RPG thoughts: January Blogging Meme

[owlmoose]

Today's question comes from lassarina: "What one evolution in RPG gameplay in the last x years (you can define X) do you most enjoy, and what one evolution do you most dislike?"

As it happens, I'm not that broadly versed in RPGs. Probably 80% of the RPG games I've played since I started seriously gaming in 2001 are Final Fantasy games, and most of the rest are BioWare. So it's not like I have a large basis for comparison. (Aside from these two series/publishers, I play mostly puzzle, platform, and casual games.) And the FF games and BioWare games are quite different from each other, which makes it difficult to compare them. But a couple of thoughts.

Probably the evolution in RPGs I am enjoying the most is the move toward voiced protagonists. I generally connect more with the Final Fantasies that include full voice acting, and in Dragon Age 2, I found that Hawke having a voice added many more dimensions to the character. It makes their interactions with party members and NPCs feel more natural. And I'm sure I wouldn't have enjoyed the Mass Effect series nearly as much without the fantastic voice acting of Jennifer Hale as Commander Shepard. I'm sure it's a matter of taste -- I know some people prefer a near-tabula rasa protagonist, like the Warden -- but I find I prefer my player character to be a character, or at least the outline of one.

If that doesn't count as gameplay ;) then I vote for the emergence of casual mode. Sometimes, I just don't want to be stuck on the same boss battle for five million years. I want to hack and slash and move on with the story. So the ability to turn the game down to Casual, then bump it back up to Normal when I'm ready, is a lifesaver.

As for evolutions I don't like? That's harder to pick. Sometimes I miss the turn-based battles of Final Fantasy X -- the ability to move through battles at my own pace was so important to me as a gaming newbie. But everyone is moving away from that, including the FF series. This isn't a 100% dislike, though, because I also really enjoy some aspects of more modern system (I loooooved Gambits in FFXII). So I guess I can't really pick on any general trends I don't care for -- it really depends on the game, and on how things are specifically implemented.

Comments

[sarasa_cat]

Going beyond Bioware's games, I like how story-based games in general are far more likely these days to allow the player to select difficulty level. This opens up a much wider range of game to me because some play styles just aren't my thing and sometimes I only want to play for story while moving through as quickly as possible. Although, for fantasy-style RPGs like the DA series I usually want my nightmare play-through too.

Unrelated: can you recommend a few good puzzle games? Preference for iOS because that's my primary casual gaming platform, but I own just about every other platform/OS under the sun so any good puzzler reco is welcome.

[owlmoose]

The nice thing about difficulty levels is that you can change them. So if you feel like a Nightmare run one day, and just zipping through to get story another day, you can. I would LOVE to be able to change the difficulty level in the Final Fantasy games. There are some stupidly hard boss battles in that series -- and also some that are so easy that they're a little silly.

At the moment, I'm replaying the Phoenix Wright trilogy, a mystery game where you play as a lawyer and uncover evidence and catch people making false statements at trial. It's a little silly at times, but it's fun, the characters are charming, and I find the puzzles to be a reasonable level of difficulty most of the time. Originally was a GBA/DS game, but the first three games at least have been ported to iOS, and you can play the first couple of trials for free. Also, have you played Braid? It's a puzzle platformer that does some really neat things with storytelling and time? We have it on PS3, and I think it's also on PC and XBox Live. I will think about others.

[sarasa_cat]

I've wanted to play the Phoenix Wright games. So happy about all of the old games that are coming over to iOS.

I've been meaning to play Braid but … forgot what it was called. Now I won't forget.

Whenever you come across other casual games or fun puzzle games that are more involved/story-based, let me know!

[pete_thomas]

If I may interject, I would also recommend Puzzle Craft, Pixel This!, Alpha Zen, and Triple Town. :)

[sarasa_cat]

Sorry for the long delay in my reply -- work dragged me away from the internet.

These recos look very interesting! Thank you. :D

[pete_thomas]

No problem. I hope you find as much joy in them as I have. :)

[caramarie]

but I find I prefer my player character to be a character, or at least the outline of one.

I totally agree. Compared with my Hawkes, I don't have nearly such a strong sense of who my Wardens were. Even if the extra dialogue options you get in DAO supposedly mean you get to shape the Warden more. The voice acting just adds so much.

Plus it means you actually get to give the inspiring speeches! I always felt a little pissed off when Alistair got to give the speeches, when the Warden was the one in charge ...

[owlmoose]

I am very attached to my Wardens also, but I had to create most of their personalities from scratch. So it's different. Hawke was more like a separate person that I spent the game getting to know. And in a game, I think I like that better (even if overall I preferred DA:O to DA2).

[lassarina]

I also love casual mode, which is funny given that my favourite FFs tend to be the hardest ones and also lol Atlus games. But still. There's a time and a place.

[owlmoose]

Yep. Especially when I'm playing Dragon Age Origins for the, uh, fifth time (and I know this is nothing compared to many of my friends) just because I want to see how it plays out for a different origin. I just do not need to be squished in the Deep Roads another fifty thousand times. :)

[stealth_noodle]

Huh, I didn't realize that the Warden doesn't have a voice. I think I had some vague expectation of more Jennifer Hale.

I loved FFXII's Gambit system, too, and would love to see it used again in the series. The whole reason I still haven't gotten around to Revenant Wings yet is that it doesn't have the battle system I wish it did!

[owlmoose]

The Warden sort of has a voice, for battle calls and stuff, but yeah, the dialogue isn't voiced. And no Jennifer Hale :( at least not that I've noticed. I do like Jo Wyatt, the VA for fem!Hawke, quite a bit, but she's not Jennifer Hale. (Then again, who is?)

[stealth_noodle]

In a perfect world, I would have the option of being voiced by Jennifer Hale. Everyone would come to my conference presentations!

[owlmoose]

Oh wow. I would so use a Jennifer Hale button. Can you imagine using it to run meetings, or shut down noisy students???

[pete_thomas]

I, too, was a fan of the Mass Effect series where selecting an answer wasn't this understood "you just spoke" thing. The character customization was amazing (have you ever seen my ME character? He looks STRIKINGLY like me) but adding the voice was just icing on the cake. I also liked that his voice changed based on the mood (anger, empathy, compassion, and firm are just some of my favorites).

My ME Character: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=702485591728&l=8aa2e53003

Actual Me: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=752163406988&l=dcafd659e9

It's insane. I had so much fun making him too.

[owlmoose]

Heh, nice. My Jane Shepard looks basically nothing like me, but I had fun making her anyway. :)