Why are japanese rpgs so annoyingly random?

[corn619]

"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.

Yeah, I know some games have been like this for ages. Not all games back then forced you to thumb through a guide to progress through the game though. Lots of devs used good game design to provide good game flow and clues in order to get the secret locations and equipment. Nowadays, all RPGs force you to get guide in order to get some of the best stuff or find the secret locations in the game. And come to think of it, all the best stuff in the game isn't even included in the game anymore. Most companies make you pay extra for it through DLC.

[Erik_Twice]

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.

So, they decided to screw you for no good reason instead of using a good system save?

My lord, I hate console-based saving.

[MrPopo]

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.

So, they decided to screw you for no good reason instead of using a good system save?

My lord, I hate console-based saving.

In my day you had to walk your ass all the way back to the king to save. And then you had to hold down the reset button while turning the power off. And we LIKED it!

[blaix]

I can usually force myself to accept that I'm not going to get every best item or weapon or a perfect score/rank/whatever. When I do that and just play the game, I find it is much more enjoyable.

Then, if the game was enjoyable enough, I grab a guide and obsess over my second playthrough...

[randombullseye]

Random Tip: Don't take it so seriously. Just take whatever random drop they give you, go on. At least thats' what I have to say to myself. There's no way I'm ever 100%ing any of these NIS or SMT games.

[illiriks]

I actually like the randomness; it keeps one guessing and "on their toes", so to speak.

Found something interesting here earlier — totally unrelated, but some of the designs are pretty fun to look at.

[vlame]

In my day you had to walk your ass all the way back to the king to save. And then you had to hold down the reset button while turning the power off. And we LIKED it!

lol