7 dos and don’ts new Final Fantasy games should learn from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Franz Co posted: "Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is finally out and the game looks to have met and even surpassed players' expectations for the second part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. More importantly, the game seems to show that it may be possible to capture the o"
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is finally out and the game looks to have met and even surpassed players' expectations for the second part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. More importantly, the game seems to show that it may be possible to capture the open grandeur of the original with modern graphics.
As the game in the series that takes players beyond the walls of Midgar, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth shows that the formula Square Enix developed for Remake works in a more open-world setting. This means that Square has less to worry about when it comes to the currently unnamed third game in the trilogy. The company can simply carry over the things that worked well in Rebirth while refining or outright removing those that didn't do so.
However, we feel that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth could serve as a template for more than just its sequel. Rather, there are lessons and ideas here that Square Enix could — and in our opinion should — carry over into future non-MMO numbered Final Fantasy games.
With this in mind, we've decided to list seven things Square Enix should either do or not do in future Final Fantasy games.
1. Do reuse the combat system
There was a time, during its "golden age" in the 1990s, when Final Fantasy had a very recognizable combat system — the semi-turn-based Active Time Battle system — that would carry over from one game to the next. However, this changed at the turn of the millennium when the series started experimenting with its combat systems, switching between various flavors or either full turn-based or real-time.
Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth's combat system feels like a perfect middle ground between the classic ATB system and the action of more modern games. The menu-driven system for doing any action outside of normal attacks means that it feels like a much more natural progression from the older games, while still allowing for the style and expression of the newer games' more action-focused systems.
With such a good system, we'd really love to see it used in a new Final Fantasy game, and not just confined to the Remake trilogy.
Please give us more of this in future Final Fantasies
2. Do keep fleshing out the worlds of these games
One thing veterans of the 1997 original will notice with Rebirth is just how much more fleshed out the world is. This goes beyond just the extra detail that having the world fully rendered — not presented in an abstract manner of the classic games' world map — provides. Square Enix added so many more extra details to fill in the gaps in this now much more detailed world.
Rebirth really does its best to flesh out how a world where a mega-corporation is effectively a national government works and how it affects its people. All the extra details added to the main and sidequests, as well as in the general NPC dialogue, really help make the world of the 1997 original richer.
Of course, this isn't limited to the Remake trilogy, other recent Final Fantasy games have demonstrated this too. So this is or more or less us asking Square to continue doing this for future games.
3. Don't copy the bloat from other open-world games
If there's one thing I never thought I'd be doing in a Final Fantasy game, it would be climbing a Ubisoft-style tower to unlock locations on the world map. Yet Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has me doing exactly this.
In their quest to fill out the world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, it seems that Square has learned some bad habits from the open-world games or other developers. The towers are the most egregious example, but there are others as well, such as the sheer number of side quests.
While a lot of these do help flesh out the world and give players worthwhile rewards, the sheer number of things starts to feel more like busywork given to the player to pad out the amount of time they spend in an area before moving on.
At worst, it can feel like the player has to play in a "by-the-numbers" fashion, checking off items on a to-do list instead of actually exploring the world and pursuing their quest. That this feeling seems to come from stuff taken from other games tells us that maybe Square Enix should borrow less from these.
If we have to climb another one of these...
4. Don't overdo all the subsystems
Not all of the bloat in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth comes from stuff borrowed from other games, others come from things Square Enix has been doing for some time now. Specifically, we're talking about how overdone and fussy some of the systems and subsystems in the game can be.
Time was that all you needed to do to get a new material was to find it in the game. In the Remake trilogy, however, you need to talk with Chadley and accomplish all manner of objectives so that he can develop them for you — and that's before we come to summon material, which you can by defeating said summons in Chadley's VR combat space.
For another example, let's look at Rebirth's skill tree system. Final Fantasy games are often known for having complex skill trees and Rebirth continues this tradition. Unlocking new skills isn't just a matter of earning the appropriate number of skill points. Players also have to level up their party level to be able to unlock some skills. Meanwhile, others require weapons to be a certain level as well. This is all on top of players only able to access it from certain locations.
It's all very complicated, overwhelming, and once again, feels like pointless busywork making us wish Square Enix refrained from doing this in future games.
5. Do keep reinventing Final Fantasy staples
One of the most enlightening moments in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for many an older fan is when they realize that some seemingly new system is a actually a mechanic from the classic games, just reinvented for modern times. Indeed, Rebirth is full of these, the most notable being the use of cushions at chocobo stops as a consumable that players can use to regenerate their health and magic point.
In the classic games, regenerating health and magic in the world map required players to use tents to camp. However, in Rebirth, players instead use disposable cushions at chocobo stops they can find all over the world. These stops add an extra layer to the process as players have to find and unlock them first, unlike in the classic games where they could simply use tents anywhere.
An interesting reinvention of tents from the classic games
In addition, the chocobo stops fit in much better thematically with the game's setting of a world that's built on the ruins of a past great war.
Of course, the implementation of this, and other classic mechanics, doesn't have to be the same in future Final Fantasy titles, as in Rebirth, but we hope Square Enix continues to revisit and reinvent them in future games.
6. Do let us explore our characters' relationships
Now not all systems added to Rebirth should only ever remain there. One system we'd like to see in future Final Fantasy games is the relationship system. Yes, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has an honest-to-goodness relationship system that can even lead to romance with some characters.
While this is something other RPGs have had for a long time now, it's such a perfect fit for Final Fantasy — since the games are often full of shipping within the fandom — that it's surprising it didn't happen earlier. Instead of arguing in real life over who should end up with whom, or whether the official couple are good for each other, players can instead have the preferred couple in their playthrough.
Also, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth earns some bonus points for allowing players to develop platonic relationships with characters to whom Cloud may not really be romantically attracted to.
It don't take a word, not a single word, go on and kiss the girl
7. Do make the games feel special
At the end of the day, Final Fantasy games are special, and the release of a new numbered game in the series used to be a special occasion. That feeling of being special is a result of numerous things coming together, from graphics to gameplay, to make the games feel special.
Indeed, everything in this list is all about helping the games capture that special feeling by either retaining certain things or taking others out. Being able to control multiple party members through menus while engaging in real-time combat feels special, having to climb a tower to unlock items on a checklist does not.
So our hope then is that Square Enix takes note of these and other things that help make Final Fantasy the special franchise that it is.
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