Do you prefer "on the road" or "stronghold" RPGs?
- Thread starter endtherapture
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Of course.albino boo said:
Funnily enough I first learned about Baba Yaga's cottage in The Discworld series which also has The Library.
I prefer Sci-Fi to Fantasy though I like both. My mind was more wired to come up with sciency solutions.
There is no end to the limits of imagination. ,)
I've never really thought of RPGs like that before but now that it's been brought up, I can't help but think of many "on the road" and many "Stronghold" RPGs. When it comes to OTR, I loved Final Fantasy 2, 4, 6, and 7-through-10 which are all games with no real stronghold (although I can see an argument being made for the Airships being bases). Then I see games like Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic being Stronghold RPGs and I loved those too. Really though, I take these on a case-by-case basis.
I prefer my RPGs to be structured, so I'd go for a stronghold based one.
I feel that a game often loses focus or cohesion when going open world. Funnily enough though, I feel like Inquisition is more of an 'on the road' experience than The Witcher 3 looks like. TW3 has a large area that will be used and re-used for quests as you progress through the story, whereas Inquisition drops you from sandbox area to sandbox area and tells you to explore, without much reason to re-visit an earlier area aside from getting more Power(once the story bit is done).
Still, the point stands. I love both The Witcher 2 and KoTOR II because they are so tightly structured, with no 'have it your way!/go exploring!' fluff like Skyrim. I frankly find it a bit concerning that RPGs seem to be taking that direction(at least AAAs), though I'd be lying if I said that I am not having a whale of a time with Inquisition.
I feel that a game often loses focus or cohesion when going open world. Funnily enough though, I feel like Inquisition is more of an 'on the road' experience than The Witcher 3 looks like. TW3 has a large area that will be used and re-used for quests as you progress through the story, whereas Inquisition drops you from sandbox area to sandbox area and tells you to explore, without much reason to re-visit an earlier area aside from getting more Power(once the story bit is done).
Still, the point stands. I love both The Witcher 2 and KoTOR II because they are so tightly structured, with no 'have it your way!/go exploring!' fluff like Skyrim. I frankly find it a bit concerning that RPGs seem to be taking that direction(at least AAAs), though I'd be lying if I said that I am not having a whale of a time with Inquisition.
on the road, that sense of just going out and finding whatever you find is amazing.
although one of my fav games of recent times is Little Kings Story, which is certainly more stronghold.
although one of my fav games of recent times is Little Kings Story, which is certainly more stronghold.
I don't think Disgaea should count; it's a strategy game first and formost, and those almost always have a 'home base'.Johnny Novgorod said:
I love them both, really.
I look at fallout as the wandering nameless stranger fantasy. You travel from one town that knows who you are coz you're awesome and fixed their problems to a whole new town that may not have heard of you to repeat the process. I like that feeling of blowing into an area, and doing stuff then moving on, anonymous again, and again.
But strongholds offer that familiarity. A place to hang your hat, and store stuff. I still have fond memories of Suikoden, wandering around my ever expanding fortress with a mild thing for Kasumi.
Mass Effect's Normandy incarnations serve well as strongholds. A hub to talk to your allies, and enjoy their stories.
Will there ever be a mobile stronghold game like travelling in a Winnebago, or something? Go drive some place, set up camp, enjoy the comforts of home, then go strike out?
I look at fallout as the wandering nameless stranger fantasy. You travel from one town that knows who you are coz you're awesome and fixed their problems to a whole new town that may not have heard of you to repeat the process. I like that feeling of blowing into an area, and doing stuff then moving on, anonymous again, and again.
But strongholds offer that familiarity. A place to hang your hat, and store stuff. I still have fond memories of Suikoden, wandering around my ever expanding fortress with a mild thing for Kasumi.
Mass Effect's Normandy incarnations serve well as strongholds. A hub to talk to your allies, and enjoy their stories.
Will there ever be a mobile stronghold game like travelling in a Winnebago, or something? Go drive some place, set up camp, enjoy the comforts of home, then go strike out?
Hm, I find both rather appealing. I do like having a base to return to, it gives me a greater sense of belonging to the world and having more control over it as I explore and discover more. But I also like those first several hours in Skyrim where you don't have a home and you're just wandering from town to town, filling out your your map, discovering new places, meeting new people, staying at inns, coming and going whenever you please. You don't own the world, you're merely a participant, an observer always just passing through. You don't have any responsibilities or loyalties to upkeep except to yourself.
I think I prefer roaming over a stronghold. As strongholds haven't been done 'right' yet to me. Most keep to a 'you can choose what building to put in specific spots, but no more' or 'this is just a kind of hub'. If I play a game where you have a 'stronghold', I want to actually earn it and see it built. And after that, to see it occupied by npc's.
You forgot to mention the roaming stronghold, like KoToR and Mass Effect! I'm just kidding of course, you can always consider a spacecraft where you have all your crew/party or inventory management a stronghold.
OT: It really doesn't matter to me, I like adventuring, I like stopping in towns, and I like having a base of operations as well. Adventuring and building up a roving party feels awesome, like you're pulling together a force to be reckoned with, inspiring folks to follow you to a greater cause.
But having a base to plan, regroup, reinforce and strengthen is also pretty cool. Somehow, I feel that in games where you have a home town, it's kind of a cliche for most people in that town to be against the protagonist, and it isn't until the end of the game where you've proven yourself that the initial opposition turns to support. Just a feeling I get, but I'm sure I could pull up many examples of that if I tried (first that comes to mind is Heroes Quest 4, which I replayed recently, and that came out in 1994!). Others that come to mind are Neverwinter Nights, and now I can't remember if it was Titan Quest or Dungeon Siege.....
OT: It really doesn't matter to me, I like adventuring, I like stopping in towns, and I like having a base of operations as well. Adventuring and building up a roving party feels awesome, like you're pulling together a force to be reckoned with, inspiring folks to follow you to a greater cause.
But having a base to plan, regroup, reinforce and strengthen is also pretty cool. Somehow, I feel that in games where you have a home town, it's kind of a cliche for most people in that town to be against the protagonist, and it isn't until the end of the game where you've proven yourself that the initial opposition turns to support. Just a feeling I get, but I'm sure I could pull up many examples of that if I tried (first that comes to mind is Heroes Quest 4, which I replayed recently, and that came out in 1994!). Others that come to mind are Neverwinter Nights, and now I can't remember if it was Titan Quest or Dungeon Siege.....
We don't really have a base in The Witcher games though. Geralt doesn't have a house or a room to put his things in in either game so far beyond the chests located at inns.Sigmund Av Volsung said:
I'd love our horse in The Witcher 3 to function as our storage space really. I fully think that if it is implemented right, a game can do a tightly focused story based game in an open world. I think TW3 can be this game.
I prefer a combination of the two- a "mobile stronghold," if you will. You know, like the Ebon Hawk from KOTOR and KOTOR 2, or the Hyperion from Wings of Liberty, or the Normandy from Mass Effect. I mean, as nice as it is to have a central fortress, I'll always choose a badass ship to operate from over a castle or citadel.
On some deep psychological level, I like knowing my character has somewhere to go home to, curl up with a nice book, and nap in safety, so I guess I'd go for Stronghold. That said, it doesn't have to be a literal Stronghold like Skyhold. I'd be happy with a little cottage or a nice cave. I'm definitely more a nester than wanderer.
I like having a moving stronghold. It's something I love about Starbound- the fact that you can always drop off stuff in your ship, no matter where in the universe you've ended up. The game still has a long way to go (and I'm a little suspicious at the lack of recent updates) but the game does that well.