This may sound a bit insane but the other day I was waiting for the bus in the rain and it was cold and generally sucked. Then I thought about where my comfort and happiness would be if I was a SIM - pretty low. Then I thought about how much it would suck if I was wandering through the wilderness in the cold and rain and had to fight monsters RPG style. That would really suck. Then I thought, "Hey it'd be kind of cool if RPGs had a sort of SIMs system of monitoring stats." Sure it would make it complicated but I like complicated RPGs.
How would you improve RPGs?
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That's my point. They are inherently unappealing to most of their critics, top to bottom, through and through. The things that make them identifiable as JRPGs are the very things that make them unappealing to so many people. In short, they can't play like JRPGs AND appeal to that audience. That's like trying to make low-fat fried food. It's impossible, because you can't fry something without soaking it in fat.Money2themax said:
It's worth noting that not every Japanese RPG follows the formula either. Star Ocean doesn't, Breath of Fire V doesn't, SRPGs in general and Nippon Ichi's games in particular don't.
It can be done, but most don't bother because the standard everyone line up and take turns battle system is far easier to do, and there are far more examples to shamelessly copy.
It can be done, but most don't bother because the standard everyone line up and take turns battle system is far easier to do, and there are far more examples to shamelessly copy.
If they keep improving the AI I think things are probably on the right track as far as rpgs are concerned.
My only other complaint is the time-consumining leveling process. It seems, however, that most rpgs are shying away from this. So I think if RPGs are left to run their course they'll turn out fine.
My only other complaint is the time-consumining leveling process. It seems, however, that most rpgs are shying away from this. So I think if RPGs are left to run their course they'll turn out fine.
Before a few years ago I was never a big RPG person. I remember playing Neverwinter Nights, probably the first RPG Ive played and I enjoyed that, then left it a while.
More recently though i've enjoyed what RPGs have been released and what i've come across; Mass Effect was brilliant, Oblivion was decent fun (if you don't think too much about it) and i seem to run out of memorable games now... oh, The Witcher, yes... that.
Id like an RPG that would give you complete customization of your character before you start the game (obviously within confines of what the developers give you to play with), an actual voice for your character. Not just a story, but a world with a great number of possibilities for a mission/quest/whatever you like.
Combat would obviously need to be good enough to keep up, I can't really define how i'd like that, but real time at least.
I know some of what i've said might be ambitious, but ideas float around your head sometimes, maybe one day there'll be an open-ended game with no pre-defined story or main character that will have everything you'd ask for of a game.
More recently though i've enjoyed what RPGs have been released and what i've come across; Mass Effect was brilliant, Oblivion was decent fun (if you don't think too much about it) and i seem to run out of memorable games now... oh, The Witcher, yes... that.
Id like an RPG that would give you complete customization of your character before you start the game (obviously within confines of what the developers give you to play with), an actual voice for your character. Not just a story, but a world with a great number of possibilities for a mission/quest/whatever you like.
Combat would obviously need to be good enough to keep up, I can't really define how i'd like that, but real time at least.
I know some of what i've said might be ambitious, but ideas float around your head sometimes, maybe one day there'll be an open-ended game with no pre-defined story or main character that will have everything you'd ask for of a game.
Here's what I'd do.
-Create an RPG whose entire plot is a send up of other RPGs. Disgaea does this at times, but I mean full on send up. Like, breaking the fourth wall kind of send up.
-Ex: The final dungeon isn't a fortress of doom, but rather a castle full of rainbows and unicorns... that kill.
-Ex: There's a giant wall that you have to pass through, but the guard won't let you. You know that two screens over, there's a hole in the wall. But you can't get there because of 'invisible walls' that everyone (including the characters) yells at the developers for.
-Ex: Throw in a pen where everything that it writers comes true. Not an original concept, but also not really done at any recent point.
-Ex: And just for good measure, throw in a ninja and a pirate so we can finally see who would win.
-Characters need to break the stereotypes. How about an alcoholic and disgraced mage? A heavily scarred female who is NOT a villain? A religious figure that's NOT a villain? Or maybe a knight that can ACTUALLY cast spells? Or just throw in a ninja that's not seeking revenge, or a pirate that doesn't do Keith Richards impersonations!
-Actually make people care about the characters. That means not rushing to the next boss fight, and getting some good voice actors to VO the dialogue, which has a comedic/dramatic punch to it.
-Finally, make it FUN. None of the 50-hour grind shit just to beat the final boss. Leave that for the obsessives who want to beat the 'extra' boss (Note: make fun of extra boss- make him ***** about how HE should've been the boss of the entire game).
-Create an RPG whose entire plot is a send up of other RPGs. Disgaea does this at times, but I mean full on send up. Like, breaking the fourth wall kind of send up.
-Ex: The final dungeon isn't a fortress of doom, but rather a castle full of rainbows and unicorns... that kill.
-Ex: There's a giant wall that you have to pass through, but the guard won't let you. You know that two screens over, there's a hole in the wall. But you can't get there because of 'invisible walls' that everyone (including the characters) yells at the developers for.
-Ex: Throw in a pen where everything that it writers comes true. Not an original concept, but also not really done at any recent point.
-Ex: And just for good measure, throw in a ninja and a pirate so we can finally see who would win.
-Characters need to break the stereotypes. How about an alcoholic and disgraced mage? A heavily scarred female who is NOT a villain? A religious figure that's NOT a villain? Or maybe a knight that can ACTUALLY cast spells? Or just throw in a ninja that's not seeking revenge, or a pirate that doesn't do Keith Richards impersonations!
-Actually make people care about the characters. That means not rushing to the next boss fight, and getting some good voice actors to VO the dialogue, which has a comedic/dramatic punch to it.
-Finally, make it FUN. None of the 50-hour grind shit just to beat the final boss. Leave that for the obsessives who want to beat the 'extra' boss (Note: make fun of extra boss- make him ***** about how HE should've been the boss of the entire game).
How about:
Every time one of the characters says "...", you break a finger of one of the developers.
Just sayin'.
Every time one of the characters says "...", you break a finger of one of the developers.
Just sayin'.
-Or take inspiration from BlackAdvent's ideas and make them actually say out loud "Dot Dot Dot".The Rogue Wolf said:How about:
Every time one of the characters says "...", you break a finger of one of the developers.
Just sayin'.
-Also, when finding a mysterious character whose name is "???", one of your characters should always refer to them as "Mysterious Question Mark Man."
-Furthermore, no "Evil God" final bosses that can cast "Holy/Light/Goodguy/Whatever" Spells.
- A bad guy that actually tries to kill you when he gets the chance, as opposed to throwing you in an easily escapable cell with one inept guard.
-An evil villain's right-hand man who acts like Scott Evil.
-A "you must lose" boss fight (ie. first time fighting Malak in KOTOR) that's actually possible to WIN.
- A character who holds a one-handed weapon in one hand, and food/beer in the other, who eats/drinks and fights at the same time.
- Spiky haired characters that accidentally stab their party members that get too close with their spiky hair/ or have a revelation that the only weapon powerful enough to defeat the final boss is their spiky hair.
We need more games like Tales of Symphonia. Besides the fantastic art style and interesting story, the battles were always fast paced affairs. You can have a hopeless situation, or you can have an overpowering battle. The one thing you could guarantee is that it would NEVER be boring. However, if you put the micromanaging of healing items and create a quick button system, then you'd have what I feel is the best battle system of any RPG, end of story.
the character building and personalization is fun... but theres too much talk and 99% of them are either anime or fantasy releated
and turn based battles are fucking boring
i would improve it by shutting down that factory in japan that seems to churn out 500 of the same a year
and turn based battles are fucking boring
i would improve it by shutting down that factory in japan that seems to churn out 500 of the same a year
Glad someone said it.Blayze said:
Now that it's mentioned, just what WOULD I do to RPG's? Hmmm...
Oh right. Copy Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, except remove that damn chalice. Also, add interesting fights, with more widely varying combos/spells/monsters.
That game had it all, and HONESTLY could have replaced Secret of Mana as my favorite game of all time; But there was this chalice. Oh, I hated that chalice so much. This CHALICE had to be carried by one of the (up to) four people you were playing the game with in order for your party to move through a level. Carrying the chalice, however, was no picnic. Not only could you not attack, cast spells, use items, or even initiate dialogue, You could still get killed. Even worse, if someone left the tiny aura around the chalice, they would quickly start to die, and come back whining to you about how you aren't moving fast enough, or you should have stopped for that treasure chest. God damn that chalice.
Aside from that, and a moderate amount of repetitiveness, the game was flawless.
That's my take on it anyway... the effect of a good story on a game pales in comparison to the effect of a fun combat system.
Edit: Lance, I have to agree about Tales of Symphonia, that game is a blast... except for the hoplessly bad camera setup in multiplayer fights, forcing the first player to stay back all fight long.
I think I've heard this question answered in a game before. Just because you have 'dark' powers doesn't make you evil, and just having 'holy' powers doesn't make you the good guy.Onmi said:
Oh, I remember the chalice well. It was such a stupid way to keep players in a "group" that didn't involve invisible walls. Now if they simply had a sort of chalice character (aka had the chalice on their back and was the center of the circle) who could attack and everything, but people still had to hang around him. That would have been better, even though the chalice should have been a non-issue in the first place.Weimdog said:
Oh, and that camera was pathetic. I remember having my friends die because I went straight for the boss while my friends casted spells, but didn't realize he was getting slaughtered by spells until he was dead. 30 apple gels, no rez item (can't remember the name for the life of me). Yeah, fantastic.
Kill-off levelling in favor of a realistic damage-modelling system (one-hit-kill stuff), add-in use-based stat increases (both statistics and skills), and work on the character movement, animation, and fluidity, to allow for very precise control over the character. Now we have an RPG that uses player skill in tandem with statistic increases.
Aw, heck. Mount & Blade is halfway there, it just needs to continue fleshing out its interactions. Plus, the damage is still pretty slight. And it'd be nice if the world map view (as is used in Mount & Blade) were only for larger troop movements, so you could have a much more detailed "regular" world, where you could have a small band that got ambushed, set ambushes, and generally explored the landscape. Wrap that up with some optional court mini-games for improving your relations with lords, ladies, and ... stuff (like a festhall dancing using a simon-esque button game, something similar for music playing, etc.). Then we're pretty close to what I want out of a game.
Aw, heck. Mount & Blade is halfway there, it just needs to continue fleshing out its interactions. Plus, the damage is still pretty slight. And it'd be nice if the world map view (as is used in Mount & Blade) were only for larger troop movements, so you could have a much more detailed "regular" world, where you could have a small band that got ambushed, set ambushes, and generally explored the landscape. Wrap that up with some optional court mini-games for improving your relations with lords, ladies, and ... stuff (like a festhall dancing using a simon-esque button game, something similar for music playing, etc.). Then we're pretty close to what I want out of a game.