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Mummelmann on 17 April 2023
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haxxiy said:

I mean... the 'series original gameplay' has been gone for over 20 years now, more than half of the time Final Fantasy has existed. It's not coming back.

From I to IX, a whole nine games, Final Fantasy followed the same-y copy of Dragon Quest's 1986 turn-based combat. By the end of the century, it was already irrevocably outdated and braindead compared to almost every other game in the market. So the surprise is that it lasted as long as it did, not that it changed in the end.

Even GameFreak, the least talented among all Nintendo's first and second parties by a country mile and targeting a constantly renewing children's audience with Pokémon, innovates more in gameplay terms than Square did in their classic years...

I wouldn't want the ancient gameplay of the 90s to come back, my main concern is that the strategic element has been killed entirely, or so it seems. Strategy and planning has always been a staple of the franchise, even after the first 9 installments. FFVII was the first one I played, which gives it a nostalgic place in my heart, but it was mechanically pretty weak. FFVIII was plain weird, I could never get into the "draw" system of the magic. FFIX was the peak of OG FF, in my opinion.

As I've mentioned, progress is okay, and necessary, but seeing this series turn into a full-fledged 3rd person action game just makes me kinda sad. Especially since the exploration and world-building looks amazing. I felt the same way when Mass Effect 2 and 3 dialed down the RPG elements in favor of action, and Skyrim doing away with so much depth was also a drag. But I understand why it's done; it helps make them more mainstream acceptable.

Between this, Atlas Fallen, Bleak Faith: Forsaken, Lies of P, Hell is Us, Wild Hearts, Exoprimal, Project Eve, Stellar Blade, Lords of the Fallen, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Crimson Desert, Forspoken, Black Myth: Wu Kong, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, and many, many more, it looks like Elden Ring and "spin, hack, glitz, fill bars and shine sim" are the main templates for 3rd person games right now. And it's a bit boring. It's the new battle royale. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing games being made, and some immensely exciting titles on their way (I have at least 4-5 games on my watch list for this year that are more or less first day buys), but most of the attention seems to go to the blandest stuff following the same formula.

I agree with your point, I really do, but the alternative can't be what we're getting right now, there has to be more than two ways. Regardless, I haven't really enjoyed FF for about 15 years, so it doesn't make a world of difference in this one case.