Combat system is beyond saving.

[Valence]

A rudimentary version of this exists in the early Omega fights, but that is still basically a rectangle arena.

I made a thread somewhere in that same forum about how Phantom Train is the best designed raid encounter by far, not for its mechanics or buffs, but for the whole unique scenery, changing platforms and phases, it's actually trying to tell a whole story saga, and that's to wonder why every other boss ever is a static dummy on a platform with no rails... I don't have the answer to this to that day.

I'm afraid the game engine is too limited to design anything dramatically more intricate and complex. For example: there doesn't seem to be any channeled abilities other than... Flamethrower? There's no parry, dodge or reposition mechanics, there's no aiming, there's no rythm other than the dualweaving GCDs we got, there's no multiplayer abilities or spells (imagine two BLMs casting in tandem). There's a lot that can be done to make combat more interesting but is limited by an old engine, networking and outdated interface.

I wouldn't mind having those, but if you have actually played before ShB, we had a lot of other facets to the game that have been axed, proper and simple. A lot of resource management, teamplay, etc. They had a lot more building blocks to build things upon, unlike today. They need to reintroduce things, whether it's inspired by what we had or your ideas.. This would help both in encounter design and job design.