If I wanted to play a DMC-like I'd go play DMC or anything by Platinum. If I wanted to play a Square-Enix action RPG I'd go play Nier, Kingdom Hearts, or Mana.
I legit miss ATB and that was one thing that the series basically had to itself. Turn based things like SaGa, Octopath Traveler, and Bravely Default are fine but there's a speed and flow to ATB that you just don't get with those games.
I get why the series/brand is heading in the directionit is (action and Western focused because that's where the money is) but I think the current belief that they have to prioritize graphical fidelity is misguided and untenable long-term. I'd much prefer, like
@Bonejack says, if they'd stop chasing trends (which you're always going to be behind when it takes 4-5 years to ship) and go the other direction by cutting the budget, focus on their core strengths (writing direction, creative vision, art direction), create a consistent battle system to be used in multiple games (providing the series some sense of consistency and identity again), and just focus on the fundamentals of making a good-ass RPG.
Smaller budget, tighter games, faster and more predictable release schedules. If a game doesn't connect, it's ok because you've got another one coming down the pipeline in a year or two and you can incorporate fan feedback into that. Win-win.
And seriously, there's no need for a M rated FF game. The series has never been that. Most of S-Es stuff in the 90's barely dipped into M rated territory (and when it did it was just for bare skin on monster models 90% of the time). GoT is tonally the opposite of most FF games where even when there's an oppressive world (ie. FF VI - VIII, XIII and XV) there's still glimmers of hope that's absolutely missing from GoT.
I don't think they need to go pure open world. They can retain the hybrid approach that worked in the 90s where the first half of the game is on rails and then in the last 1/2-1/3rd the game goes globetrotting open world. That's basically the formula a lot of S-E titles used back then, and still use.
XIII gets a ton of flack for the "grind tube" and the open world but that's just because they poorly executed the formula by eschewing things like world maps and towns to really give you a sense of scale and an actual world rather than a linear series of environments and set pieces the game shuffles you through like a conveyor belt.