RPGs: Story or Character Development?

[rossatdi]

Whilst playing a RPG what drives you more the story/storytelling/character interactions OR the chance to create a character and make him more powerful over time through effort?

Obviously its not 100% either way but I have a distinct preference for character levelling but I only enjoy it when there is a genuine difficulty wall to run up against.

For example: In Morowind I was struggling with a certain dungeon so I took a holiday from the quest to go steal a bunch of cool glass equipment from the gatehouse in the centre of the map. I realised I was having more fun working out how to heist the gear, escape and pay my penalty without losing the stolen goods than I was killing dungeon creatures for story factions.

I tend to find the stories in RPG act only as a driving process to direct my character and give a bit more motivation for making him badass. I tend to look at other media for my actual stories/plots/character.

RPGs I've loved:
Deus Ex
Diablo I & II & LoD
Morowind

 

[PurpleRain]

Why not have both ala Mass Effect?

 

[Rabite]

I prefer the battle system be fun, oddly enough I love the old NES RPGs and Seiken Densetsu the most. Disgaea being close in the running though. It's rare that I care about plot or character development.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

For me both are one and the same...i suppose you could have a story about the world and events while your main character is an empty armor that is haunted by swords and other pointy objects and the villains are evil just cause they enjoy being evil as many idiotic games chose to do these days but for me it's never more interesting than learning your char's backstory, caring for his goals and being more immersed into the experience through that.


Also linearity isn't bad, i don't play games to become the hero, i play them to experience em, as if i'm reading an interactive book. Games like diablo had too much grinding and the battles were not all that impressive either...as for the story...it was good but very well hidden in the game and i don't enjoy doing sidequests about things that should be the main game like a final fantasy game would do.


Turn based rpgs like legend of dragoon are my cup of tea.

 

[Russian_Assassin]

Edit: I misunderstood the thread... My bad! Well, Sometimes it's good to get powerful armor/skills to get through a RPG , but sometimes I just want to run through the story to get to the "cake".

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I believe that we need to tear down the

Fence made of tigers

that keeps the good story apart from good gameplay. Come on you game devs! Start doing some decent work already! As for me, I don't like to screw around with the menus, armors etc. I just want to kill stuff and praise the landscape (in rpgs).

Wouldn't an action game be more suitable for you then? They top RPGs in the "killing stuff" department and you usually can maneuver around the landscape more freely (multiple jumps, teleports, demon flying abilities etc.) thus admire it better while in RPGs the best you'd see out of a landscape would be in the from of a cut scene.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Character development, mainly because in most RPGs (not just JRPGs) you're going to have it end up with some world-altering cataclysm event that everything else was just a build-up to anyway. On the other hand, some of the most memorable characters in gaming history have come from RPGs. I'd much rather hear about plot details concerning someone I'm travelling with or fighting against on a regular basis than the history of yet another ancient war or era of lost technology. Not that I don't apprectiate an innovative world concept.

 

[nmmoore13]

Character development is definitely what fuels me when playing an RPG. I love being the weakling in the begginning but knowing eventually you're going to become a total badass. Still, I also want a good story. A good story can push me more than anything.

 

[rossatdi]

One of the reasons I know Deus Ex back to front is the aggressive searching for the augmentation upgrade canisters. Any discovery of these would lead to about an hour cheering inside my head.

At the start you can barely shoot straight. By the end I'm jumping up buildings and running through gunfire with a laser sword and capping people in the head with a pistol from 100 yards. I loved the end story choice but most of it just washed over me. Saying that I was heart broken when I ballsed up and couldn't save Paul, then accidentally got Jamie killed. Bad times.

 

[poleboy]

If the story is good enough, then that's what drives me (Torment). If not, I turn to the game mechanics for my fun (Morrowind). If both fail to capture me, I usually never finish the game (Dragon Quest VIII).

 

[Iori Branford]

Neither. It just has to be fast and fun.

Look at Phantasy Star 4: Non-tedious exploration; reasonably fast, reasonably challenging, buttery smooth, non-cinematic combat; a succinct and punchy quest log. I suspect this is because the developers, Sega, actually knew shit about good video game design and not just about dragons and magic and anime and girly men's fashion.

 

[unholy vagrant]

I prefer character development. Part of the reason is that the overall story on most games are okay at best, but with good character development, you care about the characters and then are more invested in the overall story.

 

[n01d34]

I like RPGs where I can create my own stories. So like in your example with the glass armour you had to steal, the game gave you an opportunity to create your own little heist story.

And the whole weakling to demigod thing is basicaly a story. So I guess what I'm saying is when rpgs are at their best the process of leveling up and getting phat loot becomes story.