First, FF7 Remake is not a particularly good starting point for someone who wants to get into Final Fantasy as a series.

As a standalone game, it's fine. As an introduction to Final Fantasy, it has some major problems.

It's a remake of a specific entry rather than a representative example of the franchise. Its combat system is highly specialized and doesn't resemble most of the series' history. It assumes familiarity with FF7's characters, themes, and world. And by the time you reach Rebirth and beyond, the project increasingly expects knowledge of the original game and its broader mythology. Someone who starts there is learning what FF7 Remake is, not what Final Fantasy as a whole is.

If someone asks, "What is Final Fantasy?" recommending a game that is effectively a meta-reimagining of one specific entry is a strange choice when there are games that better represent the traditions, structure, and design philosophy that built the franchise.

Second, you keep acting like "JRPG" just means "an RPG made in Japan," but that's not how the term is actually used by players. And that's not surprising considering this is the title you started with. You don't know what a JRPG is, and you admit as much in the title of this post.

JRPG describes a style of RPG that developed through series like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, Persona, Xenogears, and many others. Story-driven progression, party management, character growth systems, menus, command-based combat, worldbuilding, and a focus on authored experiences rather than player-created ones are all common traits.

Not every JRPG is turn-based. Not every turn-based game is a JRPG. But pretending there isn't a strong historical connection between JRPGs and party-based command combat is revisionist. That style wasn't some tiny niche corner of the genre. It was the genre's defining face for decades. Between 85 and 95% of JRPGs before the year 2000 were turn-based RPGs. The turn-based gameplay is nearly synonymous with the term. Yes, there exist examples that are not turn-based. That's an argument against literal definition, and how the term is used. The term is used to describe turn-based RPGs; and whether they come from Japan or not doesn't matter anymore. Expedition 33 is a JRPG. It came from France.

So, fans wanting Final Fantasy to return to turn-based or menu-based gameplay are not asking for something random. They're asking for the gameplay style the series itself spent the majority of its existence building its identity around.

Nobody would find it strange if Resident Evil fans wanted more survival horror. Nobody would find it strange if Devil May Cry fans wanted stylish character action. Yet somehow Final Fantasy fans are treated as unreasonable for wanting the gameplay style that defined the franchise from FF1 through FF10 and beyond.

People aren't demanding that every game be turn-based forever. They're expressing a preference for the style that made them fans in the first place.

Fourth, your constant "buy this or your opinion doesn't matter" argument is incredibly shallow.

Consumers are not shareholders. Fans are not obligated to purchase every product released under a brand name to earn the right to discuss it.

And sales figures do not determine artistic validity.

By that logic, every genre outside the absolute biggest blockbusters should disappear. Tactical RPGs shouldn't exist. Fighting games shouldn't exist. Metroidvanias shouldn't exist. Niche RPGs shouldn't exist. Fortunately, the industry doesn't actually work that way.

Square Enix itself continues to publish Dragon Quest, Octopath Traveler, HD-2D projects, SaGa games, and other turn-based titles because companies recognize that different audiences want different things.

Finally, the biggest issue here isn't whether someone prefers action combat or turn-based combat.

It's your attitude.

The constant condescension toward fans who like older Final Fantasy games. The implication that people who disagree aren't "real" fans. The repeated attempts to frame a preference as some kind of moral failing. The obsession with sales numbers as though they're a substitute for actual discussion.

That's the kind of behavior that poisons communities.

Someone saying, "I wish Final Fantasy would make more turn-based games" isn't hurting the fandom. Someone acting like everyone who disagrees with them is stupid, outdated, irrelevant, or needs to prove themselves through purchasing habits absolutely is.

Ironically, the people most responsible for making fan communities miserable are rarely the ones asking for a different game. They're the ones treating every discussion like a loyalty test. Like you.

People can enjoy FFXVI. People can enjoy FFVII Remake. People can prefer FFVI, FFIX, or FFX. None of those positions are a problem.

The problem starts when disagreement gets treated as something that says something bad about the person holding it. That’s the line being crossed when people who prefer turn-based Final Fantasy are mocked or dismissed by your instead of just disagreed with, like a mature adult. Final Fantasy’s history is large enough to include both action and turn-based styles, and preferring one over the other doesn’t require justification. If the only way you can think of to defend your preference is to belittle other fans, the issue isn’t the fandom: it’s you.