I still remember being so excited for Dissidia NT. Without a doubt, I’m a huge fan of the PSP games and I always wanted a Dissidia console game. As a result, when I heard of a new Dissidia game that was gonna be on consoles, my hype exploded. Unfortunately, the game ended up not being great. With a lackluster story mode design and not enough single-player content, this game failed to hook me in. Ultimately, Square-Enix stopped supporting the game 2 years after its release. In fact, that’s a short time for fighting game support considering they can last up to 5-6 years. In addition, it doesn’t help that Dissidia NT’s director intended for the game to go big in e-sports. However, I think they should still give it another try. Here are two quick reasons why I think we need a new Final Fantasy fighting game with mechanics suggestions.
We Need A New Final Fantasy Fighting Game – Rise Of Fighting Games (1)
For the past 10 years, fighting games have been growing in popularity. Certainly, so many fighting games released these past few years and the competitive scene continues to grow. Many major tournaments are being planned as we speak. It would be unwise for Square-Enix to not involve themselves in this era of fighting games. Final Fantasy itself already has the tools to potentially make a good fighting game.
The franchise has so many characters to play with to make for a good roster for example. Sazh from FF13 could be a projectile user, pulling many guns out of his arsenal. I can see Zidane from FF9 being a rush-down character that wants to be in your face all the time. Tifa from FF7 would fit in a fighting game considering that many people wanted her to appear in Tekken 7. Mog or any Moogle from Final Fantasy would be a great tutorial character.
In another case, when discussing the music in Final Fantasy, there are many talented musicians in the franchise. Musical talents such as Masashi Hamauzu, Masayoshi Soken, and Naoshi Mizuta can make for an amazing soundtrack. All of these composers are very flexible and can compose in different musical styles. Imagine a Final Fantasy soundtrack filled with rock, jazz, pop, and electronic tunes. It would sound like a very diverse soundtrack.
There is a growing conversation that fighting games need to have better offline content. Single-player content is one of the great things about Final Fantasy. The great storytelling that Final Fantasy has could make for a great change in this avenue. However, don’t do it like Dissidia NT where you basically put each story mode progression behind a paywall.
We Need A New Final Fantasy Fighting Game – Rise Of Fighting Games (2)
Possible mechanics is the other topic I want to delve into. I think with so many modern fighting games implementing cool mechanics, a FF fighting game would have some cool ones.
The game could be a 3v3 game similar to that of Dragon Ball FighterZ and Marvel vs Capcom. This would complement Final Fantasy’s use of party members in their games. But this is where the fun part comes in. Party members in your background can heal you and revive you with a command you have to press. Potions would be for healing and phoenix downs would be for reviving. The catch is that you can only do it once, so you have to be very smart about your decision. Naturally, strategy is key to Final Fantasy and it would be no different here.
I would also like to recommend the debuff system that Persona 4 Arena has where certain attacks cause status effects. In this case, poison, confusion, deprotect, and deshell would be great for this. Bonus points if they include the doom status effect as well. That would give Exdeath from FFV a reason to be in the game.
In addition, what would Final Fantasy be without summons? Your super meter could be the same as other fighting games, but you use it in multiple ways. You can use it for your EX moves, super moves, but also summons. Using a summon will cost your entire bar and will buff attacks depending on the summon. For example, Ifrit the fire summon will buff fire attacks. Shiva the ice summon will buff ice attacks. Some characters will have different magic attacks and will need to pick certain summons based on what they have.
With fun mechanics, a great roster, a diverse soundtrack, and a compelling story mode, we’re looking at a great game!
– Rise Of Final Fantasy
Ever since Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was released, Final Fantasy gained a lot of new and returning eyes. FFXIV is spectacular enough to have more daily players than World of Warcraft, the most popular MMO in the world. FFXV brought the open world to a Final Fantasy setting, bringing the series to new heights. FFXVI looks to go back to Final Fantasy’s roots going for a medieval approach. Important to mention that the FFXIV developers are behind the game which makes fans very sure about its success. The Game Awards showed off FFXVI this year to thousands of people. It’s extremely safe to say that Final Fantasy is back on the map in terms of fame.
Conclusion
With the rising popularity of fighting games and Final Fantasy, the success of a Final Fantasy fighting game is inevitable.
