How To Improve Final Fantasy VII

[DLPB_]

I am pretty sure the Japanese does make it obvious what will happen.  If I recall, in the correct translation, Cait says he is an expendable robot and will be waiting at the exit.

[Rundas]

Does real time mean like the active option?

[DLPB_]

It means real time action... think FF12.   It is basically opposite of turn based games like Lost Odyssey, FF7...

Needless to say, I go with turn base every time.  I like turn based games more.

[Rundas]

Shit, I accidentally voted for real time then.

[DLPB_]

  Although I phrased the question wrong.  Should be "Which do you like more".

[Kaldarasha]

It means real time action... think FF12.

FF12 is turn based with the illusion of real time like Balduars Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age Origin, etc.
Dragons Dogma or the Witcher2 are (true) real time games.

Anyway I vote for turn based.

[steelass117]

turn based is my favorite although i don't mind real time 

i vote turn based 

[DLPB_]

FF12 is turn based with the illusion of real time like Balduars Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age Origin, etc.
Dragons Dogma or the Witcher2 are (true) real time games.

Anyway I vote for turn based.

True. 

[Covarr]

I prefer realtime battles on the whole, but not for a Final Fantasy game. The last thing any company should do is try to change a popular franchise to make it more like a different franchise; if you're already doing well, that will only serve to alienate your fans, and it's incredibly unlikely that you'll do as good a job at what you're mimicking as the original.

Example: Medal of Honor Warfighter. They tried to make it more like Call of Duty, ignoring the series' roots, and not only did they fail to make something for MoH players, but they didn't even make as good a CoD game as any actual CoD game. I think this same concept applies to Final Fantasy; if they're going to change their battles, they should build from the turn-based systems they already have, rather than throwing away decades of refinement and innovation to make something more "mainstream-friendly" when they don't have any experience with that.

[DLPB_]

Totally agreed.  The reason a fanbase exists at all is because they liked what they saw originally.

[DLPB_]

Also a few other niggles I will add to this thread in time. One of them is that the Midgardsormr should be faster so you cannot escape it, should be a lot harder, so you cannot kill it near start, and should not return once you have killed it.  It should be given boss status.  I plan to do this.  At moment, even when you first get there, with poison, you can kill it. You can also make it all way across the marsh if you time it right.  Seems at certain points the MS will not chase you.  And you can cheat by saving in middle of swamp and reloading. Should need a Chocobo to stand a chance at beginning of game.

[EQ2Alyza]

Turn-based all the way! ATB, wait vs. active, and formations are also needed please.

The Last Remnant almost had the perfect system for me 

[DLPB_]

I think Wait is beneficial because again, it gives you the chance to think   Once you start speeding people up tactics suffer.  Although I'd like to see many the hardest bosses deploy active, with a good Ai.

[Covarr]

Wait is great, and I feel like it should be a mandatory inclusion in a FF game, but I do like pure active ATB as an optional feature; it can make second playthroughs, where you already know all the bosses' weaknesses, a bit more challenging.

[LeonhartGR]

I think Wait is beneficial because again, it gives you the chance to think   Once you start speeding people up tactics suffer...

...and you end up with an automated command system like in FFXIII... I adore the option to have the luxury of time to explore the best battle tactics when I first play through the game.

[StickySock]

   I agree that Cait Sith was terrible, that the translation needs improvement, that the graphics need an update (as much as full console graphics with the luminous engine would be amazing, all it really needs is a consistent art style that is either all chibi [ff9] or all normal [ff8/10] with resolution high enough to be acceptable on modern monitors), and that the game play of the original game had very appealing aspects but is also in need of some tweaks and/or polish. That being said turn based combat is something I enjoy, but it's not a draw for me.

   I usually go into rpgs and jrpgs especially for the story, (something 13 dropped the ball on IMO), and turn based combat is just something that is sufficient for me to get from one point in the story to the next. I like the strategy and all of that, and finding out which enemies are weak to what and what strategies will kill them off most efficiently was/is still somewhat fun for me. But I have to admit that it gets a little stale for me when it feels like I always kill off all the enemies in similar manners. Once I figure an enemy out I lose all the enjoyment from ever fighting them. And in a jrpg, I probably will have to fight that same enemy many more times than I am interested in.

   Don't get me wrong, I still love jrpgs and would gladly have all of them be turn based ATB over some styles of gameplay (FF12, WKC), but I can't help but want a fusion of action and strategy that has never been fully realized. There are action rpgs out there (Kingdom Hearts, Dragon's Dogma, The Witcher, KoA:R) but none of them have struck the right balance for me. They did, however, peak my interest.

   Ever since playing the original kingdom hearts on hard against Sephiroth and beating his (for me at the time) incredibly hard battle, I couldn't help but imagine my favorite game (FF7) and the epic fights that could unfold from forming groups of three (like Sora, Donald, and Goofy) with the likes of Cloud, Vincent, and Cid/Barrett. This idea was only further teased by recent (is 2011 recent?) footage of FFVSXIII showing off a FF/KH-type battle system that actually didn't look half bad, and the thought of a game improving on that style of gameplay made my old fantasies run wild again. The ability to switch between characters on the fly to even a TPS character (Barrett/Vincent?) didn't help my wild dreams die either.

   I still voted for turn based, just because that perfect balance between action and strategy that could make encounters fun, unique, and thought-provoking (not just button mashing) probably will never happen. I'd rather have a very polished turn based system for my favorite game's makeover than an experimental ARPG formula. But I can't help fantasizing about the thought of Cloud vs. Sephiroth in an epic real time battle that captures the urgency, the power, and the awe that my imagination instilled in me from experiencing the game back on the PS1.

[ajthedj747]

Final Fantasy X did one thing well - a balanced turn based system with a graphical section that informed the player the order of the turns. Now if one could incorporate these things into Final Fantasy VII, then one would have it made.
Also, if one could control the summon, that would be awesome as well.



Screenshot shows the International Verison of Final Fantasy X on the PCSX2 Emulator. Game was ripped from my expensive copy to an .ISO file. I became frustrated everytime the emulator paused for the game to load, so I made a copy for myself.
Another idea that would be near impossible to do is to make Final Fantasy X into Final Fantasy VII. Nobody would do this.