You own Square-Enix: What's the next step for Final Fantasy?

[Bek359]

I'd say make a game with relatable characters, an engaging battle system, a thoughtful, but easy-to-understand plot... yeah, that's all I got. Basically, make a solid title. It's really that simple. Cut the series back to its roots, get rid of the ridiculousness of the plots, nix the emo bullshit, and we're good.

 

[godfist88]

Remake Final Fantasy 7, so that old fans can relive it, and and new fans can experience it for the first time.

 

[DevilWolf47]

I own Square Enix? Okay. My first step would be to cancel the Final Fantasy franchise altogether, my second step would be to make Bushido Blade 3, the third step would be to send apology notes to anyone who ever played Star Ocean: Til the End of Time.

 

[Venereus]

Kill it with FIRE!

 

[ensouls]

I'd get my shotgun and take it out behind the woodshed..

 

[MajWound]

The very next step will be a step into electrified water.

New franchise altogether. Maybe RTS games...

 

[Arisato-kun]

We remake IX because it was incredible. Then I give the company to someone else.

 

[Aurora Firestorm]

Kill it. It needs to finally die so that all the people on its gargantuan set of teams can put their minds to more original things.

Then I'd make a real Chrono Trigger sequel and let all the fan projects start up again, Square-Enix-you-fan-hating-bastards.

 

[UsefulPlayer 1]

You know Kingdom Hearts? Make the combat like that except more complicated, maybe 4-5 squad members at once, and allow you to switch control using other characters. No real single main character so you can play as any of the party members you want in one-on-one boss fights. Summons would be restricted somehow to not be over powered but would fight along side you. Not as flashy so you don't have a stroke in combat, that goes for everything not just summons.

Forget Westerners complaining about no choices. Sometimes I like choices in my RPGs, sometimes I don't...variety people. Shoot for a long-ass linear-story 50-hour adventure over a 25 hour choice branching adventure with multiple ways to play. Sometimes I don't want to play the game five times to see everything.

Love the art direction, but don't go too crazy like they do sometimes.

Relatively open world. There should be towns and hubs. Tons of side missions and places you revisit. One set epic-story doesn't mean you can't be doing other things in between.

yep...

 

[MacGuges]

For a new Final Fantasy I'd experiment with a new "narrative control" mechanic. What would that mean?

"narrative control" is a game design idea from tabletop gaming. You can learn more about it at sites like The Forge, http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forge/index.php "narrative control" recognizes that playing a game with others creates a social contract, and creates rules for PCs to share the reins with the GM. For obvious reasons the actual mechanics created for narrative control in table-top games would not work with a computer game.

What I have in mind you could call "Story Points". The player would be offered multiple opportunities to earn SP while playing the main storyline. Then the player could spend SP to customize their play experience, either in cosmetic ways by personalizing the party members or in more advanced ways by opening up side-quests, mini-games, or alternative battle systems. For players spending a lot of SP, their Final Fantasy game would become a wild sandbox of challenges, but the game would be a simpler, straightforward narrative for more novice players.

Ya know..that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. It'd take a lot of work to implement right, but being able to delve into sidequests that I'd actually care about, or being able to learn more about only the characters I like and not all of them would be great.
Of course you'd unlock more things to unlock with these 'SP' as you went along, but Id love to see this idea put into play

I'm glad you like it. I can imagine a lot of players would enjoy a big sandbox of an epic fantasy world, but to avoid jettisoning the strongly sentimental storyline that's a common feature of Final Fantasy games you'd need a path from that gameplay to the sandbox. Square has done more open-ended RPGs, like Wandering Saga, but I imagine they've been less popular with players because they do present so much choice to players at the beginning of play.

 

[Aurora Firestorm]

Why kill Final Fantasy? Because it is taking up Square-Enix's time, resources, and money that could be put towards other games, and it's also THE GAME of Square-Enix.

Square needs a new face. If people aren't going to judge the entire JRPG industry by Final Fantasy anymore, it will be when FF dies. We need a new start here. I'm sick of hearing "Oh, that game? I didn't hear about it. I thought Square just made Final Fantasy these days." That, or "I hate JRPGs." "Why do you hate them?" "Well, I never liked any of the Final Fantasy games."

 

[Shock and Awe]

Make a Comp of I-VI for the DS and PSP then kill the series.

 

[Aurora Firestorm]

I think they would get better relations with their fans if they would, say, not do stupid things like cancel fan projects that are going to make no money. That's like canceling fan fiction or fan art -- your fans generally view you as a dick if you do it, and it doesn't net you anything. No one was pirating your game or anything in that case.

Not necessarily. If Square balances and doesn't settle on one gargantuan series, they won't have this problem anymore.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

A conversation struck up between me and my mates recently about JRPGs and how Final Fantasy has gradually been getting...not "worse", but maybe "out-dated". So to cut to the chase, you own Square-Enix now. What do you do next with FF?

I own Square Enix? Oh boy....

I remake FF7 in three parts, with full voice acting. It will take three parts because the voice acting is going to cost a fortune, and it will take at least 3 games at 60+ bucks each to make that up.

Stop all MMO projects.

Begin work on Just Cause 3, and other insanely huge sandbox projects.

Make FF 15 as a "retro" game ala FF9 - that is, a game set in an older world with more classic fantasy feel. The idea being to win back a few of the core fans who've been annoyed by recent games.

Make FF 16 a steampunk game ala FF6 - again not a remake, but a similar idea.

Also, attempt to incorporate sandbox features into Final Fantasy games - imagine a world map inspired by the map from Just Cause 2.

 

[Venereus]

I would put it to bed... and then smother it to death...

Take it out back and put a bullet in the back of its head since its already pretty much been worked to death.

shut down the Final fantasy franchise.

I'd just burn down the company building. Honestly...don't even want the money that selling it off would bring.

Kill it with FIRE!

I'd get my shotgun and take it out behind the woodshed..

Why? If you don?t like it fine just don?t buy it. Why insist that a popular series should end just because you don?t like it anymore?

It's funny how the very concept of "done to death" seems to have lost it's meaning, probably due to it being used to death itself, and now people just forget to remember it when it applies.

Any new game of FF is a despicable act of necromancy and greed, that brings nothing but disgrace to this once great franchise. Why shouldn't it die with honor and be left to rest in peace, finally able to take it's rightful place in the annals of gaming history, among the stars, where dreams are made from the brightest corners of our souls?

 

[Cheesepower5]

Remake FFV and FFVI on 3DS.

Then hire Yasumi Matsuno to direct the Final Fantasy Tactics sequel.

Then pump more budget into Dragon Quest.

Then get a good FF MMO going.

i just said that. look at the post above you

That just means you're awesome.

 

[Nickompoop]

I'd let it lie for a couple years, until the new generation of consoles comes out. Once people start to miss it a little bit, I'd bring it back, full force and better than ever. I'd stop using half-hour long cut-scenes. Those things are ridiculous. I'd also hire Yahtzee (the dude that does Zero Punctuation) on as a writer to give the series some fresh ideas for the story. But, I'd make sure that the main character isn't the whiny emo ***** he always is (yes, "he". Just because he's a dude, doesn't mean he can't be a *****).