Final Fantasy 17 Has to Make a Massive Change if It Is to Succeed

Decades ago, Final Fantasy started more than a video game franchise—it became the cornerstone of role-playing games and the baseline for how I measure storytelling, worldbuilding, and mechanical depth. Each numbered entry is special in my heart because of how it reinvents the series. These innovations are often bold choices that shake things up with what I expect from a Final Fantasy game, honoring the past while looking to the future. Some of these choices have led to massive success, like Final Fantasy VII changing the way RPGS were viewed, while others have had lackluster responses according to Square Enix.

The solution to this latter problem? Return to turn-based combat. I believe Square Enix needs to look back to its roots rather than doubling down on real-time action combat. Final Fantasy XVII stands on the precipice for the series, and Square Enix has to make a hard decision on what direction it will take with this upcoming title.

What Past Final Fantasies Did Right and How Modern Ones Failed

When I think of peak Final Fantasy, I imagine VII, VIII, IX, and X. These games aren’t just critically acclaimed; they defined an entire generation of RPGs. Each implemented a turn-based battle system, but Square Enix varied these with different choices and designs. Players couldn’t just mash buttons; they had to think and plan about their turns and use creative strategies. Boss battles often felt like a puzzle that required specific tools for the job.

Compare that to Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy XVI, the point at which the series, aside from Final Fantasy XIV, abandoned its turn-based battle system. Gameplay took an action-first approach that was visually stunning and had impressive cinematics. While I loved these titles, they didn’t resonate with me like the older games. XV’s combat was ambitious but messy, and it felt like I was fighting the camera as much as the enemies. Even Final Fantasy XVI, one of my favorite entries, felt more like watching action cutscenes rather than playing an RPG due to its overreliance on spectacle.

Neither game is bad, and despite Square Enix being unsatisfied with their sales, I loved them. The world-building and storytelling are some of my favorites, but even when playing them, I wish they were turn-based. And I’m not alone. Ask any Final Fantasy fan what their favorite game is, and most of them name one from the turn-based era. The older games just feel timeless, and while Final Fantasy VII Remake has held up in spite of the switch to real-time action combat, Square’s other forays into this genre just haven’t hit the mark. This alone should tell Square Enix it needs to rethink the series’ direction.

What Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Proves About Modern Turn-Based RPGs

The biggest argument against turn-based combat is that it feels outdated and players don’t want it anymore. Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 completely disproves this argument. It came out of nowhere from a studio that had yet to produce a game. But here was their debut title, a turn-based RPG that is now in consideration for Game of the Year. Not only this, but a live-action adaptation of the game is already being produced. It stunned players with its stylish, engaging turn-based gameplay and emotional narrative, showing that turn-based RPGs were not dead.

Sandfall Interactive combined the cinematic visuals of action games with the strategic, tactical decision-making of turn-based games, and it paid off. So much so that Square Enix is reportedly considering a return to turn-based gameplay for the Final Fantasy series. Whether this means Final Fantasy XVII will make this change or it alludes to something else remains to be seen. Square Enix could test the waters with a remake of Final Fantasy VI or Final Fantasy IX that keeps turn-based gameplay before making this change in future new games.

Square Enix is the best-positioned studio to capitalize on this renewed interest in turn-based gameplay. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 may have proved there is still an appetite for these games, but Square could launch a second golden age of turn-based RPGs. Final Fantasy is already one of the most defining series in RPGs, possibly even in the gaming industry itself, but this one change could bring it back to its greatest heights and beyond.

Why Returning to Strategy Could Secure the Final Fantasy’s Future

If Final Fantasy XVII is to succeed, not just financially, but as a competitor to the series’ best games, Square Enix needs to embrace its past. Action RPGs have their time and place, but the heart of Final Fantasy is turn-based games that tell compelling stories and have deep characters. Don’t get me wrong, Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy XVI had emotional stories and endearing characters, but these could only carry the game so far before I grew tired of the repetitive button-mashing combat.

To me, Final Fantasy is strategic, considering how each of your party members fit into combat. Balancing offense and defense across multiple characters is one of my favorite parts. But the action-oriented games strip this agency in place of a single character and flashy combat. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 proved it was possible to make combat flashy and cinematic with turn-based execution. Final Fantasy XVII could learn from this lesson, as well as from Final Fantasy VII Remake, and create an incredible blend of the two.

Square Enix has already proven nostalgia and modern design work through that very same remake. Final Fantasy VII Remake and its sequel Rebirth are glimpses of what is possible for the series’ future. If Square leans more into strategy rather than action, Final Fantasy XVII could return to its roots and secure its future as one of the best and most innovative series. Turn-based may be the hot thing right now, but it could fade if developers like Square Enix don’t take advantage of it. Sandfall Interactive has more plans for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but it alone cannot carry the genre. Final Fantasy XVII is the big name that it needs, and I hope Square Enix takes this opportunity.

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