Why are japanese rpgs so annoyingly random?

[Gamerforlife]

Save, reload, save, reload, save, reload AAAAHHHHHH!!! I want to shoot a game designer!

Final Fantasy 12
Treasure chests were random, their contents were random. So you reload your game over and over just to get a chest to appear. Then you reload some more because it doesn't have the item you want

Valkyrie Chronicles
Attack, miss, reload, attack, enemy dodged, reload, attack, enemy gets hit for minimal damage, reload, FINALLY kill unit after wasting five minutes of your life on reloads

Every other japanese rpg in existence
Need specific item to create equipment/create item/upgrade stats. Kill enemy that has it, doesn't drop item, reload, kill enemy, still doesn't drop item, reload, kill enemy, still doesn't drop item, twenty reloads later FINALLY F***ING drops item!!!

What do japanese devs design rpgs like this? It is without a doubt my most hated thing about this genre. TOO MUCH DAMN RANDOMNESS!!

I can't imagine how people put up with stuff like this in MMORPGS. I'd probably end up flipping out and yelling at whomever I'm playing with out of sheer frustration

If you're wondering what inspired this rant. I'm playing through a certain character's DLC for Valkyria Chronicles(Behind her blue fame). Your troops' stats and equipment are pretermined meaning I have to put up with the PATHETIC accuracy my troops have whether I like it or not. This means a lot of reloads just to get those stupid bastards to actually hit anything!

[Ziggy]

Final Fantasy 12
Treasure chests were random, their contents were random. So you reload your game over and over just to get a chest to appear. Then you reload some more because it doesn't have the item you want

According to my FF12 players guide, chests are always in the same spot. And under normal conditions, you have a 50/50% chance of getting one of two items. If you have the Diamond Armlet equipped, you have a 90% chance of getting a knot of rust and a 10% chance of getting a good item. I have played over 10 hours (I think about that) worth of the game, and I haven't seen anything that contradicts the info in the guide.

[MrPopo]

Aside from the aformentioned DLC, VC really doesn't need you to go reload-happy unless you're going for the puzzle-based A-ranks.

[Dylan]

Anyone remember trying to get the pink tail in FFIV?

[Whomper]

Turn the question round - why are you such a completist that you have to get perfect everything?

I've ever sympathy, as I'm the same. I just played through Riviera on the GBA, and trying to get the "right" weapons from the random chests, or the right reaction from the girl of my choice etc. meant I did a lot of reloading, which definitely hurt my enjoyment of the game.

At the same time, I was perfectly aware that I didn't *need* that weapon, and that it would be more organic just to let the relationships happen. By the end of the game my characters were absurdly strong - if I'd only found 60% of the items I had, the final few levels might have been more of a challenge.

So, perhaps it's a cultural thing - people are more open to embracing chance, and accepting that they may not have the 100% perfect rig for their characters. After all, if the designers had intended everyone to have all the most powerful gear, they'd have jacked the difficulty of the enemies a lot.

[Gamerforlife]

Final Fantasy 12
Treasure chests were random, their contents were random. So you reload your game over and over just to get a chest to appear. Then you reload some more because it doesn't have the item you want

According to my FF12 players guide, chests are always in the same spot. And under normal conditions, you have a 50/50% chance of getting one of two items. If you have the Diamond Armlet equipped, you have a 90% chance of getting a knot of rust and a 10% chance of getting a good item. I have played over 10 hours (I think about that) worth of the game, and I haven't seen anything that contradicts the info in the guide.

I've done EVERYTHING in FF 12. Chests do not always appear in the same spot and many items in the game have a FAR lower chance of appearing than 50/50. The Diamond Armlet sucks. 10% is NOT a high number

Valkyria Chronicles A ranks are not puzzle based. Not all of them anyway. Many of them require you to finish a stage as fast as possible, which means you CANNOT miss an attack. Since there is always a chance of you missing an attack in this game, it essentially makes A ranks LUCK based, which pisses me off.

I've been playing rpgs for years and I'm just sick and tired of relying on luck to get things done. Valkyria Chronicles is especially stupid about it. How the hell does a SNIPER miss so many attacks in the game? It's a freaking SNIPER for god's sake. Half the time they can't hit the broad side of a barn unless you use Marina(and only if you've unlocked her last potential, at which point, she *gasp* actually becomes a REAL sniper). And how do units miss their enemies in this game at POINT BLANK RANGE!!

Ugh, HORRIBLE design.

[corn619]

What I hate about todays games "JRPGs included" is in order to get the best stuff in the game you absolutely need the guide. Take Final Fantasy 12 for instance, there were I think 7 chests you couldn't open or your you wouldn't be able to get the best weapon in the game. No clues in game as to which ones, you need the guide.

Games like Final Fantasy are known for this shit and its just real sloppy game design if you ask me. They really need to design games where all the items and places are discoverable through in game clues and good game direction. Having to playing with a guide just really takes away the sense of discovery and surprise for me.

[onemanfilmcrew]

"No clues in game as to which ones, you need the guide."

It's been like that for decades. The greatest item in the history of RPG's (the Visiphone in Phantasy Star II, which allowed you to save the game anywhere) was not mentioned anywhere in the game, only in the guide.

[MrPopo]

What I hate about todays games "JRPGs included" is in order to get the best stuff in the game you absolutely need the guide. Take Final Fantasy 12 for instance, there were I think 7 chests you couldn't open or your you wouldn't be able to get the best weapon in the game. No clues in game as to which ones, you need the guide.

Technically it's the strongest weapon in the game, not the best. At high levels several weapons, such as the Masamune, out DPS it.

[arion]

Phantasy Star is very inconsistent when it comes to dealing and taking damage. I beat the boss fights or just got trashed depending on how i randomly dealt damage.