As someone who grew up with FF 1&4 and was disappointed in the switch to sci-fi themes that crept in with 6 and went full-blown in 7&8, I absolutely embraced the return of high fantasy and the elemental crystals that came with 9
Half of FF6 was post apocalyptic. I doubt we'll see pre-2000 gameplay on FF again. Turn-based is simply too limited for the monstrous production values they put into mainline games.
My problem with FF lately is that they just don't put much effort into content. The side missions seem repetitive, the equipment feels all the same except for a damage/defense boost, magic is more and more a non factor. Hunts are getting tiring with pallette-swapped boosted enemies, and have been downhill since FF12. Post game content simply feels tacked on.
Enter FF7 Remake. It has by and large seemed to address all those issues for me. Weapons and armor let you change your style of gameplay, materia shook up the combat mechanics. Magic was important again. Superbosses were a blast, had backstory that tied into the current story, and were rewarding. So much creativity went into the game, and Intergrade (Yuffie Gaiden) was amazing. In all honesty I feel it should be the future of FF. Not endless remakes but deep, creative gameplay mechanics. Right now the mainline games are just showing up to work
