Spin offs I would like to see.

[Razberry Knight]

Let me remind people that I'm not asking for FF main series to change. Most of these ideas are geared toward spin offs.

The first thing I would like in a spin off is a game completely intended to be darker than the mainsseries ever could. I'm talking about intention of being rated M. I'm talking about wise cracking characters, sexual innuendoes and anti heroes. However I am not asking for a deadpool final fantasy. But something that can truly be mature. The adults only final fantasy while still having a serious story.

We have yet to have an anti hero (Vincent isnt an anti hero, and neither are the Turks).

I would like Square Enix to create a final fantasy in similar vain of Elders Scroll and Dragon Age where you play a very similar story but depending on the race and class you get different beginnings. Which is mostly Dragon Age style. just something that isn't an MMO but a world worth exploring. Perhaps having the first ever moogle as the leading protagonist (seriously Se, this idea hasn't came up once but somehow chibi artstyle is?)

And lastly I would like to see FF games that stop relying on the same spectrum of "fantasy". Its either medieval, sci fi, or modern mixed with either of the two. I want to see more cultures in FF. I would like a black character or an Arabic character to be the stars. Not the same typical anime inspired characters. Or just do anything that isn't completely anime like. For once have a completely serious cast i with mature jokes.

 

[Thule Esperada]

I would actually like a mature FF title myself. Maybe a genuine dark fantasy, not those wannabe low fantasies like DA or Witcher, but rather like the From Software Souls series. Not in terms of gameplay mind you, but thematically similar. A world where below the surface dwells an encroaching devastation and humanity (or any other prominent race) fighting a losing battle against an eldritch threat, with little to no hope left.

Another genre I'd like to see is a mixture of fantasy and horror elements. Maybe even cosmic horror. Something with a similar feeling as the massacre in the Shinra HQ or a concept like Jenova, but greatly expanded. I actually made a post about hoping to see a horror themed rpg as my first act on the forum.

 

[greenyxi]

How about an expanded form of Parasite Eve? I'd love to see something with that sort of dramatic horror but in a turn-based JRPG. Maybe even add the grudge or creature into it (monsters designs like that) and it could be incredible :s.

 

[Razberry Knight]

Ffx almost felt like cosmic horror, but it clearly was not. A horror style FF game is hard to imagine for me. But I won't rule it out.

 

[Linnaete]

I wouldn't be opposed to Final Fantasy encroaching on something more horror-oriented for a spinoff title, but if they're going to do that, they may as well revive Parasite Eve, only...you know, a good installment this time.

sexual innuendoes

lol, no. Given Square's propensity to let any hack like Motomu Toriyama and Daisuke Watanabe pick up pens and crack on with storyboarding as well as entire scripts, Final Fantasy is one franchise I do not trust at all to handle sex in a way that isn't reminiscent of a 13-year old's conception of the topic. And because sexual innuendos themselves are awful, are already pervasive in everyday culture and we absolutely do not need to see any more of it. They will in all probability create the opposite effect: a hilariously juvenile script instead. Save that crap for the nonsense that developers like Idea Factory and Compile Heart churn out.

"Mature" itself is a very nebulous concept to me and a little subjective. This is particularly the case when the term now seems synonymous with Game of Thrones and its endless brutal on-screen bloodbaths and array of overt sex going on. Is that necessarily mature and all you need to be so? How long is it until it resembles more like a weird power fantasy instead, rather than something that is genuinely sophisticated with something profound to say? If a mainline Final Fantasy game went down this avenue, they would completely lose me there. If it's a mere spinoff game, I would simply laugh out in sheer amusement, because I can only imagine how infamously atrocious the actual product would be.

Still, I do agree that the quality of the writing has to grow up. Times have changed since the mid-2000s, when we could still just about tolerate the (bad) shonen anime quality of their writing. As Final Fantasy has to be more of a global product than ever, purely because the rest of the world will have to do more than ever to pick up Japan's slack in terms of sales and make decent returns on insane development budgets, that will have to reflect on the quality of the writing more imperatively than ever. I wager Square is still too hesitant to do so, as anything more than a teen rating for their mainline games risks alienating a core Japanese audience, based on this continued presumption that the franchise is for teens. Here's where spinoffs can be judicially used to test the waters for new ideas and new approaches.

Let's have something that isn't ultimately another ragtag-group-fights-and-fells-evil-empire plot. Let's dispense with another tired late game quest to take down a homicidal deity or religion. Let's try and move away from the anime tropes that have been used over and over again. Let's look elsewhere to gain inspiration for characters that feel like people and for motivations that feel human, believable, maybe sympathetic, and fundamentally, comprehensible. Let's use a spinoff game to explore other themes - maybe seldom explored themes that maybe aren't the most comfortable ones to tackle. Let's have something profound to say regarding these themes, rather like how quintessential science fiction was renowned for using interesting analogies to parallel the moral questions of their own fictional universes with that of our own and of our real life contemporary society. Just having a tonne of blood and screaming in say, Type-0 hasn't exactly rescued that game from the mediocrity of its (still very melodramatic, anime-like) writing.

At the same time, let's also balance it out with some lighthearted adventures. I've been a proponent for World of Final Fantasy since its announcement. I think it's a cute idea and a lovely addition to the franchise, as it brings back that bright, whimsical nature that has rarely appeared in the mainline games for a while. Is it the most innovative game I've ever seen? Well, no, but does it have to be? I see nothing wrong with a modern HD game that is a straightforward and fun adventure for all ages, presumably without some overly bloated and convoluted storyline that would lose someone's attention and interest very quickly. So I would welcome more World of Final Fantasies and more Crystal Chronicles. Just so long as some effort is injected into them and they don't come out like the mediocre review scores I have seen for Final Fantasy Explorers, which is supposedly a laughably weak and watered-down version of say, Monster Hunter.

 

[Shaissa]

I wouldn't mind them going to a more "mature" Final Fantasy in a spinoff or the main series, but I don't think that means they have to make a rated M game and throw in a bunch of cussing and sex talk. I mean their are games that have done that and have been...bad...just...god awful bad...

Also for a spinoff I wouldn't mind a more "open-world" feel like Elder Scrolls, but personally I don't want them to make an Elder Scrolls game cause those games have little to no story and I can't stand them. I wouldn't mind if they did something like Dragon Age or Mass Effect (even if I didn't like the series, they layout and the gameplay was ok)

What I would personally want is a Tactics 2, or at least something dealing with the Tactics Ivalice and not the crappy advance tactics spinoffs. I think that would have real potential to hit your "mature" idea actually. Doesn't need to be a tactical rpg, but I think the story and everything in it had this idea that could go horror and mature and give final fantasy fans that "final fantasy" feel too...

 

[Razberry Knight]

Square enix will never make an awesome tactics sequel. I have given up on them.

 

[Razberry Knight]

I
At the same time, let's also balance it out with some lighthearted adventures. I've been a proponent for World of Final Fantasy since its announcement. I think it's a cute idea and a lovely addition to the franchise, as it brings back that bright, whimsical nature that has rarely appeared in the mainline games for a while. Is it the most innovative game I've ever seen? Well, no, but does it have to be? I see nothing wrong with a modern HD game that is a straightforward and fun adventure for all ages, presumably without some overly bloated and convoluted storyline that would lose someone's attention and interest very quickly. So I would welcome more World of Final Fantasies and more Crystal Chronicles. Just so long as some effort is injected into them and they don't come out like the mediocre review scores I have seen for Final Fantasy Explorers, which is supposedly a laughably weak and watered-down version of say, Monster Hunter.

Ff to me regardless of changes and spin offs, I always felt they have been able to get younger players even with the stories theybhave now. Look at tactics advance, and ff12 revenant wings.


I disagree with world of ff, and it's not even because it's innovative, but because it's cheap. Its not trying to be original, it's just broadening the scope. And to me, I don't hthink that is a sin worth commuting from ff. Why not make rated mario games?

 

[Dionysos]

Hmmm.

It's tricky to imagine a spin-off series of Final Fantasy (one which is unrelated to an existing numbered title) that retains enough FF material to be classified as FF and yet be suitably non-mainstream to not itself qualify for a numbered title.

For it to be a spin-off perhaps there needs to be some alteration to the gameplay or a major alteration to the type of plot that we usually have. Tactics worked as a spin-off franchise because it was so different gameplay wise. If they spend long enough making a good game which is titled under a different system, but it still more or less a mainstream game (and plays like a main game), then we all know that this spin-off game will become FFXVI. We've seen this before.

I would love a darker FF, and one that has more horror themes and genuinely scares and disturbs the player. Psychological horror and cosmic horror would be more effective for a good narrative. 'Jumpy-boo there is a wolf' horror will likely make people shrug and say 'Meh! Played it already'. FFVII contains the most horror material in the FF universe, so something along those themes would be good to continue. Particularly regarding the cosmic horror.

How about a spin-off title where we get to play as the villain? That would really turn FF on its head. It could almost be called Honest Final Fantasy. When you walk into someone's house and steal all of their potions and personal gear from their chests then you are legitimately recognised as a thief and villain, rather than having the NPCs standing still and dumbly repeating the same lines about how cold it is outside or how after potentially several months they are just as fascinated by that little bit of town-trivia and need to inform the player (again). Perhaps you could also choose to kill some NPCs and take over towns.

Additionally, it would be quite nice to have a game where players can visit more than one planet. We haven't really seen this in a long time. You visit worlds other than the main planet in FFIV (the Moon, and I guess the Underworld could count too - a world within a world), in FFV (two planets and a merged one), and FFIX (Terra). There may be other examples, but I'm not functioning 100% tonight. My point is, this is a sort of FF thing from time to time without it being a main thing.

I suggest expanding it further to have a spin-off FF game which is a space based game. Perhaps the party is part of an exploration team (Star Trek style), or perhaps they are marked targets on the run, or smugglers (Han Solo style). The player travels to different planets. These planets have unique terrain and cultures, perhaps, but they share common FF staples (be it job classes, magic abilities, or humans as a dominant species and colonisers). I'm not suggesting that we have Mass Effect: Final Fantasy here. It has to also feel like Final Fantasy. It's not impossible. FF dances with science fiction and fantasy all of the time, so it could potentially do this sort of thing.

It may be unlikely, however. It would be a pain to design so many worlds. Also, I'm not an anime fan (I like some anime, but have only tried a handful of classics so far), but it seems to me that FF is getting increasingly more anime-like. I'm open to being wrong there, but with earlier FF games I never saw myself playing anime-like games (although some elements were there). These are Japanese games after all, so Japanese trends are inevitably going to be followed (not a bad thing), but FF usually looks for a lot of Western themes as well. There weren't enough school uniforms and robot suits, etc,, in FF. I think that FF has gone a little bit in the anime-ish direction, though it hasn't jumped in that direction either. I wonder if my FF: Mass Star Trek Wars Effect idea would look anything like what is in my head, or if it would instead become a team of schoolgirls and a magical ninja in orange pyjamas extracting stardust to power their mecha in order to defeat a giant space kitty.

What the heck am I going on about?

 

[Razberry Knight]

In the past, ive mentioned several attributes to what Spin offs are used for.

There is the ones strictly designed to show off Final Fantasy different game play while retaining most of the FF staples and formula. I call them "alternative Final fantasy".

Those are Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Adventure.

The second type is just something designed for the hardware but still geared toward the mainline FF. Things such as Dissidia FF and Mobius FF.

The third type is the most recent, and it's the one relying on previous games and meshes them all into one. This is the World of FF, FF explorers, and FF record keeper. All of these could've been amazing in their own right but rely on these things to sell the game.

Again, I'm not sure what a horror based Off will look like. The only thing I can imagine is castlevania esque FF. But that's barely horror in my book.

 

[Ayen]

Well, my ideas aren't nearly as clever or well thought out, but I always wanted a beat 'em up starring Tifa and a hack and slash with either Squall or Lightning because I think there are a lot of good combo opportunities one can create with the gunblade weapon.

 

[Thule Esperada]

I would love a darker FF, and one that has more horror themes and genuinely scares and disturbs the player. Psychological horror and cosmic horror would be more effective for a good narrative. 'Jumpy-boo there is a wolf' horror will likely make people shrug and say 'Meh! Played it already'. FFVII contains the most horror material in the FF universe, so something along those themes would be good to continue. Particularly regarding the cosmic horror.

Yeah. I find that most people seem to automatically jump to the conclusion that I mean survival horror when I mention a horror themed game. The emphasis here is specifically on the word THEME, as in the tropes and narratives associated with horror stories but in a different genre. Final Fantasy VII has indeed great examples of utilizing many horror tropes effectively. Sephiroth and the mental torture he inflicts on Cloud is very much psycological horror by nature, and Jenova is more or less The Thing from John Carpenter's film of the same name. Then there's the suspense of the Shinra building massacre, the cave of Gi and the sunken Gelnika and other small bits. Heck the planet itself is basically an eldritch abomination.

The type of spin off I'd like to see, should focus more on these types of elements. Or you know, dark fantasy, which are basically horror stories in a fantasy setting.