Final Fantasy Needs to Return to Turn-based Combat

I have loved the Final Fantasy franchise for my entire life, or as close to it as I can remember. I watched my mother play Final Fantasy VII when I was 3, and I still remember the first time I finished it myself. My favorites in the franchise are all classics, Final Fantasy 6, 7, 9, 4, and 10, not necessarily in that order. I think you’ll notice that Final Fantasy XVI is noticeably absent from that list.

I have played every Final Fantasy game that has a number associated with it. That includes 11 and 14, which I don’t count on my list due to them being multiplayer-focused. They have their own place in Final Fantasy history, ya know?

Anyway, after the overwhelming success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and 2024’s success of Baldur’s Gate 3, I think we can all agree that Turn-Based games have their place again. Square Enix’s other franchises, like Octopath Traveler, Dragon Quest, and Bravely Default, are flourishing, and perhaps the next Final Fantasy should consider a return to form as well.

While I enjoyed Final Fantasy 15, I feel like 16 drifted away and was less of a Final Fantasy game than it was “Devil May Fantasy,” an average action game with a vague Final Fantasy coat of paint. I have said it many times, but Final Fantasy 16 didn’t feel like a Final Fantasy game. It focused more on big, bombastic boss set-pieces than on a beautiful story and world. The pieces were there, and it could have been great, but it felt like a variety of elements that make Final Fantasy games great were ultimately missing.

I look at the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, and while they aren’t entirely turn-based, they offer a turn-based option that slows things down for people. Not only that, but they offer an action-oriented experience that still has party-based strategy and deep narrative weight. I feel like the remake trilogy is everything that FF16 wanted to be in mechanics, it just didn’t quite get there.

Overall, I think that the resurgence of quality Turn-Based games is a perfect time for the Final Fantasy franchise to return to its roots. There is room to experiment with the turn-based gameplay, and this isn’t to say the franchise can’t try other things. However, the further away from it the franchise goes, the less it seems to feel like Final Fantasy and more like some homogenized, bland shadow of itself. People may disagree, but I think it is a reasonable enough view considering the release of 16.