Maybe this is just a very Western gamery POV ... but I don't think the Japanese emo-teenager-zipper-vest look works for a broad global audience.
They have to bring the character designs back to the more fantasy inspired origins the first six or seven FF games had (and IX). No characters that look like they came out of a J-Pop boy band.
Make the story great, it should feel like curling up next to the fire to read a good book. Create a very rich and vast world that the player can really explore. Take chances with character relationships. Give it a godly soundtrack.
I'm also going to make this suggestion -- move the freaking camera out again. Positioning the camera right behind the player makes the world feel "smaller". The older FF games had that unique charm I think in part because of that overhead-3/4 ish view where the world just encompasses the player and subliminally makes you feel very small inside of it (Final Fantasy VII does a fantastic job of this the world just completely envelops you).
If you park the camera right behind Cloud for the entire game IMO FF7 does not have the same impact.
Bravely Default to me elicits that feeling again of being in a giant "world" ... save the close ups and camera sweeps for battles and cinematics, but when having the characters running around -- bring that camera out and let us see huge vistas and landscapes. When you have made a FF game that feels claustrophobic, you have done something wrong.
