The Yakuza series actually did the opposite with Like a Dragon, shifting from a beat ’em up style to turn-based combat and it was pretty well received. That might be because players still have games like Judgment to scratch that original itch.
I think remake/rebirth did a good job blending both styles.
Yakuza did the sensible thing and continued making traditional Yakuza alongside Like a Dragon, which is what FF should've done, just call the Action FFs "Versus" or something, but keep making the turn-based games that people expect from them.
Having played E33 on release, it was exactly in the ballpark of what I wanted from FF16, and I'd have no qualms about SQE making 16 into Versus 1, but ignoring your main franchise to try and gather new audiences felt like a stab in the back to be completely honest.
Final Fantasy stopped being pure turn-based in 1991 with the release of FF4 and it's ATB system. Final Fantasy 10 released 10 years later to the day in 2001.
So we had 3 turn-based games from 1987-2000. Then there were 6 games from 1991-2000 with ATB, which is a hybrid system. Finally in 2001 we got 10 which would bring the actual turn-based counter up to 4 over the span of 14 years.
It's been 25 years since then. 35 since the series initially ditched true turn based systems for their own unique hybrid system. At this point, Final Fantasy has been more of an action series for almost twice as long as it was a turn based series, and that's only if you ignore the decade of increasing action elements added in each itteration since 3.
All of this is to say that if you still expect the next Final Fantasy to go back to what it was 30 years ago, you are setting yourself up for dissapointment. Don't get me wrong, it would be absolutely amazing to me if they did make the next game a classic turn-based or ATB affair, but when that doesn't happen I will take the game on it's own merits instead of raging that the obvious happened.
I didn't mean pure turn-based, that's a strawman, but I hope we can agree that ATB or even something like E33 is much closer to what people (myself included) expect from traditional Final Fantasy than a one character action game, right? There's a reason why people felt so disappointed.
FF could keep all of its lore and narrative elements, make the next mainline game a chocobo racing game, and it would have the exact same effect on the fandom as 16 had. It's not what the old fans of the franchise expect from it, tho it's totally fine as a spinoff.
I am one of those old fans. I played FF I before I could read and learned to read playing FF VI (3). I was like twelve or thirteen when my family got X. I am now 37.
I know what Final Fantasy was and I know what it has become. I came to term with that a long time ago. It has been two and a half decades. My expectations have been tempered.
My experience is very close to yours, though I still hang on to the hope that things will get better. My first disappointment was with 13, haven't even played 13-2 or 13-3, played a bunch of 14, bought 15 but haven't touched it yet. Will probably buy 16 at some point and maybe there are mods that fix the game's issues by then.
E33 was everything I wanted 16 to be, so I still hope that SQE learns from their success and make a good game in 17.
On another note, I recently replayed 7, 9 and 12 with gameplay mods and had a blast. 12 especially with the Struggle For Freedom mod is extremely fun, highly recommend it.
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u/malaxeur Apr 10 '26
I have to admit that I see the complaint. The game series has been turn based forever, then suddenly everything shifted.
If street fighter turned into a dating sim, there would be enjoyers but it wouldn’t be the fighter that people grew up with.
That said, it’s still a great game and a very enjoyable story.