My perfect FF must have freedom. XIII was very linear, XII and X felt slightly linear, but not as much as XIII. IX backwards were perfect in this aspect because we had free roaming world maps. Also, airships would be a huge plus for me. I always look foward to getting the airship because then you can explore the world. I thought VII was perfect for freedom because you had the submarine aswell.
I would also rank music up there in priority. First off, (sorry to keep moaning about XIII, I did enjoy it), I couldn't hum one single tune from XIII. Only a few from XII. Most from X, but IX backwards I could tell you all the themes. We need an epic boss battle music like 'Esper Battle' from XII, or 'Force Your Way' from VIII. That's the kind of stuff we need.
Also, towns. Actual towns. XIII deviated from this by having endless plains and caves to trek through. XII had towns, but not a lot of them. X had quite a few towns, but not enough people to interact with. I would also want to see actual shops, not having it all in the save menu. I thought VIII was perfect for the town aspect. You had a lot of people in the towns, and a good amount of towns to go to.
Perhaps my biggest thing with XII and XIII (not so much XIII) is the battle system. Thing is, the average gamer wants action orientated gameplay. The thing I liked with the earlier FFs was turn based gameplay, with a lot of strategy involved.
My biggest one however, and I had a huge problem with X, XII and XIII on this, is the fact that your characters can all end up with the same abilities. Especially XII and XIII on this. You can eventually end up with all your characters having exactly the same abilities. It's pointless. It can also drive you to not bother with half the party, which takes a lot from the game I think. Using IX as an example, you had Zidane as your thief, Vivi was Black Mage, Garnet and Eiko were White Mage/Summoners etc. Each character had their own merits, which enticed you more to develop your entire party and change the line up every once in a while to allow more strategy. It would be nice to see this in later installments. I just don't like it when the only differences between characters are the weapons they use. In XII, you didn't even have that!
Limit Breaks are the last one from me. I think FFXIII was the only one in a while that didn't have them. I just want them back in.
I won't say story, because I have enjoyed all the stories. I just say keep it up.
I hate to moan about XII and XIII because they were very good games. I just preferred the old style of play, and think that SE should listen to us and create the perfect FF.
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