You barely did that in XI. This was the illusion of choice. for the longest time Thunder IV was the highest level black magic spell. Unless you were fighting something with an exceptionally high weakness to an element or a resistance to thunder, 9/10 times the math would bear out that Thunder IV Magic burst with a light skillchain was the better option. And that is the problem with older MMOs, it can be very hard to balance horizontal progression and elemental wheels. Despite thinking there are options, there is usually one or two moves that turn out to be better most of the time.

XIV for better or worse doesn't have that issue. Maybe it lacks that Je ne sais quoi of the old games, but the design is sound.