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Setting: Needs to be anything from the Middle Ages up to World War I. Elements can be mixed. There must also be a world crisis involving war between at least two nations.

Gameplay: Needs to be innovative each time, but needs to maintain some core concepts (ie innovative as FFVI, FFX, and FFXII were. NOT FFVIII). Or else, just use the Job System. That always works.

Characters: Preferably 8 to 12 of them. Each character needs to be developed deeply and be a major contributor to the story, or must have sidequests related to him or her (especially for secret characters). Love story is strictly optional, and must NOT be a main focus. Each character should have a unique skillset so as not to make character clones. The hero should be in his twenties and the female lead should be in her late teens. One of the characters must be under fifteen years of age and one must be at least fifty.

Graphics: Need to be FFVI-style graphics with a litte more fluidity. Fancy CG movies must not take up a large portion of the game.

Sound: The music should be dramatic but at the same time, the battle theme must have certain recurring leemotifs. The Prologue and Prelude MUST be in the game at some point. Voice acting will be strictly prohibited except during battles.

Weapons and clothing: NOTHING FLAMBOYANT OR OUTLANDISH. This is very important. Weapons and clothing should be traditional.

Length: The length should be at least 100 hours of linear gameplay, with at least another thirty or so in sidequests. Sidequests must be available to the player after fifteen to twenty linear gameplay hours.

The antagonist should not wear anything flamboyant. No prettyboys please.

Character designs: MUST be done by Amano.

-CSM

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Hrm. For once I'd like to see an RPG with a realistic plot and not set in some fruity land of elves and magic, or what have you. Nor a game that gets preachy ("o noez main character loevs chick but learns teh value of friendshiep in the end lol") Something epic on a realistic scale, as much as possible at least.

I have an idea for a game like this very much like Requiem for a Dream (awesome movie - rough themes and tough scenes though.) I might work on it after Endless Saga (ie, in 2018 ) The characters are real, the events are real, and I can definately picture my characters as having their own dark little secrets (ie, the cute and innocent love interest is actually a coke addict trying desperately to stop but who'll die of an OD near the end, some other character is terribly endebted and risks a lot of broken bones if he can't come up with quick money, so forth.) And none of that hollywood happy sappy denouement - I'd hate to see everything work out fine for everyone. A good ending, for me, is one where the problem's gone. Not one where "they lived happily ever after."

My villain would NOT want to destroy the world or take over it. In fact from his or her point of view, their actions are good and sound. And realistic. No time compression here!

I'd keep the Endless Saga mechanics more or less intact for this one. So conditional skill trees and exponential formulas to determine damage and such. Not to mention the traditional random encounter / ATB-like battle engine that no RPG calling itself a representative of the genre should be without.

There would also be an abundance of squids in the game. Just because.

Although one battle system I've been considering and toying with (for the final part of Endless Saga) is a semi-real time menu based system. One where commands are also defensive and evasive - not just !Fight and some spells. The kind of system where you can throw yourself in the path of a fireball to protect your weak little spell-caster trying to heal the party, or parry an attack if your character is fast enough. I have the mechanics of it on paper, and implanting the idea is feasible, but I don't have anything to show for it right now.

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

Quote

Although one battle system I've been considering and toying with (for the final part of Endless Saga) is a semi-real time menu based system. One where commands are also defensive and evasive - not just !Fight and some spells. The kind of system where you can throw yourself in the path of a fireball to protect your weak little spell-caster trying to heal the party, or parry an attack if your character is fast enough. I have the mechanics of it on paper, and implanting the idea is feasible, but I don't have anything to show for it right now.

That sounds kinda like how the battle system in Grandia II works, half-ATB, half real-time. One can choose to "evade" and move away from targets or "defend," or "critical" and cancel enemy attacks completely if they time it right. So, if you see an enemy targeting the weakened spellcaster, you can "combo" on them to delay their attack while an ally criticals 'em and buys some more time.

'Course, any good system like that would work both ways, letting enemies have the same options.

This post has been edited by Shotgunnova on 1st February 2007 23:40

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It's gonna be a glorious day
I feel my luck can change

Okay, I'm sitting on the Square-Enix board of directors now, and we're laying the prelims for FFXIV. Here are my decrees:

For starters, there will be absolutely no references of any kind to FF7. If you bring me anything even vaguely reminiscent of FF7, you will be shot then fired.

For abilities, I'd like to see FF get back to its roots of class, and abilities that make sense for that class. If you want to Steal, you have to put the Thief in your party, not just give someone Steal Materia, that's so stupid.

For characters, I say the more the better. Let's bring back hidden characters like in FF6, and Guests like in FF6 and 12. Also, that "no love story" thing that 12 did? We're doing it again.

For soundtrack, I want Nobuo presiding, and every character should have their own "theme".

For battle system, I say one similar to FFX's. I like the ability to swap characters and equipment on the fly. I also prefer CTB to ATB.

For equipment, I enjoyed the FFX way that every character had a whole lot of weapons and armor, and that they could be customized. I would, however, like to see more sprites for the equipment. Come on, we're 20 years into this series; you can show me what my guy looks like with Genji Armor on. So let's have lots of weapons and armor that can be swapped during battle, and an ultimate weapon for every character. Said ultimate weapon should be "unlocked", or at least more difficult to attain than beating a boss or finding a rare item.

Use the New Game Plus feature. It rocks.

Lots of sidequests, none with Chocobos. Let's do another Moogle sidequest. I'd also be willing to let a card game slide if you could do something with the cards like in FF8. I'm not saying get rid of Chocobos - they're a FF staple, but haven't we had enough huge-ass Chocobo sidequests? Let's do more mark hunting/monster arenas, and plenty of smaller sidequests.

More crossovers. Not like finding awkward ways for FF games to overlap, but how about more crossover characters like Gogo and Matoya? Crossover music like the Gulug song in FF9. Crossover weapons like Masamune in X.

Lots of option bosses. We all love them.

For Limits, let's have a cross between 7's and 8's. I mean make it so you gradually learn new ones, but you don't HAVE to use it when it pops up, and while you're doing the Limit, you have to input commands like in 8 and X.

Voice acting isn't absolutely necessary, now is it?

What's that? Storyline? I don't know - bring in our writers.

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You don't scare me, you talking blobs of oozing slop! I am impervious to pain!

Graphics - why 2D? It just doesn't make any sense. On a PS3, you'd easily be able to make a 3D game have similarly fast loading screens. It's like saying people enjoy steam engines because it reminds people of a time when railways were first introduced, but you're not going to build more and expect people to ride them. The only exception is open days or gatherings of sorts which like-minded people flock to. Or GBA games.

Edit: Yeah SZ, that's it! My ideal graphics would be the best possible (I mean the very best) character models on, as you say, painted backgrounds. The battles would be fluent and allow camera change etc. For the record, some of the FFIX backgrounds were gorgeous.

Gameplay - I've read lots of great ideas here. For me, I'd have random battles, but seamless changes between world map/road and battle. I remember a game that did this, might have been Dark Cloud IIRC. I'd have B/W/R/Blue Mages, Thieves, Knights but give them new names, unexpected abilities and new avenues in their development. Stuff like, Knights can go down the path of good.... or evil... And Monks can go down the path of good... or evil... Bit cheesy but it's fine. Their route determines not just their abilities, but also maybe what they're like. Imagine Zidane acting like the good Thief, and Amarant the bad. Both could influence the storyline the same in the way I mentioned previously.

Plot - I've already gone over this one. Please, no tired old linear storyline. People are paying £50 for my games so they deserve better.

Music - change it fundamentally. Battle music changes as the game progresses, as does every other piece. Maybe one recurring track to remember the game by, like the piece in Oldboy. And there would be more variety to suit the mood - not just sad music, uplifting music, happy music, scary music, theme music you don't recognise, end music. Like if your guy returns to his old town with a mixed reception, it'll be something mild yet reminiscent.

Optional bosses - loads, good job everyone who said it! But I'd go further and say that there would be opportunities to fight some of them early in the game; and be royally rewarded for it. Best case of recent years, Dark Aeons in FFX. Fighting Ixion just after the first trip to Bevelle was brilliant. Also Shiva was possible at that point. Maybe Square-Enix are slowly clocking on to what people want. Oh wait motorbike.

This post has been edited by sweetdude on 2nd February 2007 15:37

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

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Graphics - why 2D? It just doesn't make any sense. On a PS3, you'd easily be able to make a 3D game have similarly fast loading screens. It's like saying people enjoy steam engines because it reminds people of a time when railways were first introduced, but you're not going to build more and expect people to ride them. The only exception is open days or gatherings of sorts which like-minded people flock to. Or GBA games.

I would personally make characters in 3D and background painted (maybe with a little animation), like in Chrono Cross or in FFIX. I don't like the idea of textured background and moving camera - there are always some situations in a game that show how screwed it is. Also, if the background is beautifully painted, it's more fun to look at it. Painted backgrounds also in battle scenes.

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For soundtrack, I want Nobuo presiding, and every character should have their own "theme".

More crossovers. Not like finding awkward ways for FF games to overlap, but how about more crossover characters like Gogo and Matoya? Crossover music like the Gulug song in FF9. Crossover weapons like Masamune in X.

Definitely agreed. There also should be some characteristic elements, like a tower or crescent shaped something. And, of course, a guy named Cid. I wonder who would he be this time ;)

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They really have run out of interesting characters and storyline ideas. If I'd give my tip for characters, I'd have atleast up to four-eight characters(four to a party), each with a backstory that doesn't take up a whole hour of the game, but proves to show the reason the character is that way and not just the lame, immature "BECAUSE HE DESTROYED MY VILLAGE" bs.

As for plot, I don't want any wimpy love stories or anime-like plots in my dream FF. I'd like to see a more simplistic plot that can even be the fabled "save the world/crystals".

I agree about the plot and the sidestories. But I would create more of characters. Oh, and I would think up a reason why can't they travel in groups no bigger than of four people. I hate it when game doesn't provide a good reason other than it's mechanics.

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You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one...

Well buddy, you know me - I'm a freak about creation.

Let's start with the world: varying cultures, living cities etc. I'm against making entire countries accessible, only select towns, vital to the plot/subquests. The technological level is not an issue. SF and technology doesn't stop it from being fantasy.

System? Weapons? I imagine the white mage in the menu, if you try to equip, let's say, a gunblade on him, he'd say "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!?", but he'll take it, and won't be able to do crap with it.

Battles? Semi-turn-based tactic system. As in: you decide movements and actions for all your characters for the turn, click "GO!" and everything in the turn happens silmultaneously.

Skills? Skill tree, with a multitude of options, that cancel each other out. Characters start out with sets of skills that suggest their "class", but you can modify their skills in many ways.

Any insightful comments?

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"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

"If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh

"We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S

Good old CoN

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 3rd February 2007 17:09)

Let's start with the world: varying cultures, living cities etc. I'm against making entire countries accessible, only select towns, vital to the plot/subquests. The technological level is not an issue. SF and technology doesn't stop it from being fantasy.

Agreed.

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 3rd February 2007 17:09)

System? Weapons? I imagine the white mage in the menu, if you try to equip, let's say, a gunblade on him, he'd say "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!?",  but he'll take it, and won't be able to do crap with it.

Would he at least be able to swing it, even if he couldn't use it effectively?

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 3rd February 2007 17:09)

Battles? Semi-turn-based tactic system. As in: you decide movements and actions for all your characters for the turn, click "GO!" and everything in the turn happens silmultaneously.

That reminds me of Disgaea's system. Doing that would allow you to set up ebil, ebil combos.

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 3rd February 2007 17:09)

Skills? Skill tree, with a multitude of options, that cancel each other out. Characters start out with sets of skills that suggest their "class", but you can modify their skills in many ways.

I think I understand this, but only because I've encountered it before. Just to doublecheck, though, using classes from Tactics as an example.

Let's say when you hired a character, you got to choose between a Chemist and a Squire. Once you made the decision, you'd be locked into that path - Choose a chemist, and only spellcasting classes are open to you. Choose a Squire, and only Knight, Archer, etc. would be available.

Is that the sort of system you mean?

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 3rd February 2007 17:09)

Any insightful comments?

I don't know about insightful, but I feel the need to comment that I like the ideas you've put forth.

Quote (Suunok @ 4th February 2007 23:38)

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 3rd February 2007 17:09)

System? Weapons? I imagine the white mage in the menu, if you try to equip, let's say, a gunblade on him, he'd say "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!?",  but he'll take it, and won't be able to do crap with it.

Would he at least be able to swing it, even if he couldn't use it effectively?

Sure, but he would have a 99,99% miss probability and even IF he'd hit, he would deal laughable damage, if any.

Quote (Suunok @ 4th February 2007 23:38)

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 3rd February 2007 17:09)

Battles? Semi-turn-based tactic system. As in: you decide movements and actions for all your characters for the turn, click "GO!" and everything in the turn happens silmultaneously.

That reminds me of Disgaea's system. Doing that would allow you to set up ebil, ebil combos.

That's the point, you see.

Quote (Suunok @ 4th February 2007 23:38)

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 3rd February 2007 17:09)

Skills? Skill tree, with a multitude of options, that cancel each other out. Characters start out with sets of skills that suggest their "class", but you can modify their skills in many ways.

I think I understand this, but only because I've encountered it before. Just to doublecheck, though, using classes from Tactics as an example.

Let's say when you hired a character, you got to choose between a Chemist and a Squire. Once you made the decision, you'd be locked into that path - Choose a chemist, and only spellcasting classes are open to you. Choose a Squire, and only Knight, Archer, etc. would be available.

Is that the sort of system you mean?

I'll make my own example:
Let's say we have a gunslinger, and let's also say, that you're amassing skill points to buy skills.
First choice: you have "quickdraw" and "Sure-shot (shotgun)" skills.
If you take the former the latter becomes unaccessible, but you get access to "multi-shot" and "double blast", which cancel each other out, and to "quick aim" which is independant.
"Sure-shot (shotgun)" would give him access to different following skills. This is, of course, only a small example.
Some skills would be gained by ways of "training sidequests" where you find a trainer, do the quest and get the skill put into your skill tree, but still you have to buy it with skill points.

Quote (Suunok @ 4th February 2007 23:38)

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 3rd February 2007 17:09)

Any insightful comments?

I don't know about insightful, but I feel the need to comment that I like the ideas you've put forth.

Thanks

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"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

"If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh

"We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S

Good old CoN

Quote (Ronin @ 30th January 2007 16:28)

First order of business would be to get Nobuo Uematsu back and get Yoshitaka Amano on the lead of character design.

Good lord, not Amano. His art is horrifying and I don't think it captures the characters very well. All the girls have blonde hair and all the guys wear black lipstick. And Sabin's new pic looks like he has fungus growing on his chest. I think for my game I'll do my own art, I'm pretty sure I could do better than Amano.

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Why, hello guys! Haven't been around here in a loooong time!
http://dragcave.net/user/LadyTwi
http://www.backloggery.com/ladytwi

I've been posting about storyline and such, but little about mechanics. And some posts in this thread have held my interest because they ressemble a lot what I'm doing with Endless Saga.

Encounters
The system I have for encounters is similare to the oldschool random encounter thing, but with a twist. This system fails because running into weak enemies when you're level 80 is a pain and an annoyance. And having to fight stuff every two seconds is really aggravating. What I'd do is have the encounter rate drop as your level surpasses the expected level in a given area. The regular encounter rate, itself, would be pretty low (see enemies, later on.) The result would be a game where you don't end up fighting stuff every step of the way and, if you go back to some old place, you won't be bothered by earlier now-laughable enemies as much as you should (maybe... 2-3 encounters total to go through the dungeon?)

Items
I wouldn't let items become neglected. Why bother with a potion that restored 2500 HP but costs as much as one that restored 50 MP, enough to cast Cure III on your party and heal everyone for 3000? None of that - it should be possible to survive with just items in the sense that magic users shouldn't be a mandatory part of the party.

Equipment
Just like fighter-types shouldn't. The fight command in most games can pack up to 9999 damage by the end of the game. Why bother using expensive flashy spells then? I'd much rather give the player a choice between a sword that can poison and one that can mute than between one that has an attack power of 250 and one that has an attack power of... 225. Oh hey, nevermind, that's hardly a choice now is it? Strategy should prevail over brute force.

Enemies
Like I said, fewer random encounters. But I want them to be worth it. No "o noez another imp lol 'Fight' there its ded lol 5 seconds of my lief wasted " encounters. I want regular encounters to be as hard as a boss battle. If you run into something, you'll be on your toes. Not ready to mash A.

Difficulty
If the enemies are as hard as bosses, you can expect what kind of battle bosses will put up. I remember in the NES days when we DID get stuck on bosses for a few days. This hardly happens anymore. I want the player to come out of a dungeon, crash in an inn, and say, "Holy crap that was hard... but fun!"

Money
By the end of most games, you have 999,999,999 gold and can buy 99 of any item. Not in my game. In my game, money is scarce. You will end up flat broke if you just buy 99 potions and the best equipment right away. And with low encounter rates, fighting may not be a good solution. So characters will be able to take up jobs. Jobs should be a punishment for wasting money, not some kind of mini-game, and so it shouldn't be actually fun (without being tedious, though.) For instance you could work in a bar serving drinks and making enough money to crash at the inn and buy that new dagger after a half hour of "work." It's a last resort thing, and not worthwhile enough to be abusable.

Entertainement
Which brings me to my next point. Most towns are just immemorable lumps of stores and NPCs. You go in, buy new items at the stores, sleep in the inn, and get your next side-quest. Cool. On to the next town then, shall we? Not in my game. In my game, characters will find a wide range of entertainement in towns: bars, clubs, cafés, restaurants, whatever. Aside from providing a unique ambiance to different towns and cities, it willserve to important purposes.

Emotion Engine
I doubt a character can trudge through a dark, eery dungeon fighting monster after monster without ending up with their nerves shot and jumping at shadows. That's why I'd create a system that keeps track of a character's state of being. You'll think twice before taking your cute and innocent healer in some frightful catacombs because she's likely to end up scared out of her wits and stressed beyond proper battle usage by the time you reach the boss. Likewise, a mercenary might feel more at home out on the field during a war and will quickly perform better as he starts slipping into the whole mood. Events can help maintain proper morale or break it ("zomg, Bob was killed! Every1's happy = happy - 1 zomg noez") and taking some "time off" in town can help characters unwind from facing difficult losses and nerve-wracking conditions.

Dynamic Events
Based on their feelings (see above) and various other conditions, such as their familarity with each other, dynamic cutscenes can occure. When in town, your party-members automatically go their own way and do their own thing (maybe even buying or selling loot.) Running into them can trigger dynamically-built cutscenes using large text banks, dynamically-built conversation flow maps, and various other things. It could be as simple as a "Hey, ready to go soon? The guy next to me stinks and the booze is expensive here - I'd rather not stick around too long" or as complex as one character giving the other moral support after someone is killed ("Say, I meant to talk to you about... y'know..."). (btw, this is one of the things ES has that I'm most proud of )

A real day/night system
Having a day/night system with weather and such based on the location you're in and a mini-weather simulator doesn't do much for the gameplay but it does make things smoother and less "empty." It can even be used to build dynamic dialog (suppose a cutscene asks for some icebreaker to start a difficult conversation between two characters, they could talk about the weather - "Nice night we're having huh?" or "Bloody rain - just won't let it, will it?")

Abilities
As you level up, you gain skill points. These can be invested in a skill-tree specific to each character. Unlocking some parts of it unlock other commands and spells, but can also seal off other commands. This creates a bit of a path characters can follow. For instance, a spell-caster can learn firebased spells but won't ever be able to use the best ice spell in the game. This means no two games will play the same unless you pick the exact same skills the next time around. By the end of the game, you'll have different skillsets.

Unlockable stuff
Of course.

I think that about covers it... Forgive the typos, they're too numerous to fight off at the moment. Kinda been writing this post line by line at work in-between builds and while waiting for tests to end.

This post has been edited by Silverlance on 5th February 2007 18:32

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

Quote (SilverMaduin @ 5th February 2007 16:40)

I'll make my own example:
Let's say we have a gunslinger, and let's also say, that you're amassing skill points to buy skills.
First choice: you have "quickdraw" and "Sure-shot (shotgun)" skills.
If you take the former the latter becomes unaccessible, but you get access to "multi-shot" and "double blast", which cancel each other out, and to "quick aim" which is independant.
"Sure-shot (shotgun)" would give him access to different following skills. This is, of course, only a small example.
Some skills would be gained by ways of "training sidequests" where you find a trainer, do the quest and get the skill put into your skill tree, but still you have to buy it with skill points.

That is the kind of thing I was thinking of, just explained in a far better manner than I came up with. I've played a couple games like that, and my only advice would be to make sure that the cancellations are clearly marked from the outset, so you don't wind up with a lot of incoherent rants about not being able to learn such-and-such a skill when they're "the right class".

Mine would kinda be like a really advanced ffi remake.
Where in the beggining you could choose an element and a class for a character(there would be a nonelement choice). And you could name them too. And than certain sequences of events allow you to get ultimate attacks.
It would probably be around Spain during the Rennasaince or like in the future
Didnt mean to post that twice.......My bad

This post has been edited by yomama on 20th February 2007 02:39

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Mine would kinda be like a really advanced ffi remake.

Quote

Where in the beggining you could choose an element and a class for a character(there would be a nonelement choice). And you could name them too.

Choosing a class for your characters and naming them has already been done since the NES original.

Or were you talking about another Final Fantasy? Because I have no clue what you're talking about.

This post has been edited by NeoEx-Death on 20th February 2007 17:51

I would sell the company and be rich beyond my wildest dreams.

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PS3 tag: TipoDLuffy

"...quite possibly the greatest game ever made"

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I would sell the company and be rich beyond my wildest dreams.

That's not the point of this thread. The question is "what would your next FF game be like", not "what would you do".

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You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one...

I would make it different than any other FF, so everyone would talk trash about it, then I'd sell the company and be rich beyond my wildest dreams, now is it okay for you S.Zombie?

Moderator Edit

We get it. It's still not funny, but we get it.-R51

of course it is, look at him <----

This post has been edited by SaffireWeapon on 21st February 2007 22:21

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PS3 tag: TipoDLuffy

"...quite possibly the greatest game ever made"

Ha, I know what I'd do. I'd find the idiot who put in the autosave in DoC and shoot him in the leg. Then I'd shoot him again for having the damned thing kick in without warning all the time. Finally I'd break his arms for making it almost impossible to play that game without corrupting your save file - even if you're on the title screen.

After that I'd look for someone to implant an auto-save feature in my games, cuz that's such a convinient idea.

Then I'd shoot them, too, for also messing it up.

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

No seriously, if I were Squarenix I would work on one final project to "Settle the score once and for all" in the Final Fantasy VII universe. There's no denying that Final Fantasy VII is the most succesful console RPG of all times. Those words in the back cover of the game's case turned out to be quite true and they went like this...

"quite possibly the greatest game ever made"

Now they should go as "the greatest game ever made", there is just no debating this. When it came out, the gaming world was blown away. The graphics, the sound, the gameplay, and most important the storyline. Since 1985 when video games began their popularity age, no one had ever seen or tought that something like this we saw back in 1997 could ever be possible.

Now, if I were Squarenix, I would finish my work on all the other tittles I'm currently working on, and began work in Final Fantasy VII's last project. A boX set that includes the original PSone game, Last Order, Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus. In the same box set I would include a surprise that no one knew was going to be in that box set, a demo for Final Fantasy VII (REMAKE) and a preview of Final Fantasy VII-2.

The remake will be basicly the same as the original with current or next generation graphics, with a few new additions. Extended dungeons, extra materias (magic, abilities[jobs], summons, independents), more weapons, more armors, new enemies, new versions of Uematsu's music, a new Level 4-2 Limit Break, and adjustable Levels only with bosses.

For Final Fantasy VII-2, well that one is a little tough, but I will say, Denzel is the new main character, and he is joined by Marlene, Shelke, Red XIII, Tifa, Barret, Vincent, Yuffie, Reeves alongside that lovable cat we all love, Cid, and Lucrecia. The story would begin with "One day, he just disappeared, where could he had gone too, where are you Cloud?". And so the search for Cloud begins. Something is going behind the shadows, brothers search for their elder, MOTHER searches for her son, and old enemies rise one last time, To settle the score once and for all.

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PS3 tag: TipoDLuffy

"...quite possibly the greatest game ever made"

I thought DoC was supposed to be the final chapter in the FF7 fiasco? An opening video wouldn't lie to you now, would it? I mean, honestly.

Well, ok. So there's some loose end in one of the endings and the back of the instruction booklet has an ad for DoC2 for cell phones. ... Yeah. Ok. Really, nevermind. That line in the opening video was just there to impress simple-minded fanboys.

I think Square should make a really awesome FFVI remake BEFORE they even think of touching FFVII again. FFVI is, frankly, one of the better FFs. Between that and CT, Square has plenty of material for two series that, with all due respect, still hold more interest than FFVII does. Yet even after fans wanted another CT, Square kept putting all of its efforts into its flagship cashcow series. What a bad move. :S

If I were Square Enix, come to think of it, I'd give people what they want. I'm a company, not a charity - if people will buy it, then I'll make it. And I can understand Square investing so much effort in its FF series. But I think it's overlooking a lot of other series that could easily blow the FF series out of the water. And I'd dedicate a little effort and manpower to those series.

I'd put FFXIII on ice for a little bit and immediately begin investing efforts in a new Chrono Trigger. I'd also dedicate a small part of my workforce to a new Front Mission. My money would mainly go to the new CT though - I don't think FM's success would be as important as CT's. I'd also consider a new game in the SoM universe.

Also, I'd start looking into a new series. Or a stand-alone game, maybe. I think Square could make some awesome Noir game, after seeing DoC. And after firing the guy who makes villains who almost destroy the world and turn into angelic beings during final battles (yes, I'm talking about just about every FF ) I think my devs would be able to come up with a cool storyline that's serious and moody, and throw in a nice, very customizable system à-la DoC or VH. I think that would be pretty awesome.

Once we're far enough in the developement, I'd see how the public reacts to this new idea. If they like it, funds go to them. If not, I'll keep my money invested in that new CT. Sometime after some of these projects are released, I'd put the freed-up members of these dev teams to work on FFXIII and wait to see which projects succeeded more before considering the next project my company would work on. The FF series would just serve as in-between games to keep people busy while my other games get produced, not as the driving force of my company.

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

Right on the spot, a new Chrono Trigger would be just amazing and logical, and even thought I'm a FF7 fanatic, I agree with S.Lance on that FF6 deserves a remake before FF7 gets one.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

At the end of Dirge of Cerberus, we see Lucrecia in some capsule in the depths of the ruin Midgar, and if you saw the secret ending then you know there is a new bad guy around

^NOT TOPIC RELATED^

This post has been edited by SaffireWeapon on 22nd February 2007 16:58

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PS3 tag: TipoDLuffy

"...quite possibly the greatest game ever made"

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Wasn't that Shalua? That looks a lot like her, and the capsule in the Shera. Though yeah, I meant the G ending.

Wasn't Square going to work on a new CT - Chrono Break - at some point? I remember hearing about that, then the CT remake project that got shot down by Square's lawyers, then the series pretty much faded away.

I'd have expected at least one CT game for the PS2 but it came and went without seeing any...

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

What I love in Final Fantasy games is a challenge, something that will take me more than one try to accomplish what I am trying to do. I'd like a Final Fantasy game where it was of a difficulty, meaning even if you power-leveled, it would not make the game any easier.

I'd like a Final Fantasy game to be like Romancing Saga 3. I mean, I like the part where there are no levels, you just gain experience in the things you use, but I don't love it. What I am refering to is that the enemies gain strength as you do. Even if you where to power-level at the very beginning of the game (why would you?), you would have to face the most difficult random monsters in the game, even harder than the last boss!

That's the kind of game I would like. I wouldn't be as much concered with the music, graphics, or stuff like that. Today, they are very good at making the games life-like and the music going with it, but the difficulty is another thing. I would love and replay that game because it would never get old.

This post has been edited by FF Master on 22nd February 2007 20:19

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Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Chrsit for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

Acts 4:12

Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost

They did make an FF like that. It was called FF8. Unfortunately it sucked.

Though I agree - I just think they went the wrong way with FF8.

One thing I do with Endless Saga is adjust the encounter rate alongside the party's average level and the expected level for a dungeon. If your party is high-levelled, the encounter rate starts declining until, past a few levels, you rarely run into any enemies anymore. The upside of this is that powerlevelling becomes very, very hard. And you don't run into puny nobody enemies in areas you've passed long, long ago. The downside is how this makes money a little more scarce, but this is covered in another game mechanism.

Coupled with the fact the encounter rate is already kind of low and enemy encounters, when they do occure, are made to be quite challenging. So nothing's ever some kind of boring "mash A until the fight is over" challenge.

I'd love to see an FF with adjustable algorithms based on how well the party is doing. Nobody likes wandering through an old dungeon because it's the only passage between two towns and facing Mini-Slimes at level 35. Ho hum, another battle... *mashes A*

(Mind you, the encounter rate never drops to 0. Nor can it increase to some ridiculously annoying level. It's capped either way at a certain point.)

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

Quote

Silverlance Posted on 22nd February 2007 21:03

They did make an FF like that. It was called FF8. Unfortunately it sucked.

Lol, i guess you got me there, but not exactly what I meant.

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Silverlance Posted on 22nd February 2007 21:03

One thing I do with Endless Saga is adjust the encounter rate alongside the party's average level and the expected level for a dungeon.

Now that's exactly what I meant! I didn't care for Final Fantasy 8 too much, but you get my drift, right?

--------------------

Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Chrsit for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

Acts 4:12

Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost

Some more things I've thought about...

Language
Have everyone speak in a different language. Or even better, two different languages! If the team can make Al Bhed they could surely make some more. I feel it would put more depth into it because there's always a bit of... "oh right they speak English 'course". Also with subtitles in all the world's languages, it would save a fortune on VA if there were just one audio track for the characters. I think it would be quite fun.

Finishing Moves
A superficial addition here. I've been playing Chrono Cross and I was really impressed with the effect that Dash&Slash got on humans (and some other enemies) when I killed them with it. In my new FF, I'd have it so moves that won the battle would be a bit overcharged and better looking - like a much better FFX finish. I like the thought of fighting a super-boss with only one guy left, then knowing I'd won when I see him getting ready for the finish. A bit like the really long transparent red death of Ruby Weapon, it's good to see them go.

NO POOR STORY BATTLES
I think these are the worst thing about FFs in general. There's nothing more wrong than seeing your high-powered guys get beaten by one move after destroying the boss during the actual fight. With Beatrix, I tried everything I could... Even when she had 0 MP it must have recharged for her to use Climhazzard. In my FF, story battles can be winnable - even if it was like Kain and it's more of a glitch, it'd be better than nothing. It would be nice to be given the option. E.g. Once the main baddie has charged into uber-mode, you're repeatedly told to run from the fight... but if you stay, eventually the guy shuts up and let's you get on with it. Then if you win, the boss is set back and you're rewarded, but you still run away and the game continues. Fights like these would be really difficult though; and would have their own unique music.

Masses of characters
I've already outlined this before, and other people also agree. If death really was death, then there needs to be replacements. I found out that FFXII has 1000 NPCs. So if the new FF had 1200, I'm sure they could spare 40 or 50 of them to be playable. They wouldn't be recruited in an FFT style, I would place them all over the world in bars, barracks, kitchens, temples... everywhere. Some would come willingly; like a chef saying "screw this job, I'm coming with you guys." and then you choose whether you want him or not. Or a Monk wanting to join you because the temple doesn't agree with his evil use of his power. There would also be mercenaries that you can hire from Thief Gangs, wanderers etc, that would be another way to replenish your team. This would still integrate with my old idea as you can tour with just one character and not recruit a single other team member which would make his/her experience growth massive. There would also be secret characters, maybe one could be the main enemies' right-hand man who agrees to join you as a spy.

Guests!
I love them. If there needed to be a way to give a sense of scale to a battlefield it would be to pull in all the surrounding soldiers to your epicentre. In FFVIII (yes in FFVIII) the initial landing in Dollet seemed like it would be great. There was lots of explosions, fighting between two sides and the best music in the game*. It should have been epic, but instead you landed and chatted to Selphie about what people had been eating! Where did the troops go!? Why aren't they being shot by artillery any more!? Great music! Instead there should've been wounded soldiers everywhere, prisoners, and a definitive line where the Galbadians and the Dollet/SeeDs were fighting. I'd have a battles system like pre-XI, but have a maximum of 100 people in it or something, so it really is a battle! Attacks would be quick so they'd be no need to wait ages for it to finish.

*Download worked okay for me, it's kosher

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Quote

Language
Have everyone speak in a different language. Or even better, two different languages! If the team can make Al Bhed they could surely make some more. I feel it would put more depth into it because there's always a bit of... "oh right they speak English 'course". Also with subtitles in all the world's languages, it would save a fortune on VA if there were just one audio track for the characters. I think it would be quite fun.

Well, it's not a big deal to invent a language. As a student of applied linguistics, I know that quite well ;) It would certainly make the game cheaper in other countries than Japan, having the same audio tracks everywhere, but there's something that would glitch with what I like about Final Fantasy. Puns. Kefka's "Wait, he says! Do I look like a waiter?" wouldn't be possible if everyone spoke an invented language. Unless you do all the translation with subtitles, doing whatever you want. Also, why do we have to have voice actors anyway? ;)
I would include different dialects in different locations in the world, though. That makes the game more realistic.

Quote

Finishing Moves
A superficial addition here. I've been playing Chrono Cross and I was really impressed with the effect that Dash&Slash got on humans (and some other enemies) when I killed them with it. In my new FF, I'd have it so moves that won the battle would be a bit overcharged and better looking - like a much better FFX finish. I like the thought of fighting a super-boss with only one guy left, then knowing I'd won when I see him getting ready for the finish. A bit like the really long transparent red death of Ruby Weapon, it's good to see them go.

That would be cool to see, but I personally wouldn't like to know that my enemy is going to die before he dies. If you don't see anything that lets you know he's on his last legs, you are more concentrated and you put more attention to what he's doing. Also, how would your character know when to use the finishing move?

Quote

NO POOR STORY BATTLES
I think these are the worst thing about FFs in general. There's nothing more wrong than seeing your high-powered guys get beaten by one move after destroying the boss during the actual fight. With Beatrix, I tried everything I could... Even when she had 0 MP it must have recharged for her to use Climhazzard. In my FF, story battles can be winnable - even if it was like Kain and it's more of a glitch, it'd be better than nothing. It would be nice to be given the option. E.g. Once the main baddie has charged into uber-mode, you're repeatedly told to run from the fight... but if you stay, eventually the guy shuts up and let's you get on with it. Then if you win, the boss is set back and you're rewarded, but you still run away and the game continues. Fights like these would be really difficult though; and would have their own unique music.

Yeah, I hate those too. "Huh? What do you mean, I lost with Kain?"

Edit

I also hate situations where you don't have a choice when normally you would have. Like in Chrono Cross, when you first meet Kid and Karsh wants you to come with him. You can't just say "OK, I'll go with you guys and see what's it all about."

Quote

Masses of characters
I've already outlined this before, and other people also agree. If death really was death, then there needs to be replacements. I found out that FFXII has 1000 NPCs. So if the new FF had 1200, I'm sure they could spare 40 or 50 of them to be playable. They wouldn't be recruited in an FFT style, I would place them all over the world in bars, barracks, kitchens, temples... everywhere. Some would come willingly; like a chef saying "screw this job, I'm coming with you guys." and then you choose whether you want him or not. Or a Monk wanting to join you because the temple doesn't agree with his evil use of his power. There would also be mercenaries that you can hire from Thief Gangs, wanderers etc, that would be another way to replenish your team. This would still integrate with my old idea as you can tour with just one character and not recruit a single other team member which would make his/her experience growth massive. There would also be secret characters, maybe one could be the main enemies' right-hand man who agrees to join you as a spy.

I like this idea a lot, but there's something that I really hate about FF games. That you can't have more than 4 (or so) characters in your party at a time and that's only because of mechanics, not because the plot suggests it. It was greatly done in FFIV and if I were square-enix, I would try to do something similar. So you wouldn't be able to recruit anyone (for some reason other than no such option in the menu) when your party is full. Also, more characters means more backstories, and I like that :]

Guests? Yeah, why not? But only once-twice in the whole game I guess.

This post has been edited by Silver_Zombie on 13th March 2007 19:37

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You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one...

Well, if you're in need of puns then I'm sure they could be slipped in during the creation of the language. Like chair sounds like... gun (great imagination there). I don't think that would be a problem. You're right though, the puns are really good. By dialect do you mean accent or translation?

As for the finishing moves, I mean super-superficial. Examples are, again, the way the camera moves on FFX and the character says something as they do the last hit. Or if the last attack was a magic the camera angles would be reminiscent of Ultima in FFVII. You only know it's going to be the last move after you've done it. It basically is exactly the same move you were doing, only it looks better; like maybe a basic attack will be executed like Braver in FFVII to sit the enemy down.

Kain's alright once you get to know him.

I think I would actually bring back the introduction to each character as well. But it would be from your team's perspective. I agree, FFIV was good for the four character limit.

I think guests would also be a good way of developing characters. If there's a sure way of knowing somebody, it's how they cope under pressure. I could imagine an old battle-scarred veteran Knight roaring "on your feet lad!" at a wounded guest. Where as the Thief takes no notice, and a Pierre-like swordsman repulsed.



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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Quote

By dialect do you mean accent or translation?

Dialect is a characteristic way of using the language by groups of people in different regions. By dialect I mean the accent, the vocabulary (like "ill" in British English equals to "sick" in American English), the grammatical forms (e.g. get/got/got in British English and get/got/gotten in American English) and so on. Languages tend to evolve in geographical isolation, hence the differences. In the game, while you're travelling around the world and visit various cities, you should see that in every part of the globe they speak a little bit differently.

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As for the finishing moves, I mean super-superficial. Examples are, again, the way the camera moves on FFX and the character says something as they do the last hit. Or if the last attack was a magic the camera angles would be reminiscent of Ultima in FFVII. You only know it's going to be the last move after you've done it. It basically is exactly the same move you were doing, only it looks better; like maybe a basic attack will be executed like Braver in FFVII to sit the enemy down.

Ok, now I see.

Quote

I agree, FFIV was good for the four character limit.

Actually, in FFIV you could have up to five people in your party at a time ;)

Seems like we're the only ones left here... Any more ideas?

This post has been edited by Silver_Zombie on 15th March 2007 14:13

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You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one...

Quote (Silver_Zombie @ 15th March 2007 14:12)

Quote

I agree, FFIV was good for the four character limit.

Actually, in FFIV you could have up to five people in your party at a time

Oh yeah... Well the only time I played it I did a single Cecil challenge to see if it was more fun to play through a new FF like that, and also to get the levels for Kain.

Quote (Silver_Zombie)

I would include different dialects in different locations in the world, though. That makes the game more realistic.

By that, I thought you meant where it was released in the world, like US or Europe. I see what you mean now. Good idea.






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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.