Square Enix is running out of ideas for raids

[Remish]

I think Phantom Train was one of the most creative fights this game ever experimented with. I loved how all over the place that was.
Though I guess from a farm/grind pov, it's annoying.

[SenorPatty]

I think Phantom Train was one of the most creative fights this game ever experimented with. I loved how all over the place that was.
Though I guess from a farm/grind pov, it's annoying.

Thank you for bringing this up. There's also the halicarnassus fight, which features a nice little intermission puzzle in sliding sands. This is the sort of thing I want more in future raids. These nifty, "need a min to think here" moments in fights.

[OtakuSempai]

Thank you for bringing this up. There's also the halicarnassus fight, which features a nice little intermission puzzle in sliding sands. This is the sort of thing I want more in future raids. These nifty, "need a min to think here" moments in fights.

100000% yes and those are my favorite fights in the whole game. This shows they are capable of being very creative and any hand waiving by some people cause of "old design and combat system" is just ignorance.

[Rudrose]

I think Phantom Train was one of the most creative fights this game ever experimented with. I loved how all over the place that was.
Though I guess from a farm/grind pov, it's annoying.

This is still to this day my favorite fight in the entire game. Not only for the 6 nostalgia but it was SO creative. Even my gf who usually finds the game boring to watch found that fight interesting. The train whistle, the ghosts, the cabins, and the rain, man it was just great. It's one of the coolest visual attacks when the train backs off to ram your cart full speed.

[Xuled]

Square has wrote themselves into a corner with regards to raiding. They can't deviate from a square or circle platform since thats been the norm for so long. Unfortunately, it won't ever change but at least Pandemonium is actually good for being original content.

[Roda]

I don't want to wait two years for it, but I hope that with the new story possibly being about the joy of wandering again, that they can design the raids/high end challenges to evoke a similar feeling of adventure.

Less being plopped in front of a boss in an empty room and being forced to dance, and more exploring, puzzles, mechanical storytelling (less reading castbars for lore, and more direct and flavorful interactions), and more meaningful decisions when it comes to level design and the populations of these instances.

It just feels like the design team is stuck in a rut, and aren't really making meaningful design choices and are just going through the motions.

I know they can do good storytelling through gameplay (DRS, in from the cold, the other stealth scenario I can't remember the name of.) I really want to see them fully commit to a big cooperative and challenging storytelling scenario that would be in the slot of other high end content.

[GrizzlyTank]

A starting point would to simply start making uneven battlefields. Less squares and circles, corridors and height difference instead.

[Roda]

A starting point would to simply start making uneven battlefields. Less squares and circles, corridors and height difference instead.

My bar is so low that I'm giving them credit for p2

[Theodric]

Just a random idea, but what about an icy arena that gradually cracks as the fight advances and then gives way to a second arena beneath the first? I really want to see more varied approaches to terrain - even if it's just a secondary square/circle beneath the first.

[SaberMaxwell]

Just a random idea, but what about an icy arena that gradually cracks as the fight advances and then gives way to a second arena beneath the first? I really want to see more varied approaches to terrain - even if it's just a secondary square/circle beneath the first.

Actually this idea's been toyed with in HW. Zurvan's first phase, though not icy, is an arena that breaks away to a second arena below. Not much else was done with the concept, so it would be interesting to see it explored in more depth.