#to clarify this is a newer-ish design

[brainrotisseriechicken]

one of many older meri concepts ...... cant seem to settle on anything

[caliginous-is-confused]

Talking about this here because I have no close friends who will listen to this ramble because holy shit spoilers.

This is my thoughts (kind of not super in depth) on final fantasy in general

So, background: I will admit i was a final fantasy purist. I grew up while ff7-9 were coming out kind of dropped off there and picked the series back up ff13-era ish. I will admit the first time I tried playing ff13 I hated it. I've played ff15 and liked it but was always hesitant to rank it higher than "traditional" ff titles I've played.

Now I've decided to say "fuck it" and meet Final Fantasy where it is and strip "class-driven-turn-based-jrpg" out of what I consider a "good" final fantasy. I have completed ffs 6-9, 12, and 15. And im currently working through 16, and 14 (but in general ff14 and ff11 are handled differently bc their mmos and for the most part unless im talking about why i feel Yoshi-P and team made design desicions I'll probably follow suit). I've also played bits of 10 and 13 but didn't like them enough to complete them. I've also played ff7:Remake and didn't like it (I'm allowing myself to be a purist here because other than needing some plot clarified I didnt think we needed a "Aerith knows and fixes everything" AU) All that's to say: I've had many final fantasies.

What I've learned:

Square has done a lot of experimentation to find a good blend of turn-based and real-time mechanics to keep the essence and pace of old ffs, but ultimately with newer titles have leaned more into melee based spell-swords (ff15 and ff16) and I don't think that's a bad thing. I do think ff16 does a better job over ff15 in pushing the player to use magic (I used like none in my ff15 playtgrough) but its still missing the summon-at-will aspect which...ya know I get. In exchange the summons feel more powerful when we get them so...I'll take it.

With ff16 especially I keep seeing the argument "the story is phenomenal but the gameplay is too easy" and im thinking back and I don't know if its just how I treat turn-based ff titles but...final fantasy has never been a "hard" game outside of the hidden super bosses (Ultima Weapon ff8, Ozma ff9 ect). Its always had a "sit back, relax, and enjoy the story" vibe and ff16 has that vibe. Not only that but I'm pretty sure Yoshi-P and Team were anticipating a lot of ff14 players to come over and the gameplay of ff14 isn't the hardest either. Not only that but they know a large portion of their audience is casual so they probably didn't wanna surprise anyone with the difficulty with the newer playstyle.

I think if whoever runs ff17 can figure out how to make elemental strengths/weaknesses and gear elemental properties work again that would be interesting. I haven't seen that since like ff12. Because also I just fought the Lava monster in ff16 and I half expected Clive to have fire resistance at the least.

Unpopular opinion but I also do like the smaller closer party pools over the 10+ party pools. Its why I rank ff9 over ff6. I do think the parties should still be diverse (looking at you sausage party of ff15) especially if there is a romance that we never see on screen but are constantly reminded of throughout the game so when it finally happens instead of going "awwee" im "yeah...cool don't care" (ff15. Okay I know im shitting on it but I do love the chocobros I hate that is all we got though. Ff16 has alleviated a lot of this. I wish we had another girl around but I just met Cid's kid so maybe that'll fill the void).

I do like the way Noctis fights over Clive when it comes to swords and party interactions. The warp mechanic and the team combo mechanics were A+ and I miss them, but if I had to chose that or the Eikon mechanics of ff16 I do like those more overall but I consider those magic.

Ff16 Cid is my favorite Cid probably bc he reminds me of Balthier and I had just finished ff12.

Ff12...is interesting i have a lot of notes on that that could be its own thing tldr I wish the Empire felt more evil, I felt more told and not shown. Like a lot of "see empire bad" was me in prison for being caught stealing...like no shit. Or "that guard is a racist asshole". The times I really was all "fuck the empire" was real late into the game. I also feel they need to make Ashe the pov protagonist and not Vaan it was her story and we have like 2.5 female pov protagonists in 14 main-line titles that aren't Mmos (Lighning ff13, Yuna ffx-2 and Terra is used as the protagonist of ff6 but like...you can argue that there isn't one). I also personally hated the economy and gambit system. Gambits made me too passive in combat because I was good with them.

Ff9 is my favorite in case you wanted to know this far into this. Vivi is my favorite character. Go play it. I personally don't recommend it as a first entry because its so good I don't want to push ppl off other ff titles (i tend to recommend like ff7, ff15, or another mid-tier title) but you do you. If you've played ff14 that counts as a first entry you've experienced enough highs and lows of ff imo.

What i consider a good ff:

Good engaging story. For me ff has always been more of an interactive book. I think of it as a "if I had it rewritten as a book would I like this book" standard.

Found family dynamics

Magic/summons/iconic monsters accounted for and represented well. Note not all have to be there. But like Ifrit, Shiva and Bahaumet need to be there. Flare, at least 5 iconic monsters bonus points if its a Tonberry.

Cid and how he plays his part.

At least one existential crisis because a protagonist isn't who they think they really are.

If applicable good dynamics between the main couple ff8 is my standard for this. Rhinoa balances out Squall and vice versa.

I really like the "protag was just some guy and things steadily escalated until oops we're fighting God now" (ff9) but I know its more common now for the protagonist to already be an important guy (Noctis is a Prince, Clive is a Lord and Dominant) and the story is more them growing into their important pants. Which has a similar vibe, but I do miss my "idk im just some guy" story lines.

GOOD CHOCOBO TIME(TM) the breeding mechanics in ff7? A+ chocobo hot-and-cold in ff9? Shit but riding around on a fully upgraded one? Good.

I don't want to be fighting to get around (both literally and mechanically) older ffs that have 1hko enemies in old areas and eventually give you an airship? Good. I don't get bogged down if I have to walk around and eventually I can just fly over the bullshit. Ff12 was a headache to navigate. Ff16 is going a pretty good job wish I felt faster on my chocobo.

Yeah I just really love these games and eventually want to play through all of them. I'm going to give ff10 and ff13 another try but I've been real into "fuck being a purist and enjoy ff for what it is"