Will Final Fantasy 17 be turn-based? Square Enix gives verdict

During what's understood to have been a Square Enix general meeting, an investor asked about its games such as Final Fantasy returning to being command-based in the future, using the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as an example, and the renowned publisher and developer said it is considering it in its games going forward.

In a translated post on social media, one investor said he told Square Enix: "I expressed the desire for new Dragon Quest and FinalFantasy titles to be command-based RPGs, explaining this by referencing the shift in direction from FF16 [with much more of a focus on action] and the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which gained attention in 2025."

To quickly clear something up, the investor said in a follow-up post he asked about a command-based system going forward and not a turn-based system, despite referring to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 which is considered to be turn-based with active elements.

The difference between turn-based and command-based is in turn-based, players take turns performing actions with a defined order of execution, whereas command-based allows for a number of actions including a phase where commands are issued followed by their execution.

In the initial Tweet, the investor continued: "Regarding command-based RPGs, they are aware of Expedition33 and consider command-based RPGs to be Square Enix's origin and foundation.

"They value the command-based RPG genre and plan to continue delivering games in this style in the future."

So it seems Square Enix could be considering the unannounced but eventually expected Final Fantasy 17 to have this kind of system.

None of this has been officially confirmed by Square Enix.

Elsewhere from indy100, Final Fantasy's biggest meme has been immortalised in a Magic: The Gathering card and has Square Enix actually teased Final Fantasy 9 Remake?

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.