How to make a turn-based RPG fantastic
The turn-based RPG genre is one of the most loved and hated genres out there, and for good reason. The games tend to have epic stories, beautiful cinematic cutscenes, and characters that you can never forget. Still though, these RPGs tend to have several pitfalls that make people stay clear of the genre.
Before we talk about what can be done to make the genre better, let’s spend a moment and define an RPG. As most of you already know, RPG stands for role-playing game, which means that you assume the role of one of the game’s characters. If that was the only qualifier though, nearly every single game out there would be considered an RPG.
RPGs do have you assume the role of a character, but it has become far more than what its name applies. Games of this genre focus on storytelling, exploration, and experience. They take you to a fictional world where magic and mythical creatures are the norm. These games have you taking on quests and exploring a whole new world. These games suck you into the world they has created in a very immersive way that is unique to the genre.
Sounds like a pretty solid genre right? Certainly the genre has its popularity, but it is not without its flaws.
Improve turn-based combat
Let’s start off with the biggest issue with the genre, turn-based battle systems. Let me go on record as saying that I actually don’t mind this mechanic. In a genre that focuses on strategy and thinking your way through battle, turn-based systems instead of button mashing are certainly appealing, but they do get tiring and repetitive. After a while the idea that lightning beats water no longer seems strategic and just becomes boring.
And that’s the interesting side of turn based combat. There are a lot of times where you will simply rely on your physical attacks, which takes no thought and isn’t any fun. Tap X, watch character run forward, swing sword, run back. This type of battling turns people away left and right.
What can be done? Well there are a number of solutions that have been tried. Certainly there is the action/RPG genre that allows you to have more control and, as the name implies, see more action. However, that’s a completely different approach. I don’t want to throw away the turn-based battle system, I want to perfect it.
Instead of simply having players choose the moves and watch the characters follow through, why not institute something more skill-based that affects how much damage your attack ends up inflicting. One of my favorite PS1 games was an RPG called Legend of the Dragoon. This RPG was turn-based, but after you chose what attack to use, an indicator appeared (much like in rhythm games) that required you to tap X at certain times to keep the attack going. This was an incredible addition to turn-based combat that made the battles far more entertaining and required much more attention.
I think you could add in a blocking and evading element like this to spice up battles even more. Keep the strategy, keep the turns, but add in a bit of skill and interaction to change up the dull pacing that is the current turn-based approach.
That is one way to spice up attacks, but what about the battle order? Far too often, games will have you simply take turns: you attack then the enemy attacks. Sure some introduce agility into the equation and allow the fastest character go first, but this is too simple and gets boring.
Solution? Replace PP with Speed Units. Instead of having every attack cost you PP or MP which limits the number of attacks, have every attack cost you speed units which determine your ranking in the attack order. For instance if there are 6 people battling and you use a huge attack, you are moved to the back of the line. If you use a smaller move that would use less speed units you may be moved somewhere in the middle of the pack.
The speed unit system may be difficult to visualize, but if you want to see it in action check out Hunter Island for iOS. The game’s use of speed units really made me actually think before attacking whereas in games like Pokemon I would just mindlessly use my most powerful moves knowing full well there wouldn’t be any repercussions.
Know when to silence characters
I am not a fan of silent protagonists in RPGs. I wrote up a long article on that not too long ago, so I won’t go into too much detail, but the main character needs a voice. It just makes for a better story when you can communicate through means other than telepathy.
However, it’s not just the main character’s voice RPGs should be concerned with. Playing through an RPG, you are bound to talk to both main and side characters as you explore the world. While you do, one thing is bound to stand out. These characters like to repeat themselves.
I understand that the developers can only put in so much dialogue in the game, but when you talk to a main character and he repeats the same lines over again, I am immediately pulled out of the game’s world. I would rather see the character go silent in some way. Whether it be a sigh, a grunt, or even just not being able to talk with that character again until there is something new to say, anything would be preferable to repeating the same lines.
Allow for a faster pace
RPGs are known for their vast worlds, beautiful stories, and incredible cut scenes. What they are not known for is moving fast. There are simple solutions to this problem that are seen in many RPGs, but for some reason some still eschew them.
The first solution: allow for a vehicle. Such a simple thing that goes overlooked by so many RPGs. Sure, games like Final Fantasy include the airship, which is nice, but doesn’t help you explore the land quickly enough. Every RPG needs to have something like the bike in Pokemon. Something that you can whip our of your inventory, bypass monsters, and move quickly to your next area. This is a necessity.
Perhaps even more important than the addition of a vehicle, RPGs need to allow you to skip, or at the very least fast forward through, cutscenes. If you have seen the clip, and you do not want to watch it again, you should be able to skip right through it. No more repeating the same intro clip to every summon. No more having to watch every ultimate move.
Just a quick press of the start button and you are back into the action. This seems like common sense, but too many games have forgotten to include it.
Keep things consistent
The more I play RPGs the more I realize that the world in the cutscenes operates under a different set of rules than that of the in-game world. One of the most common examples of this is that characters that die in battle can be brought back to life, but if they die in a cutscene you know it’s permanent. Or when you fight off legions of enemies that use guns to fight, but if you get a gun in your face during a cutscene, you are suddenly helpless.
So how do you fix this? Well there are a number of ways to explain in-battle deaths as faints, or explain that revivals are only effective before a certain amount of time passes. I don’t care what it is, but there should be something that explains why I can’t use a spell to bring back a character that dies in a cutscene. All I’m asking for is consistency.
Forget about customization
There isn’t much room for customization in RPGs. I know this may be an unpopular opinion to have nowadays, but I want you to hear me out. Take a moment and think of all of your favorite characters throughout all of your gaming history. Who comes to mind? My guess is that none of your favorites allowed for any customization, outside of perhaps the protagonist’s name.
Why is this? The ability to customize your character makes them by necessity more generic and therefore less memorable. That isn’t to say that the game won’t have memorable moments or a spectacular story, but rather the character itself will be less memorable. We are better off leaving the character design to the developers. It just makes for a better gaming experience.
Allow for customization
A big part of the RPG mechanic is gaining experience through battling and leveling up your characters. This is great and a lot of games do it really well. One way to perfect it, though, would be to allow the player to fully control what he/she wants to level up. If the player wants to focus the character’s growth on strength, let them. If they want to focus on magic, they should be allowed to do so. No more of this generic all around leveling up garbage that is in the typical RPG, I want to see more freedom in this process.
One decent example of this can be found in the sphere grid from Final Fantasy X. The grid did have you follow a path up until a point, so it was kind of a linear freedom. However, as you progressed in the game, you could take that character through other characters’ grids and build up different aspects at your leisure. This was incredibly well done, and I think as a whole the genre could learn from this type of leveling up.
These are just a couple ideas I have on how to improve the RPG genre. The games have always looked spectacular and told wonderfully creative stories, but the gameplay has gotten stale. Hopefully developers look to improve things in the future, but in the meantime what else would you like to see included to make the genre better? Let us know in the comments.
The post How to make a turn-based RPG fantastic appeared first on Games in Asia.
The post How to make a turn-based RPG fantastic appeared first on Games in Asia.
