Final Fantasy is one of the most long-running and prestigious franchises within the gaming community, so it's no surprise that it has a massive fan following. Naturally, the franchise has evolved with the ever-changing times, altering its style, graphics, and gameplay features as new technologies and trends take place.
Though some staple recurring elements that always find their way into the games, such as certain features, creatures, or enemies, the series has changed a lot since the first title released back in 1987. However, many fans argue that the golden age of Final Fantasy games is over, so where is the series going wrong? Check out the following criticisms and suggestions as to how they can be fixed.
10 Lackluster Storylines
The Final Fantasy franchise has given players some of the most amazing storylines and some very emotional scenes over the years. The series has also tackled various deep and dark themes over the years and has often been applauded for its storytelling.
However, the storylines of recent Final Fantasy titles have not been as hard-hitting as some of the earlier titles and fans have been left a little disappointed in them. The most recent title, Final Fantasy 15, fans actually felt was unfinished, as if it had been rushed, and fans had to rely on DLC to get some form of closure. The games really need to get back on form when it comes to storytelling.
9 Boring Side Quests
Though side quests are an expected feature of any RPG, Final Fantasy fans have grown tired of boring side quests, usually taking the form of fetch, kill requests, or escort quests. Not only are these quests rather tiresome, but they just don't add any kind of quality to the gameplay.
Older Final Fantasy titles had side quests that actually added something, interesting side stories, or bits of information that gave players a better understanding of the world around them. Side quests need to contribute to the game, not just offer a change of pace from the main scenario, but additional insights into the title that players will find interesting.
8 Incomplete Games and Cash Cows
Fans are getting pretty tired of sequels that feel like cash-grabs, such as Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy 13-2, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13, feeling that the studios' time would be better spent on coming up with a whole new Final Fantasy title.
Additionally, fans want to feel like they are getting the whole experience when they buy the game, rather than feeling they have an incomplete game and having to rely on DLC to get the real "finished" product. Final Fantasy 15 featured a whole host of DLC that added a lot of background to the characters and further fleshed out the story. Fans were angry not only that they had to pay extra to access this, but furthermore, that many of the DLC packs were eventually canceled.
7 Lacking Diverse Characters
The Final Fantasy franchise feels as though it's going backward in terms of the diversity of its characters. Other than its MMORPG offerings that allow players to choose their race, the main titles haven't shown a great range of fictional races in the main playable characters since Final Fantasy 12, and the last time it included a black playable character was in Final Fantasy 13.
Furthermore, the latest main title, Final Fantasy 15, became even more limited in its portrayal of the main characters, only having male playable characters in the main party, all of which are human, and no notable people of color represented at all during the events of the game. The franchise really needs to return to form, as earlier titles included a wide range of races, both fictional and real, and fans love the older games for this diversity.
6 Mini-games
Final Fantasy has created some very enjoyable mini-games over the years, Chocobo Racing, Chocobo Treasure Hunt, Triple Triad, Tetramaster, and Blitzball, for example. However, it feels as though the franchise has given up on creating new mini-games.
While fishing was a welcome addition to Final Fantasy 15 and certainly was enjoyable, it wasn't a "new" mini-game as this has been done multiple times in other games. Final Fantasy needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with some fresh ideas for new mini-games.
5 Same Old Setting
Fans are getting tired of the same setting being used over and over - a futuristic one. Other than the exception of Final Fantasy 14, the last few games, including sequels and remakes, have all had a futuristic setting with modern-looking characters.
At the beginning of the franchise, the games were generally more of a medieval European setting, and the change to futuristic titles was once welcome. But once again, fans are now getting tired of the same environments and character tropes. It would be refreshing to have a setting more akin to Final Fantasy 9, or even something like Final Fantasy 10, where the once-modern world has fallen back into simpler ways.
4 Summons
Summons are one of the fan-favorite features of the franchise, not only offering up great story points in some of the titles but also adding an advantage for players during battle. As much as fans love the main summons, who always seem to make an appearance in the games, they also want the feature to be refreshed in some way.
Final Fantasy tried refreshing summons in Final Fantasy 13 by making them Transformer-like, being able to change between creature and vehicle for players to ride upon. This strange evolution of summons was not well received by fans. Instead, fans would like to see some new summons introduced, or some of the lesser-known ones from past titles reintroduced.
3 Vague Job Classes
Recent Final Fantasy titles, excluding the MMORPGs, have rather vague character classes and instead allow characters in the party to change their weapons or job at will by switching paradigms. Though this gives the player more control over their party set-up, the games lose part of what originally made them truly great.
Players miss the set jobs of old characters, which led to players choosing their parties to have their favorite characters or the best classes at any one time. Having the characters have set job roles also fleshed out their personalities more, giving them more of a background and individuality. For example, part of what makes the characters of Final Fantasy 9 so well-rounded is their various job types, and this is what the franchise needs to aim for again.
2 Too Linear
The more recent Final Fantasy titles, excluding the MMORPGs, are far too linear and this has been a contentious issue for long-time fans of the franchise. Older games in the series were so open-worlded that you often got lost, spawning a great many jokes and memes about returning to an old save file and having no idea where you are or what you're supposed to do.
However, fans didn't dislike that aspect, they loved it as the whole world was theirs to explore. Now it feels as though your journey is being spoon-fed to you with exploration being a lot more limited. Though the franchise throws a large open space area in each title usually, the storyline and most areas are fairly linear in their design. Fans want more open-world games that they can truly immerse themselves in.
1 It's Time For a New Recipe
Though many of Final Fantasy's current flaws could be fixed by returning to its older patterns, there's still a need for something new and fresh. The battle system has been overhauled a few times, and fans have often liked the changes made, but where else could the franchise make improvements?
Players hate the lack of customization when it comes to Final Fantasy characters. Sure, the later games allow you to change up their overall outfit, but why not go one step further? It would be awesome if players could customize hair and facial hair, as well as clothing, as shown with Geralt in The Witcher 3. Additionally, players would love more control over actions taken, so branching conversation and action paths could work well.