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My Problem with RPGs:
I Realized I Don't Like the Genre as a Whole
By Bobby Bokista - 09.30.04
NOTE: I feel this is the solution to my previous articles "My RPG Problem" and "My RPG Problem Part 2"
The Realization
Over the past few years I've written two articles describing how I have a problem in which I own way too many Role-Playing Games and don't have enough time to play them all. This summer, something occurred to me that I hadn't thought. Digging deeper into my innermost thoughts, I've realized the root of my problem is that I actually don't really like RPGs.
Blasphemy, I know. "How can you not like RPGs?" you may ask. I have nothing against the genre as a whole nor can I say that I don't like a number of the games within the genre. I always assumed that since some of my favorite games were RPGs I was a huge RPG fan. So I went out and bought all those RPGs listed in my previous articles just based on the fact that they were RPGs. Since then I've added to the list of RPGs I own but haven't played a significant portion of. Here's a list of all those games:
- Suikoden III (played some)
- Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
- Final Fantasy VII (played some)
- Final Fantasy VIII (haven't opened)
- Final Fantasy IX (haven't opened)
- Final Fantasy X (played some)
- Final Fantasy Tactics (opened so that someone could borrow it)
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
- Final Fantasy Legend 2
- Final Fantasy
- Final Fantasy VI (SNES)
- Revelations: Demon Slayer (a horrible game)
- Pokemon Silver (played a tad)
- Golden Sun
- Golden Sun: The Lost Age
- Arc the Lad Collection
- Legend of Mana
- Wild Arms 2
- Wild Arms 3
So what's keeping me from playing these games? Firstly, I have to be in an "RPG Mood" to want to tackle one of these games. This mood rarely strikes (but when it does it strikes with fury). This fury is the only thing that gets me to actually finish an RPG. Else wise, I just get bored and put it aside. The feverish desire to finish a game only comes about when I'm in "the mood" and the game I'm playing is compelling. It is from here that I realized I don't really like RPGs in general. So I'll lay out my case for you and back up my points with the RPGs I actually enjoy.
I Like My Enemies On Screen
There is a long tradition of the unseen enemy in role-playing game. Pencil and paper RPGs obviously can't manifest visual representations of the enemy. You have to use your imagination when one confronts you and the effect is amplified by your imagination. The experience is derived from coming across an enemy and putting together the action in your mind. With video game RPGs, the random encounter system cuts off the imagination aspect of this argument. You come across enemies without seeing them, just like in pencil and paper role playing, but then are locked into a visual battle with them. The player is faced with unimaginative repetition. Take Final Fantasy X, for example. You fight the same groups of enemies over and over that are basically different only in color and strength. Bat Eyes, Flan, Bombs, enemies that require piercing, enemies that require speed... all of these are just grouped together in a very static way from battle to battle. "Oh look! It's snowy so here's some guys that look cold!" "Wait, it's a desert so here are some guys that look deserty."
"But Bobby", you say, "you love Chrono Trigger but all of those enemies are the same." Granted a good portion of the Chrono Trigger enemies are the same throughout the game, the differentiating factor is how they appear on screen. Walking around the worlds of Chrono Trigger the player sees how the enemies participate in their environment. The player even gets to fight with the enemy in that exact location on screen instead of cutting to a fight scene. I absolutely love this because I don't feel removed from the environment when encountering the enemies. It creates a unity of interaction on a universal plane. The medium of the video game caters to interaction through immersion. It's hard for me to feel immersed in a game if the gameplay feels fragmented.
"But Bobby," you say, "you love Chrono Cross but that has cut-away fight scenes!" That it does. The difference is in the way the enemies appear on screen before hand. Most of the time I'm making a conscious decision to enter into that second plane of gameplay. I often have a choice as to whether or not I'm going to battle or I know of it's impending existence (like when an enemy is chasing you or in the way of the path you must travel).
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| Chrono Trigger battles in the environment. |
Chrono Cross cut-away battle screen. |
Another game that does a great job of the transition between world-space and battle-space is Earthbound for the SNES. Enemies have physical manifestations in the world-space. Most often they will attack you when they see you, which makes sense considering you must be their enemy too. But if they know you're strong than them they will often times run away. It is then the player who takes the role of the aggressor (an interesting dynamic to say the least). The battle-space is one of the most unique in any RPG. Instead of a likeness-representative of the environment that most games have as their battle-space backgrounds, Earthbound instead employs abstraction. It's not even like the first Final Fantasy game where you at least get to see your characters in the battle. Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo are represented only by boxes of actions. Enemies are static images whose movement is represented by flashes. This sounds like it would be worse that any Final Fantasy game in terms of repetition, but instead it lets the player to use their imagination in order to participate. Whether vividly or unconsciously, the imagination works to engage the player in more than a strategic deployment of commands.
Abstract battle scene. Simple, yet highly effective.
Okay, enough about battling for now. I could probably write a whole essay on this, but I think I've made my argument clear. Now onto:
Gimme Me Something More
The RPGs I enjoy are often are designed with more than leveling up in mind. I'm not referring to straight side-quests or mini-games. While breeding a Gold Chocobo might be a task in itself it doesn't mean the game is multi-faceted. For an example of games that "gives something more" I'll turn to Suikoden I and II. Both games use random-encounters which I profess to dislike. The battle system itself can redeem this, though. Both Suikodens and even Final Fantasy X make fighting the battles more dynamic: The first because characters can attack at the same time (instead of one at a time) and duel-attacks; the second because of the ability to swap all party members in and out. But that was a little tangent... sorry.
Back to what I was saying. The Suikodens do something very unique: giving you a castle/town that develops based on your actions. By recruiting members (108 in total) to your cause your community develops. Recruit the blacksmith or a shopkeeper to open up their respective stores in your town. Recruit a farmer to work your garden or a fisherman to catch fish (duh), and then play mini-games based on their occupation. Suikoden II has a private investigator who will teach you more about other characters. Both games have libraries, requiring you to collect ancient books that can guide you through the game. The chef in Suikoden II will participate in "Iron Chef" type battles with other cooks from the country and it is the players job to get him recipies and ingredients to win. The necessity of building a strong community compells the player to become deeply involved in the game. I can't even imagine how cool it would be if Chrono Cross were to give you a place where all your party members would come together (although I wouldn't dare change the game if I could).
Gotta catch 'em all? That sounds like a good idea. Not only am I fighting to the finish in the Pokemon games, I'm also on a mission for something more. I'm compelled to participate in more than going though the motions to fight the bosses. In the Pokemon games the goal is to become a Pokemon master, not just to beat the Elite Four. Yes, Indigo Plateau is the culminating moment in the story, but it's not really a victory in the fullest sense of the goal to "catch 'em all". Enter "Unknown Dungeon", the final location and the home of Mewtwo. Now you can actually collect all of the Pokemon.
I love how this goal transcends the story. It's taking the RPG up a level in terms of gameplay. Too many RPGs are cut-and-dry story-driven generic-battle-system. The RPGs that leave a mark on my experience are the ones that are concerned with doing something unique. They're not just out to tell a story but rather to create wholeness in the experience.
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