Final fantasy characters have typically been highly decorated and accessorized from head to toe.
As simple as the sprites were in the first couple of Final Fantasy games this is absolutely true. Even then, if you look at Amano's character designs you can tell that the only reason the characters looked the way they did was because of the technical limitations at the time.

I would actually love to see a remake of the old Final Fantasy games or even a new game with watercolor palette effects ala SFIV or Unlimited Saga and a 1:1 recreation of Amano's original designs.

Final Fantasy, as other posters have already said, has been about the story for me. Mix in some of the running themes like Cid, airships, chocobos, moogles, and I can technically define it as a Final Fantasy game. Even if the battle system is meh, as long as the story is good enough to be involved in I'll see it through to the end.