Should Square Enix give us a Final Fantasy game with a new interesting universe?

[Kumorii]

Would love if the next game builds upon the ff15 combat system and focuses more on the world and RPG aspects which was lacking. My guess is that htey try and make a new combat though and once again the world will suffer for it.

[Onikaroshi]

It's just fascinating to me that I keep hearing this said about Final Fantasy when Zidane came from the literal equivalent of a medieval boy's band.

Zidane was a more likeable character then Noct

[BTHSE]

Zidane was a more likeable character then Noct

I mean yeah, absolutely. It's just quaint is all.

[stellvia]

Would love if the next game builds upon the ff15 combat system and focuses more on the world and RPG aspects which was lacking. My guess is that htey try and make a new combat though and once again the world will suffer for it.

I'd rather they didn't build on it and went back to their roots of strategic combat choices rather than button mashing and blinking to the mob as your default attack. This is FF not MH.

[Onikaroshi]

I'd rather they didn't build on it and went back to their roots of strategic combat choices rather than button mashing and blinking to the mob as your default attack. This is FF not MH.

Even the far more action based combat of XII, Crisis Core, and XIII was better than that abomination. I hate how they did magic too.

[AcidicSyn]

It's true that Shonen are the most guilty of this bad writing, but FFs are basically Shonen as well, it's a hero with powers and friends who has to go through a bunch of crap to save the world. But in there, a lot of the over the top stuff is cool, like big attacks and shit, visual effects not for epileptic kids and shit, that's fine. It's fine becuase it's not something that exists in real life so it's fun to see it happen. But talking with people and gasping are things we do everyday, we know what it looks like normally so it feels very out of the place the way they do it in anime because it's so disconnected from what we know.

I don't wanna go too deep in there but it's also what explains the "weebs being so socially awkward". They become unaware of normal social behaviour and start thinking it's fine to jump on one leg, bending the other behind and doing a V sign with their fingers over one eye when just saying hello. Or just standing there with the feet bending inward, I heard there's a physical condition that does that but I've seen far more people actually doing this because they saw cute anime waifu doing it. Can't people just be normal and not influenced by weird anime stuff? Can't games just be normal and not influenced by weird anime stuff?

First bolded question: I'm afraid not. Be it anime, political perspective, or favorite pringles flavor; it's impossible for people to not be influenced by the things they are exposed to. One could probably argue that this is actually normal, depending on how normal is being defined in the context of the question.

Second bolded question: Yes, but probably more difficult for a Japanese game development company to avoid being influenced by one of the most popular entertainment mediums in Japan than it would be for, say, CDPR.

I get it though, and yeah you're right most FF stories could probably fit the Shonen formula. (Pretty sure the power of friendship was literally what gave Vivi his soul but I could be mistaken) It is fine, and those reasons are great reasons for it to be fine. I guess the over-expression of certain emotions or reactions, especially after I've just fought a skyscraper sized sea monster and subsequently subjugated it to my will, just doesn't really bug me as much?

I wonder what a final fantasy without these kinds of elements would look like?

[Rhaide]

Final Fantasy 8 is literally about Armies and Mercenaries.

It's also the best RPG ever made. The GFs were perfect.

[Swalload]

First bolded question: I'm afraid not. Be it anime, political perspective, or favorite pringles flavor; it's impossible for people to not be influenced by the things they are exposed to. One could probably argue that this is actually normal, depending on how normal is being defined in the context of the question.

Second bolded question: Yes, but probably more difficult for a Japanese game development company to avoid being influenced by one of the most popular entertainment mediums in Japan than it would be for, say, CDPR.

I get it though, and yeah you're right most FF stories could probably fit the Shonen formula. (Pretty sure the power of friendship was literally what gave Vivi his soul but I could be mistaken) It is fine, and those reasons are great reasons for it to be fine. I guess the over-expression of certain emotions or reactions, especially after I've just fought a skyscraper sized sea monster and subsequently subjugated it to my will, just doesn't really bug me as much?

I wonder what a final fantasy without these kinds of elements would look like?

Well, I'm not saying they should get rid of ALL anime influence. Just take out what non anime fans consider the most cringe and it should be just enough. Imagine dialogue writing like in Witcher 3 but with a shonen style universe and stuff, it would work I have no doubt. The characters don't need to act in non normal human behaviour to keep the shonen style or anime influence of the main story and events unfolding.

[hawkeyeTA]

Have you tried Dragon Quest 11? I loved it, spent many hours playing and crafting all the costumes and weapons

[Aoyi]

Typo! Fix it! Fix it now!!!

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Fixed lol. I said FFXIV out of habit (I played both original releases and ARR for a while).

[Kumorii]

I'd rather they didn't build on it and went back to their roots of strategic combat choices rather than button mashing and blinking to the mob as your default attack. This is FF not MH.

Which is why I said build upon it. I really started to enjoy the combat and how tactical and fluid it could be once you learned.

[dope_danny]

They tried that with 15 and it was awful. You seem to have a Fixation with everything being like mass effect or the witcher. The reason the older ones stand out more is because they were made for the domestic audience so in the west stood out more. You don't expect foreign countries to make stuff like the west to stand out against games in the west. That was basically the ruination of hundreds of japanese game studios for the last 12 years.

[Graeham II]

I've been happy with pretty much every Final Fantasy game other than FFXIII. Even FFXV, despite its flaws, had redeeming qualities. Ardyn's a great antagonist, the enemy designs are great and the soundtrack is incredible.

I do hope we get another title more along the lines of FFIX, though.

[Bigbazz]

Op your desires are pretty vague. The FF15 world/universe is already unique and "interesting" is a pretty vague subjective term, I think there is plenty interesting about the FF15 world. They bit off more than they could chew with FF15 perhaps, but it's still a pretty good game in my opinion. If they were to bring out another FF7-9 styled universe that might be good and it might be interesting but it wouldn't be new.

FF15 is a real diamond in the rough. It will never reach its potential but it's still a game worth playing, worth the price of admission.

Well for the story part, they would need to hire western writers. They're never gonna make a good story in Japan mainly because they somehow accepted that characters should have exaggerated and absolutely awkward reactions to the most mundane stuff like insane gasping and shit. It will always feel extremely cringy like FFXV. The old FF games had none of the very bad voice acting, none of the very bad gasping and crazy mouth sounds you see in every anime. You could read the story and the dialogue the way it's meant to be: aka natural instead of forced bad acting.


Thank you for this, SquareEnix, perfect portrayal of human behaviour.

How is that forced bad acting? He was purposely taking the piss and forcing an over the top laugh as part of the scene. I mean at least play the game before you criticize it.

[Thage]

SE gives us a new universe with almost every Final Fantasy (they've revisted Ivalice before). The also have a wide variety of classes or specializations that appear in their games. I'd cross out Game of Thrones on your list because that's comparing a book series to video games. Rivaling the Witcher, well they already do. They just have a different style than that development team because they have a different focus (and culture). SE goes hard on fantasy with their games. They are vibrant worlds (aside from 15) that have larger than life characters and magic. You are fighting gods in some entries or bosses that are the size of buildings. You have spells that in some cases cause blasts of light from outer space or mythical creatures to appear.

This. Very rarely do FFs share a setting; there are ties between 7 and 10 but it's based off a throwaway line from a side character and so far back in the other game's distant past that it's only a novel curiosity, and there are ties between 14 and Tactics/12 in a series of Stormblood raids, but other than that generally every main Final Fantasy title is in a completely different universe.

So I'm not sure what you're stabbing at here, OP. Do you mean, "Should Square-Enix give us a Final Fantasy with more Western influences in the world-building?" If so, you might want to check out 7 and 8. 7 has strong Cyberpunk influences (though I'd hesitate to put it in the Cyberpunk umbrella) and 8 has a pretty unique aesthetic in its architecture and nations. You should also check out an underrated PS2 RPG called Radiata Stories, which has a strong French-Fantasy influence. Tri-Ace (the company that made Radiata Stories) also makes the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile franchises, and SO1-3 and VP 1 and 2 are all worth checking out (though SO3 is a bit divisive because of a late-game twist). An older title called Parasite Eve is also one worth looking into. It has some horror elements, a (then-)modern setting, and if you can get past the psuedoscientific bullshit the gameplay is a lot of fun with a fairly compelling plot. It's also set in New York, and no, that's not a localization thing like Revelations: Persona.

Outside Squeenix, there is a series of games by Media.Vision called Wild ARMS (1, 3, and 5 are my personal favorites; if you get the chance play both 1 and the remake Alter Code F, since both are worthy retellings of the same story). Suikoden games tend to have a formulaic plot, but that's not necessarily a bad thing when the plot works so well (though 4 is a weak entry in that franchise) and many characters in each game are memorable. Pretty much anything with Shin Megami Tensei on the box is going to be worth your time, though the non-Persona titles can be infamously difficult. Shadow Hearts: From the New World is a game that's very much your-mileage-will-vary, but it's also one of a very few games never mind RPGs set in early Industrial America (although there is a lot of typically-Japanese zany humor in it).

As FF goes, though, to get back on-topic, those games tend not to run in the Dark Fantasy genre like The Witcher and Game of Thrones. Final Fantasy is very strongly rooted in heroic fantasy; even the more morally-ambiguous heroes like Cloud (a mercenary who begins the game contracting out to an eco-terrorist cell), Squall (an amoral mercenary whose loyalty only goes as far as the contract until events push him to improve as a person), and Lightning (who's basically Cloud but without the terrorist angle) end up finding a spark of nobility in themselves and ascending to full-blown heroes by the final act.

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Well, I'm not saying they should get rid of ALL anime influence. Just take out what non anime fans consider the most cringe and it should be just enough. Imagine dialogue writing like in Witcher 3 but with a shonen style universe and stuff, it would work I have no doubt. The characters don't need to act in non normal human behaviour to keep the shonen style or anime influence of the main story and events unfolding.

Here's the thing: Japanese developers primarily design their products to succeed in the Japanese market, and there is a large bleed-over in gaming and anime otaku, enough that, for example, FFXII's player character was changed from Basch to Vaan early in development as Basch didn't appeal enough to the fans' sensibilities (at the time, effete male protagonists were in vogue, while nowadays there's more wiggle room). NieR similarly has two editions--the JP version has Brother Nier, an effete male, and international has Father Nier, a burly man's man, because that's what appeals to those audiences more. For most JP developers, international success is secondhand to domestic success--it's a nice bonus, but if you aren't doing well at home you're still considered to have done poorly no matter how many sales you make internationally.

[SirBeef]

No. FF15 was complete and utter garbage. How about they finish working on FF7 remake which they've been promising for 4 years now. Stick to JRPG's and stop trying to push another immersive world to tack premium features onto like every single other developer.

Then you will be disappointed in FF7R. It will play like FF15 and be episodic. Also don't expect it to come out until the PS5 and XBNext come out.

[Trifle]

After getting tired of Western RPGs I decided to check out the Final Fantasy games. The newest one did not appeal to because I didn't like the aesthetic. I did fall in love with FF9 and FF6.

When can Square Enix give us a party of capable soldiers, thieves, and mercenaries with a story that rivals the Witcher or even Game of Thrones instead of moody boy bands?

Final Fantasy Type Zero has the whole war thing going, but it's also a very different type of game, so don't know if it would appeal. There's other good RPG franchises as well: Star Ocean, Dragon Quest, Tales of ..., Legend of Heroes series etc. Might be worth going further afield to find other things you like.

[Onikaroshi]

Then you will be disappointed in FF7R. It will play like FF15 and be episodic. Also don't expect it to come out until the PS5 and XBNext come out.

We have heard nothing about it being episodic or about the combat system since Square took it back in house. These could possibly be the same yes, but saying they will be that 100% is false, we don't know what SE has decided to do with it since it pulled it back in.

[mvaliz]

There's a lot of things I wish for Final Fantasy. One of which is to go back to being an open world rather than a series of glorified corridors you teleport to.

Also, would it kill them to make a NON-humanoid character again? Like Red-XIII?

[SirBeef]

We have heard nothing about it being episodic or about the combat system since Square took it back in house. These could possibly be the same yes, but saying they will be that 100% is false, we don't know what SE has decided to do with it since it pulled it back in.

SE made this statement about FF7R back in 2015, "It means instead of concluding in one entry, multiple entries are being considered in development. Each entry will have its own unique story. As a gaming experience, each entry will have the volume of content equal to a full-sized game." So we've know this for a while.

You may be right about the gameplay not being like FF15. I just rewatched the video, the clips of fighting are too broken up to tell, but it does look like a lot of movement going on. That could all be scripted attacks after the commands have been given.

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There's a lot of things I wish for Final Fantasy. One of which is to go back to being an open world rather than a series of glorified corridors you teleport to.

Also, would it kill them to make a NON-humanoid character again? Like Red-XIII?

Outside of the Nintendo games, and the world map portions, most have been glorified corridors. Most zones/maps have one way to go, with maybe a secret path to a treasure. The early parts of FF13 were pretty straight but about 10 hours in once you get out it's more like the rest of the games where the zones/maps are more open.