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Original post by sunandshadow Was persona 2 graphically and in game design better than personal 1? Because I just attempted to play persona 1 recently and it sucked.
I never played persona 1, but I saw some screen shots and I would say yes. It has a very interesting story, that begins with a reporter looking into a recent string of serial murders involving a criminal called the joker, who started out as an urban legend, according to rumor if you call your own cell phone and say the name of the person you hate they will be killed by the joker.
It also has a good combat system that gave you the option to interact with the demons and try to illicite aid from them rather then killing them.
----------------------------------------------------- Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades Current Design project: Ambitions Slave
Vagrant Story was okay, but it used the skill atrophy system that I''ve always hated. I also didn''t like the weapon modification system, because there was no justufication for it. Why is it that using this axe to kill wolves makes that axe kill them more effectively than this other axe? If it''s my skill then it should be transferrable, and if it''s the weapon''s skill then there should be some metaphysical explanation for why a lump of iron has a thirst for animal blood.
i think i''ve good a good idea what to include and not to include:
NOT TO INCLUDE:
9999 ultima spells. a phlethora of spells, but 99% of them are useless. way too many random encounters. random mazes. class switcheroos Stuff that shouldn''t ever happen, such as lowly enemies carrying bagfuls of gold.
TO INCLUDE: focus on character development, and not have easily maxed characters. spells that have strengths and weaknesses, i.e. there is no massive crushing spell that destroys all.
UNSURE: overworld maps
what about story development? I want to avoid at all costs cliches. I want an original story, so what are things that are cut and dry?
Here''s stuff i can think of: 1. Oh nohz! There''s this 1337 mage that''s going to kill us all! 2. The inevitable "Wake up!" scene in most RPG games I''ve played. 3. Most RPGs I''ve played involve teenagers as the main character, and they gain super 1337 experience and kill all these enemeies.
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Original post by Iron Chef Carnage I also didn''t like the weapon modification system, because there was no justufication for it. Why is it that using this axe to kill wolves makes that axe kill them more effectively than this other axe? If it''s my skill then it should be transferrable, and if it''s the weapon''s skill then there should be some metaphysical explanation for why a lump of iron has a thirst for animal blood.
Some are dull some are sharp. Some weapons can be used more effectively in certain situations. However if the difference is like +10 and +100.... :\
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Original post by Cipher3D 3. Most RPGs I've played involve teenagers as the main character, and they gain super 1337 experience and kill all these enemeies.
Oh how could I forget that one, that's my biggest pet peeves. C'mon, all heroes are teenagers...and they are only seven of them, start as newbies who can't even hold a weapon, on a journey to kill the worst enemy in the world? What are the other 1 million ppl doing? Walk around and tell the current weather condition? Where are the 40-year-old knight veterans who have had more battles than these teenagers?
Final Fantasy is thre series that began my RPG career and set me onto wanting to make games so they mean a lot in my history. ive played 1,4,6,7,8,9 and tactics. also from square ive played both chrono games trigger being the better ,parasite eve, and xenogears.
The systems envolved in these games for combat all have some flaws and some cool bits.as a developer id recognize that FF is generally the standard fo console RPG''s and try to look at these battle systems and see what i liked about them and what doesnt seem to work. many people have stated most of the items already but one thing id like to emphasize is character balance: 6,7,8 and 9 are all too easy because everyone can learn most of the attacks and spells, thats almost like having 3 of the same person in battle, which is pointless. the characters need to compliment and deter each other. such as having a larger powered fighter taking on the larger enemies, or the smaller mage sitting back casting spells, or the itermedate guy running around shooting enemies. id rather see sparse strategic battles as opposed to multiple "mock" battles. the AI in the FF series is generally weak. also make sure things like ff8''s junction drain + counter attack or ff7''s counter mime + knights of the round + hp absorb kinda stuff cant happen.
one plus for the battle system in ff8 though is that enemies leveled with you so that it isnt always getting easier. the chrono trigger battle arena idea is my favorite because its much cooler to just use the area your in w/o having to wait for longer battle loading. make the enviroments interactive too.
story wise try to be inovative if not in plot, in storytelling.
i was always a little annoyed that enemies levelled with me in games like FFVIII and FFT. Why am I out there lifting weights and running miles if the Russian team gets faster and stronger when I do? I''m not going to buff up my enemies if I ca avoid it.
In Final Fantasy Tactics, if you tokk a break from the quest at hand a jacked some of your characters, the enemies in random encounters would always be as strong as your strongest character. You can only have five people out there at a time, and so if you have a level 76 character and some level 20 characters you haven''t used for a while, those guys will NEVER get back into the action, because just having them on the team is enough to doom you.
Don''t do that. I''d rather see levelling made less important, like making a level up not be worth as much, than see such a huge gulf between your active players and the benchwarmers.
In regards to the SAVE TEH WORLD! :D! plots, its not that they''re bad, just I feel their either too epic in scale, or not enough. For instance, in how many FF games can you be fighting dillegently to protect the world from disaster, but most NPCs still have no idea who you are? If all of the game''s events have occured in a conspiratorial nature, how come the game doesn''t have an atmosphere to suggest that it''s all a conspiracy? And then from the other side, if the whole world got trashed in the process, how come the average NPC still doesn''t know whats going on? I supposed I''m bitching about inconsistancies, but its those consistancies that makes the whole package work. Take Xenogears for instance. Everyone knew who Bart was after the rescue of Aveh. And in Disc 2, Fei was well known in the nothern Shevat snow city.
Now, concerning the Leveling process. I suppose back in the day, it was the best method we had for indicating a progression in strength. For some games today, it still works. But the trick is I''d like to feel in control of the process. BOF5:DQ, I could assign the Bonus XP as I saw fit. .hack//infection, I can pick which characters to take to what fields for levelling up. Bearing that in mind, if the game is linear and I just accumulate EXP during the course of the game, find a way to give me some hand in what happens. For instance, FF6, FF7, FF9, and FFX all gave me some hand in the process by letting me pick which skills I would enable. If I''m just naturally getting stronger and the enemies are just naturally getting strong, Progress Quest, bad.
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Original post by Iron Chef Carnage i was always a little annoyed that enemies levelled with me in games like FFVIII and FFT. Why am I out there lifting weights and running miles if the Russian team gets faster and stronger when I do? I''m not going to buff up my enemies if I ca avoid it.
In Final Fantasy Tactics, if you tokk a break from the quest at hand a jacked some of your characters, the enemies in random encounters would always be as strong as your strongest character. You can only have five people out there at a time, and so if you have a level 76 character and some level 20 characters you haven''t used for a while, those guys will NEVER get back into the action, because just having them on the team is enough to doom you.
Don''t do that. I''d rather see levelling made less important, like making a level up not be worth as much, than see such a huge gulf between your active players and the benchwarmers.
Hmm... this is why I *LIKED* FF8''s system. The enemy''s level was determined by the average of your party, so the benchwarmers (with some help from Mr. lvl76) weren''t screwed. It also made levelling much less important because you''re always fighting peers. In other FF games it was rare to not be either over or under levelled. As for not wanting to make them stronger, then don''t run in a circle for an hour levelling up. "It hurts when I do this" "So don''t do that..."
As for plots, FF6 was the last FF plot I enjoyed. I remember, I hadn''t seen any of FF8 until earlier this year, then it came up in a discussion that it had a great openning. So I watched it, I was very impressed. Then I asked "So, why were they fighting?". Why were they fighting? Because they''re a couple of whiny teenagers (I know almost nobody who''s 18 and as immature as them). FF4 and FF6 were much more adult, not in the "rated R" sense, but in that they treated situations as adults. I didn''t cry when Aeris died (didn''t really phase me, except to ask why they couldn''t use a Pheonix Down...) ; I came much closer to crying when Celes wouldn''t talk to Locke. "Teenage mellow-drama" would be my #1 "bad final fantasy element", at least in the more recent ones.
