Even if some of us don't like it, it part of the evolution of RPGs in today's world. It does make logical sense for SE to take the franchise in this direction.

I don't have any doubts that FFXV will be a fun game as I've liked it from the beginning, but my concern is more that I wish we had this game and a more 'traditional' FF RPG. Essentially rebranding this as FFXV means we'll have to wait longer for a game like that, if we ever get it at all.

My hope is that one of the spinoff games in the FFXV series involves a more traditional turn-based RPG format. Hopefully SE goes the route of using the spinoff games to try out different battle systems (like they did with FFX and FFXII) rather than it just being an upgrade of the core game's system (like with FFXIII).