Final Fantasy games used to come out within a year or two of each other. The more technology has increased, the longer it has taken for Square Enix to launch mainline games in the series. For example, Final Fantasy 15 was released in 2016, while Final Fantasy 16 was a 2023 game.

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Seven years is a long time to wait for the next big iteration in the series, even though there are plenty of spinoffs and remakes like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for fans to enjoy. Perhaps Final Fantasy 17, when it is released, can learn something from Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s design.

Spoilers Ahead

6 Keep The Party Around At All Times

But With A Twist

Where do party members go when they aren’t in the active party? It’s always been a weird thing in RPGs with large parties. If the end of the world is coming, shouldn’t everyone be involved? Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth solves this issue in two ways. First, when players are exploring the open-world sections of the game, everyone can be seen outside and inside of battles. They may not do damage, but background characters like Barret, for example, will be shown using their weapons.

It makes the game feel like the characters are truly a team. There are also sections where the party splits up into two distinct teams, allowing players to experience the game from different perspectives. Final Fantasy 17 should follow both of those ideas, but also tweak them by adding the ability to switch out party members mid-battle like in Final Fantasy 10.

5 The Villain Should Be An Omnipresent Threat

From Sephiroth To The Turks

Some RPGs like to hold back their villains for cutscenes, showing what they are doing while the heroes are accomplishing their goals. It can build tension, but when these villains are saved for the end, it makes them feel less impactful because they didn’t interact directly with the heroes as much. Thankfully, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth doesn’t do that, and it has two sets of villains. First, there is Shinra, who constantly hounds the party through The Turks, mostly.

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Sephiroth also shows up in Cloud’s head to distract him from the task ahead. He also makes appearances to the group by using one of the robed figures as a conduit. It’s just great to see the villains of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth be a constant thorn in the party’s side, and Final Fantasy 17 would be wise to take note.

4 Dynamic Boss Battles

Make Every Battle An Event

One of the main reasons why Final Fantasy 17 should follow the multiple-parties route see in Rebirth is to make boss battles more exciting. Because Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth implements strict parties for certain situations, the developers were able to fine-tune the story to match boss fights. One early example is the fight against Elena and Rude of The Turks in the Mythril Mines.

Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith take part in that battle, allowing for some unique dialogue. While that exciting romp is going on above, Barret and Red XIII are down below dealing with their own boss issues. The cinematic boss fights in the remake games are unlike anything RPGs have done before outside of other Square Enix titles like Kingdom Hearts.

3 Keep Cities Big

Make Them Feel Alive

RPGs, starting in the 80s and carrying right through to the early 2000s, evolved their towns. By the time the genre got to the PS2 generation, cities were massive, or at least they looked that way. When it came to the HD era, towns kind of took a backseat in a lot of high-profile RPG series. They were pretty scattered in Final Fantasy 13, moving forward with little interactions between players and NPCs. This includes the latest entry too, Final Fantasy 16.

They were set dressings, which was fine, but it didn’t feel as immersive. The only outlier is Final Fantasy 14, but as an MMO that’s a whole other ballgame. The point is that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth does a great job giving the old glow-up treatment to all the towns from the original game, with Gongaga standing out in particular. Hopefully, Final Fantasy 17 can be just as vibrant, varied, and colorful.

2 Mini-Games Are Everything To Final Fantasy

Let’s Move Away From Cards Though

To throw Final Fantasy 16 under the bus again, that game was devoid of mini-games. It seems like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has made up for this lack of mini-games, because there are over a dozen in the latest Final Fantasy release. There are of course old classics like G-Bike and Chocobo Racing which were in the PS1 version.

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Then there are new mini-games too, like the RTS-like game, Gears and Gambits, and the card game, Queen’s Blood. That is the third card game in the series, and while it's good, it’s not like Final Fantasy 17 needs one. It also doesn’t need to copy any of these mini-games, but it should at least have similar offerings.

1 Keep It Silly

From Moogles To Parades

The bottom line is, Final Fantasy 17 should be able to be flexible between its serious story and goofy moments. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is ultimately about the destruction of the world, which is a cliche for a JRPG, but there’s more to it. As serious as it can get between loved ones dying and relationships breaking, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth saves plenty of room to pick players up through fun and humor.

That’s why Final Fantasy 7 is so magical to people even decades later, and even though the remake did change things. For example, there is a side quest in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth that turns the heroes into frogs, while another turns Cloud into a Moogle. Those are just two examples, but overall, the game is not afraid of having fun, and Final Fantasy 17 shouldn't be either.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Platform(s)

PlayStation 5

Released

February 29, 2024

Developer(s)

Square Enix

Genre(s)

RPG

See at Playstation Store