Final Fantasy VII Remake famously swapped out the original's turn-based combat system for a more modern action-based hybrid (with some characters' combat styles being more difficult to adapt than others). With the next instalment, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, lead battle programmer Satoru Koyama is shooting for the stars.
Shinra Archaeology Department is a Twitter account (and a fantastic follow) that translates Japanese Final Fantasy tidbits like the one below, which purportedly comes from the Remake Ultimania strategy guide.
When asked what challenges Koyama would like to tackle in his next work (Rebirth), he said: "I’d like to create an AI that can juggle a variety of techniques and magic. My goal is to surpass Final Fantasy XII’s Gambit system. I’d also like to focus more energy into aspects that support player control, such as Classic Mode, where characters fight automatically. I think it’s a shame when people can’t play a game they’re interested in just because they aren’t skilled with action-oriented mechanics."
Final Fantasy XII's Gambit system allowed players to set parameters for their characters to perform in battle automatically, like healing allies at a certain health threshold or targeting a specific elemental weakness with the appropriate magical attack. It was a wonderfully deep system, allowing for precise control, although not exactly welcoming to more casual players.
Considering teammates needing babysitting was one of our biggest personal bugbears with Final Fantasy VII's reimagined combat system, this is welcome news, indeed. Do you hope Koyama succeeded in his ambition? We won't have too much longer to wait, as Rebirth is still slated for a Winter 2023 launch. Sound off in the comments section below.
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[source twitter.com]
Comments 33
We got two exclusive AAA final fantasy games coming in such a short period of time this gen starting to feel like the ps1 and ps2 days.
XII's gambit system is so damn good when it comes to managing party members. Probably one of my favorite mechanics in pretty much any JRPG. I definitely would love to see something implemented in FFVII Rebirth.
The current Gambit on the Zodiac version is great. The original was a pita but still way ahead of it's time. Weird tho, I thought FF7 Remake Part 2 was due this year. Not sure if he's hyping or shooting for Part 3 with a mistranslation.
@4kgk2
It's crazy especially when you consider we only really had 2 big AAA Final Fantasy's all last gen (XV and VIIR) amongst lots of spinoffs, ports and remasters.
FF12’s gambit system is amazing. I only played FF12 for the first time this year and fell in love with it. Give me a ps5 remaster of FF12 so I can platinum it again please 😭😭😭😭
@Vivisapprentice Makes more sense when you look into the behind the scenes of both 13 and 15 though. Its an absolute cluster-F that shouldn't happen to such an established studio.
What is it with these modern FF games and trying oh-so-very-hard to find ways to get you to play less of the game? The last FF with a traditional battle system was X-2.
I wonder how well modern gamers will be able to go back to the Pixel Remasters and its - shock - requirement to actually press more than one button?
Well, that won’t be hard. The gambit system sucked big time. To this day 12 is the only mainline FF that’s available to me which I haven’t even come close to finishing. That’s despite owning it on 3 systems and trying multiple times to like it…this was largely down to the battle system which just sounds so good on paper, but was just dull and tedious (like much of the rest of the game to be fair).
Good, I really disliked how in FF7R the AI traight up did nothing and you were forced to either switch to them or use the battle menu to give them orders which ruined the flow of the action style combat system
As someone currently playing FFXII i have reservations. I do not think gambits are the way to go for making fun combat. It is much better to have direct control of all party members.
The gambit system feels more like a management sim than an RPG combat system.
FFXII is more of an auto-combat than XIII ever was. There is no actual gameplay. You make a list of priorities for your characters and watch the game play itself. It's literally the absence of combat gameplay.
The gameplay becomes just exploring and managing your priority lists.
Gambit system was awesome...can't believe it hasn't been used since...really looking forward to this now!!
Nope, gambit system sucks. Turns the game into a simulation running scenarios with little to no input from the player once set up.
May as well watch someone stream it on Twitch.
@thefourfoldroot1 The Gambit system threw me off as well. It wasn't because I didn't get it. In fact, I think it's brilliant in many ways but I simply didn't enjoy it.
Must have been playing different games from most of you, Gambit system took away the suspense of a tough battle for me with mathematical percentage algorithms.
FF7R battle system I thought was great fun.
@LifeGirl
What? Traditional jrpg battle systems is "pressing one button" in a nutshell. oh and sorry I forgot. pressing up and down to select the right command.
I’m one who really liked the gambit system and I consider FF12 as probably my favorite in the series. I got a weird satisfaction when my gambits were programmed well enough that my party was successful. It scratched an itch in my brain that I didn’t know I had.
But I can see in the modern gaming climate that players will want to be frantically pressing buttons and jumping back and forth to different party members on the fly. I suspect that for this next game it will be optional to use the AI control algorithm and so people can also just flip over to their party members and manually control them if they prefer that. It can satisfy both types of players.
@dschons
Yes, exactly this.
The gambit system is the best non-action battle system in FF. It was ahead of its time and many people could not enjoy bu it was actually very fun. I like the praise the developer give for this and the FF Rebirth will be a mandatory day one for me.
Hmm. I didn't care for 12 much personally so this is a bit strange to hear. I thought the combat in 7 Remake was excellent so I hope this doesn't mean Rebirth will go in too different a direction. Guess we will have to wait and see.
I’m currently playing FF7R. I’m on chapter 14. I should be done with this and be ready for the next one.
Cool the combat in final fantasy 7 remake combat is excellent.i also like the combat in final fantasy 15 royal edition.the gameplay they show in final fantasy 16 looks really good.word up son
FF 12 is my favorite game in the series for a variety of reasons, but among them is the battle system, which is absolutely the best in the series, and one of the very best in any party based game ever, IMO. Its really the framework that I'd love to see any other games follow, if possible.
@Allfather it's true!
@LifeGirl Just mashing Square in XV (which I'll freely admit had action combat done badly) or VII-R, or for that matter spamming Auto-Battle and never changing paradigms in XIII, won't get you further than just spamming Attack in the turn-based and ATB games does.
The gambit system was awesome required a lot of strategy and was really ahead of its time. Wouldn’t mind seeing come back for the AI of the team members.
I personally hate micromanaging stuff like this, so hopefully they'll give some basic presets that I can just set and forget. Having more flexibility will be good for those that like to tinker, though.
FFXII is my favourite Final Fantasy game largely because of the Gambit system and it has one of the best senses of adventure in any RPG I've played.
@4kgk2 Octopath Traveler is supposed to be really good too. Mass Effect collection, and more on the way. Would only be topped if someone like ND or SSM tackled the genre.
Kind of hope it doesn't reduce too much of the need to manage your team and micromanage them. I'm on my 4th play through now on PS5 on hard mode. There is so much depth to that micromanaging and how fast it goes. Getting those ATB timings down or choosing materia setups that allow for massive chaining of magic. It's so deep, exciting, and fun.
@Allfather And traditional action games were "press swing sword button until enemy dead." Isn't it wonderful how game design can evolve??
"I think it’s a shame when people can’t play a game they’re interested in just because they aren’t skilled with action-oriented mechanics"
Oohhhh is that a dig at 16 from a real FF developer?? At least someone remembers what genre their series is....
The combat in XII is pretty rubbish so that shouldn't be too hard.
Personally disliked FF12's Gambit system, but hopefully I will enjoy FF7 Remake Part 2 or 3's version.
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