5 Final Fantasy spinoff genres we somehow haven’t seen yet

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As a seasoned gamer with over two decades of gaming under my belt, I can’t help but wonder why Square Enix hasn’t explored some obvious genres with its beloved Final Fantasy franchise. I mean, we’ve seen everything from board games to rhythm games, but where are the first-person shooters and dance games?

Final Fantasy isn’t merely three decades of role-playing game masterpieces; it’s also a significant money maker, though not every endeavor to expand the franchise has been met with success or endured in people’s memories. Recently, Square Enix has been closing down numerous mobile games, which seems to indicate a shift away from one persistent income source. Pondering the long lineage of Final Fantasy spin-offs, I noticed some intriguing genre gaps that would seem ripe for exploitation. Rather than releasing another board game, why not venture into one of these unexplored territories instead? What could possibly go awry?

First-person… Stuff

What I referred to as “first-person” was actually a reference to the genre of first-person shooter games. Games like Dirge of Cerberus are third-person, but there haven’t been any first-person shooters in the style of a traditional game within Square Enix’s central IP. It’s somewhat surprising given the wealth of material available, but I left the door open a bit more because I’d also love to see Square Enix push boundaries and create a hardcore, Wizardry-style first-person dungeon crawler using its main intellectual property. Indie games like Dungeon Antiqua have shown that this concept has potential.

Musou/Warriors/Heroes/Whatever

Musou isn’t just a genre, it’s primarily a series created by Omega Force and Koei Tecmo, yet there are games resembling Musou from other developers. Despite this, Square Enix and Koei Tecmo seem to be close allies, and Dragon Quest has even spawned some genuine “Warriors” spin-offs. It’s surprising that a Final Fantasy Musou game hasn’t been made yet, especially considering Dissidia’s internal crossover style. It seems almost unjust, but it’s also highly probable that such a game will be developed in the near future.

Dance, like literally, with your feet and those weird safety handles

Although Theatrhythm and Groove Coaster are already established music/rhythm games by Square Enix, it’s intriguing that they haven’t yet ventured into creating a Dance Dance Revolution-like game, where players physically dance along with the game. Given Cloud Strife’s dance moves in Final Fantasy VII Remake, it seems like an ideal opportunity for Square Enix to dive headfirst into such an arcade platform.

Puzzle/Match Game/Tetris Attack ripoff

It’s astonishing that, despite spending decades delving into mobile gaming and mining it until there was nothing left, we never encountered a basic tile-matching game branded as Final Fantasy. Even Castlevania: Symphony of the Night includes a tile-matching mini-game. This seems implausible! Square Enix has occasionally ventured into puzzle games with Pictologia Final Fantasy, targeting Picross enthusiasts. However, it’s hard to understand how Monster Hunter has a cute match-3 mechanic and yet there isn’t a single tile-matching game bearing the Moogle logo from them. It truly puzzles me.

Horror/Spooky/Thing for streamers to inauthentically shriek at

In terms of their creative abilities, Square Enix has proven they can create scary elements, as seen in certain parts of Final Fantasy 15 and Stranger of Paradise. Introducing a Resident Evil or Alone in the Dark-style game set within the Final Fantasy universe could be an intriguing experiment indeed. As a precursor to that, why not introduce a Tonberry character into Dead by Daylight or something similar to gauge audience reactions? Perhaps the undead creatures from the last DLC of Final Fantasy 16 could work well in this scenario.

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2024-11-03 19:29