Genres for the future of Final Fantasy

[King Bimpy]

Although Final Fantasy is defined by cretin aspects, there is no genre that sets it in stone.

Fantasy: ​

• Dark Fantasy (also known as gothic)
• Dungeon Punk (cynicism found in cyber and steam punk is adapted into a heroic fantasy setting where magitek takes center stage)
• Heroic Fantasy (an ambiguous adventure friendly world. Machismo plays a big role, which causes high intense action)
• High Fantasy (world-driven epic with black and white conflicts. Very medievalish)
• Low Fantasy (anything not heroic or high fantasy. Characters exist deep in the grey area, and rather than the world around them, they're the main focus. There is far less Tolkienesqu races)
• Xenofiction (point of view is from nonhumans)
• Gaslamp Fantasy (magic replaces steampunk's obsession with technology. It's not a dystopian-type punk)
• Mythopeia (mythology based on traditional mythological themes)
• Science Fantasy (just as the name implies)
• Vampire Fiction (just as the name implies)
• Mundane Fantastic (fantasy is downplayed as part of everyday life rather than a surprise at every corner)
• Urban Fantasy (fantasy enters a modern setting)

Horror:​

• Cosmic Horror (humans are insignificant compared to the eldritch abominations living outside their reality)
• Psychological Horror (just as the name implies)
• Religious Horror (organized religion gains a horror factor)
• Science Fiction Horror (science fiction gains a horror factor)
• Splatter Horror (also known as slash movies)
• Survival Horror (nature versus the human condition)

Science Fiction:​

• Space Opera (all the romantic elements from grand adventurous epics mix with science fiction)​
• Space Western (just as the name implies)​
• Time Travel (just as the name implies)​
• Hard Since Fiction (science is very grounded and thoroughly explained) ​
• Soft Science Fiction (science does whatever suits the story best. In other words, handwaved)​
• Cyberpunk (should be straightforward)​
• Steampunk (should be straightforward)​
• Post Apocalyptic (should be straightforward)​
• Superhero (should be straightforward)​
• Theotech (religious and occult themes are treated as faux symbolism for the science fiction story at hand) ​
• Transhuman (becoming more than human. Augmentations are the main focus)​

Unknown:​

• Slipstream (lines between fantasy and science fiction are so blurry, it's hard to guess what is what. The fiction of strangeness - Bruce Sterling)
• Alternate History (historical events unfold differently from the way they actually happened)
• Hardboiled Noir (darkest side of crime fiction)
• Western (should be straight forward)
• Spy Fiction (should be straight forward)
• Street Lit (harsh realities of inner city life take center stage)
• Other punk genres (depends the punk's type)

What should the next genre be?
​

 

[XvoltaireX]

I have always wanted to see a cyber punk genre of Final Fantasy, but I mostly want to see a horror Final Fantasy more than anything.

 

[Koozek]

I'd love a Shadow Hearts-like setting for a mainline FF. An alternate reality of the real world. Tabata recently mentioned that he'd like to do something like this, mixing real world history with typical FF elements.
http://www.siliconera.com/2014/09/02/final-fantasy-type-0s-story-comes-directors-love-history/

 

[Lulcielid]

I have always wanted to see a cyber punk genre of Final Fantasy, but I mostly want to see a horror Final Fantasy more than anything.

Well for cyberpunk we had FFVII.

 

[APZonerunner]

My picks:

• Space. Not Star Ocean stuff, but Star Trek or Mass Effect - more grounded - with the crazy elements of Eidolons and things thrust right into it. In the PS1 era in particular FF took on a strong East-meets-West bent (now it feels mostly East again) - I'd like to see East meets West again in this setting. Imagine a FF7 style setting - except instead of the first chapter being one city (Midgar), it's your home planet, followed by a daring escape, an adventure that travels to several exotic and alien worlds, followed by a triumphant return to the home planet to liberate it or whatever.
• Mundane fantasy - a real world style setting - but mingled with a very specific thing, Spy Fiction. I'm specifically thinking something like Garden from FF8, but super-powered, magic wielding secret agents who start out small time with an assassination or something and end up having to save the whole world. FF8 tones here, but I think FF could do something amazing with a secret society of spies.

 

[BladeRunner]

I have two ideas:
1. Steampunk - FF hasn't had a proper steampunk setting since FF6 (and maybe some bits in FF9). And even then it felt more like a world that's just entering an industrial era (most towns felt rather like medieval villages, only one airship existed in the whole world, etc). What I have in mind is a full-blown steampunk world where people have all kinds of steam-powered machinery in their everyday lives and trains and airships (zeppelins) are usual means of transportation. Top it off with some magic co-existing with technology and victorian aesthetics.
2. Ancient fantasy - I made that up, but let me explain what I mean. There are countless fantasy stories set in medieval times, but why not move it further into the past? Something like ancient Rome. And I don't mean anything like God of War with gods and stuff. More like realistic antiquity but with magic twists and without relying heavily on mythology. It could also feature some diverse cultures in different parts of the world (inspired by real ones like ancient Egypt, Babylon, China, etc.).

 

[Mistwalker]

+18 Dark Fantasy, pls.
I need a 'mature' FF based on dark fantasy to be happy. Like a FFXII with FFType-0's levels of violence.

 

[Fin]

I think a lot of genres have potential to be interesting but instead of a specific genre, I kind of want to see a FF game that shows different and interesting cultures. Kind of like how many of the locations in VIII were based on France and many X locations were inspired by Southern Asia, but instead of a single theme showing more variety.

I think IX did it best in terms of fantasy cultures and sheer variety overall. Each country/town had a very different feel and I loved it. And other non-town locations hinted at a very mysterious past. I was excited to discover where the party would go next. XII also had a variety of races and cultures but it didn't seem as distinctive as IX's. But it still made me want to explore.

A Final Fantasy game with that kind of interesting world and varied cast would be so great that I wouldn't really care how light or dark the story was.

I would want it to stay in the general realm of fantasy though, even if it had cyberpunk elements ala VII. VII also had an interesting setting, though it focused more on how the sudden influx of technology and dirty energy impacts the world over showing a variety of cultures.

 

[King Bimpy]

I think a lot of genres have potential to be interesting but instead of a specific genre, I kind of want to see a FF game that shows different and interesting cultures. Kind of like how many of the locations in VIII were based on France and many X locations were inspired by Southern Asia, but instead of a single theme showing more variety.

I think IX did it best in terms of fantasy cultures and sheer variety overall. Each country/town had a very different feel and I loved it. And other non-town locations hinted at a very mysterious past. I was excited to discover where the party would go next. XII also had a variety of races and cultures but it didn't seem as distinctive as IX's. But it still made me want to explore.

A Final Fantasy game with that kind of interesting world and varied cast would be so great that I wouldn't really care how light or dark the story was.

I would want it to stay in the general realm of fantasy though, even if it had cyberpunk elements ala VII. VII also had an interesting setting, though it focused more on how the sudden influx of technology and dirty energy impacts the world over showing a variety of cultures.

The latest Final Fantasy, XV, is taking a culture root to heart more so than any other Final Fantasy.

 

[Infest]

I don't prefer a specific genre I just want to see something original. I'm not a big fan of the usual Sc fi stuff a la Mass Effect, Star Wars..etc. though...

 

[Fin]

The latest Final Fantasy, XV, is taking a culture root to heart more so than any other Final Fantasy.

I haven't read/seen anything like that but I'm probably just out of the loop; what do you mean by that? The story from what I understand dictates that the main cast is very insular (main character's best buddies, no female characters or foreigners, all human). I get that there are different families with different ideologies and histories and all that, but at least on the outside appear the same aside from their clothing colors.

It may be the best setting for the story they are trying to tell, but it doesn't invoke FFIX to me. XV is very different, the most I can compare the setting to is like a much less whimsical version of VIII (modern tech fantasy) so far.

 

[LeonBlade]

I haven't read/seen anything like that but I'm probably just out of the loop; what do you mean by that? The story from what I understand dictates that the main cast is very insular (main character's best buddies, no female characters or foreigners, all human). I get that there are different families with different ideologies and histories and all that, but at least on the outside appear the same aside from their clothing colors.

It may be the best setting for the story they are trying to tell, but it doesn't invoke FFIX to me. XV is very different, the most I can compare the setting to is like a much less whimsical version of VIII (modern tech fantasy) so far.

Wan is head of a culture group within the division working on XV. His entire purpose with his team is to create cultures within the game that take parts of reflect on real world cultures such as Malaysian culture that has been shown off so far. The idea is to give each area and or region in the game to have its own distinct culture so that when you come upon a new area in the game, you will have a sort of "culture shock" to the changes in your scenery compared to what you are used to from a previous town for example.

For instance, the party resides from a city, many roads and cars everything bustling around in this secluded community. They have many depictions of Reapers surrounding the city with statues or part of art with imagery of Etro for example in the party area shown in Versus XIII trailers. The city seems very modern with lots of neon lighting, lots of people crammed into one area similar to a big city like in Shinjuku, Tokyo (where the main inspiration comes from).

Going from that to the plains and desert fields of Duscae where everything feels much more like Southern areas in America for example. This big change in scenery and environment provides a sort of "culture shock" to the player with things like what cars they drive, how they might talk, what sort of foods they eat, what the landscape looks like, how people are dressing and how far apart settlement areas like outposts and towns are separated from each other.

This is just an example from what we have currently more details of with the culture in XV. I don't think using the word insular is the right way to look at the cast in any way...

 

[Infest]

I haven't read/seen anything like that but I'm probably just out of the loop; what do you mean by that? The story from what I understand dictates that the main cast is very insular (main character's best buddies, no female characters or foreigners, all human). I get that there are different families with different ideologies and histories and all that, but at least on the outside appear the same aside from their clothing colors.

It may be the best setting for the story they are trying to tell, but it doesn't invoke FFIX to me. XV is very different, the most I can compare the setting to is like a much less whimsical version of VIII (modern tech fantasy) so far.

Final Fantasy XV has its own "culture team":

We learn that the Culture team, led by Wan Hazmer, creates cultures for Final Fantasy XV. They starts with creating civilizations (the words they use for towns) that affect the surrounding area, while the surrounding area affects them in return.

They also analyze the effects of the economy, what the inhabitants eat and so forth.

We haven't seen much from the towns/landscapes in XV yet but Lestallum is already a great showcase for what's to come imo and has a completely different culture than Insomnia for example.


Edit:
beaten by LeonBlade

 

[Sora96]

I've never really thought about this. I guess I'll just leave it up to the directors and producers.

I would like to see Kitase produce another third-person-shooter though.

 

[Fin]

Okay, well that makes the FFXV world sound a lot more interesting, hope the work pays off in the final build.

So far all I've seen is the big city and the big green field with a gas station, and that the main cast are all young human men which isn't very exciting to look at (unless they have a hidden swimsuit mode or something). I'm assuming since they want "realism" this time, all the other characters will be human also. I want to see another game with fantasy races though...

 

[Lucina]

I've recently been really into Lovecraft since finishing Bloodborne. I'd like to see the series delve into cosmic horror but still retaining the, 'save the world together', aspect that JRPGs often have. It would be interesting to say the least.

Realistically, I doubt any main FF title would go beyond a T rating, so that throws a lot of genres out the window. Square Enix would probably be more keen to allow liberties with different themes if the game was a spin-off.

 

[ChronoRiskbreaker]

If we based the theme of FFXV, which if 'fantasy based on reality' and the fact that a medieval setting is absent in the recent iteration of the series, Mundane Fantastic mixed with High Fantasy.
The setting would be like living in the medieval age, but mixed with fantasy that is not out of place. Also, less technology.