I've thought about this before, and my answer is a resounding yes.
I think that it's a new level of challenge mixed with an emphasis on the "RP" part of "RPG." Less like playing field general, more like playing middle school football coach.
I do suggest that you start all characters off on a similar footing unseen stats-wise and let the player develop them as he/she sees fit, or offer visual/story line/personality cues for a character's strengths and weaknesses (for instance, the fighter-type is a burly dude in ripped-off jean shorts and ripped shirts and wants to punch first and ask questions later, the wizard is running around in a bath robe and predicted to bring balance to the world or whatever, the healer looks like Bambi and is timid as hell, etc. - maybe less cliche is in order, but you get the idea.)
The greatest strength and biggest weakness of the traditional, stats-driven RPG is the disconnect between game play mechanics and atmosphere/aesthetic/story. Developers can, with proper balancing for the game play experience they're looking for, layer the RPG experience onto any hero-driven experience they like. Of course, as a result of this, there's no relationship between your progress through the game and what you do in combat; the player who never switches out of his Simple Sword and Cloth Armor they got on the loading screen and always selects the melee attack option does just the same (albeit with more effort) as the min-maxer with the Greatsword of Soul-Crushing and Plate Armor of the Dragon Emperor. It's like you trudge through a story line you don't care about to get to the game play, or you just hit buttons long enough to watch the story play out, or, if you like both elements of a game, it's for different reasons and you connect the two by happy coincidence of the title.
Halo didn't replace the health bar with a recharging bar "just for the sake of doing something different." They designed an entire game around that concept, and, well, look at the FPS industry now - we need Serious Sam to come along and remind us that games did something different before Halo.
I think that it's a new level of challenge mixed with an emphasis on the "RP" part of "RPG." Less like playing field general, more like playing middle school football coach.
I do suggest that you start all characters off on a similar footing unseen stats-wise and let the player develop them as he/she sees fit, or offer visual/story line/personality cues for a character's strengths and weaknesses (for instance, the fighter-type is a burly dude in ripped-off jean shorts and ripped shirts and wants to punch first and ask questions later, the wizard is running around in a bath robe and predicted to bring balance to the world or whatever, the healer looks like Bambi and is timid as hell, etc. - maybe less cliche is in order, but you get the idea.)
Well...duh. That's why you design a game around the system.Crono1973 said:Doing something (like hiding RPG stats) just for the sake of doing something different is an exercise in failure.
The greatest strength and biggest weakness of the traditional, stats-driven RPG is the disconnect between game play mechanics and atmosphere/aesthetic/story. Developers can, with proper balancing for the game play experience they're looking for, layer the RPG experience onto any hero-driven experience they like. Of course, as a result of this, there's no relationship between your progress through the game and what you do in combat; the player who never switches out of his Simple Sword and Cloth Armor they got on the loading screen and always selects the melee attack option does just the same (albeit with more effort) as the min-maxer with the Greatsword of Soul-Crushing and Plate Armor of the Dragon Emperor. It's like you trudge through a story line you don't care about to get to the game play, or you just hit buttons long enough to watch the story play out, or, if you like both elements of a game, it's for different reasons and you connect the two by happy coincidence of the title.
Halo didn't replace the health bar with a recharging bar "just for the sake of doing something different." They designed an entire game around that concept, and, well, look at the FPS industry now - we need Serious Sam to come along and remind us that games did something different before Halo.