It wasn't much, but you know I could play that role

[vovat]

Continuing with what's apparently my theme of the week, I'm sure I've mentioned many times how I've been a fan of role-playing video games since playing Tunnels of Doom on the Texas Instruments 99/4A. I like them partially because of my interest in fantasy, and partially because, as someone who sucks at action games, it's cool that there's a game genre where all you generally have to do is choose options from a menu (although RPG's have begun incorporating more action elements over the years). Also, if one part of a game is too hard, you can level up instead of just trying it over and over with the exact same amount of power. Not that levelling up isn't tedious, but it seems to have grown less so. Each of the four Dragon Warrior games for the NES seemed to require increasingly less wandering around and fighting random monsters to build up experience. I haven't played most of the recent Final Fantasy games, but the ones I have appear to have the characters level up with pretty much every battle. In the next one, you'll probably increase a level simply by walking forward slightly.

Here are a few thoughts I have about the RPG genre in general:

• The typical way of keeping track of when a character dies is through hit points, a system that probably originated with Dungeons & Dragons. Really, though, when you get right down to it, it doesn't make much sense. Most of the attacks in your typical RPG would kill someone instantly, or at least injure them profusely. But that wouldn't make for a very fun game, would it? It's even weirder when they mix in more modern weapons, and being shot with a machine gun or missile launcher isn't much more damaging than anything else.
  
  
• Speaking of which, I really do prefer the quasi-medieval sword-and-sorcery worlds of the traditional RPG to more modern-looking ones. I remember hearing that FF9 was an intentional throwback to this kind of world after the more technologically advanced ones of the previous two games. I've never played FF8, but 7 was kind of an odd mixture, with swords and shotguns being used pretty much interchangeably, and cars existing but your characters riding Chocobos anyway. I guess the FF series always kind of leaned in this direction, though. Even the first one had robots, including the infamous and elusive WarMech, although they were apparently all remnants of a fallen civilization. Anyway, aside from stylistic issues, the idea of characters walking around from place to place and running into a lot of random monsters kind of seems out of place in a world with planes, trains, and automobiles. It's like a complaint I remember seeing about the Star Wars films: that, with the advanced technology they have, they're still using infantry to fight battles. For that matter, some Oz fans (including me) have had problems with John R. Neill's introduction of Scalawagons for a similar reason. But then, when you get down to it, I suppose they wouldn't normally have the freeway run to a monster-infested cave that's rumored to contain some kind of mystic armor, would they?
  
  
• While I'm on the subject of transportation, I've always liked it when games introduced new vehicles or animals you could ride. Dragon Warrior IV was the first of that series to bring in a wagon that your party could use. I kind of have to wonder why you can't run the wagon over some of the smaller monsters (those wheels would have to do some damage, right?), but RPG characters are so rigid in their thinking that they can only fight with items specifically identified as weapons. They'd never make it in prison. :P It seems to be an established rule in the FF series that monsters never attack when you're riding a Chocobo, although you never really learn why.
  
  
• One cool element to Tunnels of Doom that I can't recall seeing anywhere else is that you can negotiate with monsters by offering them gold. It's something I rarely actually did, mind you, but I liked that the option was there. The first Phantasy Star (the only one I've managed to finish) lets you talk to certain monsters, who will then say something short and trite, and then leave. I think it would be nice if they could make these non-fighting options somewhat more viable and interesting.
  
  
• Another idea I've always kind of liked is that of recruiting monsters for your own party. The FF series has summoned monsters, but I know some of the Dragon Quest games (not ones I've played) have characters who can tame monsters so they'll join you. That's pretty much the whole basis of Dragon Warrior Monsters, which comes across as a Pokémon rip-off even though I'm pretty sure the Dragon Quest series was experimenting with this idea before Pokémon made it into a huge franchise.
  
  
• One element I particularly enjoyed in Dragon Warrior IV is the part in Taloon's quest where you work as a shopkeeper. I'm sure there are simulations that let you do things like that throughout the entire game, but I like the idea of a game that's MOSTLY about questing and battling mythical creatures, but ALSO lets you do other, more mundane things every once in a while.
  

So, are people enjoying these general overview posts, or should I stick to writing about recent events in my own boring life? Your feedback is much appreciated. {g}

Comments

[shadarko.livejournal.com]

I say keep going, either I've played it before and like to reminse, or I never played it and now I know I should or not.

[nova-one.livejournal.com]

Wow! You get 10,000 points for mentioning WarMech! I was ready for him and took him down in about 10-15 minutes. I loved the challenge of the original Final Fantasy, even the limits of the spell casting (you get one Cure4 and that's it, and that sort of thing). Okay, I was playing the remake on Final Fantasy Origins (in the original difficulty, but with modern graphics and auto-retargeting), but still! Wow. It was way more fun than FFII. Thanks for the memories; that was some serious old-school fun.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I don't think I ever beat WarMech. I know I came across him at least once (since I had to try the Sky Castle about 10,000 times before beating Tiamat, the odds pretty much guaranteed it), but he (she? it?) kicked my ass.

I have the Game Boy Advance cartridge with the first two FF games, and I've won FF2, but not the Soul of Rebirth bonus thing that you can play afterwards. I thought the idea that you gain experience by actually doing things (fighting, using magic, etc.) instead of just building up everything by killing monsters was an interesting one, but apparently the designers didn't think it worked well enough. And yeah, I think FF1 was more involved than FF2, although 2 did introduce a plot concept that would be used to better effect in future games.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this post. Especially since I'm another big FF fan. Speaking of monsters and things, I'm designing an RPG where you can summon legendary creatures (like the Phoenix, because, well, there IS only one) and gods as well as recruit enemy monsters and armies to your party. You can have a max of 20 of each monster type or warrior/mage type, and I'm still figuring out how many characters you can have in your party during battles. Probably a small amount for random battles and a larger, unlimited (?) amount for boss battles. Ideally, I would like the game to be a mix of Age of Empires and Final Fantasy--you battle monsters along paths, but you also develop your own city.

If you want to know more, just ask.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I know that both Dragon Warrior III and Breath of Fire 2 had cities that grew up during the course of the game, and you could influence how it developed in the latter, but you still didn't have that much control over it. I think an RPG that mixed in actual city-building simulation would be an interesting idea.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of building a city, especially if you're going to be a character that has major influence on the world anyway. The reason for the city-building in my game is that, in this universe, magicians are like the city elders, they are each assigned to a town or village to watch over. One of the quests in the game is ridding an abandoned palace full of demons to start your own town.

I enjoy devolping a city in an RPG because you should be immersed in every aspect of the world when roleplaying. There should be something more strategic and satisfying than just taking turns against monsters.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

In truth, a lot of what are termed "role-playing games" don't involve that much actual role-playing. You don't really get into the characters' heads, just occasionally give them commands. And the amount of control you have over, say, the Light Warriors in FF1 isn't that much more than you do over Pac-Man; it's just done with text-based menus instead of frantic button-and-joystick-pushing.