The surrounding uproar over the immensly anticipated upcoming Final Fantasy XII created a very different question in my mind than simply worrying about the quality of the game. The transition of the definitive role-playing series into real-time combat (or at least, pseudo-real time combat) leads me to wonder if the classic turn-based style of RPGs has truly given up the ghost.

Notably, the notoriously vocal guys over at Penny Arcade have been less than enthusiastic about SquareEnix making the switch, and it definitely seems that the majority of opinions that are circulating around are negative. But let's face it: Final Fantasy is one of the best-selling game series of all time. People will buy this game because it is a Final Fantasy game, and the series will continue even if this particular installment turns out to be a clunker. But is this transition necessarily a bad idea, or are people just frightened by a fairly consistent genre of gaming going through such a drastic transition?

Until we actually get our hands on FFXII, there's no way to know for sure. But I can certainly speak from my own experience when I say that the turn-based battle system doesn't really work for me anymore. I need more from a game now than just mashing the 'Fight' command whenever it's my turn, or possibly switching in a fire spell when an ice-based enemy comes on screen, or casting a few buffs while in a particularly nasty boss fight. I've tended to lean more towards RPGs that feature some element of real-time like the Shadow Hearts series and Valkyrie Profile 2 or strategy-RPGs like Disgaea 2 just because the traditional turn-based battle system isn't enough. Newer, more powerful hardware can support systems that are simply more interactive. I'm still fine with the old style on portables; I'll definitely pick up the remake of Final Fantasy III if it turns out well. However, this seems to be mirroring the gradual phasing out of random encounters because developers have just found out how to make systems that players respond to more positively. I think the issue here is not that Square is making a game with a unusual battle system, but the fact that they are sticking the Final Fantasy name on it. There's an element of 'don't-mess-with-a-good-thing' that accompanies all arguments about FFXII.

However, the Final Fantasy series has often experimented with new systems, often ditching them after only one game. Most commonly the Final Fantasy developers have tinkered with levelling systems; FFVII had materia, FFX had the Sphere Grid, and FFXII has the new 'license board'. Personally, I welcome these experiments. I love the aspect of being able to customize your characters to really reflect how you want to fight, and I think too many RPGs just trot out the same old archetypes in game after game (offensive mage, healer, tank, etc.). But instead of having to play turn-based RPGs for this sort of thing, a growing number of action games are featuring this kind of character-building aspect, like God of War, Ninja Gaiden, or even Dead Rising. In fact, BioShock may offer more customization options than a lot of current RPGs, and it's a shooter. Other genres are tapping into the primal satisfaction of building a character up from the bare bones into a one-man killing machine, so roleplaying games need to adapt to provide more satisfactory playing experience in addition to their more immersive and more complete storylines. I mean, we've all sat through our share of lame, generic, or just plain strange RPG storylines in our time.

For all of the excitement of the 'old-school style' of Microsoft's ambitious new developer Mistwalker and its pet projects Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, I find myself hoping that these games turn out less like the early Final Fantasies and more like the developers' other past hit Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger had a more in-depth battle system in 1995 than a lot of RPGs do in this day and age. A new skill combo system similar to Chrono Trigger on modern hardware would undoubtedly look and play fantastically. Additionally, with all 3 next-gen consoles having some form of online play, maybe there will be head-to-head or cooperative play in future RPGs, a concept that probably seems alien to many RPG gamers right now. I don't want to be the 'evolve-or-die' guy, but with all the new developments in the world of video games, it seems to me that the classic turn-based RPG is on its last legs.

Did SquareEnix make the wrong decision by messing with their tried-and-true formula that sold millions upon millions of Final Fantasy games? Is all this backlash just because FFXII's system just a terrible example of where RPGs are inevitably headed? We'll find out on Halloween. But game genres aren't meant to be static, because otherwise people would still be making 2-dimensional platformers. I think these new developments are just a sign that nostalgic RPG gamers are in for a rude awakening.