Games with mechanics you love, and want to see continue

[happyninja42]

Ok so, this is inspired by my love of games that have a really fun game mechanic, but seem to have stagnated on the side of the road, without any new titles being made.

Force Unleashed: I love the way these games play. You feel like a Force using badass while you run around hurling stormtroopers and tie fighters and stuff. It was a great power fantasy fulfillment game system, and I want more of it. I don't really care if it follows Starkiller or not, as they could stick the mechanic anywhere in the millennia of time the Star Wars verse covers, and any Jedi could have those powers. They could start a fresh new story and it would be awesome.


Mass Effect: Ok this one hasn't fallen by the wayside at all, but I would like them to just branch out more with it. Get away from the Jesus Shepherd Saves the Everyverse thing and just make games in the universe. Any group of military agents or some planetary defense force could have a squad similar to the ME crew, doing stuff on any scale. It doesn't have to span the galaxy, it could just be on system, or hell just one planet. Or even just one city. I'd feel way more invested in the place I'm doing these missions in if I spent more than 1 mission there. Have it be where our squad is the only squad left against a group that has attacked a city on some planet, and help isn't showing up for a few days. We have to defend the city as best we can, using biotics and other stuff. Sounds fun as hell to me! Anyway, kind of rambling on that one.

Any games that you love the mechanics of and would like to see more of, regardless of the story itself?

 

[Danbo Jambo]

Personally I'm sick of playing games where I spend half the time hunting around for ammo & goodies, and think that the original Mass Effect's overheat mechanic was a brilliant way to keep the tactical aspect of being conservative with attacking the enemy, but cut out all the filler of having to keep ammo stocked up.

A big shame they removed it IMO.

 

[RiseUp]

The stamina bar from Demon's/Dark Souls. I love the way this can work to set a certain combat pace, as well as discouraging spamming of any one particular attack. It's just a great idea, and I'm shocked that more games don't have overarching stamina systems. It can be applied alongside almost any base gameplay mechanics, and I've taken to dabbling in it myself, experimenting with a long-term stamina system for my next game.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I would like more games to use the whole victory tour thing where after the final boss is defeated you end up revisiting everywhere and see how everywhere is afterwards. It tends to be a JRPG kind of thing, Persona 3 and 4 used it for example. Though Persona 4's wasn't quite the standard victory lap considering you miss the True Ending if you treat it as such.

Also good turn based gameplay, i've gotten more into it after playing some different ones and it can be quite engaging. Preferably one where you don't have to end up healing every other turn while chipping away at the 10,000 health boss monster. See mid/lategame Monster Girl Quest where stopping to heal instead of doing more productive moves gets you lamped by an instakill move you could have stopped the turn before by activating your dodge buff or shaken off with the strength buff.

 

[Someone Depressing]

In Rule of Rose, unless you eat an item, you can't lose it. If you drop it, be it key item, weapon, piece of food or one of the many knick-knacks you can find, then you can pick it back up at the start of the level.

Seriously, why isn't this used more often?

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Resistances, status buffs and debuffs actually mattering in RPGs. After getting into Shin Megami Tensei and some of its offshoots I'm spoiled for other games of its type, whereas in most of them anything besides attacking or healing is useless.

The battle system used in Wild Arms 4 and 5, which I felt never lived up to its full potential even when they made a full-on tactics game with it. One factor in it beside the hexes was a shared MP meter that replenished slightly whenever anyone performed an action that didn't consume it. There was also a 'focus' ability later that charged it by large amount, and other enhancements in equipment.

 

[GamerKT]

I want other games to rip off Starhawk's building mechanic. It was both a useful structure and a weapon (depending on where you'd summon it).

 

[lassiie]

I remember Dark Clouds weapon upgrading mechanic, as well as durability. You thought dying in a game was bad, trying to have your weapon break and disappear...that was...heart-breaking. Would love to see something like this more fully fleshed out. Made your approach to each enemy different since if you had a slow rock monster you might switch to one of your other weapons so you could drain your durability with that, instead of your main weapon. That and the Atma system of rebuilding the world as you did the dungeon, plus people wanting to be near certain other buildings or people made it kind of a puzzle.

Basically, I want a god damn Dark Cloud 3!

 

[ArcadianDrew]

Resistances, status buffs and debuffs actually mattering in RPGs. After getting into Shin Megami Tensei and some of its offshoots I'm spoiled for other games of its type, whereas in most of them anything besides attacking or healing is useless.

I hear ya. I never paid any attention to status effects in other RPGs (like Final Fantasy - pick one) so it was refreshing to play games where these things mattered. I also feel if an RPG gets status spells right it can make the combat far more tactical/engaging.

One factor in it beside the hexes was a shared MP meter that replenished slightly whenever anyone performed an action that didn't consume it. There was also a 'focus' ability later that charged it by large amount, and other enhancements in equipment.

Sounds a lot like Skies of Arcadia, which to me made for more interesting battles; do you use the super move or the buff/heal spell? Also Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator did something like this as well.

 

[lassiie]

Resistances, status buffs and debuffs actually mattering in RPGs. After getting into Shin Megami Tensei and some of its offshoots I'm spoiled for other games of its type, whereas in most of them anything besides attacking or healing is useless.

I hear ya. I never paid any attention to status effects in other RPGs (like Final Fantasy - pick one) so it was refreshing to play games where these things mattered. I also feel if an RPG gets status spells right it can make the combat far more tactical/engaging.

One factor in it beside the hexes was a shared MP meter that replenished slightly whenever anyone performed an action that didn't consume it. There was also a 'focus' ability later that charged it by large amount, and other enhancements in equipment.

Sounds a lot like Skies of Arcadia, which to me made for more interesting battles; do you use the super move or the buff/heal spell? Also Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator did something like this as well.

THE SHIP BATTLES FROM SKIES OF ARCADIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ArcadianDrew]

THE SHIP BATTLES FROM SKIES OF ARCADIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That game seriously needs a HD re-release and/or digital download. My poor Dreamcast discs are slowly dying, skipping more and more. I'm also surprised that no one has tried to replicate the ship battles in other games. Obviously not exactly like in SoA but at least lets see the concept again.

 

[renegade7]

I really loved Golden Sun. Just a plain, old-school turn-based strategy RPG. There aren't enough great games like that one anymore, with RPGs having in a lot of ways moved into having an action (more RTS-like) or time-based component (like FF4) rather than turns. Not that there's anything at all wrong with time-based RPGs, but I'd like to see more classic turn-based games.

I think permanent death in RPGs like Fire Emblem is a pretty interesting mechanic. If you lose the character, they're gone for good. You can't just throw characters into the meat grinder and see what works, you really have to think about it. Not only do you lose an important tactical resource, but you might have grown to like the character as you followed their story which adds a lot of emotional weight to the possibility of their victory or defeat.

I also like games with multiple story arcs based on which characters you have and which decisions you make. It adds more gameplay value, which is important to me because I'm a student and games are expensive.

Kind of tied into that, metagame elements. Kind of like in ME3 how you had to complete all these objectives to build up your "war resources" to influence how the final battle played out. Now, ultimately in that particular example it was basically meaningless, but you see what I mean. What I kind of envision is a rogue-like like FTL where instead of just having to buy weapons and level up your ship before the final boss, the power of the final boss depends on whether or not you complete certain objectives as you progress through the 8 sectors, with it starting off insurmountably powerful and you earning buffs for yourself or debuffs against it as you complete quests in the game, like maybe you could weaken its superweapon by killing the Flagship prototype or have a friendly anti-ship battery field effect (which happens in a couple of events, basically it's like the anti-ship hazard but attacking the enemy) if you complete enough Federation events.

 

[lassiie]

I really loved Golden Sun. Just a plain, old-school turn-based strategy RPG. There aren't enough great games like that one anymore, with RPGs having in a lot of ways moved into having an action (more RTS-like) or time-based component (like FF4) rather than turns. Not that there's anything at all wrong with time-based RPGs, but I'd like to see more classic turn-based games.

I think the most interesting part of Golden Sun was the use of Djinn. When a Djinn was "Set" it boosted the characters stats as well as allowing the skill the Djinn offered to be used. Once used it was set on standby and was part of a groupwide counter that allowed summons based on the number of djinn on standby. It was a fascinating system that allowed a lot of customization in the way you played. You could set your djinn on standby before a battle so you could use a powerful summon from the start, but then your characters would be weaker and without certain skills.

Not to mention Being able to carry over all your items from Golden Sun 1 into Golden Sun two when the two parties reunited. That was an awesome mechanic.

 

[Dalisclock]

Personally I'm sick of playing games where I spend half the time hunting around for ammo & goodies, and think that the original Mass Effect's overheat mechanic was a brilliant way to keep the tactical aspect of being conservative with attacking the enemy, but cut out all the filler of having to keep ammo stocked up.

A big shame they removed it IMO.

I'm kinda torn about the mass effect mechanics.

I really loved the overheat mechanic in 1 and hated the fact they ditched it in 2 for the "ejectable Heat sink" thing.

OTOH, I really appreciate the fact they streamlined the inventory system in 2, so I don't have to go back to the store after every single mission and sell off all my excess crap cluttering up my inventory like I did in the first one. Having to hold onto so many different weapons mods so I can swap them out between crew members depending on the mission and which crew members I brought. Customization isn't good when it becomes a chore and Bio-ware realized that for the 2nd game.

 

[Dalisclock]

The stamina bar from Demon's/Dark Souls. I love the way this can work to set a certain combat pace, as well as discouraging spamming of any one particular attack. It's just a great idea, and I'm shocked that more games don't have overarching stamina systems. It can be applied alongside almost any base gameplay mechanics, and I've taken to dabbling in it myself, experimenting with a long-term stamina system for my next game.

I haven't played Demon/Dark Souls, but the quest for glory games had a stamina mechanic in battle(and possibly elsewhere as well). For that matter, Jade Empire did as well(and it was really annoying, where I could be at full health but if I run out a stamina in the middle of a battle I fall over dead).

 

[The_Great_Galendo]

I like the combat in Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. It's about the only thing the game does right, but it does it very well. All enemies are on-screen before battle, and you can set traps for enemies: bait will lure them all into one place, dynamite can damage them before battle even begins, a poison mushroom will make them start the battle poisoned -- and all that's before the battle proper even begins.

Once the battle begins, it's a free-roam, turn-based system that uses the same map that the battle encounter occurred on, letting you use the terrain to your advantage (you can, for instance, initiate battle while at the top of a stairway, getting a couple turns of sniping in before the enemy arrives). Each character gets so many action points at the start of his/her turn, which are used to move and perform attacks. Each step -- which is not very far -- takes a point, strong attacks take 30 points, medium 20, and weak 10. You can also chain attacks into combos, which provide bonus damage. So a character could move, perform a couple attacks to take out a weak enemy, then move elsewhere and do the same again, all in the same turn. If you end your turn with action points remaining, they're added to the character's total at the start of the next turn, so you can have a character take a turn off for an extra-effective following turn.

Like I said, the battle's great. The story, characters, graphics, and really everything else is pretty blah, but the battle system is, IMHO, good enough to carry the game on its own. That being said, I've never seen another game implement a similar system. If anyone can think of one, by all means let me know.

 

[gabeg1]

The first thing that comes to mind is the combat from Arkham Asylum. The single player campaign was awesome, but the combat was so smooth, and rewarded skill so well, that I spent a lot of time doing the combat challenges to see how high I could score. When played well enough, I felt nearly invincible in that game without feeling overpowered.

Of course, my top pick would probably be for more games to tell or add to their story through the environment. Metroid Prime is probably the first game I played that did it so thoroughly. Using the scan visor to learn about the enemies that were in front of me, reading the computer logs to find out what the bad guys had been doing and what went wrong, and learning about the Chozo was a fairly immersive way of telling the story. Deus Ex: Human Revolution did this a little bit too. In that game, the information that could be read by logging into people's computers really made it feel like I was wandering through real buildings that used to be filled with people going about their business rather than some random building that exists for no other purpose than to have a place to fill up with bad guys that need killing.

 

[RiseUp]

The stamina bar from Demon's/Dark Souls. I love the way this can work to set a certain combat pace, as well as discouraging spamming of any one particular attack. It's just a great idea, and I'm shocked that more games don't have overarching stamina systems. It can be applied alongside almost any base gameplay mechanics, and I've taken to dabbling in it myself, experimenting with a long-term stamina system for my next game.

I haven't played Demon/Dark Souls, but the quest for glory games had a stamina mechanic in battle(and possibly elsewhere as well). For that matter, Jade Empire did as well(and it was really annoying, where I could be at full health but if I run out a stamina in the middle of a battle I fall over dead).

The way the stamina system in Demon's/Dark Souls works, if you deplete the bar completely, you can't initiate another action until it starts to auto-refill. It's independent of health, but it rules almost every other action, from attacks to blocking to dodging to sprinting.

I was actually tossing around a mecha action-RPG concept with a cross between a stamina bar and rage meter. Any action, from running to punching to firing weapons would slowly build up your mech's heat bar, and if the bar fills above 80% it would start to slow every one of your actions. It doesn't drain on its own, heat has to be manually vented. The catch here is that in certain cases you'd want it to fill up, because manually venting heat can do anything from activating a speed boost or jump jets to increasing melee force or even shooting fire from your mech's chest, depending on your build. Are there any games with something similar I could look to?

Of course, my top pick would probably be for more games to tell or add to their story through the environment. Metroid Prime is probably the first game I played that did it so thoroughly. Using the scan visor to learn about the enemies that were in front of me, reading the computer logs to find out what the bad guys had been doing and what went wrong, and learning about the Chozo was a fairly immersive way of telling the story.

I wouldn't call Metroid Prime an example of great environmental storytelling (that has a lot more to do with environmental design in my opinion, think Bioshock), but I will say that the scan visor provided for the best integrated lore dumps I've ever seen in a game. I love how it occasionally hides the locking mechanism for a door inside a nondescript computer terminal in a room full of other terminals. It forces the player to scan a large amount of lore before coming upon the lock they were looking for, but doesn't force them to read it. It lets players determine their level of engagement, because anyone who chose to ignore scanned lore could get by just fine thinking that the game had no overarching story.

 

[Danbo Jambo]

Personally I'm sick of playing games where I spend half the time hunting around for ammo & goodies, and think that the original Mass Effect's overheat mechanic was a brilliant way to keep the tactical aspect of being conservative with attacking the enemy, but cut out all the filler of having to keep ammo stocked up.

A big shame they removed it IMO.

I'm kinda torn about the mass effect mechanics.

I really loved the overheat mechanic in 1 and hated the fact they ditched it in 2 for the "ejectable Heat sink" thing.

OTOH, I really appreciate the fact they streamlined the inventory system in 2, so I don't have to go back to the store after every single mission and sell off all my excess crap cluttering up my inventory like I did in the first one. Having to hold onto so many different weapons mods so I can swap them out between crew members depending on the mission and which crew members I brought. Customization isn't good when it becomes a chore and Bio-ware realized that for the 2nd game.

Afraid that I really like the customization in ME1, but I can see why it bogged people down too, and I didn't miss it much in ME2 either.

But yeah, the heatsink setup was mint. I can't understand this obsession with ammo in games and, being brought up on games such as Defender, I like to be able to switch off thinking about how much blasting I'm allowed to do and blast away. It works having to have a breather in shooting so the overheat thing worked perfectly.