The Mechanics & Setting

  • Plot: Tactics - We'll drop the whole Lucavi nonsense and let it focus on the politics though.


  • World: VI - I feel like a world with magic being thought extinct, and returning would make for a great setting for a political drama.


  • Soundtrack: VII - Nice mix of styles that will allow for several different types of locations, while hitting the full gambit of heroic, horror, funny, and heart breaking themes.


  • Battle System: VIII - I feel like the Draw mechanic would work well for the setting, and the game offers good old ATB. Though if I could move beyond the restrictions of FF, I would do Chrono Trigger/I am Setsuna.


  • Character Progression: FFV and IV - Going to cheat here a little bit. I would stick to a simply job class system like FFV offers, but I also really want to have all the playable characters to have one unique skill that can't really be removed to help keep them unique.


  • Sidequests: IX - has a pretty good mix of quality games, but I would drop Tetra Master and replace it with Triple Triad, but I already used that option.


  • Villain: XII - Vayne, the Judges, Venat and the Occurians, would mesh well with a political drama set in a world with magic being revived.


The Cast
  • Protagonist: Cecil Harvey - His personal story of trying to find redemption after being the violent tool of a political regime would work well in the setting and story. His unique skill would be Sword Saint which allows him to use either Soul Eater or a Prayer like ability called Healing Sword based on his current equipped job.
  • Female Lead: Celes Chere - Again, her story would work well for the plot and setting. I would probably expand some concepts of course. She would retain Runic.
  • Cool Old Dude: Galuf - Just to lighten things up since this plot already feels heavy, Galuf can strike that nice chord of being a legendary badass hero, but also be down to earth enough to take the piss out of Cecil and Celes' angst. His death would be a powerful moment as well. His unique move would be Recall, which extends to any move in the game instead of just magic.
  • The Mage: Vivi - His character arc would work pretty well in the setting and the political drama and we need a more woobie character to make the other cast members stay focus. He's also just my favorite mage. He would maintain Focus as his primary move.
  • Spoony Prince: Gordon - Again, his central story of being a prince running away from his duties would work well in the political setting and we already know his personality would mesh well with Cecil and Celes, who have similar counterparts in their respective games. Salve would be his unique move.
  • The Contrarian: Wakka - his religious fundamentalism combined with the backstory of losing his brother would translate well into the new setting and story. Personal skill is Triple Threat, but it has it's accuracy reduced to 20%.
  • The Less Friendly Old Fogey: Cid Highwind - with a world and setting dealing with magic returning in a technological world, I feel Cid could work here. His want for building a rocket could easily be fused into the more war setting of the plot as well. His unique skill would be dynamite, which does low fire damage to all enemies.
  • Token Badass Loner: Squall Leonhart - I feel Squall's plot would translate well as more of a side story (Rinoa can just be an NPC the party deals with from time to time) but his no-nonsense military attitude would work well in the setting and give a more down to earth human element in the war. Unique skill would be Repeating Blade and still maintain a time mechanic but limited to about 2-4 hits depending on his level.
  • Token Badass Female: Agrias Oaks cause she's pretty important to Tactics plot and I want another strong female in the plot. I feel her story about protecting the princess would mesh well with everything and despite some similarities to Celes, I can see Celes idolizing Agrias a bit more. Agrias in turn is strong, but not like say Ashe who would end up taking over the plot if she were put in. Her unique skill would be Thunder Slash.