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--I have a question.....--

If any of you could make a final fantasy game, what would be key elements and what would the game be like?

This also goes to the moderators just for fun, since it sounds like they've got some great ideas possibly!

((P.S:im sorry this doesn't quite fit topic, but this seemed like the best spot...))    

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<DrkMagimaster282> MWAHAHA. I,
DrkMagimaster282, shall wreak havoc and destroy...
<Mother>TIIIIIIMMYYY...are you planning evil, unkind revenge again in the bathroom??
<DrkMagimaster282>UMMMMMMMM...NO.

CoN day is May 27th, 2005
Join elder-geek.com for unbiased reviews, no console wars here...

I disagree that it's the best place, but I will move it for you.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

thanx rangers...

You got a reply at all though??

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<DrkMagimaster282> MWAHAHA. I,
DrkMagimaster282, shall wreak havoc and destroy...
<Mother>TIIIIIIMMYYY...are you planning evil, unkind revenge again in the bathroom??
<DrkMagimaster282>UMMMMMMMM...NO.

CoN day is May 27th, 2005
Join elder-geek.com for unbiased reviews, no console wars here...

Hmm... If I made a new final fantasy, I think I'd use the style of graphics that were used in Legend of Mana, because they were cute, and they really kept me addicted to that game for a long time. Another thing is, is if I made a Final Fantasy, I would spend months and months on each characters, so I don't get boring, plain, or just annoying characters like Rosa, Cecil, Cait Sith, Cara/Kiley. I'd keep the old battle system from 6 and down. I love that. Four players people. X3 As for Magic.. I think I'd want to use espers again, but they have something different for each game, right? Well, we'll make a sequel to FF6 for that.
Maybe the characters could be descendants of the characters from the first game. :D That would be cool!
I'm just rambling now. ^-^

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..DDR..Maine..
..Hikaroo-chan no Deviantart..

<Tiddles> And I love how people suggest "Why not call it my great name?????" when their name is clearly the worst thing ever.
<Tiddles> "How about ; Mozilla Xplorer & Mozilla Xpress."
<Tiddles> How about you die in a fire?

I'd either make a big game with FFX graphics, or a big game with FFVI graphics.  I wouldn't sacrifice the game being cool for the game looking cool.

I'd probably have a complicated story with lots of characters...more like FFIV, where you didn't have everyone forever, than like the more recent games, where you just kinda pick up party members throughout the game.

Romance would be a big part of the plot, because I'm a sucker for a good love story.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Two optiosn - the bog-standard 'final fantasy playing as warhammer/warhamemr 40,000 characters' or soemthign alothgether much better...
take the best elements from previous games- X's graphics, a story as Good as 7's, 6's battle system...
and continuation of one of the BETTER ones (i never wanted to see rikku again and you torture me with X-2? ghaa...)
and as for sub-games... heres some possibly good ones
BASEBALL- for a character who always plays it. Cricket in the UK version. not a fan myself, but a character weilding a cricket/baseball bat who can learn new abilities by playign the game would be good- like Wakka in X.
SOCCER (renamed football in the UK version, or just not in the US version. Japan has more footie fans than the US, so we leave it in there)- manage a team, and win the wordl cup on the planet.
A RETURN TO THE OLD CARD GAMES- nuff said.
TABLETOP WARGAMING?!- 2 reasons for this
1)- it woudl keep strategy buffs like me hooke don one mini-game for hours! maybe there coudl be multiple armies useable- and cameos from previous games too! Like use Shin-Ra armies, have a Terra special character...
2)- in a warhammer/40k version, it would be funny to see characters from one playing a table-top wargame!

anyone got any better plans for mini-games?

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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

I would also make romance a big part of the plot, but I would make a same-sex romance (done TASTEFULLY); that's something I've always wanted to see in an RPG.

I haven't decided on a form of gameplay yet. I keep tossing around ideas in my head that would mix battle systems from different RPGs into one, but I can't decide on which ones I would use.

And I know this sounds weird, but I would give the main character cat's eyes. Don't ask me why, I just think that would be cool.

This post has been edited by tenshi/akuma on 3rd September 2003 13:48

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"I sat alone and I didn't care,
I sat two years in the same old chair,
I saw three roads but didn't know,
Which way to go-go-go"
My Coco, stellastarr*

Quote (Del S @ 26th August 2003 16:42)

6's battle system...

i disagree there: 6 may have had the most complete equiptment and well documented mechanics, but it is far from perfect.

I would not want to have such an overpowered party coupled with under-endured bosses as 6 has. Also, 6 did not use so much of the battle system's potential...

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"Not me... I dreamt I was a moron."

I WANTED TO POST SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR MONTHS!

First off: Charachters! There's gotta be a lot, with complex personalities, rotating through the party a lot, putting in weird plot twist, with indivdual abilities and available to pick for the final confrontation.

Second - abilities: Every char needs their own, but I thought of using materia, like in FF7. Each materia would boost or expand the char's original abilities. And there should be special materia for each char!

Third - Classes(at a MUST): ROCKSTAR! Wearing leather, guitar on their back and walking on the wild side! NINJA! Every FF fan loves ninjas, and so do I! SUMMONNER! I Love summonners, and have SUCH a profile thought up for one, yeah! ESPER (/Eidolon/Guardinal/whatever you call it)! Why not? Who wouldn't want to have a creature you usually summon in their party? DRAGOON! You dare ASK WHY?!?

Fourth - Graphics: I was brought up on 8-bit graphics, and I appreciate the use of them, so I don't really like super-duper 3d graphics that much. I perfer anime-like, DRAWN!

Fifth - FF features: CID has got to be playable! Lot's of CHOCOBOS, in lots of differrent types! And HIRYUU! Hiryuu for Dragoons to ride and help etc. And, of course, AIRSHIPS! At least two!

Can you imagine that?

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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

First of all, I'd make sure the game included lots of Chocobos & Moogles. And not just as background objects. They would have a big part of the story. And you would be able to talk to moogles as you meet them. And one moogle would be a playable character at least once in the game (Mog's Revenge! Kupo!).

Also, I'd throw in lots of dragons too (I've always had a weak spot for dragons). Not just as evil monsters and bosses. They would be good, wise and majestical creatures that helped you both in battle and strategy-wise.

And airships of course!

As for the battle engine, I'd throw in many combo-moves, such as in Chrono Trigger and Suikoden. They're always so cool. Each character would have got their own special ability, weapon type and stats. I guess I'd include classes too. I'm not gonna include switching commands between characters as they did in FFVII.

And I wouldn't let some characters die in mid-game. I HATE THAT! That makes you wonder: "Why did I spend all the time and toil building up this character, when he/she dies anyway?". NO! I would let you keep all characters the whole game. No Aeris, no Leo, no Gremio!

I would include some technology as well as old-school fantasy RPG-stuff. As they did in FFIX.

The graphics would be very colourful and sparkling. And not gray, misery surroundings like in many of the higher numbered FF-games.

Oh yeah, I just realized: I would copy the "recruit"-system from Suikoden and Breath Of Fire and place it in the airship! That would be wonderful! Imagine that you find a guy in the world that says "If you let me stay in your airship, I could open a weapon shop there!". And then, if you recruit him, you get your own weapon shop in the airship. I love such things!

Well...

This post has been edited by Shirrow on 13th September 2003 14:53

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People say I'm a slow learner, but I type fast!

My own FF...
In every RPG I like, it's all about plot and characters, so that's the first priority. A good story, with plot twists, lots of characters, interesting villains, and magic being an important part of the story.
As for graphics, something like FF IX would be nice, although I'm not really looking at this in the first place...
Battle system : class system, with various possibilities of evolution, like Square did for Seiken Densetsu 3 (but more complex).
Good music is a must, so I would hire Nobuo Uematsu.
And of course, all the FF features SilverMaduin was talking about : Cid, chocobos, moogles, espers, Bahamut, Biggs & Wedge, and extras like Cyan or Sabin as old masters, or Cecil and Rosa's children...
With all that, multiple endings for replay value, and I'm done

mine is...
well you need a love interest, possibly a love triangle?
the fighting system and sphere grid of FFX
a lot of plot twists, but not so many that it gets stupid
tons of villans
a key ingriediant- the turks of FF7!!! they were amazing
chocobos and blitzball
lots of stuff to do apart from the main story
more weapons! (ruby etc.)
lots of useable veichles
an arcade like the gold saucher
not so many characters that u get bogged down with training, maybe 6
some familiar faces
cid's airship (FFX-2)
and of course each character has to be individual and good at something different that others aren't!!

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18th June-Red hot chilli peppers-Manchester city stadium

At least 12 main characters.

Damage limit higher than 9999.

Enemy health limit over 65535.

LOTS of sidequests.

Job system, but each character still retains some original abilities.

Multiple worlds!

(I've heard 10 has a 5 digit damage limit. Is this true?)

This post has been edited by Mikey on 22nd September 2003 00:00

Quote (Mikey @ 21st September 2003 19:58)

(I've heard 10 has a 5 digit damage limit. Is this true?)

I think with just a few summons, but I've never played it, so don't quote me on that.

Key/Necessary/Standard Elements of FF

• Chocobos
• Airships
• A Cid
• Moogles not necessary, but put them in if they have a point (stupid VII and VIII)

Things I would do (Numbers mean amount, Roman Numerals mean game reference)

• Multiple-Form chocobos that have a point beyond side-quest ( to VII and IX)
• Multiple types of vehicles (airship, hovercraft, ship, and maybe spaceship)
• Cid having a strong influence on story/party (like IV, V, and VII)
• Max damage being 9999 (no more inflation, darn it!)
• No multiple hits ( to VII and VIII)
• Multiple Worlds/Maps (3-5)
• Plenty of Side Quests (Plenty, but not too much like VIII and IX)
• Strong Story and Characters
• Story that leaves mystery, but doesn't leave a rediculous amount of unanswered questions (Darn you VII)
• Individual characters in-battle (I, IV, and IX are the only ones that did this)
• Summons have their own story (VIII deserved it the most, IV was the only one that got it)
• Few characters (4-8): No Army ( to VI and VII)
• Final boss that cannot be killed cheaply (Why was this only done in IV!?)
• If I cannot use graphics for the gameplay, I will make it 8-Bit (VII-IX had the graphics, but they didn't use them)

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

Quote (Mikey @ 21st September 2003 18:58)

Damage limit higher than 9999.

Enemy health limit over 65535.

LOTS of sidequests.


(I've heard 10 has a 5 digit damage limit. Is this true?)

yeah FFX does have a five digit damage level, and its not just aeons, all you need is resonable level chracters and break damage limit and you can easily get 20-30,000

damage level and the enemy health levels are all in FFX, they quite a few characters in the battle arena that have 1 million plus hp, i think the most being 9 million and there are a fair few sidequests

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18th June-Red hot chilli peppers-Manchester city stadium

Well This goes as follows.

Plot/storyline/ odd ideas:
Why not have the great armegeddon a means of which has nothing to do with humanity? I liked the way how FFT made ancient technologies salvagable. I hated the way FFX carried out the whole machana (sp?) thing, I thought the whole technology concept in FFX was ugly and looked too good to be damaged salvaged items from an extinct society. I like the look of crude exposed mechanics. For example, out of the whole FFX or FFT games, I didn't see a lot of people who delt with mechienery who was a grease monkey like Cid from FF4 and Cid from FF7.

FF8 was great in the fact it was very colorful, I like that. Color should be bright and vivid, but not so much that it gives a headache. It was delightful how the world was eye-pleasing in FF8. Vehicles and architecture would probly be inspired due to the fact it was simply pretty.

I like the idea of crude magics, using rough words and hand gestures. One's that are specific to the spell. Linguistics are cool, just as long as you don't spend all the time translating it letter by letter! I don't mind accents, just as long as you don't talk like Wakka, that irritated me. Russian accents would be nice.

Characters:
I like lead characters that simply didn't want to be in their position in the first place. Mature characters, not young kids dealing with the world. One advantage of FF6 is that most everyone was well grown up. As a matter of fact, the older characters often had vivid storylines, and sidequests, all to themselves. Locke's love affair, Setzers dealings with Daryl. Also, most characters never agreed to be with each other to begain with, but wound up togather out of interest, or one thing led to another. I don't like the theme of, "I've known you all my life!" A Moogle character! Better yet, why not reintroduce moombas and make a moomba character! Or a Tonberry that was a Black mage? Like a tonberry that was different because rather than a chef's knife, he had a spatula?

Villians: I like cold blooded murders with a methodical plan and a reason. Sephy being a prime example. None o this, "Enemy who you can't really know the character of." That is a theme I see in RPG villains.

World: Multiple realms, I enjoyed going from the moon to the underground, to the surface. Perhaps going through different dimensions like in CC? Perhaps different times like CT?

Graphics: 3d, but with pizzaz that was special to 2d. I was dissapointed witht he way the envyroments in FF6 and 4 were never seen after the PS1, and the afore mentioned things.

That's all I got right now.

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At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

One of the things I would like to see is a FF with a strong female presence. FFVI had this with Celes and Terra. It portrayed them in a light that they were strong and not just the damsel in distress. I want my female characters to be beautiful but not scantily dressed or as bouncy eye candy (think Tifa). Have the story center around *shock* the female character. FFVI partially suceeded with this but had competition from Shadow, Locke, etc.

Another element missing from the newer FFs is that it has gone away from the 'medeval' angle. All the PSX era games were furturistic. FFI, FFII, FIII, FFIV, FFV, and FFVI had spots of high technology, but it was still mostly that old sword and shield feeling to it.

Cid must play an integral part of game. He makes appearances in all the games, but in FFIV, FFVII does he really make a difference. None of this plot device character usage

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Oh yeah, Edea's my wife. Guess I forgot to mention that. Cid - FFVIII

Let Cid be a part of the party, airship and all!

I want the graphics to go back to its root. Either 8-bit or 16-bit graphics. None of this over the top rendition of backgrounds and anime looking characters. Simple yet elegant. Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano is a must. I find that sometimes the sheer complexity of the graphics actually detract from the game play, and so some game substitute top notch graphics for good game play.

I want to be able to have up to 5 party members at a time (only FFIV did this) with characters leaving and joining the party. I don't want the same 5 people throughout the whole game. Keep the characters down to maybe 10, as to help focus the character development and give good background information.

Villians should not only be evil, they need to be dynamic, with real depth. No "I want to destroy the world, just because". Insane? Hateful? Vengeful? Even an ambiguously evil villian with the idea that 'the ends justify the means'. Have real meaning behind what they're doing that's so wrong and bad.

One of the elements that I didn't like from FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII is that everyone could pretty much be anyone else as far as magic goes. Characters need to have specified weaknesses and strengths. One character could use white magic, another, a dragoon. What I'm getting at is that we don't have a Dragoon who can cast white/black/time/summon plus chuck some ninja stars all while jumping on an enemy. We want individual personalities, and that has also to do with their abilities.

I want multiple maps and locations. We don't want to wander around the same forest through out the whole game. This is where that touch of futuristic comes in, do we go to outer space? another planet? another dimention? another time?

Something of a quirky item: have the characters named NORMAL names. Sephiroth? Zell? Selphie? They can be international, but I want them to be normal. On the international point, have diversity in the population. Contrary to popular video game depiction, the world is NOT made solely of 'white' people. Have different regions and continents have different physical characteristics and cultures.

Music I find is a large factor for me in games. Good music is gripping and helps set the mood. Bad music makes game play difficult. Symphonic scores are great. FFIV and FFVI (especially FFVI) are some examples in this department.

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kame, tortue, tortuga, schildkröte, tartaruga, turtle

"Arthur Dent?"
"Yes."
"Arthur Philip Dent?"
"Yes."
"You're a total knee biter."

Quote (Dark Paladin @ 21st September 2003 21:40)

Quote (Mikey @ 21st September 2003 19:58)

(I've heard 10 has a 5 digit damage limit. Is this true?)
I think with just a few summons, but I've never played it, so don't quote me on that.

Well actually after you activate a few ultimate weapons aeons overdrives do break the damage limit and the activated ultimate weapons do 5-digit damage after you use tham enough.

Okay well the story would be gripping there would be tons of sidequests involving moogles and chocobos. ending up with finding the moogle/chocobo paradise well anyway the battle system uses the ATB and well you attach partners to aid you in battle thats how you learn abilities well i'll finish describing later this is getting long.

Okay well the story would be gripping there would be tons of sidequests involving moogles and chocobos. ending up with finding the moogle/chocobo paradise well anyway the battle system uses the ATB and well you attach partners to aid you in battle thats how you learn abilities well i'll finish describing later this is getting long.

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PARENTAL ADVISORY:The text in this signature may offend some people read at your own risk.

Quote (Kame @ 24th September 2003 18:32)

One of the things I would like to see is a FF with a strong female presence.
[...]
I want my female characters to be beautiful but not scantily dressed or as bouncy eye candy (think Tifa). Have the story center around *shock* the female character.

Remember the FFX-2 petition?

Quote (Kame @ 24th September 2003 18:32)

Another element missing from the newer FFs is that it has gone away from the 'medeval' angle. All the PSX era games were furturistic. FFI, FFII, FIII, FFIV, FFV, and FFVI had spots of high technology, but it was still mostly that old sword and shield feeling to it

The "Sword and shield" feeling is one of the key things for me, too. FFIX was sort of a return to that, but not as much as it could have been. FFIX did the Medieval setting, but the politics of the nations seemed to have a more modern-day setup.

Quote (Kame @ 24th September 2003 18:32)

Villians should not only be evil, they need to be dynamic, with real depth. No "I want to destroy the world, just because".

That reminds me of Rubicante. He was still sort of a flat character, but still one of my favorites. We need more enemies like him.

Quote (Kame @ 24th September 2003 18:32)

One of the elements that I didn't like from FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII is that everyone could pretty much be anyone else as far as magic goes. Characters need to have specified weaknesses and strengths. One character could use white magic, another, a dragoon. What I'm getting at is that we don't have a Dragoon who can cast white/black/time/summon plus chuck some ninja stars all while jumping on an enemy. We want individual personalities, and that has also to do with their abilities

I agree. Having individuals inside of battle is just as important as having individuals outside of battle. We don't need any "Renaissance Men" who can do everything.

Quote (Kame @ 24th September 2003 18:32)

Something of a quirky item: have the characters named NORMAL names. Sephiroth? Zell? Selphie? They can be international, but I want them to be normal

FF names may seem weird, but they all have a source, and they all have a meaning.

Quote (Kame @ 24th September 2003 18:32)

On the international point, have diversity in the population. Contrary to popular video game depiction, the world is NOT made solely of 'white' people. Have different regions and continents have different physical characteristics and cultures

FF is a Medieval game. Based on Medieval Europe, with a few Japanese aspects (like ninjas) thrown in. Normally in video games (and anime, etc) all the characters are Japanese (though some people do confuse them for white).

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

Quote (Dark Paladin @ 25th September 2003 02:31)

Quote (Kame @ 24th September 2003 18:32)

Something of a quirky item: have the characters named NORMAL names. Sephiroth? Zell? Selphie? They can be international, but I want them to be normal

FF names may seem weird, but they all have a source, and they all have a meaning.

Actually, I figured that Sephiroth's name had a meaning (along with <u>most</u> FF names). But, two of the ones that I have case in point is Zell and Selphie. Their names have no meaning, they're just there. Well, Selphie annoys me in addition to being there. Point is that a few names are just plain weird without meaning.

An excellent example of a character with a normal name is Cecil. His name is quite apropriate because Cecil means, 1) grey eyes, 2) blind. I take the latter meaning and apply it to him during his time as a Dark Knight.

I don't want my characters named something like Buynar, Ihop, Hoboglue, etc. if they don't have real meaning.

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kame, tortue, tortuga, schildkröte, tartaruga, turtle

"Arthur Dent?"
"Yes."
"Arthur Philip Dent?"
"Yes."
"You're a total knee biter."

Time to restore the dark elves to power...

Characters: Not nearly as many as FFVI, about maybe... 8 characters, with distinct personallities that go against the normal 'I'm all good' or the healers good natured kind cliche. Examples,
Healer: Name, Carol NightShade, has a Raine like attitude, no one messes with her.
Mace wielder: Main Character, more like Kain, you lose the main character for a few instances.
Summoner: The female love intrest for the main character, starts out as an enemy.
Dragoon: What game is complete without a Dragoon? Played by a moogle, starts out in beginning of game with main character.
Mage: Name, Runic Grave. All games need a mage, its the law. Dark Elf, the least recognized of all game creatures.
Thief Yup, a female Locke wannabe. Caught trying to pick the dragoons wallet, poor thief.
And that's all I can think of immediatly.

Enemies, A Kefka like enemy. Wants to destroy the world because the rulers of the world made fun of the poor clown. He starts as a jester, then uses mind control on one of the leaders, and destroys the world, then well, you know the rest.

The battle system would be real time like Tales of Sympthonia, so you can control your characters in battle, unlike the normal time based ones of Most Final Fantasy's.

Cid of course would be in it, along with tons of Chocobo and Moogles. And you can make the characters hate you or love you, just like ToS...

Storyline: A great Volcano has formed above the ocean, towering over the highest mountain. Explorers were sent, but none came back...alive. So the main character drags his friend up to explore, tragicly, while they are gone, the village and everyone in it is destroyed. So, they set out for the nearest other village, and see the said healer getting attacked by evil chocobos.
Anyway, the story is about how the demons who were long asleep under the volcano, but arose and caused destruction all over the world, they were sealed away by Wyvern, the young brother of Bahamut, about 100,000 years ago. So they set out to find Wyvern, but nearly get killed by the summoner, who upon defeat runs again to fight another day. Anyway, they find Wyvern asleep, and the only thing able to awaken him are the Slypth.
So after defeating the summoner again, the MC convincer her of helping, and they defeat the Sylpth for their summon. Upon this occasion, they meet a travling scholar Dark Elf, the mage. Who warns them that last time the demons were sealed, another evil arose, more dark and terrible than they could think of. Unfortunatly, they don't listen to him, and they awaken Wyvern, who does seal the demons again. A cave opens on the other side of the world, where the unavenged dead sweep across the land.

Thats not all, but for now, it will work.

Graphics, ToS style.
Music: Dancing Mad of course, with most of them from FF IV and VI.
Voice over, definatly.

Each character has different skills and personalities, I think that fufills the requiremnets, so if I miss anything, tell me. Oh, and I'm still working on the names, so don't mention that.

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Could you repeat that?

Hmm...

Characters:
I would prefer the more classic style: strong male lead, his girlfriend, The strong male lead's sidekick, the arrogant guy, the hottie, the old fart, the resident ninja, etc. And I would spend time developing them along the journey, but not make it a burden or something extra.

Character Abilities:
I would take the FFX approach: The Sphere Grid. However, I would make S. Levels much easier to gain as to allow more freedom. I liked the Sphere Grid because you could customize your characters' abilities with other jobs' abilities. For instance, you could hook up your wimpy black mage with some knight class abilities and make him/her an @ss kicking black mage!

Evil Villain:
I would make my evil villian have a really sadistic side a la Kefka and a hell of a lot of power to back himself up like Sephiroth, but I would spend time developing my villian as much as my party. I absolutely LOVE super powerful, developed, sadistic maniacs as bad guys!

Graphics:
I would use Xenosaga graphics. They beat all!

Grand Musical Score:
I would get the guys who did FF and CT/XG, and make them create the music. Enough said.

Voice Acting:
I would have it there, but I would do it like Star Ocean 3: the voice acting happens when the text box is open, and if you want to skip it then all you have to do is clase the text box.

Event Skip:
Another idea from SO3: you have the option to skip cinematic events. Very good for when you either don't feel like watching something or when you died and didn't save.

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Music is a mysterious thing... Sometimes, it makes people remember things that they do not expect. Many thoughts, feelings, memories... things almost forgotten... Regardless of whether the listener desires to remember them or not...

- Shitan, Xenogears

I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but I'm already working on it, in a way. I always thought it'd be cool to have a Real-time Strategy Final Fantasy, so I've been working and developing my mod for StarCraft. The original version just changed unit graphics and can be found here: http://www.starcraft.org/customs/customs.a...=details&id=126

All the graphics are from FFVI and Chrono Trigger. The version I'm working on now is essentially a Total Conversion for StarCraft, and once I'm finished all the little things like mouse cursors and such, I plan on putting a story behind it. It's going to be a sequel of sorts for FFVI, with the reemergence of magic and the Moogles, Monsters, and Humans all fighting for control of it. I'm very close to completing it, and already it weighs in at over 12 MB as opposed to the 500 or so KB of the previous version. My first version didn't get much of a buzz in the StarCraft or Final Fantasy communities, but hopefully this expanded version will get a little more attention from one or both groups.

Sorry for plugging the mod like this, but it's pretty cool and something I've put a lot of time into.

My Ideal Final Fantasy? Hot-damn!

-Lets see: A real time battle system like Kingdom Hearts.

-A race and job class system like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (different jobs though, and probably the same races). Among these would be all the classic FF jobs, but there would not be any job that was generally useless. There would probably be a maximum of twenty jobs, but each race would only have access to ten at most. Most jobs could be shared by the various races, though some are race-exclusive, but even race-exclusive ones are comparable to each other. (like sages and redmages and bishops are similar in concept).

-The world would basically be set in a more modernized world, with modern city-states and towns, seperated by wide expanses of wild lands. There would be trains and airships as a regular way of connceting these city-states.

-Have the same magic system as FF.

-There would be gunslingers and plenty of medieval weapons.

-The party would have five core characters, each of whom would be very in depth and have believable personal reasons for going on the quest. There would probably only be three active characters though, since having five real-time fighters would get too chaotic.

-Other side characters would probably come into play, but wouldbe exclusive to certain chapters in the game.

-It would be possible to do combo attacks, which would very greatly depending on who was involved.

-No single main character. Until they all join together, each main character has a whole spotlight unto themselves, before eventually teaming up with one another until all five get together.

-Saving the world from utter destruction wouldn't be the overall goal. Each character would have a very personal struggle to overcome, but they would probably end up have to save a few cities.

-Graphics wise could go either way: Terranigma-level 2-D or FFXII-level 3-D. It all depends, really.

-FMVs and cut scenes only if necesary.

-Leveling up wouldn't really be an issue; like in Chrono Cross, you will always be at the level you need to be to get through the game. You must use strategies with your items, weapons, and magic to really get through the game. This is not to say it would be too hard, but ti wouldn't just be mindless button mashing, either.

-All the classic monsters, including chocobos and malboro.

-Incidentally, there might be a side-story involving some monsters attempting to intigrate peacefully with other societies, but prejudice prevents this from becomnig a reality.

-Speaking of which, the story would be told in anthology-style. Though their may be a prevailing arch which brings the characters together, it should be rbought about as a back-story arch through a series of different stories. Rather like Live-A-Live or Threads of Fate. Each of the main characters would have their own story and supporting cast to go through, then it would move on to "team-up" stories, before one long final chapter brings it all together somehow.

-This said, the characters would probably have issues with one another, which would need to get solved realistically. They may hate each other and yet be forced to work together at first, but over time, learn to deal with it.


Can't think of anything else. If I get another idea, I'll place it in.

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And behold, I saw a Pale Gaming System, and the name of he who rode it was Squaresoft, and Enix followed him.

An early test of the map engine. Pretty ugly, but I put only 2 seconds of effort into the map; the point was to see if what I wanted would work.

I'd rather make my own game than just think up of ideas that'll never be used. Seems potentially more interesting to me that way. Although it's not "Final Fantasy," it plays a lot like Final Fantasy IIIj/Vj do. And it's an oldschool RPG (with a Xenogears-like 3D engine, but the point stands). So I guess it still fits here...

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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...i'm not a loser who dreams of making his own ff game...ok, i lied

My ideal final fantasy game ehh...here goes!

Gamplay: I'd have the gamplay like SoM, which has always been my favorite style of battle system. The summons would be actual monsters that are summoned to attack the enemies, but they would take uber amount of mp.

Chars: I'd actually like to bring back the crystals from ffv and make my own particular proffessions in my main chars...cause, ya gotta have a black mage! Also, i'd have the players get real close to knowing the chars.

Story: My story line would be awfully similar to FFT. FFT is by far one of the greatest ff story lines imo. I'd also like somepart in the story where you actually get to play the enemy so you can get to know his part in the story.

Game Length: MUST BE OVER 60 HOURS!!! Sorry, but i love long rpg's...such as when it took me 60 hours to get about everything in Xenogears.

Magic System: I wanna go old school with the magic system where you actually have to BUY the magic....OH YA!!!

Graphics: I personally wouldn't care about the graphics...I find myself buying old games all the time so graphics are no biggy for me.

Multiplayer: I'd like to add cooperative gameplay, such as the system in SoM.

FMV's: MUST HAVE!!! I feel giddy as a lil kid whenever i see FMV like scenes, lol

This would be some qualities to my ideal final fantasy...great thread!

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I will be the mustard of your doom!

Just to add, I've lately been wanting to see an FF game where the monsters where the main characters, and the humans/other "playable races" were the bad guys. Or the antagonists at least. The numerous job classes would compensate for variety among the enemies you fight.

Each main character would be a classic FF creature, and they would have pre-set jobs and skills based on what monster they were. However, different powers and "jobs" could probably be brought about by various fusion techniques. Or maybe not. I would see this game being short, but definitely comical. Honestly funny stories among video games are hard to come by, and it'd be a relief from the usually depressing/heavy-handed stories of the FF series in general.

The summons, ironically, would be much more human looking, but I'm not sure who would invoke the summons.

I don't really know what the story would be.

I would presume some of the playable characters to be as follows:
-Chocobo (healer and good physical fighter)
-Moogle (jack of all trades)
-Cactuar (fast ranged attacker and thief)
-Malboro (heavy but slow physical attacker and status mage)
-Tonberry (mystic and heavy physical attaker but slow)
-Bomb (black mage: fire and lightning)
-Goblin (decent physical fighter but fast)
-Onion Knight (a group of monsters needs a pet human ~_^; probably another jack of all trades, he could be the summoner, too)

Anyway, that's just another idea I had from a while back.

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And behold, I saw a Pale Gaming System, and the name of he who rode it was Squaresoft, and Enix followed him.

Quote

-Incidentally, there might be a side-story involving some monsters attempting to intigrate peacefully with other societies, but prejudice prevents this from becomnig a reality.

OH SH~T!!! THE ANIME-STYLE-USE-MONSTERS-AND-HUMANS-FOR-RACE-BASED-SOCIAL-COMMENTARY METHOD OF JAMMING MULTICULTURALISM DOWN MY THROAT STRIKES AGAIN!!1 HEAD FOR THE CAAAAAAAAAAVES (note preemptively that if any one of my fans here attempts to use this as a tawdry attempt to label me as racist, i scoff).

hmm, my own final fantasy. well, you all know me fairly well enough. my number one and two concerns, interchangeably, would be the graphics (incl. character and environment design) and the music. this is not to say that we could sacrifice any of our necessarily epic story's quality, nor is it to say that we could get by with a bullsh~t system of gameplay if our package was pretty enough. it's just that our package has to push the envelope. i suppose, culling my victims from people square has worked with in the past to excellent end, i should like to have t. nomura as character designer -- his work in ffx-2 absolutely made the game playable -- and y. mituda, the greatest vgm composer of all time, to do the score. so as not to bore, i won't name anyone else. i'd have to look them up by game anyway.

the story would certainly be convoluted, and it would be more or less "dark." the ending would *NOT* be a happy answer to all the world's problems completely devoid of consequences and collateral damage a la ff6 or sutepuri. it would probably be centred around a character, or a pair of characters (like, hold your groans, a post-adolescent young man and his younger sister). the villains, of course, would range from the most deviously likeable, to the pitiful, to the naught-but-detestable. character development would be heavily emphasised (think ffx), and like beth suggested, you'd get and lose characters like in ffiv. the characters would (also like ff4) all have specific archetypes and roles to fill in combat. i'd probably add something like ffx where, if you wanted, you could max out every character in every role, just for the die-hards. i'd like to have a system as in star ocean 2 (but drastically different) where characters had certain talents that were used *outside* of battle, but i wouldn't want any tool things (or anything similar) like in wild arms. that is a wild arms innovation and theft thereof would be a capital crime. battle system? not sure. i liked ffx's a whole lot. x-2's was fun, too, but it wasn't really RPG-serious, like i'd like this game's to be. perhaps ff12's ADB system will really revolutionise fighting as much as squarenix says it will (hah). if not, i could go with ffx's, or a regular psx-era atb. i kinda like 4 characters more than 3, but either works, as long as the system is top-notch.

ok, i'm bored already.

Quote (gozaru~ @ 21st December 2004 06:45)

OH SH~T!!!  THE ANIME-STYLE-USE-MONSTERS-AND-HUMANS-FOR-RACE-BASED-SOCIAL-COMMENTARY METHOD OF JAMMING MULTICULTURALISM DOWN MY THROAT STRIKES AGAIN!!1  HEAD FOR THE CAAAAAAAAAAVES (note preemptively that if any one of my fans here attempts to use this as a tawdry attempt to label me as racist, i scoff).

What? I like monsters. Its got nothing to do with social commentary. Its got nothing to do with anime. And it sure as hell has nothing to do with forcing multi-culturalism down peoples throats. It just seemed like the only plot big enough to involve a monster sub-plot that you can't just brush aside. Plus it makes sense. Monsters kill people, but in some games, its clear they are capable of forming a society and communicating with other intelligent races. But for some reason, they are content to kill people and people are content to kill them. Why not go for a change of pace? Bias would naturally factor into the plot.

Lets say goblins/imps are sick of getign the crap kicked out of them by more powerful creatures all the time. Lets say they've learned their lesson some how and want to be on peaceful terms with other intelligent races, so they don't keep getting slaughtered. You think humans and Moogles and all those other races as a whole are gunna just up and say okay? Hell no. Too much bad blood. It takes time for seperate races to integrate peacefully. As a story, it'd be many times for interesting if such an adventure were to take place during the times of conflict, before all races became totally united in a Federation-esque society.

You think Ronzo and Humans trusted each other at first sight? Moogles and Humans? Bangaa and Nu Mou? Look at crystal chronicles(or not as you prefer): one of the races (the tiny, but strong oens) you could play as tried taking over the world in brutal barbarian fashion. But we wouldn't know this simply playing the game. That same race is on equal terms with all the others at the time the game takes place. I highly doubt the intergration was perfectly seemless.

Stories thrive on conflict. Final Fantasies are made more interesting because they are war stories; If they took place in modern-day America, they'd be boring unless they was some kind of shadow war going on in the background.

My stories aren't an attempt to make social commentary. I simply tell them as I see them. I like monsters, and think a story-driven monster-focused Final Fantasy would be a great game. But it'd be many times more interesting if natural and fully understandable prejudices were at play. It goes in hand that as some monsters tried to revamp their society, a good number of humans, moogles, viera, galka, ronzo, etc, would probably keep beating them back down out of reasonable mistrust; meanwhile, plenty of their fellow monsters would probably remain the bloodthristy killers they feel they were born to be. If the story is a commentary on anything, its not on racism, its on identity and ones place in life.

But I suppose you could just call that an anime cliche as well, if you must. But I like that kind of story. Self-exploration during times of struggle is what lets people mature.

This post has been edited by sharkerbob on 21st December 2004 20:42

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And behold, I saw a Pale Gaming System, and the name of he who rode it was Squaresoft, and Enix followed him.

if naything, i'd like to see an online FFT-ish style ff. what would be better than having online clan battles? and, you can even combine clans or trade members.

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moé in the streets, senpai in the sheets