u/heart-station

If I'm guessing right, I think we'll end up with four characters from each numbered game with one in each role: Melee, Agile, Support, Ranged. I also think that all the villains will return and that most of the cast from NT will come back too. I'll list what we have so far, alongside datamined, leaked, and implied characters. I'll add in the antagonists and guess their roles. I'll also be excluding characters that appear as UR Abilities.

FINAL FANTASY

• Warrior of Light (Support)
• Garland (implied in Story) - Melee?
• Ranged
• Agile

Chaos could be a late reveal character. Princess Sarah would be a bold addition.

FINAL FANTASY II

• Firion (Melee)
• Emperor - Ranged?
• Agile
• Support

Maria as Support. Plenty of choices for the fourth slot.

FINAL FANTASY III

• Onion Knight (Agile)
• Cloud of Darkness - Ranged?
• Support
• Melee

FINAL FANTASY IV

• Kain Highwind (Melee)
• Cecil Harvey - Likely Agile, Possibly both Agile and Support with Job Change
• Golbez - Unknown.
• Support

Rosa as Support

FINAL FANTASY V

• Bartz Klauser - Likely Melee
• Krile Mayer Baldesion (Support)
• Exdeath - Likely Ranged
• Gilgamesh - Agile?

FINAL FANTASY VI

• Terra Branford (Ranged)
• Celes Chere (datamine) - Likely Support
• Kefka Palazzo - Likely Melee
• Locke Cole - Likely Agile

FINAL FANTASY VII

• Cloud Strife (Melee)
• Sephiroth (Ranged)
• Support
• Agile

Tifa and Aerith would fit Agile and Support, but the UR abilities eliminated them. Red XIII would be a good Agile, as would Yuffie.

FINAL FANTASY VIII

• Rinoa Heartilly (Ranged)
• Squall Leonhart (datamine) - Likely Melee
• Ultimecia - Support?
• Agile

Seifer would be a good Agile counter to Squall.

FINAL FANTASY IX

• Zidane Tribal (Agile)
• Kuja (Implied in Story) - Likely Ranged
• Melee
• Support

Vivi would be fun just to see how his modern day would look. I'm guessing heavy shadowing like they do with Kain's eyes.

FINAL FANTASY X

• Tidus (Agile)
• Rikku (Support)
• Jecht - Likely Melee
• Ranged

Yuna was removed by the UR Ability but that was Summoner Yuna. I think they could make Gunner Yuna the Ranged character.

FINAL FANTASY XI

• Iroha (Melee)
• Shantotto - Likely Ranged
• Kam'lanaut - Possibly Agile
• Support

FINAL FANTASY XII

• Balthier (Ranged)
• Vaan - Likely Support
• Vayne Carudas Solidor - Likely Agile
• Gabranth - Likely Melee

FINAL FANTASY XIII

• Lightning (Agile)
• Snow Villers - Likely Melee
• Support
• Ranged

I would love to have Serah be the ranged character for FF13 and her ability be to switch to Melee. I think Caius Ballad is a good FF13 villain, since Snow is more just an antagonist.

FINAL FANTASY XIV

• Gaia (Melee)
• Zenos yae Galvus - No idea
• Not Melee

• ⁠Not Melee

FINAL FANTASY XV

• Prompto Argentum (Ranged)
• Noctis Lucis Caelum - Likely Agile
• Ardyn Izunia - Likely Melee
• Support

It would be fun to add Lunafreya as a support role. She'd get more screen time than FF15 at least.

FINAL FANTASY XVI

• Clive Rosfield (Melee)
• Agile
• Support
• Ranged

I think Barnabas Tharmr would be the Villain for FF16, but it could be Ultima. Or both could be in! Torgal, Jill, and Joshua would all make good choices too, but beating on Torgal would feel pretty bad.

I’m sure most of you are aware of the Pixar Theory, but for those who don’t: it’s a fan theory that all of the Pixar films are in the same universe at different point in time.

There’s a similar theory that links up the WDAS films Tangled, Frozen, and Tarzan, spurred mainly by the cameo of Rapunzel in Frozen. Granted Frozen II shoots this down, but that’s not really the point.

More relevantly, Kairi’s grandmother tells of a time when all worlds were one before being separated after the Keyblade War.

So with all that in mind: how would you feel about KH merging some worlds together?

For example:

* Moana + Lilo and Stitch
* The Princess and the Frog + The Rescuers
* Atlantis: The Lost Empire + Treasure Planet
* Big Hero 6 + Gargoyles + Kim Possible
* Pirates of the Caribbean + The Little Mermaid (2023)
* Gravity Falls + Amphibia + The Owl House

One criticism of later Kingdom Hearts games is that worlds feel too self-contained and disposable. You visit them, resolve the movie plot, and move on. And occasionally, you’ll go back for a round of KH lore or a super boss.

BBS was particularly flagrant on this. You show up, participate in about a third of a movie plot, and then leave. Good job, Terra! I’m sure absolutely nothing bad is going to happen to Snow White when you walk away.

Merging compatible worlds could make them feel more like actual places instead of isolated movie sets. It would also create opportunities for original stories and character interactions that Disney never explored itself. This is why I loved Disney Infinity and this is why I loved Ralph Breaks the Internet. KH is one of the only places where disparate Disney characters interact with one another. Plus they’ve already set up a lore explanation in reference to the story Kairi’s Grandmother told.

Let’s set aside the probability of this happening and just focus purely on the possibility. Would you be interested in this and if so, which worlds would you see merged?

For me, there are two and they are intrinsically linked.

First, I think they are misnumbered. Birth By Sleep and Dream Drop Distance should have been expanded in scope and been fully numbered games.

Second, scattering the games across consoles and handhelds and mobile was a mistake. The collections are great. But the necessity of the collections is very much not.

Honorable Mention: locking important lore to a mobile game which has no offline version is just insanity. Putting more lore in a mobile game that was then cancelled is infuriating.

Not referring to combat style or gameplay

We’ve had games that focused on certain spells like Ultima, Meteor, and Holy, certain summons like Ifrit, Bahamut, and Alexander, many focused on elemental Crystals, and even a few focused on weapons.

What is something that you think could be used to weave an interesting story?

It feels like it’s indelibly linked to the Kingdom Hearts entity so it should return, right?

I think that Laura Kinney has enough fans that it would be viable to make some kind of content starring her. Assuming Wolverine follows the same path as Spider-Man we’re likely to get to DLC to add on to the base game. There’s a possibility that one of these DLC could swap Logan for his daughter Laura. Alternatively, they could do a standalone smaller game in the vein of Spider-Man: Miles Morales starring the second Wolverine. Which approach would you prefer?

Movie?
Tv Show?
Audio Drama?
Podcast?
Video Game?
Animation?
Live Action?
Something else?

And who would you cast?

I think it’s a fantastic story and it would be a shame if it was only ever relegated to comics.

After the brutal beatdown that was Dragon Quest 3, I expected the first game to absolutely kick my teeth in. I also expected to just be playing this for the sake of completionism not pleasure. To my surprise I loved this game! I guess not having the autonomy to completely ruin my party composition due to not having a party really helped me to lock in.

I’ve been playing DQ Smash/Grow and it just wrapped up a DQ1 event which served as a prequel to the world of the actual game. It was fun seeing things I remembered from the mobile game get flipped in the proper game like the protector golem. I thought the town was gonna get pissed. It was also fun seeing revisiting places from DQ3 and seeing how they’ve changed.

All in all of the three I’ve played this is the one that I’m most eager to replay. I really want to see how the game plays with the princess in tow, especially if I decide I do in fact want to rule half the world.

A few stray thoughts
- Love the presentation of the choice to rule half the world. By asking twice it leaves room for the possibility that yes is the correct choice.
- Really loved the hero pinning the Dragonlord to his throne with his sword. I’m always a big fan of a brutal execution in an otherwise low violence game. Shoutout to WW Link and his skull impaling ways.
- The hero having actual lines in the epilogue was a treat. Didn’t expect but delighted to hear.
- Thought the DQ Fanfare was gonna play over the credits and final scene. Didn’t happen. Mildly disappointed.

Rankings:

1. Dragon Quest 7
2. Dragon Quest 1
3. Dragon Quest 3

Finished at Lv. 41, 15:17

Now to wrap up the trilogy.

And do you think there’s potential for it to return?

I’m curious because they seems to have and have had the same sort of divisive initial reception from fans followed by a latter showing of support, plus they share similarities in storytelling regarding lore and background information not being immediately obvious as well as combat systems that aren’t readily accessible but flower into something as diverse as it is exploitable.

And of course we can’t forget the most obvious and important connection:

GUNBLADES.

So, fans of 13, thoughts on 8? And fans of 8, thoughts on 13? I’m quite curious what this Venn diagram looks like.

Official games, not fan games.

For example, a PS1 styled version of Resident Evil 9. Or a 8 bit version of Final Fantasy 16. Well, an official one. Or a 16 bit version of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

Basically what Capcom did for Mega Man 9 and 10 except old stories not new ones.

Alternatively, what if they did do new stories in a franchise in a retro style? Are there any series you would legitimately like to play in a retro aesthetic?

Other than it existing. I’m still very new to the series, but I think a tie to 4-6 could be interesting thought I don’t even know if that works story wise (no spoilers!)

I also hope that Toriyama at least got to do some design work before he passed. It’s possible, right?