I just finished FFX, and it really put me in that "I wanna work on my game" mood, but since the only thing I can do well enough is write the music, storyline, and character crap, but have absolutely no ability to design with either pencil and paper or 3d modeling engines, I'll make this thread instead.
This will be an ongoing thread. And feel free to add your own ideas.
1.) Moar bad-ass, symphonic heavy metal final boss themes.
FFX was on the right track, even though Underworld, or whatever that metal song was called, really kinda sucked. But that kind of music really gets you pumped! I felt so awesome fighting Jecht with that DUN DUN DAAANAAA DUN DUN DAAANAA DUN DUN DAADUN DAANAAA DUNAAAAAA playing.
2.) LOUDER boss battle themes.
There's been so many times that I've been playing some RPG, and I'm at a boss battle theme, and I can BARELY hear the music! The sound effects tower over everything else, and the music's just kinda whispering in the background. Now maybe everyone's not with me in this aspect, but I like to crank the music, especially when it's a huge, final boss battle or something like that. The louder, the better! Maybe I just think this because FFX's final battle music was very quiet. =\
3.) Characters that actually become injured as part of the storyline.
I'm tired of a few potions bringing you from near-death to good-as-new-with-no-scratches. Maybe it would be too hard to work how low your health was in the last battle into the story, dynamically, but there should be more moments when the main characters get the shit kicked out of them, and we see some blood, or some ripped clothing, or some honest-to-goodness struggling to get back up off the ground. It's really not believable at all that Yuna's wearing the same white dress throughout the entire pilgrimage and it never gets ripped or dirty or whatever.
4.) Moar death.
Maybe I'm just desensitized, but I think we need moar mass death in videogames. The scene where sin obliterated operation Mi'hen was pretty awesome, because it was like *bam!* tons of people dead. It really put power into scope. And I like that. I like to see hopeless struggles, and over-powerful bosses kicking the shit out of expendable support characters.
5.) Moar epic struggles.
We need to find ways around all of this "just keep using normal attacks" nonsense. I hear FFXII has some pretty intense battles, but I haven't played the game yet, so...
6.) Moar flashy PHYSICAL attacks.
There's plenty of flashy and cool looking magic attacks, but normal attacks and special attacks need some flare, too! I wanna see more technical physical attacks, like takedowns, and feints, and basically just moar cool and painful looking attacks rather than the same downward slash every single battle. FF7 gave us a little bit of this with the doubleslash/4xslash abilities. Let's see some stuff like, I dunno, rushing, banking towards the left, pivoting and jumping way into the air back at the enemy, bringing your sword around and going straight through the enemy. I think I have some pretty sick normal attack ideas, but like I said, I've no way to really design them.
Tales of Symphonia did a great job with this problem.
7.) Moar little things!
Of course, with the option to skip it if you're the type that doesn't care about the little things in the game and just want to kill people. But, like, I dunno, I think it's neat to see the characters waking up in the hotel room and then gathering, signifying that they're ready for you to lead them out. Tales of Symphonia, again, did a great job with the little moments, even outside of skits. Let's see moar random funny, non-essential moments! Moar entertainment!
8.) Moar ... clothing?
Yuna's wearing the same damn thing she wore yesterday, and I KNOW she didn't wash it! I think it would be neat to characters NOT sleeping in the clothes they wear throughout their entire journey, or something like that. And I always thought it was cool when characters had alternate outfits, for some reason. Maybe I'm gay. lol.
9.) Moar AI controlled ally characters and coordinated battles!
Ever play the .hack games? Man, I love that battle system. It's a little plain sometimes, but I really like NOT having to tell my allies to attack every time it was their turn. You could tell them to go ahead and attack, but pull back if you're dying. Or tell them to hang back and support while the other two go crazy with physical attacks. I can see it now! Pluto hangs back and supports with curative magic. Serren rushes in to attack and go nuts. Arlen chills and waits until Serren has to pull back. Serren's HP and Stamina are winding down. He's pulling out to "recharge." Arlen rushes in. Pluto helps Serren with recovery. Arlen goes nuts with physical attacks. Galva's hiding somewhere, taking shots with his sniper rifle when he sees an opening. Arlen's running out of steam. He pulls back. The enemt follows! OH NO! Reia and Mercy intercept and keep him busy until Serren and Arlen are rea-yeah, you get the idea.
lol what a weird thread I made
Well, add to it if you want to, or whatever.