Editor's note: After playing Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Matt ponders how a more action-based combat system would work in the turn-based Final Fantasy games (and vice versa). Dude, once you get old-man hands like some of us at Bitmob, you're going to appreciate that those games have turn-based combat. -Jason

I was playing through the Dissidia: Final Fantasy demo last night when I realized something: I'm never going to really enjoy turn-based combat.

To sort of poke at my own hang-up, I decided to examine what would happen if you replaced Final Fantasy's mainstay combat system with something akin to Dissidia. I'm not launching a crusade against turn-based combat, just creatively lamenting my inability to genuinely enjoy it (while coloring my own opinion as well). It's structured in tandem with the "gods" of Dissidia's universe, Chaos and Cosmos (i.e., what most would consider "Good" or "Bad" regarding these stances).

Chaos: Diamond in the Rough

I certainly recognize that I wouldn't enjoy Square Enix's more action-based FF games (Crisis Core, Dissidia, etc.) nearly as much if the market were flooded with them. It's even possible that if the situation were reversed, I'd be hypocritically making a stand for turn-based titles instead.

I do enjoy acknowledging how the turn-based and action-paced Final Fantasys stand out from one another. The perfect example is Crisis Core vs. Final Fantasy 7. I wasn't FF7's hugest fan, but I wasn't one of its detractors, either; I had lukewarm experience with the game. When Crisis Core surfaced last year, however, I found a new love for the realm of Midgar.

This leaves me with two questions. How hard would it be to use an action-paced system for the turn-based Final Fantasys (and vice versa). And if it's too difficult to do that, could Square Enix release an action-based accompaniment alongside whatever turn-based console entry that's in development (and vice versa).

Cosmos: Strategy Loss

Some would cry foul at Final Fantasy becoming too action-paced for its own good. I don't really see much sense there because that stance is usually based off the implication that all turn-based combat's accompanied by strategy or tactics. I've never gotten that from most of the Final Fantasy games, though certain tactical-RPGs nail that ground admirably, like Fire Emblem, Valkyria Chronicles, and even Final Fantasy: Tactics.

Most of the main entries in the FF franchise can't lose something they've never had in the first place. The marriage of action and tactics makes more sense in my eyes in a real-time battle system. The word "battle" has only transformed into a novel idea when turn-based combat's concerned. Who really expects to take turns hitting each other (no matter how much it's dolled up) when the word "battle" is uttered?

Chaos: Rancorous Pacing

It doesn't have to be Devil May Cry, but Dissidia shows that you can handle the pacing of real-time combat with a certain degree of tactile interaction. It's definitely not the first game to do so, and Square's proved with games like Bushido Blade that combat can become something far more than cheap highs with flashy moves. I'd even argue that Kingdom Hearts could have aspired to greater heights if it found more balance in its own interface.

Toggling action-paced and turn-based combat would no doubt be a hard feat to accomplish, but it's something that gamers would appreciate, as those who enjoy slower pacing would have an option that they like. An action-paced title would also play with the length as well, which could possibly eliminate the need for yet another 50-hour-plus Final Fantasy title.

Cosmos: Visual Visceral Combat

I know that I'm not the only one that's simply tired of pushing a button to watch an overly long battle animation or scene. It was fine the first 50 times, but it's lost its luster not only in Final Fantasy but other RPGs.

Pushing a button to accomplish an action is one of the most pleasurable and viscerally defining features of a video game. With action-paced combat, the need for craft and technique comes into play (depending on how well the game's designed, of course). But in traditional turn-based combat, it's only a mere factor in the best of them.

Punctuating strings of battles with plot movement can be tedious, but in an action-paced game, it's generally much more engaging on multiple levels. Due to this, the extreme weariness that accompanies the traditional "screen shatter" (what most FF games use as an animation to start their battle sequences) has an easy solution, and AP is one of them.

Need I mention that saving your replays in Dissidia is a by-product of how the battles are more engaging? Of course, we begin to move into an area that fighting games tend to have problems with, but I'd rather see that than stagnation.

Chaos: Party Pooper

How would an AP game deal with a party system, though? It would cause a lot of trouble, as the raised engagement level comes at a price -- the A.I. must rise to accompany it. Kingdom Hearts' setup is another good example, because I can't recall the number of times that Goofy or Donald went insane on me, casting spells and launching attacks that cripple rather than help.

The way party bots behave is a sort of admittance of this issue. The player could only aim their actions, but they wouldn't be able to control them past a certain extent. This roughly applies to how the system would carry over for an AP Final Fantasy game as well. It creates a significant dilemma for how the player controls their party members.

Cosmos: Stra-tact-egy

The difference between a weapon being different and feeling different would be one of the first notable things about an AP Final Fantasy game. What if that damn Buster Sword actually "feels" as heavy as it looks? With the amount of different variations of the main character's weapons present in most Final Fantasy games, there's a plenty of room for them all to react and feel different in battle. In turn-based Final Fantasy games, the stronger weapon is only stronger because the menu tells you it is.

Weapons, armor, movement -- a laundry list of factors could make combat feel like it's more than a simple set of sequences that the player must trudge through. Despite my feelings about Advent Children, Dissidia also gives the impression of the insane action found in that film, which is a good thing. Having the cake back up the frosting is mandatory in my eyes, so that isn't a requirement for me; it's just a perk

Despite the many variations and "changes" Final Fantasy's experienced, the series still means a great deal to the video game community. Even if you hate the series, there's more than enough room and technology on the playground to accompany and welcome more people into the fray.

My most obvious worry, however, is kicking off the children that are already on the playground. It's up to the chaperones (aka developers) to make sure the children (aka gamers) aren't throwing each other off the monkey bars.