What I want for Final Fantasy
1)"Action attacks". When I select 'attack' I want to see my character smack someone with melee or shot them in the eye. No ATB bars, thank you. How about we have combo attacks in which the length and speed of the combo depended on the weapon and the proficiency of the character. And no flashy, superfluous "Limit Breaks". "Stances" that favor offense, defense, or magic will suffice. From this point onward, think of a more action, based game.
2.1)"Magic that makes the peoples fall down". Magic should be useful, period. I want Blind, Poison, Immobilize, and Slow to remain effective on mobs and bosses throughout the game. Not all of them at once, god no, but bosses should have a few weakness to exploit. If a Red Dragon is kicking my ass with Thermal Rays (FFIV: DS) I could cast Berserk and slow to change the tide of battle. This doesn't break the game, A boss can still be formidable after being hit with Poison or Slow. The boss would be easier mind, but it's better than never casting Poison ever.
2.2)". . ." I find that offensive spells to also be underwhelming in Final Fantasy. With a damage cap, the only advantage that magic holds over physical attacks are AoE. In other words, spells are a wast of time and MP in most cases. So, here are some ways to strike a balance between physical and magics:1) Allow some spells to "combo" either with other spells or with physical attacks. 2) Make it stronger than melee in general, but slower and, of course, requires mana. 3) Have spells provide a decisive strategic advantage if cast such as stuns and whatnot.
3)"Did you just summon Cthulhu?!" Summons should be powerful, temporary allies in battle. Since I sacrificed some etherial power-source that is difficult to procure, it had better be worth it. If I forfeited the company of two or three companions, this beast had better count for three to five on its own. If my party can deal or take more pain than my eldritch abomination, it's not doing it's job properly and I've wasted my time.
4)"Weapons race". By endgame, the strongest sort of weapon that is of any use is a sword or great-sword. This is fine and all, but why is the strongest bow not doing nearly as much? Long story short, other weapon types should be viable as well, especially bludgeoning weapons : )
5)"Party members". Since this is an action-rpg FF I'm making up, allies will have to act on there own, for the most part. Personally, I think the FF XII's gambits would work well on current NPC's. Even so, I'd like to give orders mid battle, or manually switch whom I control on the fly.
6)"Setting". I'd like the setting to be Late Middle ages or Early Renaissance-ish, but I wouldn't mind the story taking place in medieval China, Japan, or Middle Eastern-like area either. I'm not really biased, so long as weapons and abilities are not anachronistic (Gunblade, really?)
7)"Characters" Just don't make them obnoxious alright. I don't need someone to declare that they're "the hero" three times per cutscene mmkay. I don't want to watch a 12-year old have a nervous breakdown in every other cutscene, or a cold, shrewish woman look cool and aloof even though she should put her petty grievances behind her for the moment, or, whatever kawaii bullshit Vanile was supposed to be. I'm harping on XIII in particular, but what I'm saying is add dimensions to characters other than angst and four random character tropes. Archetypes are okay, and nigh unavoidable, but that can't be all there is to a character aside from his/her angst.
8)"Plot and Story". World building is nice, and that's probably what those menus in FFXIII were supposed to do (haven't played it, but I've watched a fairly entertaining "Let's Play"), but this shouldn't be necessary in knowing what's going on. Character driven stories are probably best for this sort of game because instead of being chosen as "only one who can save the world" your character simply choose himself/herself for the cause. Whether it's fighting off invasion, glorious conquest, political upheaval, or defying the gods themselves, I want to see have a vested interest in taking action.
EDIT: Also I want open world exploration a la FFXII.
No more of those stupid level up grids(Sphere grid, License grid, Crystalnarium whatever). Either give me abilities as a raise my level, or allow me to purchase abilities a la FFT and FFX-2(the only thing that game got right). "Leveling" spells and abilities as I use them, a la FF2, is fine, as long as it's not as broken as FF2 in this respect.
Also, confine Nomura to Kingdom Hearts. Ever since FFVII, that dude's FFs have gotten weirder and weirder. By "weirder" that I mean "Otaku"
