Huge RPG rant. Read at your own risk. *opinion warning*
-
SpaceBooger
- Moderator
- Posts: 4420
- Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:40 am
- Location: The AK-Rowdy
- Contact:
This is the part I hate the most!Choices With No Impact:
"So, do you want to go?" <Yes / No> "Oh, please go!" <Yes / No> "Come on, let's go!" <Yes / No> "Come on, let's go!"<Yes / No> "Great! See you there!" ... WTF? Why give me a choice when you're going to hound me into what the story wants, anyway? This is almost as bad as giving you three choices that elicit different dialogue but the same damn in-game effect. This is stupid. The illusion of interactivity is not a substitute for interactivity.
How to fix? Either remove it altogether or ensure that players are only given choices when there are measurable differences. Not subtle differences. Measurable
I often find myself thinking too hard about what answer to choose wondering "is this the time it will really matter?" It sucks.
I myself am a fan of JRPGs mainly because I can get my money's worth based off the time it takes to complete it. I love games that you can pick up for a couple minutes, but many times feel that they are not worth the $50 price tag (this is why I am loving WiiWare). I do pick up a couple games other than JRPGs but I usually play retro consoles for when I do not have hours to devote at a time.
-
black flag nc
You know what's really frustrating about that? Not all anime is like that, just most of the popular stuff. And thus, that influence reflects what's popular.
I realize that the Japanese express their philosophical quandaries more in their art than in day to day conversations, but seriously, if every Japanese wanna-be philosopher's ideas are this slipshod and nonsensical, perhaps philosophy isn't their thing.
It's like Travolta and Cruise here in the US being ga-ga for Scientology. They're famous and talented but they aren't deep thinkers, and thus they think Scientology is high spirituality. A lot of Japanese creators are the same. They make enough money and have just enough free time that they start thinking, but without formal training or a proper inclination their minds produce the craziest stuff. Many of the ideas they come up with could just as well be Scientology.
I realize that the Japanese express their philosophical quandaries more in their art than in day to day conversations, but seriously, if every Japanese wanna-be philosopher's ideas are this slipshod and nonsensical, perhaps philosophy isn't their thing.
It's like Travolta and Cruise here in the US being ga-ga for Scientology. They're famous and talented but they aren't deep thinkers, and thus they think Scientology is high spirituality. A lot of Japanese creators are the same. They make enough money and have just enough free time that they start thinking, but without formal training or a proper inclination their minds produce the craziest stuff. Many of the ideas they come up with could just as well be Scientology.
I honestly cannot believe you're complaining about the lack of "realism" in Japanese RPGs. If video games were realistic and made sense they wouldn't be fun to play, and therefore, no one would play them. If someone tried to develop an RPG using your post as a reference point, there would be no game.
Don't play the damn genre if you don't like how they do things.
Don't play the damn genre if you don't like how they do things.
Orange, I'm not really demanding realism. I'm demanding something that makes sense. Fantasy and sci-fi often make sense. The burden of reason, of logical inference from illogical premises, is not truly all that great. Even ho-hum authors manage it all the time.
Most RPGs get lots of the details right. Panzer Dragoon Saga gets just about all of the details right. I'm convinced it's the perfect RPG (for me, anyway). The problem is that some RPGs flaunt their failures to hit the sweet spots. Like Final Fantasy. I used to be a fan, but these days they are the most difficult for me to sit down and play. Almost all the FF games are nonsensical drudgery and it's frustrating.
Most RPGs get lots of the details right. Panzer Dragoon Saga gets just about all of the details right. I'm convinced it's the perfect RPG (for me, anyway). The problem is that some RPGs flaunt their failures to hit the sweet spots. Like Final Fantasy. I used to be a fan, but these days they are the most difficult for me to sit down and play. Almost all the FF games are nonsensical drudgery and it's frustrating.
-
General Chaos
- 128-bit
- Posts: 696
- Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:51 pm
- Location: Toronto
Case in point: The World Ends with You for the DS. I don't care how "innovative" the play mechanics are; the characters are just far too obnoxious for me to stomach.black flag nc wrote:I agree with most of what you say. The reason I can't get into more RPGs is the heavy anime influence. It brings wimpy, whiney "heroes", nonsensical dialogue, and silly cutscenes.
I also share many of the sentiments reflected in this thread. I was once deeply invested in the JRPG genre and have since lost the patience for them--and this coming from someone who loves good micromanagement.
I’ve lost patience for the exhaustingly cliché plot-lines and the contrived dialogue as well as the aforementioned obnoxious characters. Why is nearly every JRPG avatar now a prepubescent boy with bleached hair and a penchant for hybrid armor-swim trunks and a faux fur cut-off jean jacket vest? (Okay, I swear I’ve seen that exact thing in at least one JRPG).
The core mechanics of the genre don’t bother me AS much, but there are definitely flaws, many of them stemming from unrewarded tedium. I don’t mind tedious chores in a game (I love harvest moon) as long as they make sense and are met with a worthwhile reward. It seems that the repetitious battles in JRPGS result in little more than small amounts of experience and a neon yellow mesh knapsack full of jelly beans that somehow cure (or is it heal?) wounds. At least in “hack and slash” RPGs like Diablo there is the added incentive of “uber loot” to keep you grinding.
I don’t want to come across as being too hard on JRPGs though, and in fairness there are some exceptions to these shortcomings that I personally still find refreshing and entertaining. Not surprisingly though, most that make this list are not pure RPGs. I still go back to tactical RPGs like FF Tactics, Ogre Battle, Dragon Force and, of course, Shining Force. Engaging battle systems have also helped a lot (though they don’t alleviate problems on their own) and the Tales series is proof of this. I actually enjoy Radiant Mythology for the PSP for the reasons that many reviewers dislike it. It doesn’t even really bother with a story and grinding is rewarded with loot drops that can actually be used for crafting and upgrading weapons that make your characters look cooler and fight better.
Then there are games like Monster Hunter that aren’t really RPGs, but they have some serious customization akin to RPGs. These keep my interest far more because they cut out the tedium of a bad story and don’t apologize for giving the player what s/he wants: battles, customization, and ample rewards for difficult battles that require both strategy and skill.
Then there are those few RPGs like the Mother series that are just genuinely funny (and not just because they’re so bizarre). In my opinion, these RPGs can get away with a lot more, and seem to remain fresh because the developers realize how nonsensical the JRPG can be at times, poking fun of this fact within the game itself.
So in conclusion, I don’t know what I just ranted about in the past seven paragraphs, but I’ve talked myself into wanting to go play some of the games I mentioned, and just as many that I didn’t.
Perhaps I’ll continue some of these thoughts later. This is a good thread.