Possibilities for FFXV

[Acturus]

I remember skipping over FFIX because of the fact that the franchise wanted to bring a "throwback" game for the fans.

It had nothing to do with the game itself, but I disagreed with the positioning of the company in releasing the game. Having finally played it in the last couple of years on PSP (yay PSOne classics), I've found that I enjoyed the game, but it's not in my top 5 (IV and Tactics are in my top 5).

I was introduced to Final Fantasy with VII, loved VIII, loved X, and liked X-2. I didn't really develop an appreciation for the older FF games, concepts, and mechanics until I picked up FFIV for the Game Boy Advance. Since then I've played most of them, and the only ones I've not completed are I and VI.

I don't care how Square Enix develops the next final fantasy title, but I'll be a little annoyed if the next title is marketed as a "HAY FANZ ENUFF OF THIS TECHNOLOGY STUFF LOLZ" the way I felt that IX was pitched.

[Correction]

Oh look another bad IGN "What X can learn from Y" article.

[Siatdiat]

I wrote a lot of shit and then realized I can sum it up much simpler. Basically, I am worried that getting player feedback has bled over from the online titles to the offline ones. Part of the epicness of some of the best FF games has always been the overpowered abilities that were attainable, or some of the item and buff combos that made you nigh invincible. None of these things were required to beat the main story, but came into play more when working on the harder aspects of the game. I don't think player feedback and testing is what is needed to make a solid core series FF title. I would prefer to leave that with online MMO or strategy type games, where balance matters since you are having to work with or against others.

[Nevex]

Overpowered abilities are still there in offline FFs, sure not to the ridiculous extent of FFVI/VII/VIII but FFXII and FFXIII didn't really joke around with things like Nihopalaoa, Reverse+Decoy, Random Instant Chain, Highwind and Death.

[Burningthought]

I wonder what type of theme they will go for in XV, I think we've had plenty of sci-fi lately in the series, i'm unsure if they would do another sci-fi setting. I think after they finish with FFversusXIII they will probably announce another mythology for future FFs.

In terms of scale and story, FFversusXIII is basically FFXV just with a different name. Personally i'm looking forward to it, and now they are kicking up development since they finished Type-0 we should see some more info trickling out soon.

Depending on how well versusXIII and type-0 do over here, FFXV might be a little more mature and dark than the regular numbered titles. They are probably working on it now, and we probably won't hear an announcement of any kind until after they ship versus next year. They might even wait until the next generation to do another current generation type project.

[quannum]

just give me chibi dark souls with belts, zippers, cid, mog, choco, amnesia, crystals and a role-based ability tree and call it a day

[Vaspinne]

I feel like if you want to get a good, classic style FF with sprites and etc, etc, than you need to pick up a DS and get some of the games released on there. FFIII, FFIV and 4 Heroes of Light come to mind. I agree with everyone else though, FFXV should try new things and see where it goes. I liked XIII's gameplay and story to an extent, and while XII's overall story was great, I just didn't get into all the individual character stories as much as I have in previous FF's (FFIX being a prime example of a game with brilliant individual character stories, and yes, one of the, if not the best FF >_>)

[Crab_Cake]

Bitching aside, my nigga Hiroyuki Ito better get his ass on FFXV. That'll make it a great game despite what some others may think in this thread... :/

You mean that same guy who decided to make Zodiac Spear easily missable because he wanted players to replay the game? No thanks... Okay j/k (I enjoyed FF12 overall but still things like that are unwanted IMO). Well he actually did say that (or was it someone else) apparently when they came up with the idea of Zodiac Spear >.<.

According to the interview - He wanted people to speculate, talk about things, and replay the game. He wanted FFXII to be a mystery and invoke discussion on boards (similar to FFXI in a sense).

Overpowered abilities are still there in offline FFs, sure not to the ridiculous extent of FFVI/VII/VIII but FFXII and FFXIII didn't really joke around with things like Nihopalaoa, Reverse+Decoy, Random Instant Chain, Highwind and Death.

One of FFXII and FFXIII's biggest fault IMO is the fact that summons are kind of "useless" in both games.

Okay in FFXIII they were useful but not for the reasons everyone would have thought before they played the game (hi2u turtle farming and poison trick).

They should have made Eidolons like Aeons in FFX - You could use them often and they were what I call right-o-powered (yes I made that up. It's something that "seems" overpowered and it's fun to use but not really overpowered at all >.>).

Also borrowing customization elements from FFX wouldn't have hurt either (adjusting stats and adding abilities on Eidolon, etc).

Though here are things that "should" be in FFXV:

1. New Game Plus - Something where you keep all items, levels, etc. It's silly that SE hasn't made this a norm yet when other RPGs are doing it. Reason why people want New Game Plus is to enjoy the story over again (and obtain any missables) but without the tedious grind or farm.).

Just plow through everything and sit back to enjoy the story basically.

2. Being able to rebattle a variety of high level bosses (similar to Monster Arena from FFX) for fun or for grind. No just fighting turtles over and over again like in FFXIII. Maybe a variety for grind.

FFX did that but yet FFXII did not do that. FFXIII did that

[Spira]

it does seem a little early to be announcing a FFXV although putting one into development right about now does seem to make sense. That said, SE shd be using Crystal Tools again which would cut development time by a considerable amount. (it shd work fine with offline FFs, even if it didnt with XIV).

I'd like for a main lineage FF to explore the modern world view again. I mean.. stories aside, what captivates me most about each title is the world view.. especially for the newer ones with fleshed out environs.

Starting from our first non-sprite FF, we've seen (in respective order): cyberpunk, modern/contemporary, medieval fantasy, asian/south pacific, fantasy, high fantasy, futuristic and finally XIV which appears to be high-fantasy meets steampunk.

I think the point i'm trying to make is that FF has never limited the worldview and setting genre for the games... but at the same time often prefers to strike either far backwards (into medieval fantasy) or far forwards (into futuristic). This is what is happening for most games out there in the market. The only ones which try to bank on modern-day realism to create 'fantasy' are.. well.. GTA and other sandbox games.

I think FFvs13 might actually be heading in that direction too but its not a main lineage FF and still feels a little distant from a real-world setting. The reason why I believe realistic-world made into fantasy is amazing is because it makes the fantasy both familiar and believable at once. In that sense, the best fantasy out there don't try to make you understand another world - you kind of already do.

and the closest FF that ever came to that was FFVIII, which happens to be my favorite FF as well. I truly appreciate things like taking trains and renting a car.. exploring the city which looks like a real city... TV stations, press, schools.. that sort of thing. its as if the fantasy was intentionally understated and left for you to fill the gaps in your mind. that much i know is really powerful.. its like how a striptease makes the mind fantasize more than a porno.

[Lordender]

Versus 13 is make or break to me, the combat looks good, the "getting back to roots by exploring the world with vehicles" has been one of my biggest gripes I have had for years. I just hope the story and the characters hold up, if SE fucks up Versus 13, I'm probably done with the console versions and maybe the entire franchise depending on how 2.0 turns out.

[Vincento]

Though here are things that "should" be in FFXV:

1. New Game Plus - Something where you keep all items, levels, etc. It's silly that SE hasn't made this a norm yet when other RPGs are doing it. Reason why people want New Game Plus is to enjoy the story over again (and obtain any missables) but without the tedious grind or farm.).

Just plow through everything and sit back to enjoy the story basically.

As cool as new game+ is for a lot of people, I've never been a fan of it, I hate the idea of having to replay everything I've already done. I think Chrono Cross is one of the few games I've been able to make it through a whole ng+.

I think X had it right with the monster arena and eventually being able to overpower yourself to plow through the rest of the story. My favorite thing has always been powerleveling early, or finding the loopholes to get the best weapons asap (Lionheart after first mission in ff8 via card game, etc).

Monster arena is definitely a must. Some things that could be nice would be a solid party, an actual final weapon for each character, a real minigame like Blitzball, or any of the old card games - this a must have distraction for when I need a break from the game without actually taking a break. I don't particularly care if they go retro on the graphics, but I'd prefer something at least on the level of ff8-9.

[Crab_Cake]

@Spira - I am curious on what type of setting FFXV will take place. They could do futuristic again (but they'd want to make the cities and areas not look like FFXIII to avoid confusion). A "realistic modern" type is something that does interest me (FF Versus 13 is going for that so that means if they do that, they need to make it distinct from Versus).

They could do medieval again. When I think of FFXII, I think of brown mostly because it seems a lot of the areas were brownish (nearly all the cities were brown). So go for a different color to make things refreshing. (Of course they can do futuristic again too. FFXIII was really a distinct type of futuristic. <3 Vanille.)

As for the engine - Well whatever they do, make it so it can be ported to the PC easily (or make it PC capable from the beginning and release it on the PC that is). Yes SE must test the PC market (using a game other than The Last Remnant that is because TLR doesn't have brand name of FF!).

@Lordender - Final Fantasy Type-0 does have a world map. Though it's not as a huge extent as FF1-9 (there's only one major city AFAIK?). They did add random encounters and an airship you can obtain though. Reading on gamefaqs seems like most were satisfied with FF Type-0. So that should be good news for FF Versus XIII.

@Vincento - New Game + shouldn't be too hard to do (right?). Just keep all items, stats, remove any important key items, and there you go. What I like about New Game+ is that you can review the entire story using your overpowered characters.

Of course if they do add a New Game+, they shouldn't force players to replay the game to get 100% or anything. It would be just an extra for those who may want to review the story using their overpowered characters.

They definitely need to make Monster Arena a norm. In FFXIII for example they could have had the ability to rebattle any bosses encountered using the Save Station (like there would be three difficulty levels of each boss you encountered. Normal, Hard, and Extreme. Extreme level monsters are all harder than the final boss and offer gil and CP rewards).

Marks were fine but I hated having to run back and forth from the stone (fortunately some are really close to the mark area though) to farm/grind when in FF10 I could just stay in one place.

I definitely like how in FF8 or FF10 the grind was fun. (Well in FF8 the grind could be done by playing cards. Can be done as soon as Ifrit is obtained. There's a guide on gamefaqs on this.)

In FF10 the Monster Arena is the spot to grind. You could grind the super bosses or play Blitzball when bored.

[Elcura]

One of FFXII and FFXIII's biggest fault IMO is the fact that summons are kind of "useless" in both games.

I don't think this is a fault, well, perhaps it is depending on how you look at it, but I don't think its necessarily a bad thing. In most FF games, summons are more or less about how you want to use them (if at all). I've never played a FF game where I've needed to use summons. Sure in some games they're more useful than others (especially the ones that link summons to character progression), but I don't think it's a fault to have summons be something on the side for extra damage/utility.

Most of the times, your characters are far and away more useful for killing shit than summons are. I think 7 was the only game I really abused them, but you could abuse a shitload of things in that.

[Nevex]

I found summons very useful in FFXIII.
Damage + revival + full HP and status healing + invincibility? Sign me up.

If anything the problem is that they're very limited because of the slow TP recharging, but to say that they're useless is plain wrong.

[Spira]

FFXIII summons were useful for the wrong reasons lol..
but then again thats because people are used to summons being the super-damage beasts that they used to be.

in XII they werent that great cos u couldnt control them (not referring to izjs) and without the control, as pure damage you really don't need them that much to begin with..

in some ways there were useless in FFVIII too. when i played perfect game.. i nearly never summoned at all. you really only need to use summons in FFVIII if you werent good at junctioning...

whichever the case.. i'd like to see summons have some kind of practical use. They're more or less just there for the sake of being there these days..

[Xno Kappa]

Honestly, FFVIII, FFX and FFXIII are the only FF's I ever remember summons being useful throughout the whole game. At least from what I remember. In others, your characters ultimately get strong enough that summoning them is a waste of time.

[Elcura]

In 8 summons are great until you figure out how to play the game. Then they're just a waste of time because you could do the same damage but faster with limitbreaks or hell, even triple + spell.

10 depends on playstyle, but I do love how summons were used there. I just wish their damage output could match Wakka's attack reels lol. Not to mention you sacrifice a lot to summon. 3 characters are usually always better than 1 (though Magus Sisters... though weren't they completely random?)

[Nevex]

Summons are great in FFX though one thing that really bothered me is how they completely lack any logic.
I mean Yuna is just standing there like a sitting duck, her guardians run away for no real reason yet no enemy in the game ever thinks about targeting the helpless summoner instead of her aeons.

FFXII wanted to fix this but instead they completely blew it since both summon and summoner are ridiculously easy to kill.

FFXIII improved things a lot but still there is no reason for the other party members to run away when eidolons are summoned.

Of course we have FFXI, too bad avatars are extremely frail and their abilities are on a timer for balance reasons.

Long story short, a summoning system like FFXIII but with party members not running away would probably be the best one they can come up with.

[TT]

Mix the multiplayer aspect of FFXI into a single player game. IE: game updates, new armor, quests, abilities, skills, jobs, stories, characters. Take out the idle time of MMOs but keep the parts that people love. Quarterly updates that will require a player to complete more challenges. I mean when I finished X and had a beast of a party and nothing left that was a challenge I was disappointed. In this manner of gaming SE can view how players will play the game and implement game play as the player base has progressed. You have a top tier group? Well next update there will be a crazy dragon that's nearly impossible and has a 1% drop on an amazing item... oh and you can only fight this dragon once every day or whatever. Kept FFXI players coming back for years and now that challenge is a joke and loot is about useless.

[Lonely]

Mix the multiplayer aspect of FFXI into a single player game. IE: game updates, new armor, quests, abilities, skills, jobs, stories, characters. Take out the idle time of MMOs but keep the parts that people love. Quarterly updates that will require a player to complete more challenges. I mean when I finished X and had a beast of a party and nothing left that was a challenge I was disappointed. In this manner of gaming SE can view how players will play the game and implement game play as the player base has progressed. You have a top tier group? Well next update there will be a crazy dragon that's nearly impossible and has a 1% drop on an amazing item... oh and you can only fight this dragon once every day or whatever. Kept FFXI players coming back for years and now that challenge is a joke and loot is about useless.

If people want game updates there are 2 Final Fantasy games that do that, XI and XIV, 13-2 will be experimenting with DLC to. Summons were well done in 7, 8, 9, and 10. XIII summons were useful for certain things at least (turtles farming which is a huge part of the endgame), gestalt mode was dumb but fun. They should have just made the summons more powerful with better Aoe and no gestalt honestly.