FF? If they took the series straight back to it's roots again I'd be all over it, as it stands now I could go without a Chronicles entry for awhile, they don't really satisfy, heck they're pretty forgettable/shallow games really. Go back to square one, give us the story and battles we deserve I say.
They won't do it. FF's used to be done by the team for the team (the whole story about it starting out as a bankrupt company doing their last game; that was supposed to sell jack shit... for themselves)
That's why FFVI feels so different than FFX, FFX plot makes me cringe in agony by how teen-driven it is (repetitive, petty and full of logic plot holes). And it sadly somewhat worked, I remember seeing girls that aren't gamers sporting a FFX wallpaper on their PC, or saying how much they enjoyed that game's crappy plot. It wasn't done as the FF game they would like to play anymore, it was FF as they envisioned for the target. Think Mystic Quest userbase level of understanding albeit with a proper good battle system this time.
Ever since FFVIII was successful with it's teen soap opera antics (the bad kind of soap opera) and leonardo dicaprio titanic-era knockoff's met with Squaresoft suits saying "more power to that" that the deal for the series was sealed (actually FFVII is the genesis of it all, but that was a good game that somehow got it's reasons for being successful misunderstood and tried to be replicated ever since... poorly, because it wasn't really about Nomura designs, FMV's, love triangles or Aerith; it was about being a huge main FF for a new bigger demographic at the right place at the right time).
FFXII wasn't supposed to have Vaan, that's why it's a secondary main character kind of deal (I remember a scene where he was playing in the background, laughing and being stupid while Basch advanced the plot like always) the main character was Basch then Squaresoft higher ups came and made a point that FF games need a androgenous team so they designed that Meg Ryan shirtless lookalike, gave him a love interest so they didn't even have to character develop him and went as originally planned.
That's the reason FF games are in the gutter right there. They're not pieces of art anymore, they're chasing after a ghost demographic that they don't really understand in a manner no different than what the Ninja Gaiden team just did with Ninja Gaiden 3. Hell, the idiots spent money on a FMV with Lightning's sister and Snow kissing with fireworks behing them, that's wasting money if I ever saw it.
And don't get me started about how subliminal ways of telling a story are often more powerful than wasting lots of money in leaving nothing to the imagination; that cutscene and FFX water kissing FMV scene being the perfect examples. Older FF's had it, now it's all gone.
I really enjoyed Crystal Bearers plot elements, it wasn't that serious (in that sense kinda felt like FFIX), but the main character had attitude unlike most emos the series gives us these days, Remembered me somewhat the FF heroes of old, who actually knew what they wanted and could look cool while doing it. The gameplay was varied but fundamentally broken (but the varied nature made it so it was bearable) and it felt fresh, experimental, tongue in cheek and had the humor the more recent main titles lost. I liked it; that team could probably do way better with the budget main teams have and being directed to use a system like Final Fantasy's ATB, but we'll never see anything of the sort.
Do you know what other FF game I enjoyed this gen? Final Fantasy Fables Chocobo's Dungeon. The sad thing being that I think they're more FF than the current main FF's.
