Lady Bird
Matsuno's Goebbels
In this thread, it was posted that the US patent office awarded a patent to Square Enix for an action RPG battle system invented by FFXV's director (Tabata) and one of his battle directors.
Although there is no confirmation to which game it might be from, the document available describes what it seems to be FFXV's combat system and its very divisive "one-button" philosophy, based on everything we know of it so far.
Considering we have very few concrete details about FFXV's battles, and noticing how deep this "patent" seems to tie with it, I felt it was worth reading and analyzing it a bit. There's some interesting notes that shows us the director's worries and solutions for several issues, and if what is written trully is the base design for FFXV's system, then it sheds some light about its control input and level of customisation.
ANALYSIS
Basic Overview
"Gambit" System
The images available show a structured system where attack methods and positional conditions are set up in a way that greatly resembles FFXII's gambit system. On the right side, you have types of actions (Boomerang, Spell A, Spell B, etc). On the left side, you have conditions based on character's positioning (how close or far they are). Those "gambits" are priotized exactly as they were in FFXII: the higher the row, the higher the priority.
Several examples were listed for positional conditions and attack methods.
When you press the Attack Button, the game verifies your position, picks the correct "gambit" for it, and the attack method attached to the gambit is executed.
More details
Personal thoughts
Assumption: If the attack method tables (the "gambits") can verify if the enemy is facing the character or not, then we can assume that this might have a strategical importance.
The idea that I'm getting so far for this combat system, is that a system similar to FFXII's gambits determines which action is available with the Attack button, based on the player's positioning (and thus, under the player's direct control), where it then must be manually triggered by the player.
Seems like battles will unfold in the following way:
PRE-BATTLE
1. A "gambit" system determines the actions (customisable) that are available under specific positional conditions (also customisable).
MID-BATTLE
2. You manually position yourself to have access to the actions that you want to have acess to (based on the gambits).
3. You manually trigger said actions by pressing the attack button.
4. You can open a menu and change your "gambit" setups.
While at the surface it should play and feel like a (simplified) action RPG, it also resembles traditional FF combat where actions were mostly executed with a single confirm button and the arrow pad/ analog sticks, except that now the "menu" is the entire battlefield, so to say, and with pre-defined by a gambit system beneath it.
Although there is no confirmation to which game it might be from, the document available describes what it seems to be FFXV's combat system and its very divisive "one-button" philosophy, based on everything we know of it so far.
Considering we have very few concrete details about FFXV's battles, and noticing how deep this "patent" seems to tie with it, I felt it was worth reading and analyzing it a bit. There's some interesting notes that shows us the director's worries and solutions for several issues, and if what is written trully is the base design for FFXV's system, then it sheds some light about its control input and level of customisation.
ANALYSIS
Basic Overview
- Different offensive actions (called "attack methods") become available when certain "positional conditions" are met (your positioning in the battlefield, and in relation to other characters or monsters);
- Thus, the player can determine which action they wish to execute by positioning themselves in the right place;
- All attack methods are executed this way by the press of a single button: the one attached to Attack.
- The goal for this is to streamline button input complexity, making a single Attack button the trigger for most kinds of offensive actions, so that beginners can enjoy combat immediately, while preserving decision making and choice that advanced RPG players would expect from the genre.
"Gambit" System
The images available show a structured system where attack methods and positional conditions are set up in a way that greatly resembles FFXII's gambit system. On the right side, you have types of actions (Boomerang, Spell A, Spell B, etc). On the left side, you have conditions based on character's positioning (how close or far they are). Those "gambits" are priotized exactly as they were in FFXII: the higher the row, the higher the priority.
Several examples were listed for positional conditions and attack methods.
- "Nearest from player character", "Nearest from allied character", "Farthest from (...)", "In contact with (...)", etc. FFXII had some gambits like that, too, but this versions expands from it, to the point that it can determine if characters are within 3m or 10m of distance of each other, or if enemies are facing the character or not (you can attack enemies from the front or from the back).
- "Close attack with sword", "Distant attack with boomerang", "Attack Spell B", etc. (I assume that when pressing the button to attack, if the character is far from the enemy, will make the character automatically switch to/ usa a ranged weapon, or at least if specified in a gambit-ish system.)
When you press the Attack Button, the game verifies your position, picks the correct "gambit" for it, and the attack method attached to the gambit is executed.
More details
- Targetting enemies is automatic by default (based on priotized gambits). For example, If your higher priority gambit is using Spell A against a foe within 3m of you, and you press the Attack button exactly when there's a foe within that range, the game will automatically target that foe.
- Pressing R and L buttons allows you to manually target and priotize targets, where the game will then pick the highest priority gambit you have that can be used for that target.
- This system applies both to allied characters controlled by the AI, and the player character with manual input. So you can have allied characters only do certain actions if the player character is near them.
- This system can be customised before and during the battle, through a menu.
- New positional conditions can be obtained through the game.
- New attack methods can be obtained through the game, whenever the player equips new items, learns new skills, etc.
- The number of attack method/ gambit rows can be expanded/ obtained through the game.
- While setting up positional conditions, the system will automatically filter the number of actions to those that only make sense. For example, it'll be impossible to set up a close-ranged attack that triggers if you are far from the enemy.
- There's the possibility to switch to a more manual input mode, where attacks can be attached to several buttons.
Personal thoughts
Assumption: If the attack method tables (the "gambits") can verify if the enemy is facing the character or not, then we can assume that this might have a strategical importance.
The idea that I'm getting so far for this combat system, is that a system similar to FFXII's gambits determines which action is available with the Attack button, based on the player's positioning (and thus, under the player's direct control), where it then must be manually triggered by the player.
Seems like battles will unfold in the following way:
PRE-BATTLE
1. A "gambit" system determines the actions (customisable) that are available under specific positional conditions (also customisable).
MID-BATTLE
2. You manually position yourself to have access to the actions that you want to have acess to (based on the gambits).
3. You manually trigger said actions by pressing the attack button.
4. You can open a menu and change your "gambit" setups.
While at the surface it should play and feel like a (simplified) action RPG, it also resembles traditional FF combat where actions were mostly executed with a single confirm button and the arrow pad/ analog sticks, except that now the "menu" is the entire battlefield, so to say, and with pre-defined by a gambit system beneath it.
