Square-Enix exploring the possibility of a modern turn-based Final Fantasy

[Hathen]

Turn based systems are difficult to do correctly. Best one I played recently is probably Radiant Historia. Outside of that a simple attack, attack, cure system isn't going to hold anyone but the niche RPG market's interest, because it lacks the exact thing RPGs claim to be superior to action games in (strategy).

Other ones off the top of my head are Grandia, Lunar, FF5 and similar (Heroes of Light etc).

[Lard]

I'm replaying FF9 right now and it's fine.

If they riffed one of the old battle systems, it wouldn't be too hard to update it.

[Aeolus]

Given the fact that they've been dwelling on the NES FF style turn based gameplay with games like 4HoL and BD:FF, I'm not surprised that they're looking to swing on over to the SuperNES FF era of their old game play mechanics. Plus the aforementioned 4H and BD had new twists to the old system with the AP and BD mechanics (even if they are the same thing to each other and incredibly similar to Chrono Cross's Stamina gauge) so it's not unlikely that they'll add some new wrinkle beyond cast Haste, mash the A button, or not mash A button and instead swiftly press down to highlight spells, open the spell menu, select your top attack/Cure spell that you set to the top of the list (or barring the option to customize your spell list layout, spend about 10 seconds of precious ATB gauge building and getting attacked relentlessly by enemies sifting through your massive spell pool looking for the one spell that's currently the best/relevant spell (or the least sucky) and then spam attack with your other 3 guys).

[ultra7k]

I thought Dimensions was pretty good for iOS, and was enough of a challenge that I still died from time to time.
Interestingly it didn't really feel like too much of a grind, aside from some of the standard JRPG/FF character archtypes/story....

Or was that just me? I guess I just really enjoyed it.

[Alisha]

i think the FFX system can work great if they expand on the targetable enviromental objects. also there was something in one of the wild arms games i thought was cool where you can lower an enemy's armor by freezing it than hitting it with fire? or was it the other way around.

[Dincrest]

I agree with Alisha.  FFX had my personal favorite (and, IMO best) battle system ever in a Final Fantasy game and I'd like to see it utilized again. 

[Klutz64]

Though I also agree that the battle system could use some vast improvements in more than just environmental effects. I found that in most of the shorter battles Yuna, Khimari, Rikku, and even Tidus sometimes weren't all that useful and therefore under utilized. I found myself swapping them in and out forcefully just so they get some SP.

[Aeolus]

Though I also agree that the battle system could use some vast improvements in more than just environmental effects. I found that in most of the shorter battles Yuna, Khimari, Rikku, and even Tidus sometimes weren't all that useful and therefore under utilized. I found myself swapping them in and out forcefully just so they get some SP.

That was the big drag with FFX as many enemies had a 'preferred' way of being dealt with so you only really ever needed 2 or 3 characters for a given battle to either one or two shot the enemies with the rest of the time being spent swapping people around so that everybody could benefit from the experience.

[Kevadu]

I feel like I need to go back and replay FFX.  I played through the whole game years ago, but I don't really remember anything notable about the battle system.  I don't remember it being very difficult either.  I feel like I just breezed through the whole game with the same standard FF tactics I've been using for decades.  In fact I don't think I even died once...

So when people talk about all these things you had to do I'm just like, huh...sometimes I wonder if I played the same game...

[Dice]

Though I also agree that the battle system could use some vast improvements in more than just environmental effects. I found that in most of the shorter battles Yuna, Khimari, Rikku, and even Tidus sometimes weren't all that useful and therefore under utilized. I found myself swapping them in and out forcefully just so they get some SP.

That was the big drag with FFX as many enemies had a 'preferred' way of being dealt with so you only really ever needed 2 or 3 characters for a given battle to either one or two shot the enemies with the rest of the time being spent swapping people around so that everybody could benefit from the experience.

I actually *loved* FFX's turn-based style because it was so splendidly fast and didn't penalize you for swapping characters.  I kinda hated the enemy attack-specificity (e.g.; Tight-ass attacking quick enemies, Wakka throwing his balls at aerial enemies) just because it really drives the point home that Kimahri rarely has a place in the party.

I'm replaying FF9 right now and it's fine.

If they riffed one of the old battle systems, it wouldn't be too hard to update it.

I like FF9 but the ATB was broken in that game.
...goddamn, what I wouldn't give to see this game in HD.
Maybe not the same aesthetic, but playing in Eternal Sonata's high fantasy setting makes me wish it were true.

[Klutz64]

Yeah, I started playing FFIX again and all I could think was "Why is there SO MUCH TIME going by with NOTHING HAPPENING?"

[Yggdrasil]

Yeah, I started playing FFIX again and all I could think was "Why is there SO MUCH TIME going by with NOTHING HAPPENING?"

More stuff happens in IX than in a lot of moderns games nowadays though. If anything, the battles could have been a little bit more faster but aside from that I really don't have any problem with the game.

[Klutz64]

Yeah, I was specifically talking about the ATB system, I still love the plot in FFIX to death, Necron and all!

[Cyril]

I feel like I need to go back and replay FFX.  I played through the whole game years ago, but I don't really remember anything notable about the battle system.  I don't remember it being very difficult either.  I feel like I just breezed through the whole game with the same standard FF tactics I've been using for decades.  In fact I don't think I even died once...

So when people talk about all these things you had to do I'm just like, huh...sometimes I wonder if I played the same game...

I agree with you.  I didn't think X's battle system was all that incredible, I preferred the very similar BoFIV, where your back party takes more of an active role and placement in the front/back had a more strategic element (SP regeneration differs based off of character, so on) than just enemy weaknesses - which was also used in BoFIV.  Also, even the enemy weakness bit wasn't a big deal, I found, since you could just use magic most of the time.  Wakka, too, was  relatively strange, since Tidus could hit most of the enemies that Wakka was "supposed" to be used on.

I also don't think it's very difficult.  I see a lot of people claiming to be challenged by a few of the bosses on and after Mt Gagazet, but it was only the normal enemies on Mt. Gagazet itself that were a problem for me my first time through, not the bosses.

From a battle system perspective I'd argue just about everything in X-2 was superior.

[Dice]

Yeah, I started playing FFIX again and all I could think was "Why is there SO MUCH TIME going by with NOTHING HAPPENING?"

More stuff happens in IX than in a lot of moderns games nowadays though. If anything, the battles could have been a little bit more faster but aside from that I really don't have any problem with the game.

Speed is one thing, but my issue is more with what Klutz mention.  I'd go so far to say that "selecting" an attack does little more than confirm an action, but it's hard to place WHEN it'll happen and if using a Potion is a bad idea because some asshole enemy is targeting the player that JUST revived with 50 HP.  What I mean is, there's too much time between when you pick a move and when it actually happens that can make battle incredibly frustrating.

I loved FFX for being so quick and instant.

But also, that whole era of Squeenix RPGs was marred by terribly long battles.