The Makings of a Great RPG

[CrazyGirl17]

For me, it's interesting, likeable characters and a story that's well developed, not too linear, and has plenty of interesting plot twists to keep the player on their toes.

For example: Tales of Symphonia, which deconstructed several RPG tropes, and even blurred the line between good and evil a bit.

 

[Brad Shepard]

You have to have deep charecters, a story line that does the charecters justice, a good score.

And my favorite is Persona 4.

 

[Theo Rob]

for a good rpg you need
1.good battle system: ff 13's and dragon age both jarred me one way or another, the system needs to be simple but fun
2. story and chareters: need to care about who i am, the poeple around me and what im doing
3. FUN!! graphics and story can some times be overbearing and dont let you let do things.
the more crap i get to do, the happier i am

as for my fav games

mana khemia: cool charaters great story and a turn based battle system that was actually quite fast, music can be jarred at times though

persona 4: like mana khemia the music can be annoying at times but its still a great game and a really intersting charates and story. the one problem with the battle system is the "hero dies instant game over"

seiken densetsu 3/chrono trigger: more or less nostialgia fueled love, otherwise same as above without the "annoying music" thing

 

[Austin Howe]

Being developed in Japan is always a good start, otherwise it can be pretty hit and miss.

 

[sheah1]

Well character development of course, good lip-syncing and voice actors but most of all a massive, sprawling, believable world that you feel a part of and that you feel like, through your actions, you are changing.

 

[Theo Rob]

For me, it's interesting, likeable characters and a story that's well developed, not too linear, and has plenty of interesting plot twists to keep the player on their toes.

For example: Tales of Symphonia, which deconstructed several RPG tropes, and even blurred the line between good and evil a bit.

thers also tales of vesperia with that whole "good and evil isnt black and white thing"
wich came with:
"you cant deny lives were saved becase those bastards were put down"

 

[Thaius]

"What makes for a memorable and awesome experience when playing an RPG?"

The main thing is a good, character-driven story. Games like Mass Effect 2 and Final Fantasy X are great examples of these for having a focus on their characters and inter-relational drama. Other games like Final Fantasy XII fail at this, sometimes delivering an interesting grand narrative but offering little to no character development. An RPG should have an interesting story with a fascinating, detailed fictional world, multi-faceted characters with many layers and secrets, and 40+ hours in which to carefully unfold a twisting, emotional narrative.

"What are some of your favorite RPGs and some reasons why you like them?"

Final Fantasy VI, VII, X, and Mass Effect 2 are easily my favorite RPGs. And I like them for the reasons stated above, pretty much. All have great gameplay as well, and the Final Fantasy soundtracks are also some of the most beautiful works of music ever composed, but the main thing is the story.

I would love to see more RPGs done in similar fashion to the old ones. Even go back to random battles if you want, just take things back to their roots. I'm actually working on a game with a team right now toward this very goal. I hope it works out well.

 

[Cheesepower5]

When I go out to buy an RPG what I'm looking for is three things:

Length. I'm paying at least 30 bucks for this, if I can justify sending it back after two to five hours of play it's a bad game by default. This is why I hate every modern FPS.

Immersion. I have to be into the game, in other words. It needs good characters, atmosphere, plot and preferably decent music.

Character/Party Customization. I prefer games that require a dose of strategy instead of or mixed with reflexes and action. I have pretty bad hand-eye coordination, so this helps me out.

My favourite RPGs/games are Dragon Quest 8 and Final Fantasy 6.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

1. Timing and dialogue. The story can be quite odd (within reason, before you hit that "this has gone too far" disconnect) but as long as the pacing of the action and the breakdown of the story work hand in hand and the dialogue is both intelligent and informative; it should work.

Example? See Chrono Trigger. The dialogue tells the story without breaking to paragraphs of text to explain the story and the action is never too far away.

2. Well, Chrono Trigger is obviously one of my examples. I'm also a huge fan of the game Secret of Evermore.

I like having a varied, large world to explore with hidden secrets, multiple enemy types and a giant over-arching story that feels compelling and is interesting. In Chrono Trigger you are out to save the future! In secret of Evermore, you are just trying to get back to Podunk with your dog sidekick but encounter an enemy conspiracy along the way. Both games have unique gameplay styles and have battles that are both not random or background changing.

I don't know, make your story different. Give it comic relief but don't you dare make it annoying comic relief. Give the towns and cities you visit character, fill them with people who you can do minor quests for in order to get better weapons/spells or just for the fun of it.

I'm not sure how to make a good game but I do know this: Stories are an art and are therefore not explainable by fixed formula. What worked once is not guaranteed to work again.

 

[meowchef]

BioWare. That's really all I expect.

 

[GuitArchon]

-Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
Character appearance and class customization was EXTREMELY in-depth and fun to tinker with.

The problem with Oblivion appearance customization was that all the sliders went from "ugly" to "yep you're still ugly".

XD True, true.

 

[GuitArchon]

1. Lots of things to do. You don't need to do them, but it gives you something to do when you want a break from the story, when you have 20 minutes before work, and can't afford to hit the next castle. FF12, for all of its faults, got this one down very well with the Mark system.

The only SquarEnix FF games I've played were FF9 for about 2.5 hours (and that alone was enough to actually intrigue me) and FF13 (Which I played for an hour myself and hated every minute of, but getting back to the point), so I don't have much experience with this JRPG series.

I bring this up only because I agree with you on having, for lack of a better word, Minigames in RPGs, Japanese or otherwise. But, one of my major concerns about implementing them is how much of a story-gameplay segregation gets created by them. For instance, I've seen some of my friends play Birth By Sleep and there's an overarching storyline that's solid and seems important to the universe created by the developers, but then I saw them go to Disneytown and start playing a boardgame with Queen Minney and Pete Mario Party-style. I can't help but feel that things have gotten quite ridiculous after watching Aqua slay hordes of Heartless and thwart Vanitas, only to return to Disneytown to play a board game.

So, how would you propose implementing a side-minigame into a JRPG if you're trying to avoid doing something silly like that? (Apologies if I'm coming off a bit harsh here. I only ask this because I WOULD like to see more 'Minigames' in JRPGs, but I can't think of a good way to inject them into the game myself).