Thanks to AshlarKorith for the inspiration!

So, Final Fantasy XV came and lingers on. Two years after it’s initial release will mark the end of updates. Of course, the show must go on, and fans are going to crave for the next mainline title. What’s Final Fantasy XVI going to bring? Well, hopefully not more of the same flaws the previous game brought, right?

I don’t come here often so I don’t know how much of a dead horse I’m about to beat so my apologies if everyone is tired of the topic. I just can’t play FFXV any more without seeing what an awesome game it could have been/the next game could be. I don’t want to rip on FFXV. It’s not a bad game, but it does have issues. This isn’t even about any issues, just some things I think could be improved/added in the next game.

AshlarKorith voices the concerns and reactions many players had to Final Fantasy XV. Final Fantasy XV wasn’t bad, but could have been a lot better. Certainly Square Enix knows this. But what are they going to do to make the best game possible, but the next title? Well, just in case they’re at a lose, AshlarKorith has a couple of suggestion…

For years I’ve longed for a Final Fantasy game where the main character is a hardened, gruff soldier type… no more of the mopey teenager trying to save the world. In XV we got a group of guys that felt more like they were on a spring break road trip than on a mission to reclaim the throne and defend the kingdom. Don’t get me wrong, the frat bros are cool. I enjoy them a ton, I’m just looking at what we could maybe get next.

We may never get the hardened warrior. The last time we did, she was a woman. She was Lightning. However, that’s not to say we couldn’t get a hardened main character later on in the series, right? Well, let’s look at the tradition. In Final Fantasy VII, Barrett has a gun for an arm. He’s the oldest, and he’s pretty rugged. Yet, who’s the hero? Pretty boy Cloud, who’s so attractive he could pass as a woman. Nothing but us teens in Final Fantasy VIII. Meanwhile, Laguna’s squad features Ward, a large tough man…who’s a sidekick to the longhaired Galbadian soldier. What about Steiner? Supporting character to Zidane. Same with Auron and Kimahri. Same with Balthier to Vaan. Same with Gladio to Noctis.

This is something we usually see in anime. I can only think of Guts in Berserk as the impossibly huge warrior. Maybe even Goku. But mostly, everyone else is a teenager. You might say this is cultural, as in Japan likes younger protagonist. But many kids like to project themselves onto someone their age, to feel as if they’re in the story. Well, in the West, many kids want to project themselves on the hero despite his or her age.

The point is that the pretty boys always take the spotlight, jealous as you might be.

The battle system is also something that’s pretty new. No more selecting what your team is going to do on their turn and then waiting for it to play out. We’re actively fighting now! Each of them had their own weapons so they had their own fighting style. It’s a ton of fun and I hope this carries over.. with a few changes.

The real-time battle may be here to stay. Sure, they may explore their roots. But I expect an update of an older game if they want. The real-time battle is just what’s popular now, and is what Final Fantasy tried to mimic. Technical limitations kept them from actually making a real-time action, but now that it’s popular, why go back?

Now imagine an older world. Take it back to a fantasy setting. Instead of frat bros, give us a squad of soldiers off on a mission for the king. Each of the soldiers actually portrays a job from the series. We have a Paladin, a Dragoon, a White Mage and a Monk (or whatever squad fits.. the main thing is each character has a fighting style and skills that belong with the class they are). Depending on what classes you have in your party you have different link strikes they can do. Also make it where we can swap between characters in the group so we can play with whichever fighting style we like the most.

Also, traditional job classes. Link strikes? We’ve seen those in Final Fantasy XV. Maybe we could have something like Vivi and Steiner’s magical sword combination seen in Final Fantasy IX? And I expect swapping between characters. They added to Final Fantasy XV nearly a year later, but this was also in the works. Finally glad we could see it, and I’m looking forward to it in Final Fantasy XVI.

With this, I envision having a headquarters the characters would be based out of. Here you would be able to pick between the different units you’ve unlocked through your journeys. Have the headquarters upgrade as your playthrough progresses. You killed the Midgardsomr hunt for the nearby town? Now you have a Midgardsomr skin couch in the bar area in the headquarters. etc.

Sounds like a MOBA game.

With being able to swap party members out you could add an extra dimension with the banter between them. Say… the Paladin and the Dark Knight don’t like each other. They can always be talking shit when they’re in the party together. Or maybe the Black Mage and Red Mage talk about the White Mage when he’s not in the party.

Not sure how this would turn out. I guess it would be similar to dating mechanics (without the actual dating). Based on how your characters perform link strikes, they could either love or hate each other. Gaining a rapport with your teammates might play a big part in the story.

It would also be nice to see armors come back. Having your units look different depending on which armors they have on would be cool to have again. It’s been in most of the FF games. Start with your basic leather and cloth stuff and then let us look more and more badass as the game progresses. (Rather than the whole crew looking the exact same for 99 levels and the entire story because taking your jacket off gives you more attack power…).

Final Fantasy XIV has us on this. But I like the idea of changing outfits. This is something most of the newer Final Fantasy games are starting to incorporate, so no reason it wouldn’t be in Final Fantasy XVI.

I enjoy FFXV and I’ll keep playing it throughout the life of its DLC. I just hope the next one is “A final fantasy for new and old players, themed a bit more like the ones the old players remember” Or have I maybe played too much XI and XIV and am expecting too much out of a single-player FF?

Another love letter to fans? I’d like to see it.