I'd like female characters that aren't distinctly sex symbols and go against the grain. Let's face it, Bastila and Ashley are pretty developed, but they're still stereotypically attractive, both in personality and appearance.
Another big problem I have is that every Japanese role-playing game has a male lead that looks like a girl and carries a big sword. In fact, all their characters seem to fit into very clearly defined roles without variation at all. You do see this in Western role-playing games, but not nearly as often. I'm not at all a fan of Japanese role-playing games and this is one of the reasons why.
Another trend I dislike (though not a cliche) is the tendency today to package action games as role-playing games because you can choose a few skills and the gameplay doesn't consist entirely of shooting stuff. "RPG elements" is a hot term tok use these days and it's pretty annoying to see so many games with these "RPG elements" but not see any real, hardcore RPGs. Everything has to be a fusion to hit the largest target market. A title like The Witcher is so refreshing for me just because an 80-plus-hour game with three distinct story paths, enjoyable yet fast-based turn-based combat, a heavy emphasis on character building, lots of meaningful side-quests (seriously, there's at least a hundred of them in the game, literally dozens per chapter), and non-essential but depth-adding features like alchemy, gambling, drinking contests, etc. are all in abundance. It's true that the game isn't the most polished out there, but seriously, it seems like people will take flashy and shiny graphics over substance every time (not just in games, of course) and it's disheartening that the market for a game with real complexity and value to it is considered a niche.
Another big problem I have is that every Japanese role-playing game has a male lead that looks like a girl and carries a big sword. In fact, all their characters seem to fit into very clearly defined roles without variation at all. You do see this in Western role-playing games, but not nearly as often. I'm not at all a fan of Japanese role-playing games and this is one of the reasons why.
Another trend I dislike (though not a cliche) is the tendency today to package action games as role-playing games because you can choose a few skills and the gameplay doesn't consist entirely of shooting stuff. "RPG elements" is a hot term tok use these days and it's pretty annoying to see so many games with these "RPG elements" but not see any real, hardcore RPGs. Everything has to be a fusion to hit the largest target market. A title like The Witcher is so refreshing for me just because an 80-plus-hour game with three distinct story paths, enjoyable yet fast-based turn-based combat, a heavy emphasis on character building, lots of meaningful side-quests (seriously, there's at least a hundred of them in the game, literally dozens per chapter), and non-essential but depth-adding features like alchemy, gambling, drinking contests, etc. are all in abundance. It's true that the game isn't the most polished out there, but seriously, it seems like people will take flashy and shiny graphics over substance every time (not just in games, of course) and it's disheartening that the market for a game with real complexity and value to it is considered a niche.
