How do you want Final Fantasy XV to be like?

When I first played XIII I was somewhat disappointed by the game. I mean don't get me wrong it had many highlights and was a great RPG in general but for a Final Fantasy title I felt it was more of a let down. I've heard the reasons for FFXIII being the way it was and such, but I think that it could have improved in other ways. I think FFXV should be done by the team that did FFIX (I believe thats the team that does the Crystal Chronicle games right?). I enjoyed IX alot, it was not my favorite but I remember having a lot of fun playing it. Plus I think fans want a new final fantasy feel. FF X and XIII were both done with the team of Tetsuya Nomura and Kitase so fans might be getting bored of playing there kind of things. I've heard how bad the Crystal Chronicles are from many people but I think if the IX team could work on a mainstream final fantasy they could give it some potential. So what are your opinions and how do you want Final Fantasy XV to be like?

I want exactly what you just said. I want a world and feel like FFIX just to be different from the past couple. And don't tell me "FFXII...blahblahblah". I want a world with new races and faces (not just recycled bangaas(XII) or storm troopers and mechanical beings(XIII)). The main thing I want is a world map again. But we've been screaming for that for like years so why would they listen now?

Also, I want a FFX-2 type battle system....NO, I want THE battle system from FFX-2. I want to have levels, an MP bar, and FFVIIIth's worth of side quests. Hell I want a like-able, relatable MAIN character and solid supporting actors. I WANT FFXV to be everything I've wanted in a FF since I first played I-IX.

See? Not asking for much.

I hope they continue in the direction they have been taken the franchise. I'm quite happy with it.

I want the job system of V. Mostly the mixing and matching. And like Odin, the battle system of X-2. Also want a Gold Saucer area or at least a monster arena.

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I think FFXV should be done by the team that did FFIX (I believe thats the team that does the Crystal Chronicle games right?)

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Wrong, Square choose's different members with each entry.

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FF X and XIII were both done with the team of Tetsuya Nomura and Kitase so fans might be getting bored of playing there kind of things

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No.

I'll try to come up with something for each of the previous games. Let's see...

Fixed but still selectable jobs so as to increase replayability (eg. I)
Not online (eg. II)
The ability to use more characters in battle (eg. III)
Jobs actually have noticeable strengths and weaknesses rather than just different weapons (eg. IV)
Decently paced storyline (eg. V)
Better usage of summons (eg. VI)
Chocobo breeding/racing/etc (eg. VII)
3D Traversable World Map (eg. VIII)
Nameable characters (eg. IX)
Various decent minigames (eg. X)
Subjobs (eg. XI)
(eg. XII)
Fleshed out characters (eg. XIII)
The ability to create your own items (eg. XIV)

I want something brand new. Has there ever been a fantasy RPG that looks and feels like it was born in the 60's? Meaning the characters and people of the world reflect that period of time in terms of fashion, music, sexual revolution, the civil rights movement, war vs peace, hippies, swingers etc.?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_eclUjGxkzS....145228514.jpg

http://www.vintage-clothing.net.au/u...nts_vest_2.jpg

http://i.acdn.us/image/A1516/151693/300_151693.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0voejU7y9b...on+dashiki.bmp

http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/viet/lifeviet3.jpg

No, Earthbound is the only role-playing game that I know of that references that era in American history.

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Originally Posted by Jessweeee♪

I hope they continue in the direction they have been taken the franchise. I'm quite happy with it.

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Hell no...

As for what I want... I want another Dystopia, one that actually feels and looks like one, not X's dystopia on the smurfing beach where its kinda hard to feel the pain and misery with Wakka grooving that Jamaican beat mon...

I want something like the Ruined World or Midgard no more of this glossy shiny hi-tech crap, where is my dirt and grit? The kind of world where it rains everyday because that's just what it does and misery can actually be felt just by looking around you.

With that said, I would like black to be trimmed from the parties color palette cause that's too easy and obvious. ;)

I would actually like a traditional Turn Base battle system. If SE tries any harder to create seamless battles with A.I. party members and action oriented command styles they'll just accidentally make Star Ocean. Granted I would like some fresh ideas for how to use the turn base styles, like maybe borrowing one of P3's good elements and not screwing it up, like the element exploitation system.

I would love to see SE actually try to recreate the game design platform from FFVI/Chrono Trigger with the first half of the game being linear story to introduce the cast and plot elements and then let the second half be opened ended with the player choosing whether to tie up all the loose ends or just go straight for the ending.

Incorporate mini-games into the story but actually be good about it like VII did, and not tedious and feeling out of place like in X.

I would love a job class system, probably on par with FFTactics or if not, I want a system that would allow me to make multiple job roles with it, except actually balance the game so its practical to do so as opposed to being a novelty idea while you build a broken set-up.

Difficulty, and not XIII's controlled "smurf you players" difficulty like taking MegaTen's rule of killing the main character = Game Over, I mean make the game challenging so its not an easy walk to the park and simply grinding for an extra gil to grab that one item accidentally nets you three levels that has now made your party damn near invincible for the first half of the game. What I mostly want, is battles that require explotation of enemy weaknesses and A.I. Scripts, not just flashy super moves that do guaranteed max damage. Let's go back to IX and make status ailments something to be feared.

Let Hiroyuki Ito direct and battle system designer and Daisuke Watanabe and Masaru Oka write the story. Akihiko Yoshida can do art direction and Character designs (Not a stretch since he's been doing a lot of artwork for Squenix) and just keep Kitase and Wada away...

I can't think of what kind of characters I would like to see. I'll get back to that some other time when I'm in the mood.

As much as I seem to disagree with many of your preferences for game design that list looks splendid.

It doesn't matter what we want. 15 is a multiple of 3. It will be amazing because that's the rule.

Yeah I disagree with the mini games feeling out of place and tedious with X too. Also with the inclusion of Norse Mythos.

If they were going to go with a 60's American feel which I sadly feel that no one will, especially not the Japanese, I would want the party members to consist of a sword wielding soldier who represents the war image of the world, a pro black sista that uses a kusiragama that represents the civil rights struggle and a hippie girl that's the white mage that represents anti war and sexual expression of the time period.

There would also be a woman that expresses the conservatism and roles of women in that time period. I'm not sure about her weaponry or playstyle though. Another man could represent the music, hey may be rock or soul, either way his weapon would be his instrument and he'll play similarly to a bard or songstress. I'm tired of the six person or three person party as which has been done lately since X so I'll come back later and see if I could think of some more party members.

>>> Just make a new Chrono game and name it FFXV..:luca:

I'd like them to create something similar to FFIX. Not in terms of gameplay but in terms of artstyle and the like. I'd also like them to expand on what they were doing with FFXII by having an open world with real time combat.

I'm going to agree with pretty much everything Wolf said, with the possible exception of having Daisuke Watanabe and Masaru Oka write. Maybe they could do it (Watanabe did work on XII which I loved), but looking at their writing credits, they also worked on some of my least favourite games of the last ten years. Which in Watanabe's case includes the worst RPG I've played in possibly as long, FFXIII.

What I really want though is the sort of gameplay Wolf talked about. Something challenging that makes the player learn and exploit the battle system effectively instead of something where you can level up a couple of times and stomp enemies for half of the game, or even worse, encourages you to repeat the same set of 2-3 actions for the entire game the way FFXIII did. And if it can avoid killing the player almost instantly for not knowing an enemies attack pattern the first time they fight it and making a single bad strategy choice the way FFXIII did it'll be even better.

In fact, long story short, if it's the opposite of FFXIII we may have the greatest RPG in 10 years on our hands.

Opposite of FFXIII: FFXII. Greatest RPG in 10 years? Psshhh.

The sad thing is, no matter what they do with FFXV, at least half of the Final Fantasy fans out there will probably call it horrible purely because there are so many of us these days and they all have different ideals about what would make the greatest FF ever. The first fourteen games are so varied in their nature that fans of each individual game are as different in their hopes/expectations as the individual games are different to each other.

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

Opposite of FFXIII: FFXII. Greatest RPG in 10 years? Psshhh.

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Close, but as much as I liked the story and characters in XII, the exact opposite of XIII would have an even better story with better pacing. That said, FFXII was the best RPG of the last ten years next to Persona 3 if you ask me (still haven't played Persona 4 though). :D

I think it would be cool if they took it in a non-linear direction, kinda like Chrono Trigger, with different endings and at least one 'bad' ending. I mean, every FF up to now essentially bottlenecks you into the one preapproved ending, especially XIII. *dives behind low wall to avoid inevitable fruit barrage*

For me "Greatest RPG in 10 years" is somewhat of faint praise. I just wish they could nail something in between hugely open and ridiculously confined.

I hope they stick with keeping a fewer amount of characters like they have been since FFVIII. As much as I had fun playing FFVI, I prefer not having 27 playable characters, the only unique ones being gimmicky like Gau or Mog. It's nice messing around with all of their different abilities, but there are only a few personalities shared between them.

I was SE to surprise me with an inspired burst of creativity the way that Squaresoft used to on an almost annual basis.

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Originally Posted by Vivi22

I'm going to agree with pretty much everything Wolf said, with the possible exception of having Daisuke Watanabe and Masaru Oka write. Maybe they could do it (Watanabe did work on XII which I loved), but looking at their writing credits, they also worked on some of my least favourite games of the last ten years. Which in Watanabe's case includes the worst RPG I've played in possibly as long, FFXIII.

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It's true not all of Watanabe's works have been gold but to be fair to him, I noticed his crappier entries also have a random factor such as co-writing FFX with Kazuhige "I'm a hack" Nojima and helping write XIII with Motomu Toriyama whose only a few steps above being and ameture in the scenario writing business with only two titles under his belt (Racing Lagoon and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings) as an actual scenario writer as opposed to Scenario Planner. Besides Motomu, was pretty open about saying he wrote XIII himself. I wouldn't be surprised if Watanabe was simply cleaning up his scripts and making them presentable

Basing those games on the titles Watanabe wrote by himself or with a non- Nojima/Motomu, I feel he 's the better writer here. The man wrote Dew Prism for crying out loud, his weakest non-Nojima/Motomu entry is probably Dissidia and let's face it, there was no way you could write and engaging story on par with the series legacy with a premise as silly as a massive crossover fighting tournament. ;) Still, I feel Chain of Memories and Birth By Sleep have been some of the best stories out of SE in the past decade and Watanabe was also the Scenario Supervisor for 358/2 which was also one of the better KH entries.

He's not the greatest writer at SE, and at best I feel he's hit or miss but I would rather take him over Motomu and Nojima any day of the week. Those two are the reasons I'm still skeptical about how good Versus XIII and The 3rd Birthday are going to be.

As for "stick to small parties", I'm fine as long as getting the group is still stretched out, I've noticed I tend to not favor entries that introduce the whole playable cast in the first few hours. Part of me still likes the idea of a group of strangers gathering together at different points over a period of stories as opposed to one group from the get go with maybe two other members not present at the beginning. I also feel that VI was hampered by technology limitations and that Suikoden is a better representative of a large ensemble cast where 20+ characters are relevant (depending on which Suikoden we're talking about of course ;) ) so I don't mind a large cast and frankly I would like to see if SE could even do it. At least ten characters to keep things interesting.

http://www.videogamesprites.net/Fina...%20Chained.gif

I agree that getting characters throughout the story (and even having optional characters, a la Yuffie and Vincent) is far better than having them all from the start. However you need to still work solid stories into all of the characters regardless. If they start adding in characters for the sake of it, I lose interest in them. Likewise if they are only available near the end of the game. I think VII's characters were unlocked in a better way than, say, Suikoden, personally. I don't like massive casts as I prefer to focus on fewer characters, but again, I still prefer getting them in a staggered way with some of them being entirely optional.

I would like to see at least eight characters with at least one of them not being a humanoid. That would be awesome. Or a humanoid, but not to the extent that they're the same height. I was annoyed that there were no playable Bangaa etc. in XII. I'm not into fairy tales much, but it would be very interesting if a miniature-sized character was introduced and different areas could be accessed depending on "character size". A tall character can reach taller hidden items, a small character can get items from small holes, etc.

Thinking about it further, and what has really been missing from latest entries for me is personal involvement in the adventures. FF10-13 really just filled me with an incredible amount of apathy for what the characters were trying to accomplish. (which I would love to elaborate on if someone were to nudge this enough off topic :D). It would be nice to do things in the game not for the sole reason that if I don't do them the game won't advance.

NO MORE THAN EIGHT CHARACTERS PLEASE!!! Chrono Cross is incredibly annoying to me. Also, I like storyline too much to make it the goose-bumps style: "Turn to page 37." turns page "You're dead" I felt thats how CHrono was and I don't like it. Make it open, but not like that.

like ff 12 for psp

1.) As long as the storyline is great I don't care if they return to the old school games with crystals or the more futuristic style. I prefer getting back to some old school Final Fantasy, but they can make a great story with or without it.
2.) Prefer the use of more than 3 people in combat. Keep it 4 or maybe even 5.
3.) WORLD MAP! That's usable!
4.) More game play and less movie watching. The graphics are great and all but half the time I forget I'm playing a game.
5.) Chocobo and Moogle usage, and not just used as a summon or merely a bird you can ride. Place them into the story or use them as a fun minigame/quest of some sort.
6.) Plenty of Minigames and Side Quests that can be worked on throughout the game.
7.) More playable characters please. 6 is to few and 16 is too many. I'd be happy with 10 or 12 fleshed out important playable characters. Loved XII, but out of the six playables 2 of them seemed out of place. Love VI more than any, but some of those guys had little reason to be apart of the team.

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Originally Posted by Roto13

It doesn't matter what we want. 15 is a multiple of 3. It will be amazing because that's the rule.

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Oh my god, I never realized this...

I'm so excited now.

I want

• Not super-linear story progression. If this is FF13, I would be fine with something like this for FF15.
• At least an illusion of my choices affecting the story a tiny bit, for example through multiple endings. This makes for a lot of replayability. This is also nice when coupled with a new game plus feature.
• Plenty of sidequests available at most stages of the story's development (not everything crammed into the last chapter (Hi FF13)).
• A job system like in 5, 10-2 and 11. This means specific jobs that are changeable at any time, and a system that allows one job to borrow abilities from a different job (or several jobs).
• Slightly futuristic fantasy setting, or perhaps steampunk-like. Anything but "ye olde medieval fantasy".
• Fast-paced, balanced battle system. A quick-paced ATB-derivate is welcome.
• Even though I want a job based system, I still want characters to have a tiny bit of individual differences in battle. Nothing game-breaking though.

no tetsuya nomura
no motomu toriyama
no high school live journal storyline
open-ended gameplay
job system only
final destination

Just surprise me with some new and creative ideas, keep it fun, and don't wait 5 years to release it. Do all three of those and I'll be satisfied.

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Originally Posted by Mirage

I want

• Not super-linear story progression. If this is FF13, I would be fine with something like this for FF15.
• At least an illusion of my choices affecting the story a tiny bit, for example through multiple endings. This makes for a lot of replayability. This is also nice when coupled with a new game plus feature.
• Plenty of sidequests available at most stages of the story's development (not everything crammed into the last chapter (Hi FF13)).
• A job system like in 5, 10-2 and 11. This means specific jobs that are changeable at any time, and a system that allows one job to borrow abilities from a different job (or several jobs).
• Slightly futuristic fantasy setting, or perhaps steampunk-like. Anything but "ye olde medieval fantasy".
• Fast-paced, balanced battle system. A quick-paced ATB-derivate is welcome.
• Even though I want a job based system, I still want characters to have a tiny bit of individual differences in battle. Nothing game-breaking though.

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Most of these would be pretty cool. :up: I don't really need a futuristic setting, though. Or fast battles. I actually prefer battles that I can go at my own pace, like in FFX, Tactics, or the earlier games where you had a 'wait' mode.

What I want most of all is for the game to not always take itself so seriously. When you try really hard to have an elaborate and epic plot it usually comes out as forced, and that's how I feel abou the last two games. I would love to see another humerous side character like Ultros in this game, and a return of some slapstick humor sprinkled about.

EDIT: Oh, also some form of blue mage or blue magic. If that alone is there I'll consider it a success. I <3 BLU

The battle system in FFX is what annoyed me the most. It was lacking action so much that I sometimes fell asleep playing. I like a battle system that keeps me sitting on the edge of my chair/couch and makes me have to think and act moderately fast at least most of the time. FFX-2's battle system was right down my alley.

I liked FFX-2's as well, but I think there was a wait mode in that one. FFX-2's gameplay in general was some of the best in the modern era. I just don't prefer the systems of FFXII and FFXIII that are continuous and without time to take a breather and size up the situation.

I personally am all for a slower based system. RPGs have their roots in slow games, if I want something fast I can always play some other genre.

i want a main stream where you ARE the main charecter (similar to the mass effect) where what you do depends on how things play out, just a little randomness would be great.

I want to have a character in the story that during the beginning is the best in the party, the player lvls him/her up to 99, with max everything and in the last final moment this person betrays you and turns out to be the games final boss, some friggen randomness please.

id like to see a limit system return, and all the damn summons, not just ifrit, shiva, and behamut. Secret characters like in 6 and 7 where the story continues wheather youve met them or not. set classes need a comback with some custom feature to play around with, and random ass bosses that have nothing to do with the story what so ever (classic)

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Originally Posted by sir helix

I want to have a character in the story that during the beginning is the best in the party, the player lvls him/her up to 99, with max everything and in the last final moment this person betrays you and turns out to be the games final boss, some friggen randomness please.

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When I was about 16 I wrote a partial video game script and that indeed is what happened in it. :p

Also the ability system I created for it was pretty much the exact same system of Final Fantasy IX, even though that game came out years later. :eek: Still one of the best systems ever in my view and I wish it got used more.

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id like to see a limit system return, and all the damn summons, not just ifrit, shiva, and bahamut.

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I doubt you'll get that. 89? That's a heck of a lot of summons.

it still wopuld be nice to have some of the old fellas back in the game

-Fast paced battle system that still leaves the player in the driver seat. Basically not a slow battle system like FFIX and not an automated one like FFXII and FFXIII. FFX-2's battle system was perfect if you look past the girly fasade.
-Non-linear game, with side quests and towns. Every now and then I need a break from saving the world.
-I wouldn't mind seeing a world map again, or at least a better way to find hidden areas than typing in codewords from the airship to unlock them. I love roaming around the world map on an airship trying to find hidden areas.

Other things would just be bonuses.

For FF XV... I'd like a game like IX again. They can do everything the same gameplay-wise, just with a new (just as likable) cast and a new (just as worked out) story, that's all that I'd like. Of course, one could argue I could just go back and play IX then, but I just did that, and I want new stuff mixed with the classic superb IX stuff. IX was the best game ever made, yet so few FFs since have followed its brilliant example of what a FF should be...

So, that would mean:

-Medieval/Steampunk/Fantasy mixed setting like in IX
-Individual characters (no clones at all, each character has his/her/its own job and that's it)
-Nobuo Uematsu composing the score
-A real villain, not like XIII's pope, who was lame
-A friendly Cid (villain Cid is already old because none could top XII's Cid, so, give up, evil Ciddies, you'll never beat Draklor's very own Doctor Cid)
-Fun minigames (frog catching, Chocobo Hot & Gold, bring back that auction house)
-Optional boss that's challenging not because he bores you to tears (Yiazmat, I'm looking at you), but because he's mean (Ozma, you cheap bastard, I'm looking at you)
-Worldmap with airship, because even though it's illusionary freedom, flying the Holda Garde 3 around the world for fun was, well, fun
-An amazing final dungeon like Memoria again, please
-No breaking the 9999 damage limit. 9999 damage is enough. Give the bosses less HP instead of making million-damage moves. In IX, we did it all with Shock and Thievery and held our ground just fine, even against bastards like Ozma.
-Classic summons. Sure, they're just prettier Black Magic, but hey, it's a FF classic, why change it? I didn't like X, XII or XIII's summon systems.
-A nice finishing song like Melodies of Life again. ^^
-No advertising the game like the second VII. VII is old news, let it rest in peace, it deserves it. Don't compare your new games to it to draw in unsuspecting customers, it's cheap. Especially since XIII wasn't half the game VII was (and I think of VII as an okay game, nothing more).
-Classic ATB again, please. All this "dynamic, flashy Advent CHildren-ish battle system" is bull****.
-Speaking of battle systems, stop the "3 characters only" rule, PLEASE. Bring back 4 people to control during battles. You know, like in all but one of the Final Fantasy games before VII? Oh IX, you were so perfect... Who cares about loading times, you had a glorious party of 4 on the field...

Things in XV I'd like to see that were improved from IX:
-A better worked out trance (well, it had to be said...)
-No Excalibur II within 12 hours, hmmkay, SE? IX was an experience you had to take your time and enjoy, and then you throw in this 12 hour limit? Fail, absolute utter fail.
-Don't make the game end. Let the divine experience last for all eternity. Please!

I can agree with all of that except for the no breaking the 9999 damage limit and it having to be in a setting like IX's.

I just don't see the appeal or need for breaking the 9999 damage limit (and I consider Omnislash and Lionheart breaking the damage limit). It's only an excuse to give bosses ridiculous high HP (aside from XII, where they thought it would be a good idea to limit the damage to 6999 when fighting a 50 million HP beast). Having to work for such high damage made dealing 9999 damage very satisfying in IX. Seeing my Thievery do 9999 damage in IX was fantastic, made me grin like an evil maniac. :D

Sure, not breaking 9999 damage means you can't one-shot every non-boss enemy in the game. But is that really necesary?

Just my opinion.

I want the game to be good, unlike any of the games after FF10

I highly doubt they are going back to the FF9 concept, as it was the poorest selling FF title since the SNES days.

I don't see why they can't do RPG damage like Chrono Trigger, where you never even got close to the damage limit to begin with. I don't see the need for a hard cap in the first place.

FF IX just had poor timing, there was nothing wrong with it gaming-wise. Even SE should be smart enough to realise this.

No, loading times were terrible and that totally ruined the combat for me. They tried to cram too much details into the game, making it a slugfest. FF8 was way more balanced between eyecandy and performance.

FF9 really comes out the way it was meant to, if you play it on an emulator on your PC. On the Playstation, it was awful to have to wait before every battle was loaded and it looked super pixely on the low screen resolution.

Such loading problems shouldn't be a problem anymore with modern consoles. It's not a valid excuse for SE to not make an IX-styled game again. Loading times are a result of hardware limitations or poor programming, neither of which should be the case anymore for FF XV.

And personally, the loading times in IX did not bother me. Some patience never hurt anybody, especially since grinding for levels and AP in IX was not difficult, as every battle rewarded you generously. I've played it for the first time like it was meant to, on a Playstation, on my PS3 recently, and it was fun.

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Originally Posted by Elpizo

Such loading problems shouldn't be a problem anymore with modern consoles. It's not a valid excuse for SE to not make an IX-styled game again. Loading times are a result of hardware limitations or poor programming, neither of which should be the case anymore for FF XV.

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yeah like how FF14 is so brilliantly programmed

Haven't played XIV, so can't judge. Don't see the strength of the argument "1 badly programmed game = all future game will be badly programmed" anyway. Next. Also note that I said "should".

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Originally Posted by kotora

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Originally Posted by Elpizo

Such loading problems shouldn't be a problem anymore with modern consoles. It's not a valid excuse for SE to not make an IX-styled game again. Loading times are a result of hardware limitations or poor programming, neither of which should be the case anymore for FF XV.

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yeah like how FF14 is so brilliantly programmed

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you know that is not anywhere near an apt comparison soji, bad form

I admit that it was mostly a jab at SE for smurfing up FF14. Just wanted to point out that SE is still very well capable of majorly screwing things up.

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Originally Posted by Elpizo

For FF XV... I'd like a game like IX again. They can do everything the same gameplay-wise, just with a new (just as likable) cast and a new (just as worked out) story, that's all that I'd like. Of course, one could argue I could just go back and play IX then, but I just did that, and I want new stuff mixed with the classic superb IX stuff. IX was the best game ever made, yet so few FFs since have followed its brilliant example of what a FF should be...

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I could go for another FFIX style. Don't consider it the best at all, but I am not really big on the futuristic style of some of the FF's. I'd prefer them steal some of the best material from 4,5,6,9 and mesh them into a masterpiece. Bring back the 4 or even 5 player teams, keep an abundance of mini games and side quests and have the game content last for months and months. They could even bring back the crystals. IX's summon department just doesn't cut it though. Keep the summons short and effective or make them flashy and lingering and do MASSIVE damage. Hated how IX's summons were so long and they barely hit the enemy. Just wasn't a good idea for a game in which the story itself heavily relied on the power of summons. I'd prefer them to be short or give an option to skip past the old school 7-9 wait and watch the same thing you see every dang time you summon.

IX's summons had to be worked for to deal high damage, just like every other attack in the game. If you don't steal, Thievery won't do 9999 damage, either. Likewise, if you didn't get your hands on many of the gemstones, your summons wouldn't do much. But I had 99 Garnets, and Bahamut easily did 7000+ damage, 9999 when the full animation was shown. Aside from Shock, IX made you work for high damage, which I kinda liked.

Summon damage seemed decent to me towards the end game. It didn't that much when you initially got them. Boost helps them deal more damage, but I wish like Elskidor said that there was a short option for summon animations for IX and VIII (Can't remember if VII had overly long summon animations too). I'm less bothered by it in VIII because of the way boost works in that game.

In IX it would've been good if Boost just increased the summon power of the short animations and increased it even more when the full one comes up. Summons like Ark... Actually I might have to check on something. I think I remember that you could actually break the damage limit in this game, but only with Ark. I'll be back.

IMO Crisis Core had summons perfect. It starts the summon animation and if you push any button it skips right to the damage.

I don't see them going medieval stylistically similar to FF9 because it was cute and chibi may put off some people who like realistically proportioned characters :p.

You have had five games now, and two more in the works. Let the people who love chibi characters have their turn. :p

Especially since said chibi game had one of the darker story-events in the series. And let's not forget that everybody's "favourite" game VII had LEGO characters. Realistically proportioned characters are overrated and a stupid reason to not like a game, a Final Fantasy one at that. SE should quit being silly if that's what's holding them back from making another IX-ish game. :roll2

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Originally Posted by ShinGundam

I don't see them going medieval stylistically similar to FF9 because it was cute and chibi may put off some people who like realistically proportioned characters :p.

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I'm all good with realistically portioned characters too. Heck, why not have both old school medieval and realistically portioned characters. ;) I'm more for quality of the actual game and story rather than silly graphics.

Graphics are everything but silly, though.

Though I don't really care about how detailed and technically advanced the graphics are, art style is very important to me.

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Originally Posted by Mirage

Graphics are everything but silly, though.

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Eye candy only goes so far for me. Sure it's pretty, but I just started FFXIII and 10 hours in and the eye candy is it's best attribute so far and that doesn't cut it for me. Guess I've never really been ultra obsessed with that factor of a game considering IV and VI are my favorites.

I never said eye-candy. The proportions of characters has little to do with eyecandy, but much to do with character design and artistic style, two things that I find very important in a game. Because graphics of a certain level allows artists greater artistic freedom, graphics are indeed important.

How happy don't you think the graphical developers of FF4 were when they found out they could increase the detail of their characters, monsters and environments by more than five times from the previous games? FF6 is an order of magnitude more detailed than FF3, and this allowed the creators much bigger artistic freedom.

Graphics are only as impressive as the quality of the art team behind it. I generally feel the move to realistic models has made some people at FF very lazy or steer clear from doing things they did in the past.

The realistic models of VIII may have looked more realistic than previous entries but I've always found them far less expressive than VII's models or even the SNES sprites. I don't feel the realistic human models have really pulled their weight expressively until XII and XIII.

Also, I feel the one thing IX has that was lacking in VIII and X (as well as XII and XIII) was the "SD" models allowed them to return to more slapstick comedy with characters bouncing around the screen more and pulling more cartoonish elements. The realistic models have never done crap like that. No swooning off the screen, no being knocked into the screen by an angry character and sliding off, no funny dances, no nothing. There is a reason why fans notice that VIII, X, XII, and XIII are less funny than previous entries and I feel its because that old type of humor doesn't work so well with realistic models but that humor is most likely the "charm" people feel the series is missing.

You may be right. I remember a scene in Ipsen's Castle where Zidane tries to open a secret doorway, having the player kick, hit and 'do something drastic' to the door, before he eventually leans against it and it opens, having him fall backwards through it. It's such corny, cliched cartoon humor, but you can't help but have a chuckle at it. ANy of the 'realistic' Final Fantasy games didn't have such a scene.

Though I have to admit "I'm captain Basch Von Ronsenburch from Dalmasca!" made me laugh, too. In awkward embarasment. Oh Vaan, you naïve boy. :roll2: Can't remember a moment of humor in XIII, aside from some of Sazh stumbling, which I wouldn't really call 'humor'.

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Originally Posted by Mirage

• Slightly futuristic fantasy setting, or perhaps steampunk-like. Anything but "ye olde medieval fantasy".

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I would love it if Final Fantasy did a full on (traditional) Steampunk theme. Which would mean a 19th century backdrop infused with futuristic and fantastical elements. FFVI and FFIX had elements of steampunk, but neither one of them really went too far into that genre. I think it would be awesome to see characters totally decked out in Victorian era clothing with all the beautiful intricacies that a steampunk theme would add.

I also want to see waaaay more fantastical stuff in the games. I dislike how they have an opportunity to create a world that could be outrageously beautiful and insane and nothing like you would ever see in this world, but lately the FF crew seems more interested in making things as realistic as possible. Yeah, that sunset over the ocean looks awfully pretty, but I live by the ocean. I see sunsets like that all the time. Why not have something totally crazy like a world where the ocean is constantly changing colors. I dunno. Just more fantastical elements would be nice.

And please, no convoluted trying-too-hard battle systems. In fact, on the whole they need to stop making things so... laborious. I'd like there to be a little more carefree and humorous tone to the games. Which I guess ties in with the whole fantastical thing. If I were a game designer, I'd totally want to have fun with the world I'm helping to create. Make flowers turn into dragons, be able to catch stars, have there literally be a treasure chest with gold in it at the end of a rainbow. Fun stuff that would make the world fun to explore and make it worth saving.

Huh. Yeah why don't they do crazy stuff like flowers blooming into dragons? They totally could! I guess the world has to be grounded in some sort of physical reality, but I always loved in games where there was at least one magical place where the rules don't apply. Like Zeal from Chrono Trigger. Huge freaking floating island nation. How awesome is that?

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

Huh. Yeah why don't they do crazy stuff like flowers blooming into dragons? They totally could! I guess the world has to be grounded in some sort of physical reality, but I always loved in games where there was at least one magical place where the rules don't apply. Like Zeal from Chrono Trigger. Huge freaking floating island nation. How awesome is that?

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There was the Elder Wyrm in XII that kind of bloomed from flowers. Even came with a couple of trees.

Eh , I thought FF13 has a lot of fantasiness:p.
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__...izedCocoon.png

Yeah that part was pretty cool. But everything should be like that! The concept of Cocoon itself was pretty neat but inside it was kinda lame and felt static. I guess it was probably because you could never really explore Cocoon, you were just sent from one area to the next to trot down the path laid out for you.

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Originally Posted by ShinGundam

Eh , I thought FF13 has a lot of fantasiness:p.
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__...izedCocoon.png

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By "a lot" you mean that one moment at the end? Cause Cocoon was so god damn boring, I couldn't stand it. Literally, I had to stop playing the game I felt so claustrophobic and frustrated with such a big world that YOU COULDN'T EXPLORE.

The crazy ass monsters and bosses were kinda neat and pretty to look at though.

Edit: I should add that maybe the word I'm looking for is whimsical. FFXIII might have had some fantastical elements, but there definitely wasn't any whimsy involved.

I really like games where actions have consequences beyond being able to acquire this item or missing that summon or viewing that extra hidden scene.
I really think that FF could do well by making OPTIONAL sidequests SEEM more relevant to the story too. Like when you decide to do it, you learn more about the world, or a character, or a system unique to the installment.
The avatar should change too. I can't help but ask myself why these characters go around in the same outfit everywhere. Don't they shower? Don't people question their style? Aren't they affected physically by anything that occurs in-game? I think characters should change their outfits now and then, change their hair, hell, maybe their hair gets messed up because of a battle. Scars, stress marks, grey hair, wrinkles... these things shouldn't be trivial accessories that belie a character's history, they should be trophies proclaiming your accomplishments over the course of your journey. Who's really going to hold onto "that bird's feathers" or "that rock from that time" or especially an actual trophy from a tournament when you've got a world to save?

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Originally Posted by Jessweeee♪

I hope they continue in the direction they have been taken the franchise. I'm quite happy with it.

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I laugh.

Jobs with noticeable strengths and weaknesses (eg. IV) Selectable fixed jobs to increase replayability (eg. I) & Subjobs (eg. XI)
I do like the idea of selecting a job from preference and carrying it throughout the course of the game and subjobs would help if somewhere along the way you realize you can't accomplish certain things with the main job you've chosen. I think characters (NPCs) should react to you differently based at least in part on your job.
The ability to use more characters in battle (eg. III/XII)
I love characters. Lots of characters. Usually, I get upset because a character I like isn't playable, or isn't around long enough to appreciate, or is just one of "them bad guys." Though, I don't want them all to stick around permanently. I like games that find a plot-relevant way to weasel a character out of your group so you can obtain and get to know a new one. I also want the character to be able to change even they are just temporary. Some balance wherein you're able to affect their stats without feeling you've wasted resources on a character that's going to disappear anyway.
Decently paced storyline (eg. V)
Better usage of summons (eg. VI)
I still like X/XII's playable Summon beast system.

Chocobo! (eg. VII)
Vehicles! and I want the Moomba back (eg. VIII) I want to drive a motorcycle across a continent and I don't want to see the main character walking across the world map to encounter a "village" that looks as if he could trample over it.
Nameable characters (eg. VII/VIII/IX) doesn't work if the game has voiceover.
Various decent minigames
Fleshed out characters
The ability to create your own items (eg. XIV)
Items that will be useful in combat not just because you MAY have had silence cast on you. I like games where damage/healing items are based on a percentage rather than an actual number. Like a potion healing 100 points to a character whose current max is 9999. I like a system where items are easy to come by but don't just sit there taking up space. Like a synthesis system.

Also as to leveling. (dot)hack had a system wherein monsters levels and experience/cash handout was based on location. There was a cap to the amount of experience you could gain from a monster as each time you leveled up, you would gain less experience from fighting monsters of the same area. I liked it, it made me have to get my arse up and find a new harder area to level up in (usually requiring the story to unfold first).

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Originally Posted by Roto13

It doesn't matter what we want. 15 is a multiple of 3. It will be amazing because that's the rule.

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3rd times a charm. I don't know man, it maybe "3rd time's a turd" the rate they're going.

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Originally Posted by Depression Moon

60's American .

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Dude, make it yourself.

Just read an article saying that they weren't sure there would be a FFXV. That would truly suck! FFXIII sold like crazy. It may have been poorly received but the sales were pretty good. And is it really that confusing what the core likes? Sure everyone wants a little bit more of this than that and vice verse but just run a couple games with an old familiar theme and don't go way out on a limb and change things too hardcore. Make 2 new games back to back with only a two year maximum wait in between. Toss together an old school back to the roots type game like FFIX was sorta. Keep the graphics realistic if that's what sells but let the world be less futuristic/sci-fi and more FANTASY!! The more old school the better! And for big fans of VII and X finish that connection story between the two games. Wasn't FFX once in the talks for being a prequel for VII anyway? That ShinRa kid was talking about sucking the life out of Spira anyhow. Probably bring back in major ff7/10 fans in big numbers. So yeah those are two fresh game ideas they could approach that would probably be well received if taken the time to execute them correctly. I think the team is really after some mega change that will blow fans away and really energize the franchise again, but if they don't remember how to do it then they are gonna blow it to oblivion.

Get Bioware to make it...

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Originally Posted by eternal essence

Get Bioware to make it...

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as long as they don't screw it up by making it a mission based TPS with some RPG elements like they did with Mass Effect 2.

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Originally Posted by Elskidor

And for big fans of VII and X finish that connection story between the two games. Wasn't FFX once in the talks for being a prequel for VII anyway? That ShinRa kid was talking about sucking the life out of Spira anyhow. Probably bring back in major ff7/10 fans in big numbers. would probably be well received if taken the time to execute correctly.

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I don't know about that one. There's debate to the realism in this and the point of telling a semi-believable tale is the "willing suspension of disblief" (meaning it's just cool enough that you don't bother to think about it... otherwise you'd find yourself saying "What? That's f---ing stupid!") and then there's the fact that Shinra's little suggestion was meant as a shoutout to VII while lampshading the similarities between the two worlds.

I wasn't sure if it was intended to be a prequel or just fan gossip. At the time of X's launch I remembered there being a lot of discussion about the two. It could be neat if they found a way to weave the final fantasy stories into one mega long story that connects perfectly. If the series has another 6 main stream titles left, and they decided to neatly weave everything together it would mean the name ''Final Fantasy'' is really just one massive long fantasy tale, which would be kinda cool, but I have no clue how it could be done in a way that makes sense.

The connection is true... sadly. It was stated in the Ultimania for Final Fantasy X-2 when discussing the new events for the International release. Little Shinra is the ancestor to the family that runs the corporate giant in VII's world. The time line is separated by possibly thousands of years but Nojima and Kitase said they were connected. You can find a translation on Gamefaqs if you look at X-2 faqs.

No, I would not want to play any game trying to bridge this gap cause frankly I feel it's stupid.

Dissidia has already gap-bridged all installments and previous releases have already given us the plot element that ties them together: The Void. You could possibly say that Gilgamesh, in his unending quest for weapons to add to his collection, visits many worlds quite frequently, gets drunk and tells stories from the places he's been that barely anybody pays attention to (because he's a drunken lunatic), which subsequently results in many similarities between the worlds (i.e. characters named Cid, Wedge, Biggs, etc.)
Or (somewhat) more believable is the idea that the Void is the starting point and all realities are splintered bits from that origin, hence similar creatures, species, and stories.
Sadly, if VII and X are connected then X should never have been X but rather VII-something, unless they want to run the convuluted explanation of Gilgamesh kidnapping Shinra and dragging him to the world of VII through the Void, but then the gap-bridging title would have to be something akin to "VII=X Transworlds" or whatever and, oh boy, am I tired of thinking about this.

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Originally Posted by Mercen-X

Dissidia has already gap-bridged all installments and previous releases have already given us the plot element that ties them together: The Void. You could possibly say that Gilgamesh, in his unending quest for weapons to add to his collection, visits many worlds quite frequently, gets drunk and tells stories from the places he's been that barely anybody pays attention to (because he's a drunken lunatic), which subsequently results in many similarities between the worlds (i.e. characters named Cid, Wedge, Biggs, etc.)
Or (somewhat) more believable is the idea that the Void is the starting point and all realities are splintered bits from that origin, hence similar creatures, species, and stories.

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And here WK was worried that a plot created to tie them all together would sound stupid.

Quite frankly, SE can't even do a single story anymore without plot holes, a FF world bridging game would probably be more hole than plot.

I CERTAINLY don't want any of Square Enix's plot in my hole.

Put it on the DS. Make up for the loss of graphic capabilities through improving the ACTUAL GAMEPLAY

naw, they'll just spend all their resources trying to get PS2-level graphics running on it

yeah because making games is all about whether you're gonna put money in the "GFX" or "GAEMPLAY" departments. How much money you're gonna put in each is going to determine the quality of the finished game.

One thing that I just thought about: Make it have more elements of horror. Give us a very dark game.

If done right, it has potential to be awesome.

If done wrong, it will be ridiculed forever.

And by "horror" I don't mean "scary, sudden scenes of screaming". I mean just a twisted story with demented characters.

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Originally Posted by Yar

One thing that I just thought about: Make it have more elements of horror. Give us a very dark game.

I mean just a twisted story with demented characters.

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I like this. Not a massive VII fan, but I really loved the creepy feeling when following the blood trail in Midgar. If they threw in some elements of horror it could be awesome. And refrain from extreme giddily happy characters. Keep one for comedy or to boost morale of the team (NOT MAIN CHARACTER), but darker toned and tragic hero figures are much more appealing than giddy goofy and out of place extra cheery characters in end of the world scenarios.

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Originally Posted by Yar

One thing that I just thought about: Make it have more elements of horror. Give us a very dark game.

If done right, it has potential to be awesome.

If done wrong, it will be ridiculed forever.

And by "horror" I don't mean "scary, sudden scenes of screaming". I mean just a twisted story with demented characters.

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Not to mention, we need more blood on FF games.

I would like a medieval based setting kind of like FF9. Like somebody else mentioned an open World like 12.

One thing that is of great importance is that we get some mind blowing towns to explore on our lovely next gen consoles. I mean Lindblum was great on ps1 so imagine the capabilty for a huge town now we are on ps3. That is what 13 lacked, a town to explore with loads of NPC to interact with just for the sake of it.

A real evil bad guy is needed as well. Kuja was the last great antagonist so that needs improving.

A chess based mini game could be interesting,we have had cards and sport so a new mini-game is a must after the lack of in 13.

1 last thing would be a bit more charecter control out of battles, for example when exploring a area with NPC maybe we could be able to steal from(if the charecter is a thief) or random encounters where you can save an NPC from a mugging etc (if you want to save them that is)

Basicly FF15 needs to remove the stabilisers/training wheels we had in 13 and give us a awe inspiring world with a great story line which keeps us busy till FF16. (I don't want much... but I want it now):D

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Originally Posted by FFwarden

I would like a medieval based setting kind of like FF9. Like somebody else mentioned an open World like 12.

One thing that is of great importance is that we get some mind blowing towns to explore on our lovely next gen consoles. I mean Lindblum was great on ps1 so imagine the capabilty for a huge town now we are on ps3. That is what 13 lacked, a town to explore with loads of NPC to interact with just for the sake of it.

A real evil bad guy is needed as well. Kuja was the last great antagonist so that needs improving.

A chess based mini game could be interesting,we have had cards and sport so a new mini-game is a must after the lack of in 13.

1 last thing would be a bit more charecter control out of battles, for example when exploring a area with NPC maybe we could be able to steal from(if the charecter is a thief) or random encounters where you can save an NPC from a mugging etc (if you want to save them that is)

Basicly FF15 needs to remove the stabilisers/training wheels we had in 13 and give us a awe inspiring world with a great story line which keeps us busy till FF16. (I don't want much... but I want it now):D

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That's exactly how I feel. There's nothing wrong with a proper medieval fantasy FF title. And we definately need an iconic bad guy (I think Seymour was the last one we've had).

Nice one, great minds lol. Seymour was ok actually I forgot about him.

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Originally Posted by Depression Moon

http://i.acdn.us/image/A1516/151693/300_151693.jpg

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Already been done. :p

I want the next FF to be brown n' bloom and all your characters are like call of duty dudes and all have guns. Except they're all bishonen and battles use the turn based atb system.

I would actually like to see a job restricted party again like in IV and IX. I want Square to get a bit out of the comfort zone. The cast should consist of characters of obscure job classes like Time Mage, Beast Master, Dancer, Chemist, Berserker.

and a gunner. and a viera. and a ... a.... a.... mog knight.