Since We’re Getting a Battle Royale, How About a Final Fantasy MOBA?
Your favorite heroes and villains together again
When Square-Enix announced Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, I had mixed feelings. I’m glad Final Fantasy VII is still very much in the conversation, as I truly do believe it’s the best game of the series. However, playing as a generic character in a Battle Royale removes some of the magic of Final Fantasy. So why not continue the Dissidia lineup with a MOBA that can span all heroes and villains from the Final Fantasy Universe?
The big names in MOBAs, League of Legends and DOTA2, have made it complicated to enter the landscape, but it’s not impossible. Smite is incredibly popular, and the one game I would want it to mimic, Heroes of the Storm, has only grown in popularity.
There are many facets to making this a successful game, but luckily, Final Fantasy has more than enough content to assist with this. Let’s dive in!
Character Selection
This will be a strong point for the game, as the cast of characters in all 15 Final Fantasy games, as well as extras, is incredibly expansive. Being able to pull from this group can be both advantageous to development, and bring in fans of different series.
Characters will easily have an assortment of abilities, whether they’re ranged, melee, or support. For instance, the Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy I would easily be a tank type of character, whereas Terra from Final Fantasy VI would be a ranged magical dps.
The Dissidia series has already provided us with the crossover action we love and this would only make that even more fun. You could field a team that spans the multi-verse of Final Fantasy and makes for some great team-fighting action!
Maps
Think of all the locations that exist in any Final Fantasy. Square-Enix would have the easiest time putting any of those into the game as a map.
The cores could be themed to the game it originated from (maybe primals/summons/espers), and the battleground itself could be designed to fit any of the titles. There could easily be a Midgar map from Final Fantasy VII, and maybe a single lane map entitled “The Big Bridge” from Final Fantasy V!
Different locales would mix the game up and keep people looking to see what’s next. It would energize a player base and keep the game moving for the long run.
Music
If there was ever an opportunity to monetize something in the game, it would be the music. It would be really great to be able to obtain any music from any of the games, and possibly also create a music player for outside the game, as well. This would be sort of akin to how it was performed in Final Fantasy VII Remake, except this could be a monetary expenditure.
Imagine descending in to a match and suddenly One Winged Angel pipes in over the headset, to match your Sephiroth pick from the draft. This would be fun for the player, and good for the business model.
Story Mode
This might take some work, but I think this could pay off. Dissidia titles have all had stories attached to them, no matter how basic they were. On top of Final Fantasy having the reputation for being narrative masterpieces, inserting a story will help bring the audience that would be possibly intrigued.
Right now, you can run dungeons in Final Fantasy XIV with computer-controlled characters, so a story mode might be a good place to practice for ranked/unranked play. Show mechanics that would be advantageous, and have the player go through different characters and classes to try out different roles.
A story mode would only be of benefit to the player and would keep them interested instead of just making it an unknown brawl.
A lot of people have already groaned about the upcoming battle royale game, but I think it gives us a chance to see where Final Fantasy can succeed outside of the traditional JRPG.
While it will be fun to see a bunch of soldier candidates running around, I personally would love to control one of the beloved characters from the lore and strategize combat. A MOBA only makes sense when you have such an amazing set of heroes and villains. Make it happen, Square-Enix!
What do you think? Would you play a Final Fantasy MOBA? Let me know.
