The title says it all. This has been a debate for quite sometime now, especially after XVI's release, so I thought why not just have a thread dedicated to the subject.
As I've said in previous FF related threads and discussions, I think the FF reinventing itself everytime is hurting both its potential as a series in terms of what they can do gameplay and content wise as well as making it less appealing to the mainstream audience. A problem that FF as a series is facing right now, that a lot of series aren't struggling with, is that a new mainline FF doesn't really mean much on its own. When it comes to gameplay and overall structure, you have no idea how a new mainline game will be until the devs have explicitly shown and explained what the game is and how it will be played.
Compare that to bigger and more successful series like God of War or Monster Hunter or Resident Evil, etc. If Capcom confirms MH6/World 2, you'll have pretty good idea of what type of game you are getting on a core level before they even show you anything. Naturally it's easier for that series to attract more of the mainstream audience, than FF which keeps reinventing itself and people don't know how the next one will be.
Even putting the growth of the IP aside, I think building and iterating on a core idea through different entries just gives SE more opportunity to fine tune the game and its system and overtime make a more robust game. Many BG3 threads have seen FF discussions as well, and I'm gonna bring up BG3 here too, but not because of its turn based nature (that's a different discussion). BG3 is something SE should look at (imo) so they can see the benefits of iterating on core ideas and improving and adding to them. BG3 wouldn't have been the game it is today without Divinity Original Sin 2 and in turn that game would've been what it was if it wasn't for Original Sin 1. BG3's incredible scale and impressive systems are a reality today because Larian kept building upon their past works. I used BG3 as an example because its most recent, but you can see that tangible improvement and expansion in a lot of franchises that do iterative sequels.
Anyway, I've already talked too much and I know the vast majority of Era will just ignore all of this answer based on the title and the poll. So, have at it.
As I've said in previous FF related threads and discussions, I think the FF reinventing itself everytime is hurting both its potential as a series in terms of what they can do gameplay and content wise as well as making it less appealing to the mainstream audience. A problem that FF as a series is facing right now, that a lot of series aren't struggling with, is that a new mainline FF doesn't really mean much on its own. When it comes to gameplay and overall structure, you have no idea how a new mainline game will be until the devs have explicitly shown and explained what the game is and how it will be played.
Compare that to bigger and more successful series like God of War or Monster Hunter or Resident Evil, etc. If Capcom confirms MH6/World 2, you'll have pretty good idea of what type of game you are getting on a core level before they even show you anything. Naturally it's easier for that series to attract more of the mainstream audience, than FF which keeps reinventing itself and people don't know how the next one will be.
Even putting the growth of the IP aside, I think building and iterating on a core idea through different entries just gives SE more opportunity to fine tune the game and its system and overtime make a more robust game. Many BG3 threads have seen FF discussions as well, and I'm gonna bring up BG3 here too, but not because of its turn based nature (that's a different discussion). BG3 is something SE should look at (imo) so they can see the benefits of iterating on core ideas and improving and adding to them. BG3 wouldn't have been the game it is today without Divinity Original Sin 2 and in turn that game would've been what it was if it wasn't for Original Sin 1. BG3's incredible scale and impressive systems are a reality today because Larian kept building upon their past works. I used BG3 as an example because its most recent, but you can see that tangible improvement and expansion in a lot of franchises that do iterative sequels.
Anyway, I've already talked too much and I know the vast majority of Era will just ignore all of this answer based on the title and the poll. So, have at it.
