Casting with hands is not a part of Final Fantasy image. The weapon has nearly always been a focus for casting dating back to the very beginning.

I can think of only a handful of exceptions - FF6, FF8, FF11, FF13, However in these games you still equipped caster weapons to amplify your casting power (staves, rods, ect)... except in FF13, which honestly is an outlier to being with.

Don't think you'll make much progress on this request, friend. Additionally, they'd have to invent entirely different animations for all races which is a pretty time intensive project. I'd rather them work on something more meaningful.