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Dragon Quest XI Battle System Details
- Thread starter Kenzodielocke
- Start date
I'm willing to give semi-DQX controls a shot as long as it doesn't fall into lazy MMO design. There's a lot more freedom to have interesting encounters and mechanics without having to factor in balancing around other players, network lag, etc.
I would still prefer classic turn-based since it's one of the most recognizable traits of nearly every game in the IP.
IDK, I think balancing around AI hamstrings MMO-like design more than balancing around other players, personally. Either the AI doesn't have to play by the same rules as you, it messes things up with being "dumb," or the mechanics are quite weakly tuned and/or incredibly light.
killatopak
Member
I really want the switch version to be the same as the 3ds version. I want to play both ways but I don't think I want to play on a 3ds anymore. The hardware sucks in 2017. Most likely I'll just play the ps4 version and not double dip on switch if they're the same.
Just word the title as an anti-FF thread, that would take it a long way.God. I wanted to make a thread about this lol. But a) DQ threads don't really have legs here and b) threads I make certainly don't have legs.
QisTopTier
XisBannedTier
I'm not one to judge, but personally I wouldnt bone my games
I care less about whether my AI teammates make decisions mid-turn instead of the start, because that's a DQ staple at this point and the de-facto "easy mode", or whether their AI is suboptimal - I'm more concerned with all boss fights being arenas and watching their health go from 100% to 0% while all being tuned to last six to eight minutes and gameplay involved avoiding circles on the ground.
Because I can get that elsewhere and it doesn't actually add anything meaningful to the DQ formula.
Square2015
Member
Turn-based? Yes! Thank you. It's nice to see an RPG series that isn't automatically hopping onto the action-based route.
The Dude
Member
I dont either, I only make the exception for dragon quest
Okay.
I'm just saying if all the free-movement adds is reducible to being locked in AI mode, then it adds nothing and takes something away. (From this, it sounds as if you can maybe play it like a standard turn based battle, if that's the fixed mode).
Especially with a mixed turn-based/real time movement system where you aren't even getting the "advantage" of real-time action combat.
If it adds positional thinking, patches of bad, patches of good, distinct additional monster phases, and more advanced mechanics like you do see in MMOs, then the AI wouldn't be able to handle it at a very high level, so the tendency is to make them oddly resistant to splash damage, have only the simplest MMO mechanics, and make things like doing the positionals very optional and either overpowered or inconsequential. So you'd end up, or at least tend to end up, with half-assed MMO battles. Having enjoyed MMOs with competent party members, that feels kind of hollow in these MMO-light JRPGs.
I mean, I'm probably overthinking this because DQ tends to be loosely balanced, but at the same time I also can have control of my entire party in most entries if I so wish. That is valuable to me. IDK. I haven't played DQX.
For all I know it is no issue at all, but it has been for me with, say, Xenoblade.
Sure. But the PS4 version's combat doesn't sound like my cup of tea. I prefer my DQ as traditional as can be.
I think we're on the same wavelength, we're just worried about different aspects of injecting MMO gameplay into a single player game.
People are saying things like "PS4's combat sounds like it works this way or another way" and I admit that I didn't help by bringing up DQ10/FF12 comparisons, but I want to make it clear that we only actually know the following for absolute certain:
These are the only facts we have. Anything else is speculation. Info in Jump is typically sparse. We'll get more details next week.
- PS4 offers two modes: free movement mode and auto camera mode.
- Next to the free movement mode screenshot, it says: "you can enjoy battles from different perspectives by freely moving your characters."
- Next to the auto camera mode screenshot, it says: "you can see the cool actions by your party and monsters."
- The blue text midway on the page says: "it's the traditional command selection battles, of course!!"
- The shot below it says: "every battle uses the traditional command selection formula"
These are the only facts we have. Anything else is speculation. Info in Jump is typically sparse. We'll get more details next week.
Yeah, I'm aware I'm speculating. Don't mean to come across as being sure anything I'm saying will be the case.
From that it sounds like there are several possibilities.
It does sound like fixed camera/free movement are disjoint modes, but that could just be along the lines they give: perspective on the battle.
If that's all it is, then a traditional turn based system could even be in place in free movement for all we know, even if it seems strange.
Or they could have an MMO-light system in place but that would seem to only go with free movement. Even if they do, perhaps you can switch between characters. Perhaps you can queue actions. Perhaps the game stops to let you give commands to everyone or alternatively has AI companions. Moreover, MMO-light can take various things from MMO.
Also, just because you have two modes that does not mean you don't have to/aren't pushed to use one or the other in various situations. Perhaps you can switch between them on the fly, i.e. set up your positions and then lock camera. Perhaps it is an out of battle menu option. Perhaps locking camera resets position to traditional positioning.
I just mean to be thinking about what I hope it does and doesn't do, not saying "it'll do this, that's bad," and "it'll do this, that's good."
But yeah, it is good we'll have more information soon by that pattern and perhaps I'm fretting/musing too much on something we'll hear more about soon.
Edge_Maverick
Member
Considering every other character you are not controlling look static in the screenshots (not doing any sort of action), I think it'll be like "Trails" battle system. You can freely move your character during a turn, then execute a command. Then it goes to enemy or another party member turn, just like the old and known "turn order".
Skittzo0413
Member
This makes me think it's purely a cosmetic/aesthetic choice then, which doesn't affect combat like it did in DQX. I'm not sure how I'd feel about that, but I guess I'd probably just ignore it and use the auto-camera mode anyway.
Yeah. But "do cool things" is sort of the lowest hanging fruit that'll be advertised and not the system mechanics. Could totally be just this never the less.
Edit: my point is, I could see these screen captions whether or not there's something deeper.
Megalosaro
Banned
Horii doesn't give a shit about corporate politics. He just gets shit done.
Truly, we don't deserve him
Teletraan1
Banned
So having never played DQX does this mean the battle system is still command based but you can move your characters around the battle. What we don't know is if the party is handled by an AI or not. Hoping for not, or at least the option to not. Nothing makes turn based more boring and imo is the whole reason turn based has gone the way of the birds for the most part. Taking away of control of your party members actions makes the entire system fall apart into boredom.
When you use AI in DQ, you still control your own character, you know. That's more like in real life, where you also only directly command your own actions.
Also, you can change the directives for the AI characters during battle. So you can set the general direction. Again, that is very much like reality where you would also lead a party with such directives, and leave the interpretation to the individual members.
I don't know why for some people, role playing game must entail playing several roles at once. So it's boring to be just one person? And having to negotiate with your party members, who have their own minds?