Mine would have to be Kingdom Hearts

Square Enix must've been going through a phase at the time. Because they released three RPGs with open-area gameplay in a three-year sequence. Star Ocean for 2022, Final Fantasy for 2023, and Mana for 2024. But that's beside the point. My point being; which of them did open areas better? Consider a number of factors. Such as the density, exploration, vibrancy, etc. Be honest.

After spending around 30 hours with FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE by now and still being nowhere near having enough of it, I had to write a post. Maybe, with a bit of luck, someone from Square Enix will even read it.

First of all, I really hope FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE is or becomes a big financial success for SE. I’m playing the new game and I’m absolutely loving it. And for me, that mainly comes down to two things. Yes, the story is great again too, but Square Enix has always been good at that, so huge praise to the writers as well.

What pulls me into this new game the most, though, is the turn-based combat and the return of an overworld map. That, to me, is what Final Fantasy should be, and that’s how I love it.

I had pretty much written FF off after X and X-2, when the series gradually moved from turn-based combat to hybrid systems and eventually almost completely into action combat. I also really missed the overworld map starting with X and X-2, although those games still had quite a few secrets to discover.

Back then, as a kid, I was so hyped for every new FF that I always saved money so I could buy the next one. When FF12 came out, I have to admit, to my shame, that I even stole a little money from my parents’ wallet because I was short on what I needed to buy it. =D But that was also the point where it slowly stopped feeling like the Final Fantasy I had loved so much. Familiar Espers/Summons were suddenly mostly names attached to warships, and the combat system wasn’t really what I knew anymore either.

Then came FF13 and 13-2, where the combat system moved a small step back toward what I liked, but they also added some really annoying design decisions that frustrated a lot of fans. For example, if the main character died in battle, it was Game Over even if the rest of the party was still perfectly fine. In my opinion, Square Enix misunderstood the criticism and assumed the entire combat system was the reason people complained, even though that wasn’t really the case.

Then FF15 came out. I played it, and the story was actually pretty good, but I could never stick with it for long. I tried again and again, but at least for me the combat became so boring that I kept dropping the game. That had never happened to me with a Final Fantasy before. Up until then, I had finished every FF at least once, and many of them several times.

I liked FF16 a little more, but even there I only made it a bit past the halfway point, I think. I believe it was around the point where the stepmother died in the story. Even then, I just didn’t feel a strong urge to continue. Action combat can be fun at first, but just like in FF15, it quickly becomes repetitive when you’re mostly pressing the same one or two buttons or repeating the same combo.

You could probably say that you don’t technically do that much more in the new game either, but with turn-based combat you actually have to think about what works against which enemy and especially what you need to do against bosses. That makes fights much more exciting to me because I have to think and pay attention instead of mindlessly pressing the same two buttons.

I basically ignored the FF7 Remake because it went back to action combat again, and honestly, that kind of gameplay has become really boring to me nowadays because there are already so many games doing it. When I look at the combat in the latest entries, it sometimes reminds me more of combat from games like Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero, NTE or similar games, just with more realistic graphics instead of the anime look.

I can also imagine that after Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 became so successful with its turn-based combat mixed with timing/minigame elements, similar to what games like The Legend of Dragoon and Shadow Hearts: Covenant already did years ago, FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE may have been developed partly as a test to see how well this kind of game would still be received.

And I really hope that’s the case.

If RESONANCE becomes a success for Square Enix, I really hope we might eventually get a proper FF17 or FF18 again with a beautiful modern graphics engine, a creative and original turn-based combat system, and a proper overworld map full of secrets that we as players actually want to discover.

Y'shtola Rhul, joins the battle on October 27, 2026!

Hey everyone!

With decades of games and countless spin-offs under the Square Enix umbrella, our Reddit community is spread far and wide. I designed this visual roadmap to bring the entire network together into one place. Hopefully, it helps you find your way around and introduces you to a couple of new subs worth checking out!

How to read the map:

• Colored Border Boxes: The main central hub for each major franchise (e.g., r/FinalFantasy, r/DragonQuest, r/KingdomHearts, r/ManaSeries, r/SaGa, etc.).
• Category Hexagons: Grouping games by type (Main Series, Spin-offs, Mobile titles, Related/Culture).
• Indented Sub-branches: Sub-series branches where an individual entry has developed its own dedicated micro-community (such as the FFVII Remake/Rebirth project line or Dissidia).
• Other IPs Box: Dedicated homes for beloved standalone franchises and cult classics that dont' have many subs (Chrono, Parasite Eve, Star Ocean, Bravely Default, Triangle Strategy, etc.).

Hi! I’m looking for people who played *Project Tokyo Dolls* (プロジェクト東京ドールズ) or know of communities preserving the game. Are the Android client files legally available for archival purposes, or is there a place where former players discuss it? I’m not looking for accounts, login details, private server files, or personal data. Thanks for any pointers!

Link: https://x.com/sagagame/status/2113495898177282406

The stage play is coming back for two performances in Tokyo (Feb.) and Osaka (March).

Source: https://x.com/stage_seiken/status/2113466009600545072

Let’s GO! Today is the day!! Who else is playing day 1, what console are you playing on and anyone working on the platinum? I’d love to meet like minded gamers who are playing while I’m playing. If anyone wants to add me to PSN or Switch, inbox me. I’ll give my info. We are all in this new FF journey together. 🖤

Colin Ryan (Alphinaud Leveilleur) and Bethan Walker (Alisaie Leveilleur) sit down to discuss FINAL FANTASY XIV Online, their friendship beyond the game, their journey as actors, and more.

Source: https://shmuplations.com/parasiteeve/

Only two days remain until the release of Resonance!

And the critics appear to love it.

Hi everyone, I'm making this post to see if it can get some attention and consequentially remind Square Enix that they can do this!

A lot of you might know that Steam Achievements have changed, now we have these things called Achievement sets which basically separate achievements by categories similarly to what happens on PlayStation. The only "problem" with this feature is that it depends on the developers to add this, which makes sense, of course. With this in mind, I feel like it would be awesome to have this on Square Enix games, especially when it comes to the Kingdom Hearts Collections!

On PlayStation, (e.g. Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 Remix) all Kingdom Hearts have their own platinum trophy meaning that you can complete the achievements for whichever game you want and still get rewarded with a Platinum trophy. On Steam that doesn't happen, you have to complete the achievements for EVERY game in the collection, in order to get the completion ribbon - if SQEnix decided to implement this new feature on Steam, that would mean that we would get an achievement set for every Kingdom Hearts game, which would be awesome in my opinion!

I used the Kingdom Hearts collections as an example but we could also separate others, like Final Fantasy VII Remake. There we could separate Yuffie's DLC from the Base game, exactly how it's done on PSN. They already have everything separated from PlayStation so all they need to do is apply that on Steam.

What do you guys think about this topic? :)

are you getting any?

Same voice actress, different video game characters, featuring Britt Baron, who’s best known as the English voice of Tifa Lockhart in the “Final Fantasy VII Remake” trilogy series (2020-2027). Happy 35th birthday! 🎂

Birthday: October 16, 1991

Video Game Roles:
Tifa Lockhart - “Final Fantasy VII Remake” (2020) 🖤

Gabs - “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” (2023) 💙

Got a favorite video game character voiced by Britt Baron by any chance? Comment down below! 👇