What do you like in your RPGs?

[Fanfic_warper]

So like the title says, what do you like and give some examples

Personally I like something witha good story and characters, prefferably several PLAYABLE or at least customizeable characters.

I'm ok with a closed world but at the end, for me it comes down to STORY more than anything.

Some good examples for me include: Final Fantasy XIII, Star Ocean till the End of Time, The World Ends With You, Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, and Dragon Age: Origins (which I'm just starting, and enjoying so far).

 

[hazabaza1]

Lots of statistics.
Darn it I do so love my micro-managing. But only if it's for a few characters.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

It has got to have good characters and a decent combat system. It has those, I'll play it.

 

[Smertnik]

An excessive character creator, voice acting, different ways to solve quests, different play styles, as little statistics and micro-managing as possible.

 

[Amnestic]

Interesting followers. Part of why Baldur's Gate 2 was so very good to me was the fact that I liked and disliked the possible party members you could have. Boo, Minsc, Keldorn, that wanker Anomen...

If an RPG gives you party members who are bland, forgettable or simply not particularly well developed, I'm liable to like it a lot less. While RPGs are often driven by the story of the protagonist, the wants and goals of your party members can also be a driving force for you to continue playing. Losing that loses some of the charm from a game.

Of course, that's not to say all RPGs need party members. Some are fine without it. But if you must have them, make them interesting for Haruhi's sake!

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

A good character creator, interesting "niche" combat styles, and 100% turn-based free.

 

[Blunderboy]

Interesting followers. Part of why Baldur's Gate 2 was so very good to me was the fact that I liked and disliked the possible party members you could have. Boo, Minsc, Keldorn, that wanker Anomen...

If an RPG gives you party members who are bland, forgettable or simply not particularly well developed, I'm liable to like it a lot less. While RPGs are often driven by the story of the protagonist, the wants and goals of your party members can also be a driving force for you to continue playing. Losing that loses some of the charm from a game.

Of course, that's not to say all RPGs need party members. Some are fine without it. But if you must have them, make them interesting for Haruhi's sake!

Very much this.
And a world that I can lose myself in.

 

[dickywebster]

It depends, as i do like both turn based, that wierd thing ff did for years thats not quite turn based or just no turns at all.
But a large world and lots of different palces to explore/things to do/general messing around for fun is always important for me, also reasons to do so beyond jsut messing around/leveling up is always nice.
Really the story isnt always an issue for me with rpgs, fallout 3 has a kinda meh storyline and i love that game!

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

Freedom of choice. Not one path but many. Different outcomes, different results. Not just following orders or press Buttons every day like Stanley .

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Memorable characters, places, dialogue, and bosses or enemies who require you to make good use of your abilities, whether you're turn-based or real time. FFX still stands as one of my favorite RPGs.

 

[Dark Prophet]

A good story an end goal that I can understand sidequests and they should not be bigger and better then the main story quests, a lot of loot and mostly guns.
Mass Effec /2, Fallout 3, and shootery RPGs like Deus Ex /HR, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC/CS/CoP

 

[oreopizza47]

I'm a fan of Fallout 3-esque games. Nice open world, plenty of things to avoid the main story with, a good main story anyway... in fact, a good over-arching story is a must. I like customization to an extent, but it's not a must, and I certainly don't want it to be ubiquitous. Honestly, my favorite part of those games is that they are actually affected by what you do. That's the big thing for me. I want to make a big choice and see impact, evolution, adaptation from the NPC's.

 

[JesterRaiin]

Sandboxing, interesting NPCs, good dialogues, support for different approaches, intuitive micromanagement and levelling system.
That ensures replayability.

 

[Misterian]

character creation, choice-based objectives, combat systems that are intuative but still allow for multiple ways of fighting.

So in short, I guess I like my RPG's to have plenty of variety in it's gameplay within reason, something I've learned playing Fallout 3, Oblivion, Fallout New Vegas, Mass Effect, etc.

And part of me hopes for that sort of vareity in playing Skyrim.

 

[Dutch 924]

When you upgrade after levelling up, you don't have enough to upgrade everything by the end of the game.

This allows for multiple playthroughs to experience everything, whether your a run-n-gun player or a stealthy player. If you can max out your character in every department by the final level there's no replay value

 

[Aircross]

I want a story that's not about putting together a rag tag team and saving the world(s) from a One-Winged Angel Cthulhu.

 

[ResonanceGames]

Lots of character choice and lots of good dialogue to incentivize me to roleplay. VTM: Bloodlines is a perfect example, as is Planescape: Torment.

I'm less concerned about the open-ended freedom of something like Fallout 1/2 or Ultima, but there's something to be said for that as well. The Baldur's Gate games sit nicely in the middle.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

I like a decent story, interesting characters, and a fun battle system.

 

[AngelArms]

Good story and characters
Choice, both moral and in terms of how and when you tackle certain events
Large degree of character customizablity
Long playtime
A clear end goal or at least a clear villain

These are vitals, the following are more "These would be nice too, thanks"

Something besides your standard turn based battle system
Good writing
A protagonist you can actually roleplay with and relate to

Good RPGs (Get the first five right)

Fallout New Vegas
Baldur's Gate
Digital Devil Saga
Valkyria Chronicles
Final Fantasy's I-X

Great RPG's (All 8)

Bethesda games
Bioware games
Persona games
System Shock 2
Deus Ex 1
The World Ends With You

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

So like the title says, what do you like and give some examples

Personally I like something witha good story and characters, prefferably several PLAYABLE or at least customizeable characters.

I'm ok with a closed world but at the end, for me it comes down to STORY more than anything.

Some good examples for me include: Final Fantasy XIII, Star Ocean till the End of Time, The World Ends With You, Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, and Dragon Age: Origins (which I'm just starting, and enjoying so far).

Well, OP, you've pretty much said what I wanted to say. I even agree with your examples, of the ones I've played (SO: TtEoT and DA:O). I play RPGs for the stories and the characters. That's actually why I steer away from larger, more sandbox/open-world RPGs: they tend to have shallow characters and plots. (Which is why I'm not a fan of the Elder Scrolls games, having attempted to play both Oblivion and Morrowind.)

As for other good examples, so I'm not totally stealing your list... Tales of Symphonia is one of my favorite games of all time. And I'm a huge fan of Final Fantasy X. Oh, and Resonance of Fate! I adore Resonance of Fate.

Oh, and it can NOT be turn based. Turn based combat bores me far too much, I refuse to even try a game using it.

Wait, wait. You refuse to even try a turn-based game because turn-based combat bores you? How do you know it bores you if you've never tried a game using that combat system?