After the release of FF7R this year, FFXV 3.5 years ago, and FFXIV's expansions ARR/HW/SB/ShB for the past 8 years, has Final Fantasy regained any kind of identity or direction again? Or maybe identity is the wrong thing we're looking for.
Final Fantasy, as a franchise, was about providing fans a new story and cast of characters to follow on an adventure, in a fresh, exciting world with every game. For a long time in the franchise's history, that new experience would come out to us every 1-2 years, sometimes we had to wait for 3.
Well, we've gotten a steady stream of XIV expansions that shows no hint of ending anytime soon. FF7R is the start of a 3-5 part series. And we're looking at a brand new, mainline Final Fantasy game within the next 2-3 years. Can we say the franchise has regained a momentum, to say the least, that it had lost for a long time? If so, where should it take us? Should they return to Turn-based/command menu combat or push further into action combat? Should it focus on linear experiences like FF7R or become more open world like FFXV? Or something in between?
At this point, I think it's worth discussing the near future of the franchise as we're starting to see some decent products being shipped with more competence than we've seen in a long time.
I'm amazed that I even care enough to click on this thread even though I don't think they've released something passable outside of the MMO space since 2006, but somehow I do.
I'm not concerned with whether it's linear or open world since I don't think they've done either well recently, I just want Tetsuya Nomura as far away from it as possible. And probably Nojima too. And certainly Toriyama. Just fire everybody please, Square.
Jackson Bennett
character creation or fuck off
Camden Sanchez
You told us we'd get a trailer, user.
Isaac Phillips
there's a weird shill lately, probably the same guy who was samefagging about a new matsuno game the other day
Asher Roberts
I want this as a feature BUT isn't including a CC a HUGE hindrance to telling a compelling narrative? If you've played one game with a nearly mute PC, you've played them all.
There's only hope for this franchise if they get rid of Nomura, Nojima, Toriyama, and Hamaguchi.
Nathaniel Anderson
>isn't including a CC a HUGE hindrance to telling a compelling narrative? Where did this meme come from? Character models are rigged up to a skeleton that animators animate. What the model looks like doesn't change the narrative and it doesn't stop animators and voice actors from acting for that 3D model.
See Fallout 4 for an example of a game with a voiced protagonist that you can customize, there are plenty of other games that do that and thousands of model swap mods that do it too. youtube.com/watch?v=EXnUGxb7m-A
Jack Cooper
Yoshida is already on the board of directors who watches over the franchise right? So.. he just has to keep Nomura away from it so Nomura will never ever get to directing a main line Final Fantasy.
Honestly, just give it to Yoko Taro and have Saito make sure he doesn't go completely overboard. After slaving for Square for the past 15 years he deserves it.
Also let Soken and Okabe do the Music.
Jack Butler
After 15s and 7rs so called success, its guaranteed to be an action rpg. which is fine because turn based is a relic that cannot be innovated further As long as it ends up being a touched up Deagons Dogma with a fuckton of classes, chances are itll be fine. And 16 is heavily rumored/implied to have a dream team isnt it? >Yoko Taro Caim as 16s protag, lets go
Evan Moore
>which is fine because turn based is a relic that cannot be innovated further same broken logic applies to action combat, retard
Ethan Perez
Are you the user that lied that FFXVI was going to be announced on the xbox event?
Jack Anderson
Neo cyber punk future shooter.
Oliver Martin
I started playing World of Final Fantasy the other day and it's unironically more creative and entertaining than anything the mainline series has put out in the last decade.
Liam Baker
>See Fallout 4 for an example The last thing we need is to start taking notes from fucking Bethesda.
Brayden Harris
Wasn't there a rumor years ago then whenever Square remakes FF7, there will be no more FF games afterwards?
What will be happening now is the boardrooms looking at the financial success that is ff7r and talking about how many parts of the game they can actually produce. Do they do another 4 parts keeping in line with the only 1/5 of the whole story we currently have? or do they allow the teams more time to make this a trilogy of games with around 18 months between releases.
ff7r part 1 will come out on xboxsex, ps5 and PC next year, probably with a ff14 port all in 2021, that means an earliest for ff7r part 2 is 2021 holiday (most probably early 2022) Considering they have had around 3 years of FULL development on the project they may have a considerable amount of part 2 done already (if its a total 5 parts) which would allow one release a year. That brings us to 2024/2025 for any new developments. If square enix don;t want to commit sudoku again like they have the past 10 years FF games with paper thing teams and half assed games then no one is thinking about ff16 apart from Tabatas notebook until at the very earliest 2023 with probably no game until 2025/2026
I expect a smaller team to tackle another a smaller ff story in the mean time (If square pluck up the money to Acquire Acquire following their work on octopath traveler. Hopefully they drop Kingdom hearts games and just let CG teams and Disney do "films"
Well the last 15 years or so have proven that Squares Upper Management has no idea what people want. XIV is a great game, maybe even the best game in the franchise when it comes to the experience. But in the mind of the Mainstream, if its not FF7 its shit.
Evan Cooper
This, give us a decent action combat system combined with a traditional job system.
Parker Harris
>See Fallout 4 for an example of a game with an extremely shit story BUT BASE BUILDING YAY
Someone at square at one point said something along the lines of 'we wont redo 7 until we outdo 7'. But then they were in dire need of money.
Nolan Rivera
What if I find the idea of Final Fantasy Pokemon Edition retarded?
Christopher Lewis
>party-based game >wants action combat can you fuckers please die?
Dylan Jenkins
>holding FF up to some higher standard in story telling Don't make me laugh, both are garbage, the point was a technical one you illiterate retards. Another example are Bioware games.
Blake Fisher
More creative and entertaining doesn't mean the entire franchise needs to become it, but the mainline titles are so rigid in their design and refuse to do anything creative, and they take themselves far too seriously.
Chase Campbell
>using bethesda and bioware to make a technical point ok retard
Angel Harris
>the point was a technical one that falls flat because fallout 4 is hot trash. You could have at least said 3 or new vegas you retard
>and they take themselves far too seriously. FF games have always done that, the whole point of the story is the heroes journey.
Joshua Baker
Can you guys grow up? I'm over here trying to help you understand something and you're whining about games you don't like. It doesn't matter if you like it or not, I didn't imply they were good or anything either.
And FNV doesn't have a voiced character which is why I didn't mention it, you mongoloid.
Samuel Miller
FF games didn't get Super Serious until XIII and XV, both of which revolve around the theme of defying fate, a terrible idea that has seeped into VIIR's time altering shenanigans. XII had "I'm Captain Basche!" and Vaan getting shamed for asking Fran's age, X had multiple moments of Tidus being an asshole to random civilians, IX is goofy all around, VIII is so gay it might as well be considered a joke, VII's cross-dressing, etc.
