Personally I think when they go to do the next game, most of the team, or at least the major designers, should actually go back and play (or watch other people play) every single game from the original nes ones to the new next gen ones. And I say this not because I think they need to "get back to their roots" (after all they already tried this with FF9), but because I think most of them either came in after the series was popular, have been to busy to actually sit down and play their own work, or have simply forgotten most of it. And the reason this is important is because I think most of them don't seem to understand the evolution of the ideas and concepts throughout the series. Art styles, gameplay systems, and characters have vastly changed in both good and bad ways. but mostly I think lately most everyone agrees it has gone down hill, and I think that's mostly because the designers have sort of lost track of their original goals and motivations that made them decide to take things in the various directions they did, and often lose track of what works and doesn't in a completed game. Then again, maybe that's not the problem as much as the commercial drive for bigger and flasher. I don't know. I don't think it would hurt though.
