11 Things We Miss From Final Fantasy
1. Turn-based Battles
As with most items in this list/diatribe - the world map, pre-rendered backgrounds, lack of voice acting - turn based battles no longer feature in Final Fantasy because the developers view them as a relic from the past. The desire (and compulsion) to deliver a fast-paced, action packed game shouldn't necessarily be a bad thing - after all, who could complain about a fun, exciting battle system?
No, the problem is that Square-Enix have so far failed to execute an enjoyable battle system since ATB was abandoned.
We'll give X a pass here - it eschewed the active time meter but still featured a tactical, turn-based system that gave players absolute control about the course of battle.
XII was a shambles. By moving away from random battles, moving away from the world map, moving to real-time environments, there was now the necessity to engage in combat in situ, rather than transferring to a separate battle scene. Apparently the only way to do this was to abandon the turn based element and introduce a system so impossible to micro-manage that instead the preferred option was to give over control to the computer. Less interaction, that's the way to take a series forward.
XIII was no better in this regard, but at least it reintroduced a tactical element rather than being a bloody mess. Still only realistically able to control one character, the player was now essentially relegated to the role of coach, instructing the team of their preferred formation and changing on the fly according to the flow of battle.
Was it interesting? Yes. Was it fun? Occasionally. Was it Final Fantasy? Absolutely not. Players love Final Fantasy because of the things that made it Final Fantasy. Even in 2016, there is nothing outdated or bad about having a party that can individually be commanded in turn-based battles. It's fine for Persona, and it's pretty successful in Pokémon. Why is it no longer fine for Final Fantasy?