Will Final Fantasy ever go back to its FANTASY Roots?

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Between 13, 15, and 7 Remake. All of which take place in these heavily sci fi-esque settings. And the ones that takes place in a Fantasy setting are MMOs at the moment with FF XIV.

Will a mainline game ever go back to its fantasy setting roots of older games like Final Fantasy 4 or 9?

 

[Hawki]

I forget where I read this (and I may be wrong), but my understanding is that Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are two sides of the same coin for Square. Dragon Quest is the 'safe' franchise with a defined aesthetic, setting, and style. Dragon Quest is a series where each came is very much in sync with the other.

Final Fantasy, on the other hand, is the 'risky' franchise. This shows in that each main installment takes place in its own setting, with its own characters, gameplay, aesthetic, etc.

I bring this up because I don't think the question gets to the heart of the matter. Final Fantasy can do traditional fantasy, sure, but it won't go back to its 'roots' because the entire point of the franchise in its current form is that it's free to do whatever. There's only a few key elements that go from game to game, and its setting/aesthetic aren't among them. If a FF16 does traditional fantasy, rest assured that a FF17 wouldn't.

 

[SupahEwok]

No. The series is too in love with its own mythology and aesthetic to be able to make a break like that. It doesn't really need to anyway. For all the arguments regarding recent entries' quality, they stand out from any other fantasy game on the market.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Bravely Default already did so FF has no reason to.

 

[Squilookle]

I'm more interested to see if they ever make a Final Fantasy that really, actually is the final one.

 

[Dalisclock]

Octopath Traveler and (from what I'm told) Bravely Default basically are Classic FF games under another name. Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly care for the series anymore(IX was where it peaked, IMHO, and the last game I really enjoyed) but Octopath and BD exist to scratch that itch so I'm not gonna get salty about it.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I really don't get why certain fantasy settings are used over and over and over again. It's FANTASY, anything but the real-world is a fantasy setting. I want new worlds, races, classes, etc. If the next Witcher game does the same setting again, it would be a waste of everything they did with Ciri (she can go to ANY world), she could be like Doctor Who. But we'll probably get the same same-y fantasy setting we always with characters we already know.

 

[sXeth]

I mean, there's always been random sci-fi dribbled into FFs. Likely a crossover effect from the 80s CRPG's they were basically cloning that also tended to include it. There's literally mech enemies and a space station in the first game.

 

[Dalisclock]

I mean, there's always been random sci-fi dribbled into FFs. Likely a crossover effect from the 80s CRPG's they were basically cloning that also tended to include it. There's literally mech enemies and a space station in the first game.

Not to mention the Time Loop/Time Travel Twist ending.

And FFIV the whole thing about

Spoiler

Cecil being a half human hybrid descended from people from the Moon, which was actually a giant sleeper ship containing the last members of an alien race fleeing the loss of their homeworld.

 

[09philj]

Between 13, 15, and 7 Remake. All of which take place in these heavily sci fi-esque settings. And the ones that takes place in a Fantasy setting are MMOs at the moment with FF XIV.

Will a mainline game ever go back to its fantasy setting roots of older games like Final Fantasy 4 or 9?

FFXIV is science fantasy, like FFVI. The game's primary antagonist faction are outfitted with a panoply of Magitek most similar to the Gestahlian Empire in FFVI, albeit possibly somewhat more advanced, and the whole world's built on the ashes of the highly technologically advanced Allagan Empire. Also during the events of Stormblood's endgame

Spoiler

you fight the game's version of Omega, which is a dragon killing robot superweapon from outer space, or maybe another dimension entirely.

(And really VII, VIII, XIII, and XV are just the same science fantasy in a more contemporary setting)

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Octopath Traveler and (from what I'm told) Bravely Default basically are Classic FF games under another name. Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly care for the series anymore(IX was where it peaked, IMHO, and the last game I really enjoyed) but Octopath and BD exist to scratch that itch so I'm not gonna get salty about it.

Octopath is more classic while Bravely is more neo-classic and it innovates a lot of things of the genre while feeling literally like an old ff. It may call some jobs differently and it may have some new elements to those jobs but it also has classics like Dark Knights and Dragoons and so on (with the same mechanical elements they had in FF).


Bravely's story is also a whole hell of a lot more like a FF too, so that adds to the feel.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Who cares. Squeenix couldn't write their way out of a paper bag, whatever that means. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a Square Enix game, and I've played a fair few.

 

[CaitSeith]

Between 13, 15, and 7 Remake. All of which take place in these heavily sci fi-esque settings. And the ones that takes place in a Fantasy setting are MMOs at the moment with FF XIV.

Will a mainline game ever go back to its fantasy setting roots of older games like Final Fantasy 4 or 9?

I mean, there's always been random sci-fi dribbled into FFs. Likely a crossover effect from the 80s CRPG's they were basically cloning that also tended to include it. There's literally mech enemies and a space station in the first game.

Not to mention the Time Loop/Time Travel Twist ending.

And FFIV the whole thing about

Spoiler

Cecil being a half human hybrid descended from people from the Moon, which was actually a giant sleeper ship containing the last members of an alien race fleeing the loss of their homeworld.

Why you two have to ninja me? But yeah; saying that Final Fantasy's true roots is fantasy, is cutting off at least 1/4th of the games. Funny that the FFIV example starts with ships that fly thanks to engineering (not magic or ancient tech)

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Between 13, 15, and 7 Remake. All of which take place in these heavily sci fi-esque settings. And the ones that takes place in a Fantasy setting are MMOs at the moment with FF XIV.

Will a mainline game ever go back to its fantasy setting roots of older games like Final Fantasy 4 or 9?

I mean, there's always been random sci-fi dribbled into FFs. Likely a crossover effect from the 80s CRPG's they were basically cloning that also tended to include it. There's literally mech enemies and a space station in the first game.

Not to mention the Time Loop/Time Travel Twist ending.

And FFIV the whole thing about

Spoiler

Cecil being a half human hybrid descended from people from the Moon, which was actually a giant sleeper ship containing the last members of an alien race fleeing the loss of their homeworld.

Why you two have to ninja me? But yeah; saying that Final Fantasy's true roots is fantasy, is cutting off at least 1/4th of the games. Funny that the FFIV example starts with ships that fly thanks to engineering (not magic or ancient tech)

Yeah the first game had Airships.

I still want a new BIG Final Fantasy game that looks more like the worlds of FF 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, mabye 6, and 9, with some influence from the Ivalice games.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I actually really liked the setting of Final Fantasy XV. Can't say I liked much else about it but, you know, it had that going for it. And generally I'd say, the Final Fantasy series, even the weaker games, have unique setting. I'd hate for them to give those up in favour of generic tolkienian fantasy.

 

[bluegate]

Yeah the first game had Airships.

I still want a new BIG Final Fantasy game that looks more like the worlds of FF 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, mabye 6, and 9, with some influence from the Ivalice games.

Enough with the brown already!

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Yeah the first game had Airships.

I still want a new BIG Final Fantasy game that looks more like the worlds of FF 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, mabye 6, and 9, with some influence from the Ivalice games.

Enough with the brown already!

Ivalice is brown?

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

No, because there are no "roots" to go back to; the entire point of FF is to do something new with each installment, to explore new worlds, new characters, new themes. FF's I-VII always tried to do something new with the setting and themes. Reminding people of concepts that have already been done is pointless. Heck, if anything FF needs to do LESS with nostalgia because there is no such thing as a "traditional" FF no matter what numskulls like Kitase claim.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

No, because there are no "roots" to go back to; the entire point of FF is to do something new with each installment, to explore new worlds, new characters, new themes. FF's I-VII always tried to do something new with the setting and themes. Reminding people of concepts that have already been done is pointless. Heck, if anything FF needs to do LESS with nostalgia because there is no such thing as a "traditional" FF no matter what numskulls like Kitase claim.

The last time they tried something new, we got the Fabula Nova Crystalis games....(The XIII Trilogy)

 

[CaitSeith]

Between 13, 15, and 7 Remake. All of which take place in these heavily sci fi-esque settings. And the ones that takes place in a Fantasy setting are MMOs at the moment with FF XIV.

Will a mainline game ever go back to its fantasy setting roots of older games like Final Fantasy 4 or 9?

I mean, there's always been random sci-fi dribbled into FFs. Likely a crossover effect from the 80s CRPG's they were basically cloning that also tended to include it. There's literally mech enemies and a space station in the first game.

Not to mention the Time Loop/Time Travel Twist ending.

And FFIV the whole thing about

Spoiler

Cecil being a half human hybrid descended from people from the Moon, which was actually a giant sleeper ship containing the last members of an alien race fleeing the loss of their homeworld.

Why you two have to ninja me? But yeah; saying that Final Fantasy's true roots is fantasy, is cutting off at least 1/4th of the games. Funny that the FFIV example starts with ships that fly thanks to engineering (not magic or ancient tech)

Yeah the first game had Airships.

I still want a new BIG Final Fantasy game that looks more like the worlds of FF 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, mabye 6, and 9, with some influence from the Ivalice games.

In other words, you want Final Fantasy to go back to ripping-off Dragon Quest's setting.