved in the PlayStation era of Final Fantasy was exploring. Finding areas on the map that you could completely miss if you chose to simply follow the main story. Who remembers hoping into Ragnarok in FFVIII, flying around in the middle of the ocean, and suddenly finding the Research Island in the corner of the map, even though you map said nothing was suppose to be there? The games need to bring back that feeling of exploration. Yuffie and Vincent were completely optional in VII, yet if you found them, they weren't just tacked on characters. They had their own full stories. Half the fun of that game was wandering around, finding a place that made no sense because you didn't have the right idea/person/whatever, and then coming back later and going, "Oh, I get it now!" Which ties into my second thing...

2) Give us back our side quests. This started all the way back in Final Fantasy XII. Side quest were completely scrapped. XII only had the hunts, and that was it. XIII had hunts, with the illusion of fighting a truly epic boss at the end of them (That giant rock monster), but then totally bailed on that reward. XIII-2 at least gave us some side quests, but none of them ever felt epic. Remember going to Yuffie's village the first time? Remember how that little side trip turned into a huge epic quest? Remember in VIII when you tracked down Ultimate Weapon, because suddenly the original side quest you were on branched into another one? Or just doing all those silly things in the library just so Zell could get a girlfriend? Remember in X when you walked into the cave where, again, Ultimate Weapon (or whatever he was called in that game) was hiding and you were treated to his story? Remember in X-2 when you went on a sidequest to figure out Pain's story? Remember doing all those choco games in XIII just so you could get to Ozma? Remember when side quests helped to expand the world and offer stories beyond the main one? How they helped flesh out the characters and revealed bits of history from the world the game was set in? What did XII give us? Oh, hunt down monsters so you can be the best hunter. Oh, and a little bonus clip about how the hunts were apparently set up by moogles for revenge, something that is never even hinted at until then, and just dropped afterward. XIII gave us the realization that nature needs to maintain balance. XIII-2 gave us multiple side quests, so it took a step in the right direction, but none of them ever ended up meaning anything. In fact, a lot of them ended up being rather depressing in the end, or just raised more questions.

So yeah, those are my two suggestions on how Final Fantasy can pull itself out of the rut it seems to be in. I think XIII and XIII-2 took a small step in the right direction (I really don't like XII), but it still has a long way to go before it's back.

 

[The Abhorrent]

I'm in favour of going back to the classic games; or more specifically, the feel of the classic games.
Something of an intangible there, but there's not a lot more to it than that.

- Just the right amount of quirky charm (don't want to get obnoxious)
- Just the right amount of melodrama (don't want to get pretentious or depressive)
- Good pacing for the central plot (this never hurts)
- A simple, but engaging plot (deeper stories aren't necessarily better ones)
- A simple but effective combat system (with a bit more direct control over the party)
- Make the game feel like a long journey (not a tedious one, more of a "monumental task" which sets a contrast from where you started)
- Don't be afraid to sacrifice some graphical fidelity to deliver on the rest

To bring in a different game, Xenoblade Chronicles felt like the game I wanted the Final Fantasy series to live up to. It takes all of the above (aside from maybe just a tad too much on the quirky) and delivers. The genre doesn't need HD graphics, it needs the epic journey - and that's "epic [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheEpic]" in the classical sense, with more of a sense of grandeur than one of big explosions.

 

[Atmos Duality]

The sad thing is, they're chained to their sales in Japan, and so long as they remain chained to those sales, they're going to keep doing what they do until it bombs on them.
Keeping in mind, FF13, by far and large a HORRIBLE game, was critically acclaimed and well received in Japan.

I know what I would do, but I don't think that would satisfy the Japanese market much (mostly because I don't know how to make heads or tails of what they want anymore).

 

[FFP2]

As long as they keep radically changing with each numbered entry they can do whatever they like. Japanese people love all the FF games (especially 13). It seems like it's only us Westerners that hate 13 with a passion. Maybe because they got Liara to voice Lightning.

I'd rather have them change constantly and stumble occasionally (or fail outright) than become like COD and regurgitate the same shit every year.

Just stop giving the MMOs numbered parts in the franchise.