Quote Originally Posted by darkstarpoet1 View Post
then also add into account they removed fire 1, fire 2, and fire 3/ lightning 1, lightning 2, and lightning 3 because they were redundant and they added in fire, fira, firaga/thunder, thundara, and thundaga to replace all of the other spells. it went from redundant to boring and redundant.

you are correct we did lose a great deal in the game and got back the exact same thing in a more boring and generic form.
Decent point, but the spells do act differently while the old tiers were just more powerful versions of the base spell. Granted they could've made the tiers act differently too but I prefer changing the name.

What they should've done was have the naming mechanics act the same across the board.

For example:

Fire = Deals Fire Damage
Fira = Deals Fire Damage with a chance to inflict burn (more mp but less initial damage with a greater potential for DoT)
Firaga = Deals Fire Damage to all enemies within range.
Flare = Deals Massive Fire Damage to all enemies within range with a chance to inflict burn at great MP cost. Damage increased when used on a single target. MP cost is reduced when used in a combo.

The same could be applied to the other spells as well:

Base spell: Deals straight damage
-ra: Deals damage with a chance of DoT
-aga: Deals AoE damage
Ancient: Deals AoE with a chance of DoT. Bonuses for use in a combo. Damage spreads among targets.

Making them combo by either guaranteeing bonuses, reducing MP, or reducing casting time would also be more appropriate in my opinion. Right now Firaga and Thundaga act differently even though their suffixes are the same. Even so, the current system is better than what it was and is tooled for ease of use and adaptability down the road.