There was just this nice battle system at Final Fantasy IX that brings back memories about Final Fantasy VI (thanks to the underrated director). The modern battle systems and also the character development became un-final-fantasy throughout the decade and I just believe it's time to revert back to classic Final Fantasy pattern. To the dustbin for "new direction" Final Fantasies Final Fantasy classic battle systems works just fine: -Turn base -Didn't need to fix something that wasn't broken -4 characters in a party (2 attackers, 1 defensive spell-caster a.k.a. healer a.k.a. revives dead friends a.k.a. sits at the back row & 1 offensive spell-caster with the classic Firaga, Thundaga, summons... etc...) -Every character had his/her own uniqueness that is brought into the battle (Seriously, "jobs" just made things... complicated... giving the player "more control" instead of just giving us more experience for the characters portrayed in the stories as unique individuals) -The stories could have been the same anyhow by NOT changing the classic battle systems, right? -It looks simple but at times, micro-managing and some brain power is needed to win those classic battles... OZMA for FF9 anyone? -Real time battles are button mashing (like Kingdom Hearts) it's just not "classic-final-fantasy-like... and the classic feel of it just vanishes in thin air. Modern Final Fantasy battle systems: -Final Fantasy Online was just the beginning of the scrapping away with classic battle systems -Don't you miss the time when you look at your character hits the enemy turn by turn? Just make Kingdom Hearts have their own battles systems, which is fine and by all means awesome... leave Final Fantasy back to it's roots. -The remake of FF7 does not count as "reverting back to old times" -The battle systems just strayed far away from the original classic Final Fantasy taste, take for instance Final Fantasy XII... the gambit system just makes you "look" at a battle at the end of the day... -Not only the development of the character (as in leveling up) is a bit not-the-same as the classic, it also makes Final Fantasy franchise turns into a completely new game with no appreciation towards the classic battle system
You informations is very incorrect. 1-3 was turn based, 4 and on became ATB style. 1, 3, 5 and tactics utilized the job system. earlier games(unless you been playing remakes) higher spells were called cure 2 or fire 3 as such. AND lastly 7 never had a remake, just gaidens. 2 had a different lvl up system(which saga series uses). final fantasy 4 had 5 max characters, and 7 and 8 had 3 max. I havent played any X version or higher, but im quite sure that they always changes each games, sometime better, few times not so well.
I can relate to how this was fun. Final Fantasy IX was actually most of the classical fantasies combined, and yet it delivered a solid gameplay by bringing back some old mechanics to the storyline. I noticed that most of the enemies you battle come from other series as well like the crystal monsters from part 5. Apart from that I am pretty sure the player has the option of making turn based battles "active" or on a "wait" mode. This gives the player a chance to choose their moves correctly or find certain skills while not picking too quickly. I find the turn based system more classical compared to more modern "free-roaming" adventure. I wouldn't say that it wasn't broken, but the developers wanted to try something different that would attract newcomers to the series and hopefully keep the fans satisfied with the new mechanics. I find it more enticing if a new move or new gameplay was incorporated as long as the battle system remains original (just tweaked). I would have to disagree with the four party groupy thing, because I don't think it's necessary to have four characters (minimum of three did just fine for part VIII). I didn't see too much difference other than it added another slot to the scenario. If it was three, four, or even five party members I can still enjoy a good battle. Well that was when "SQUARESOFT" was known as "SQUARESOFT" but they had to merge with Enix of the bunch and they combined their ideals and they both changed the whole entire mechanics of the series completely. I like the fact that each of the characters do have their own abilities based off of what they are. Because it does take away the extra work around with the job system (which takes forever) of leveling them up only to learn a certain set of skills built in for that type. And with real time battles like Kingdom Hearts is actually one of the few mechanics on the top of my list, but it would have been more exciting if someone were to put in a co-op to opt in-and-out of battle.
