We’ll see how the new magic system and combat mechanics play out in the long run. According to some players, the game is changing in directions that nobody has asked for, while other seem to think that this is the right way for its development to go.
Regardless of one’s opinion, the changes are here to stay, and if they end up successful, we’re going to see them in other “Final Fantasy” games as well, if there are more planned of course. And with that, we might also see even more interesting changes that will split the community.
If it all works out though, we could see a true revival of this franchise and its community. It’s been a long time since the first “Final Fantasy” came out, and it would be interesting to see this series climbing back to the top of the charts.
The industry has changed a lot though, and just because the franchise has a large fan base doesn’t mean that Square Enix are guaranteed to succeed with this release. They have to please many people, including both old fans of the franchise as well as newcomers to the series, and this is a very challenging task which only a few studios on the market could probably handle realistically.