RPGs and Their Elements

[Level 1]

Well as the tittle suggests, I'd like to know personal opinions on what elements or features you like from your favorite RPGs, the reason being is that I am making my own RPG with a buddy of mine, and I'd like to implement just the best that I can into it, and even though I have some decent ideas, I'd like to know what more I can cram in, without making the player drown in features. And I also like playing RPGs and JRPGs, and any new one that I haven't tried would be a cool addition to my collection.

[E-Man]

I go with RPGs where I get to do things in the overworld and the battle system is more involved than just waiting to input commands. Naturally, the Paper Mario games, the Mario & Luigi games, and the Kingdom Hearts games come to mind.

[Kosheh]

I go with RPGs where I get to do things in the overworld and the battle system is more involved than just waiting to input commands. Naturally, the Paper Mario games, the Mario & Luigi games, and the Kingdom Hearts games come to mind.

You might like South Park: The Stick of Truth. Even if you're not like a devoted fan of the series, the turn-based battle system is basically Paper Mario, with action commands and everything.

I'm kinda in the same camp as E-Man, though: I like turn-based RPGs that have you doing timed button presses to do extra damage, better defend yourself, etc. I dont' know why, but I get really impaitent sitting and waiting through enemy turn phases. Chrono Trigger handles it decently for me, though, showing exactly how much time I'll have before my next attack, though.

Also, maybe it's just me but I like it much more in RPGs when I can see my party members on screen. Sure, games like Earthbound allow you to have much more lavish enemy and boss character art...but I dunno, I just feel like it's easier to keep track of my character when I can visually see their status (like...dead)

[Helmo]

Same here, it's all about the timed commands! I just got Bowser's Inside Story not too long ago and it's great! You always have the chance to avoid damage or sometimes even counter and damage the enemy when they attack. Whether you get hit or not is all on you!

[psychospacecow]

Personally, I've always been a big fan of both Chrono series games. They have unique combat systems for their time, Trigger taking into account the player's surroundings, and Cross being a manaless pseudo-real time variant of turn based play. The main detractor of Cross was its affiliation with Trigger and its overemphasis on multiple characters without developing all of them and applying their trades to the game as a whole. You can only have 3 characters in battle at one time and switching between characters in restricted to certain points. Couple that with the fact that only combatants gain experience and the 45 characters in game suddenly become much less significant. There's also games like Bravely Default which utilizes a lot of stylistic choices of older rpgs like 2.5 maps and such which I just love. Overall, the story is going to be the biggest detail here, but having a cohesive combat system where all characters matter is a big sale on my end.

[Koopaul]

I'm not a fan of most RPGs but a couple I like because they seem to simplify the otherwise tedious experience.

[psychospacecow]

I'm not a fan of most RPGs but a couple I like because they seem to simplify the otherwise tedious experience.

This is true. Grinding is a filler, not an experience.

[MrYoshbert]

I'm in the same ballpark as E-Man up there; I much more prefer stuff like the Mario RPGs.

Because of the way they make battles more interactive and... "physical" (mostly thanks to those Action Commands), I feel like I'm actually contributing something to the action. Like if it's the enemy's turn to attack, I can actually defend myself by blocking its advances with a button press.

Compare that to more classical-type RPGs, like Dragon Quest or Earthbound, where a bunch of random variables are running the show. Having to see "Ness attacks the enemy... but missed!" five times in a row starts to get pretty tiresome for me.

[Omega]

Badges, give me tons of passive effect badges, I want to collect them all and break the game over with them by the dozen.

[TomGuycott]

I gravitate a lot to action-RPGs. Stuff like Secret of Mana, Kingdom Hearts, Super Paper Mario.

One I emulated a while back was a FC game called Esper Dream. It had standard RPG fare until you get into battle, where you can walk around and attack on a predetermined battlefield for the area and a grouping of enemies in active combat.

Something I've always wanted to try and make (but I can't make the design enjoyable or make sense) is combining RPG elements and story into a space style shooter.

[~Axis~]

I like the Megaman Battle Network RPG series' gameplay style because it further adds to the involvement in battle that you guys are talking about. You dont just time your button presses but can actually move and choose when you attack. The overworld missions in the series also serve a purpose instead of the "go to the end of the area in one piece and fight the boss" mission style in some RPG's. You have to solve lots of overworld puzzles to progress and it really gets your brain working. Not to mention that you cant just level up by defeating enemies and collecting EXP, but you have to find and collect the "HP Data" item that are either hidden in the overworld, found in shops and need to be purchased or given to you by certain people. So now you have that much more of a reason to go exploring. There are also extra (and also hidden) overworld levels after you beat the game with a certain amount of battle chips collected where a whole new adventure begins, except 10x harder. Terrific replay value. That's another thing that should be in an RPG. Giving me a reason to play the game even after finishing it.

[Level 1]

So what I am catching is that involvement in battle is key, allowing the player to have control in battle and not just letting your character's stats and level take over the idea of victories. Well, when it comes to that I would like to implement an active battle mechanic that allows the player's skill to be the dominant factor in battles, yet leveling up and stats could play strong role, but not strong enough to force the player to grind, that would just be filler. Hmm, well tat is something I will have to figure out as I work.

One personal question again, what about classes? Customization? Who likes it, and who doesn't? Why?

[TomGuycott]

That's a tough one, because one of my favorite RPGs is Final Fantasy VI, where each character is a basic class archetype, but there are so many that the party possibilities is incredibly diverse.

On the other hand, I'm ALSO a big fan of Final Fantasy Tactics, a game where, while some special classes are limited to certain characters, the majority of what is available can be used by anybody, so long as they level up their respective jobs.


I think I like customization more in the end, though, the reason being I love to toy with things. Playing around with character options increases a game's longevity to me.

[Level 1]

I can identify with that, mainly because I too like to play with possibilities. I want to give players a choice, even if that means more work in balancing. When I was a kid I liked getting the chance to make my dream character or party. But, I also liked characters with their unique personalities, their own back stories, and their own classes or jobs. So I am kinda stuck.

[Kriven]

I don't like classes in games with defined characters specifically because it makes those characters more wishy-washy. For instance, if you could equip Cinnamon from Mega Man X: Command Mission with a Mega Buster or the Z-Saber, why even bother having X and Zero? A character's abilities and weapons should be intimately tied to that character's personality and roots. They should be central aspects of defining that character.

On the other hand, if the game is more open-ended and the player is able to tailor the design of the entire party, there isn't a problem with allowing a transition of jobs and abilities. Personally I find games with less solid characters much more difficult to get into because I'm pretty big on exploring characters.

However, I think a balance could be found by taking the Sonic Battle approach to things and providing a single character that could be trained along a player-driven development path while the others are more defined.