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Why does every Final Fantasy action game need weird mechanics?

sn00zer

Member
Dissidia had a weird bravery meter that was sort of a health bar and sorta not
final-fantasy-dissidia-20080626021320050.jpg
and god knows what direction the new one is going in

Crisis Core had a slot machine mechanic that dictated quite literally everything

FF Crystal Chronicles looked awesome but threw in a weird magnet toss...thing

FFXV had a weird hold system that tried to simplify everything by making a worse version of DmC's system but inadvertently made it way way more complicated than most action games

This might sound dumb, but why isn't there just a straight forward Final Fantasy action game? Like I press a button a sword swings, I press another and I block, and another lets magic fly and it happens right when I press the button, that's it. Even by action RPG standards FF Action RPGs are super weird games. Not to point at Kingdom Hearts...but I mean....that's a good action game in and of itself, why does a game (even a spinoff) that holds the FF name suddenly need to have some odd mechanic to over complicate things? Why can't the "strategy" aspect of Final Fantasy just embrace the inherent strategy in action games? ...just...why?

Do turn based fans like these weird mechanics in action games?
 
Out of those I've only played Dissidia and no I did not like that part and I didn't like that game as a whole. Like the person above said Dirge did that, but yeah it's bad. I think they could do it, it's just the company veered into a different direction over a decade ago.
 

Glass Rebel

Member
I hate most of these FF action systems.

Played Dissidia in RPG mode
Couldn't play Crisis Core for more than an hour
Returned Crystal Bearers
Dreading Final Fantasy XV

Clearly not for me, even as an FF fan.
 

True Fire

Member
Final Fantasy has always had weird mechanics.

II had attack based stat growth.

IV introduced ATB.

V had a crazy job system.

VI introduced character based luck mechanics, fighting game button mashing combos, location based attacks, etc.

VII had Materia and Limit Breaks.

VIII had Junction and enemy level scaling.

X had Sphere Grid.

XII had Gambit.

XIII had Paradigms.

XI and XIV are MMOs with plenty of gameplay systems and UIs.

XV has its odd battle system, but it's pretty tame compared to the changes other games brought to the franchise.
 
They just do it for the sake of doing it and it's mind boggling.

Look at DQ11. They've refined the core mechanics to nigh on perfection, it's a bit old school but it's instantly recognisable as Dragon Quest as soon as you start playing.

If they'd kept the action combat to the spin offs and stuck with ATB, proper magic systems and summons they'd have been better off imo. If you want to be creative do it in terms of the story and art design.
 

Tain

Member
haven't played the new one yet but it just kinda looks like gundam

is there anything goofy about it?
 
I realise I'm being pedantic, but Dissidia is more a fighting game than an action game. At least the new one is, the earlier ones were pseudo fighting games with ill fitting rpg elements baked in
 

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
Final Fantasy has always had weird mechanics.

II had attack based stat growth.

IV introduced ATB.

V had a crazy job system.

VI introduced character based luck mechanics, fighting game button mashing combos, location based attacks, etc.

VII had Materia and Limit Breaks.

VIII had Junction and enemy level scaling.

X had Sphere Grid.

XII had Gambit.

XIII had Paradigms.

XI and XIV are MMOs with plenty of gameplay systems and UIs.

XV has its odd battle system, but it's pretty tame compared to the change IV brought to the franchise.

How are these "weird" mechanics and not just systems unique to the games?

What RPG has a mechanic you would consider normal.
 
I imagine a lot of the actions-based systems experimentation is a result of SE spending over a decade flailing about in trying to "modernize" Final Fantasy while still retaining the aspects that they believe appeals to existing fans.
 
They just do it for the sake of doing it and it's mind boggling.

Look at DQ11. They've refined the core mechanics to nigh on perfection, it's a bit old school but it's instantly recognisable as Dragon Quest as soon as you start playing.

If they'd kept the action combat to the spin offs and stuck with ATB, proper magic systems and summons they'd have been better off imo. If you want to be creative do it in terms of the story and art design.

And look at how much that has trapped the franchise to a single market
 

True Fire

Member
How are these "weird" mechanics and not just systems unique to the games?

What RPG has a mechanic you would consider normal.

I'm pointing out that OP should not be singling out the action games when every Final Fantasy game has unique mechanics.
 
Why does every Final Fantasy game have weird titles?

Why does every Final Fantasy game have weird character designs?

Why does every Final Fantasy game have weird terminology?

Why does every Final Fantasy game have weird development issues?

Final Fantasy's just weird, man.

I actually liked FFXV for what it was, though
 

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
I'm pointing out that OP should not be singling out the action games when every Final Fantasy game has unique mechanics.

Oh okay. Well they used Kingdom Hearts as a counter and I don't know enough about that series. What's the unique mechanic in that?
 

aadiboy

Member
If you want an action game with normal mechanics, go with Kingdom Hearts. It's just simple pick-up-and-play gameplay.
 

Ferrio

Banned
I forgive Crisis Core's slots for the ending alone. I wouldn't be surprised if they came up with the ending first then created the slot system around it.
 

sn00zer

Member
Oh okay. Well they used Kingdom Hearts as a counter and I don't know enough about that series. What's the unique mechanic in that?

Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2? No real gimmicks

re:Chain of Memories, BbS, and 3D.....oooo boy, makes some of the offenders above look like childs play
 

Reset

Member
Its not thats it complicated. It just I don't feel I have full control over my action like I have with KH.

OP said it was complicated. But the tutorial tells you everything you need to know and tells you what each button does. The only unclear thing about the battle system is the summonings.
Yeah that battle system isn't as good as KH2's, but KH2's battle system is the best in its genre. :l
 
FFXV had a weird hold system that tried This might sound dumb, but why isn't there just a straight forward Final Fantasy action game? Like I press a button a sword swings, I press another and I block, and another lets magic fly and it happens right when I press the button, that's it. ?

There is though. Lightning Returns does exactly this.
 

FinalAres

Member
The bravery/hp attack system in dissidia is genius. It promotes back and forth and genuine tide turning. More games should use it.
 

Willenium

Member
Wasn't Crisis Core's slot mechanic mostly based off of unseen stats?

I'm sure a lot of the "summons" were percentage based and thus, pretty much random, but I'm pretty sure the Level Up mechanic was based off of unseen experience points.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
OP said it was complicated. But the tutorial tells you everything you need to know and tells you what each button does. The only unclear thing about the battle system is the summonings.
Yeah that battle system isn't as good as KH2's, but KH2's battle system is the best in its genre. :l

Yeah, I never found FFXV's combat to be complicated. I don't know how to describe it, maybe there is too much animation going on but I never feel like I have full control over Noctis's actions.
 

Wood Man

Member
I really wanted to like Dissidia but the combat wasn't for me. Played it for a few hours before I realized I hate this game.
 

Magnus

Member
I'm right there with you, OP. It literally ruins their games for me. The slot machine put me off the trash heap that was Crisis Core. I'll never understand the praise that pile got.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I'm right there with you, OP. It literally ruins their games for me. The slot machine put me off the trash heap that was Crisis Core. I'll never understand the praise that pile got.

It might have been extremely flawed but i personally like how they used Slot Machine system in story.
Especially for ending
 

Misterhbk

Member
Final fantasy XV combat was extremely simple. Summoning aside, never once did I have a hard time or felt like I had a lack of control (not including one particular boss fight).
 
Whoa. I liked the original Dissidia, and I haven't been keeping up with the new one. What is even happening in that screenshot? The screen is 80% UI!

It's a 3v3 in the style of Gundam VS now. The core gameplay is similar, but with a much more team oriented focus. Characters are similarly balanced to fill certain roles in a team, eg Cloud is a melee tank, Y'shtola is a long range healer/support etc

The UI seems messy at first, but from watching a whole lot of high level play, it seems necessary to convey all the information you need. Battles are just much more involved compared to the previous games
 

Keinning

Member
I don't know what's weird about FFXV. Press one button to attack. Press one button to defend. Hold the buttons to continuously attack/defend. It couldn't be more simpler than this
 

Piers

Member
If it's anything, Final Fantasy Explorers was effectively a straight forward action game and was panned for...being a straight forward action game.
 

silva1991

Member
Do turn based fans like these weird mechanics in action games?

I only played XV and no. Holding a button to create chain of attacks is one of the worst action games mechanics I have ever witnessed.
 
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