Yall don't get tired of European fantasy? Why can't FFs be like a martial art film? Or like a Doctor Strange comic? The reason altering FF is appealing to me because it's changes things up slightly while still hailing back to it's roots. If the original FF is about Knights and orcs, then the new ones can be about Samurai and Oni. Would that be so bad? They have to be be aware that some people want to move forward and play action rpgs but the more Action RPGs pop up, the less they feel like RPGs at all. At lot of the RPGs I (sometimes) slum into playing for lack of choices of where to shop for gear. Everything will be in a hub town or sometimes you can't get new weapons at all. Or you can't be only in dungeon. Sometimes there's no character levels. Sometimes there's no visible HP bar or any numbers telling you how much you actually have. You might get a bar that you can extend. You might just get hit and have to avoid that when the screen goes monochrome. Just because the way FFs are now seems cool doesn't mean anything other than this, any kind of change, is gonna ruin FFs or RPGs. That's why I said alternate between games like FFXV or FF7CC and FF9 or FF6.
If Square wants to make turn-based or ATB RPGs fast and fun, then do like Grandia and Wild ARMs have done and add to the system. Don't abandon it for more action. Why not make it so as you turn comes up you hit buttons in time to dodge attacks from the foes. And when it your turn you can do the same for combos and spells and rapid hit foes with spells and real martial arts based off Donnie Yen or Tonny Jaa. I'm a nobody working at a bookstore and I can come up with ideas. I know they can think of ways to do it even better. There's really no reason not to alternate and try something new now and then with something old.
Traditional knights were in FF4, 5, 1, 3 (and it's remake), and you already said 9. And the Judges were knights in FF12, plus there were knights in the background all the time. The heavy armor sword, spear, shield users who work or a king and often never question orders having sworn an oath. These are all too often seen in almost every RPG.
As I've said, action RPGs are great. Love them. But if Square ditches turn-based RPGs they'll basically be tell people like me (who've stuck around trying out lots of their games) that they don't care about what we like. That they're gonna move on, and if we focus, good. If not, who cares. That's what it feels like. If nothing else they can take FF13 (and only FF13's, no LR or 13-2) battle system, reuse it in say FF18. Have all the cast member learn their own skills and spells. Add Limit breaks. Add QTEs (reaction commands) for added excitement to keep boss battles fresh. And keep all the summons, moogles, and chocobo and presto. A FF that's new, and old at the same time and can appeal to most RPG players.
I don't get tired of it, because none of these games remind me of Europe in any way. I most certainly would not want a Final Fantasy game that was like a martial arts film or Doctor Strange comic... Why? Well... because that's not Final Fantasy... Final Fantasy isn't martial arts films... Maybe instead of wanting Final Fantasy to take such a drastic change, you should look into playing a different series, as Final Fantasy will never become like this. Besides, Final Fantasy isn't about knights and orcs either, that is a very general blanket statement that doesn't even fit any of the games, the final boss to the first Final Fantasy game was like a hellish demon, not an orc.
I'm not saying that they are not good ideas in general, but for Final Fantasy they make no sense. If you like those games you should play them instead, Square has no reason to make Final Fantasy like other series. No reason to make martial arts characters like this, it just doesn't make sense. Martial arts is heavily culturally influenced, where the European cultural references in Final Fantasy series are far more diluted and feel very cross-cultural.
Square has already said that an action battle system fits for Final Fantasy XV, and that the next game might not have an action battle system at all, it all depends on the type of game and what will make sense for it. Action battle system simply fits the theme for XV, that's why it is action based. I can imagine that XVI will likely have a battle system based off the ATB, maybe something in line with XII's battle system, something more engaging but still very much not an action battle system. Point is, Square Enix has stated that the future will not entirely move into action battle system, there's no reason to worry about this.
Overall, I know what you are trying to say... I don't disrespect your opinions or ideas. However, I feel that your ideas are far too specific and culturally rich to be used in Final Fantasy. The European cultural influences throughout the Final Fantasy series has become just as important as Chocobos. It's something that can be emphasised or even made almost non-existent.
Hey, you never know what the future holds, maybe they will do something completely different. If they did, I would be okay with that, so long as it's a great game with a great story. That's what matters at the end of the day to me. Playing a great RPG with a great story with great characters. I hope you didn't take my posts to you as disrespectful or putting down any of your ideas or opinions, they are simply my opposing opinions.
We all have different ideas on what makes a good game, and it's very clear you care much about what games you play, and that is something we both share in common!
