@Mnemophage:
Haha, nice post. You're right, though, on those 3 points. In fact, that sounds very much like what WRPG's tend to have, but to the detriment of one element or another. You said that we should be able to advance outside of combat. Most games I've seen that involve this don't do anything with it; all the stats which improve when you level are tied to combat. The charisma modifier only affects the roll of the dice during a conversation. It's more important to pick the right path through it, though, so even that has a minimal effect.
About your pet peeve - you just described Marge Simpson, if you dye her hair slightly darker and give her dress some straps. Was that intentional, or just lucky? Normal people aren't as interesting as guys with swords that are taller than they are and have hair so spikey it looks like you could impale someone on it, anyway, so I'm not too upset by it. Not usually, at least.
@Stammer, avykins:
Hell yeah. You guys played FFV Advance? Each class levels up independantly of each other, so you could set one guy to Knight and have him level it for a bit, then set him to White Mage and give him some of the attributes and abilities you got from Knight, to make a sort of Paladin. You could cross a White and Black caster to make a versatile magic user, or replace one of those with Red to give them Dualcast for White or Dualcast for Black instead of just the limited Red spell list. I added a Samurai ability to a Mystic Knight to create an awesome magic swordsman with crazy combat tricks. It was a fantastic system. In fact... if we could combine it with FFTA's job system (where you gain access to new jobs by learning abilities in existing ones; ie: learn 5 Black Mages abilities and gain access to Time Mage) and we'll have the best system ever. Ever. If only Final Fantasy V had a more meaningful and evocative plotline... unfortunately, it was a bit generic, when you compare it with FFVI and FFIV.
@ Anarchemitis:
@Bobraj: I've heard really, really good things about The World Ends With You, but I don't have a DS on which to play it
I love long posts, by the way.
Haha, nice post. You're right, though, on those 3 points. In fact, that sounds very much like what WRPG's tend to have, but to the detriment of one element or another. You said that we should be able to advance outside of combat. Most games I've seen that involve this don't do anything with it; all the stats which improve when you level are tied to combat. The charisma modifier only affects the roll of the dice during a conversation. It's more important to pick the right path through it, though, so even that has a minimal effect.
I'll tell you why. And this is a good reason, even though it has the drawback you mentioned. If you let the character figure out puzzles/plot elements, then we're not. It takes away from the player, which is why noone does it. It'd be interesting to see someone do as you say and have the character try to figure things out on their own, which would lead to an interesting player-character dynamic much like a movie where you go "IT'S BEHIND YOU!" and the guy takes another few steps and gets stabbed in the back. It'd be interesting to see a game play out like that, where whatever your man does is the result of your influence, but not direct action. I have no idea how it would play, really, and I doubt that any publisher would be willing to take a financial risk like that. But we can dream...Mnemophage said:
About your pet peeve - you just described Marge Simpson, if you dye her hair slightly darker and give her dress some straps. Was that intentional, or just lucky? Normal people aren't as interesting as guys with swords that are taller than they are and have hair so spikey it looks like you could impale someone on it, anyway, so I'm not too upset by it. Not usually, at least.
@Stammer, avykins:
Hell yeah. You guys played FFV Advance? Each class levels up independantly of each other, so you could set one guy to Knight and have him level it for a bit, then set him to White Mage and give him some of the attributes and abilities you got from Knight, to make a sort of Paladin. You could cross a White and Black caster to make a versatile magic user, or replace one of those with Red to give them Dualcast for White or Dualcast for Black instead of just the limited Red spell list. I added a Samurai ability to a Mystic Knight to create an awesome magic swordsman with crazy combat tricks. It was a fantastic system. In fact... if we could combine it with FFTA's job system (where you gain access to new jobs by learning abilities in existing ones; ie: learn 5 Black Mages abilities and gain access to Time Mage) and we'll have the best system ever. Ever. If only Final Fantasy V had a more meaningful and evocative plotline... unfortunately, it was a bit generic, when you compare it with FFVI and FFIV.
A more mature JRPG would be nice, wouldn't it? Would that compromise the fantastical setting, though? Some (above) have said that it's the bizzare world in which JRPG's are set that makes them work. I wonder if that quirky, over-the-top style can coexist with such violence and darkness... and then I go watch a Quentin Tarantino movie and say "Oh hell yes". Note: Fenixius recommends From Dusk Till Dawn, a movie directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguezavykins said:
Alright, I won't mention FFVI's villain. Aeris. *runs and hides*avykins said:
@ Anarchemitis:
You want more games that aren't RPG's to be linear? We have heaps of them... Or you want more RPG's with open worlds? Yeah, that can be fun, but then it becomes all too sandboxy and we lose the plot and structure which can make games great. Of course, open world games are good too (GTA, etc), but not so much when we talk about statistic based RPG's. And take note, Papaya Melancholy, every RPG you've ever played is stat based. The only variable is how much they let you in on it, whether it's D20 based and you can know every roll of the dice if you so choose, or Final Fantasy, where you have stats and you can see them change, but never learn exactly how they correspond to attack damage and other values.Anarchemitis said:
@Bobraj: I've heard really, really good things about The World Ends With You, but I don't have a DS on which to play it
I love long posts, by the way.
