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What makes a perfect RPG?

Walter Matthau

Walter Matthau

Member
Today I came across Rogue Galaxy for a little under $20 new and I passed because:

1) The price was more than I was accustomed paying for when it comes to games I only have a mild interest in.

and

2) I've come to the realization that the vast majority of RPGs I have played result in disappointment.

It seems like every RPG has some kind of tradeoff. One game will have amazing graphics and story, but will have hours of fetch quests and monotonous battles that you need to level up, but have no real strategy. Other games have amazing gameplay with just the right amount of challenge so the battles do not feel handed to you, yet the story and presentation are completely lacking.

My question to you is:

If you were given 100pts. to split between 4 categories (Story, Graphics, Sound, Gameplay), how would you divide the points to make your perfect RPG? What category is most important to you?


examples (graphics take release date into account):

Final Fantasy VI (completely balanced):

Story - 25
Graphics - 25
Sound - 25
Gameplay - 25

Phantom Brave (gameplay oriented):

Story - 20
Graphics - 17
Sound - 15
Gameplay - 48

Final Fantasy VII (presentation driven):

Story - 28
Graphics - 33
Sound - 24
Gameplay - 15
 
I honestly do not want some super complicated gameplay/stat/equipment/power-up system in my RPGs. I actually prefer something simple and traditional.
 
-interesting story
-rewarding sidequests
-good voice acting
-good battle system
-good OST
-traveling on world map

well that sums it up
 
for me, gameplay always come first for all games

Gameplay -> 35%
Story -> 35%
Graphic -> 15%
Sound ->15%
 
graphics aren't important and while once i always thought that character and story were important,i can't remember a recent rpg where i actualy cared about them,good music is nice to have but not essential so i guess it all boils down to the game which should be fast-paced,hard and give the player a sense of fulfillment
so i guess fushigi no dungeon would count as the perfect rpg
 
Story -> 50%
Why bother playing a role playing game if there isn't any fitting background story?
Whats the point in wandering around from town to so called dungeon if there isnt any incentive to do so..
And while your imagination a huge part of the enjoyment in RPG's is, that doesnt just mean that the devs may leave the story up to the player and go with the 'evil diabolical madman is going to destroy us all'-plot.

Gameplay -> 30%
Only 30% because I wanted to put the emphasis on story... Darned the 100 points rule!

Graphic -> 15%
Whatever gets the job done..

Sound -> 5%
Just some SWOOSH and CLASH and off you go... Voice acting is - for the most part - more likely to be horrid than an enhancement to the game.

how I long for the return of Black Isle..
 
Additionally, I wish developers would realize that in many cases...less is more.

Battle systems don't need to be overly complicated.

Attack
Magic/Skill
Item
Guard/Defend
Run

You don't need any more options than that to be great.

Also, you DONT need to fill up the game with dozens of minigames and sidequests. In fact, in most cases it just bloats the game with meaningless content that doesn't add anything to the experience.

Finally, make characters in rpg games actually have a REASON for being in your party. Tie their reasoning to being there, fighting alongside you to the actual story. Develop the damn characters. I'm tired of having underdeveloped characters join your party, only to sit on your airship the whole game because you have 9 other undeveloped, more interesting characters to choose from instead.
 
For me:

Story: 50
Game-play: 25
Sound (music): 15
Graphics: 10 (anything but text-based)

If an RPG has a great story it'll keep me hooked like any top book or movie (story also includes setting/location FYI).

Great game-play is always nice but as long as it provides some epic (and relevant) battles/bosses I'm a happy camper.

Sound is also key, I'm thinking mainly of the OST's of the PSX FF's, the only games I've played to hear an individual song (:o), great music/sound raises the immersion immensely (<- oh yeah).

Graphics is the least important aspect for me, it's always nice to have a pretty looking game, but good art-direction and a solid story can always overcome shitty tech. It' does play a large part in the overall experience though, since good graphics (and animation) helps a great deal with the story-telling.

Favourite RPG's (both W and J):

Final Fantasy VI-VII-VIII-IX
Baldur's Gate 2
Fallout 1&2
SMT: Nocturne
 
Chrono Trigger and Golden Sun are pretty awesome, and at least the former definitely pushed the technical aspects as well as having some great story ideas. That said, GAF is too cool for me and my tastes and probably has thousands of better relatively obscure RPGs for you to masticate.
 
Kotor was the perfect RPG to me.

Don't know exactly what makes it perfect to me, point by point, just the overal. Kotor remains the only RPG i've ever replayed, 3 times actually.

So what makes a perfect RPG? I don't know, depends from person to person.
 
Danne-Danger said:
Fallout 1&2
SMT: Nocturne
Click to expand...

I don't get it. You say story is the most important thing, but both these games are incredibly gameplay heavy and even their stories are something that is part of the gameplay.

Perfect formula for me is...

Gamplay - 50
Story - 20
Sound - 20
Graphic - 10
 
to evolve the genre they should get rid off leveling up stuff... leveling bores me to death... i hate to spend so much time to see a bar get more blue so that i can do this stuff or use this weapon.. maybe i should stop playing rpgs for 1 year ^^
 
There are more factors than that.

Final Fantasy VI is my favorite RPG and game of all time, but I don't think it deserves a 25 in gameplay, just because it's so easy.

The other factors to think about:

Presentation: Story isn't everything, it's about how it's presented. The pacing is very important. I think FF VII had great pacing. Look at Dreamfall too (not an RPG I know)...not the greatest story, but damn the presentation was near perfect, you just wanted to keep playing. Final Fantasy X also had great presentation (but had many other shortcomings).

Characters: The main reason Final Fantasy VI is my favorite game of all time. I love the characters....especially Kefka!

Replayability: This is one thing that I liked about Final Fantasy X....it had a very interesting leveling system that encouraged a lot of replayability (I consider anything more than the main quest to be replayability). Disgaea also has very deep leveling and item systems that encourage replayability. Chrono Trigger is another prime examples, though for different reasons (New Game+, multiple endings).

Music: I know you mentioned sound, but I think I really need to stress how important the music is. Final Fantasy VI also had this dead one, the music conveyed emotion PERFECTLY.

I think the artstyle is more important than the graphics myself. Yet another of the perfect aspects of Final Fantasy VI. Graphics were only a real limitation in the early 3D days (Final Fantasy VII really suffers there). I think we're far enough now, that even if the game can't support all the shader effects you want, you can still convey your artstyle with great clarity.

Gameplay is important too, but a great RPG doesn't need the most involving gameplay. Some amazing RPGs with less than stellar gameplay are many of the Final Fantasies (pretty much all but 12). They were very simple and easy, there wasn't much new in every one. However, the battle systems in the Final Fantasies were generally quick, refined, and simple enough for battles to go by nicely.

Every aspect is important...however, I don't think they all need to be perfect. I think one aspect is often sacrificed for another. The only game lately that had a chance of being perfect was FF12, as it finally added some depth to Final Fantasy's gameplay. However, the battle system was not quite as refined and balanced as it should have been, the story was largely incomplete, and the music was not completely memorable (great game still though).
 
Graphics/Presentation/Audio - 50
Control/Gameplay Mechanics - 50
Story - 0 (I've come to the realization it's essentially impossible for RPGs to have a decent story anymore due to the festering writing talent in the industry, so I've put my hopes for the medium aside for the foreseeable future.)
 
Avalon said:
I don't get it. You say story is the most important thing, but both these games are incredibly gameplay heavy and even their stories are something that is part of the gameplay.
Click to expand...

ThatÂ’s why I was quick to include the disclaimer:
(story also includes setting/location FYI)
Click to expand...

That would include the many (many) towns, lovable NPC's and post-apocalyptic setting in Fallout as well as the engrossing environments and "emo" feel of Nocturne.

Even though, believe it or not, the story was the main thing that kept me going with Nocturne. IMO the characters and their different philosophies were very well developed in that game, and the reason I went through it multiple times. I wanted to see what would happen to everyone in the end, the collectathon and battles were secondary for me.

The only RPG's that has been able to grip me solely with combat (game-play) is Icewind Dale 2 and Star Ocean 3.
 
1. Excellent battle gameplay that makes combat enjoyable.
2. Engaging world and backstory that is believable.
3. Interesting characters that you care about that aren't whiny 17 year olds.
4. Voice acting that is excellent or else none at all.
5. Not 800 hours long for the main story. But there exist sidequests and other things to do if you want to stay longer in the world.

(eg. Chronotrigger)


edit: In terms of dolling out percentages, Sound and Graphics don't matter to me at all (unless it's bad 3D graphics, in which case I'd rather have 2D). Gameplay and Story are the most important by far. I'd say Story is the most important for me overall since I stopped playing FFX because I hated the story/voice acting even though the battle gameplay was quite excellent.
 
1. Non-random battles
2. Decent story
3. Purchase new equipment as you get to new towns
4. Crazy magic type shit
5. Learn new melee moves as you go along
6. Customized character abilities as you level up
7. No "emo"ness
8. Good art
9. Fun mini-games
10. Catchy music
 
you know what I really ****ing hate? slow battle systems, that alone could turn me off from a game easily *looks at baten kaitos*. I dont mind the high encounter rate if the battles end quickly.
 
1. Futuristic marines (preferably bald and buff)
2. Cover system
3. Real-time FPS combat

That's all really

(I hope Mass Effect doesn't start a trend)
 
I might as well ask this in this thread

Is there any good 2 player RPG out there? I played tales of symphonia and tales of the abyss and those games have sweet fighting engines but teh story is really awful and there is prob more unncessary dialogue than actual playing time

let me kno, thanks

EDIT:

gameplay - 40
story -40
sound -15
gfx -5
 
jtardiou said:
I might as well ask this in this thread

Is there any good 2 player RPG out there? I played tales of symphonia and tales of the abyss and those games have sweet fighting engines but teh story is really awful and there is prob more unncessary dialogue than actual playing time

let me kno, thanks
Click to expand...

Check out Baldur's Gate 2 on the PC--it's actually 1-6 players, I believe.
 
In order of importance.

1. Character Development, real personalities, not just stereotypes. Also, realistic interactions between characters is a must.
2. Interesting and thematic plot.
3. Battle system and boss design. I feel these go hand in hand because a good boss will make the player use the battle system to its fullest. Alot of rpgs have good battle systems but you never have to explore the depth because you can just attack and heal your way through all bosses.
4. Rewarding exploration. The bane of all exploration is random battles! Random battles have to ****ing stop its the 21st century.
5. No filler. Stop giving me 45 hours of terribly designed side quests. If its in the game, it needs to somehow tie into the plot, characters, or theme of the game.
6. No random encounters. Random encounters, as mentioned above, destroy the fun of exploration. They also destroy the fun of puzzles. (At least puzzles that require the player to move around.)
7. The right amount of save points. Too many save points can make a game easy, but not enough is the most frustrating thing ever. Having 7 boss battles in a row without a save point is frustrating (Rogue Galaxy I look at you, even though they were easy.) Also, 2 hour dungeon grinds without a save point is frustrating especially when you weren't wearing your instant KO protection item in FF and even though the odds are against the it your entire party of 4 just all hit the 1/5 chance of instant death. Yea, that happened to me and 2 hours down the drain.
8. No instant death abilities. All late game enemies are immune to these when I cast them, yet I have to waste item spots (sometimes not enough to go around) on protecting myself from that chance that I might encounter an enemy who can cast a spell that instantly kills me no matter how much HP I have. Thats not good game design, that is just cheap.

Edit.
Story - 65%
Gameplay - 25%
Graphics - 5% Above a certain level, hard to go back to ps1 days.
Sound - 5% Adds to it, but I can forgive horrible sound easily.
 
Extensive and immersive side quests that are not merely "just there" for the sake of increasing the time played, but actually behave as parts of the larger plot. They have to be well paced, something that is long enough so that completion of the quest is accompanied by a sense of accomplishment, and short enough so that your interest is maintained throughout the ordeal. Oh and cutscenes, however short, to celebrate the conclusion.

Majora's Mask springs to mind when I think of really good side quests. Protecting Cremia's milk shipment from the Gorman brothers, is good example. Not too long, goes a bit into the stories of the side characters, (for example, wearing the troupe leader's mask will stop them from attacking) and, if you're lucky, has a nice ending where Cremia hugs you for a job well done.
 
Chairman Yang said:
Check out Baldur's Gate 2 on the PC--it's actually 1-6 players, I believe.
Click to expand...

nah im looking for a classic console type RPG, i think badlurs gate is kind of like diablo 2 no? im looking something like a TALES OF game except with a good story line
 
Interesting story (see Final Fantasy Tactics or any Tactics Ogre game)
Good character development (see Chrono Trigger)
Smooth gameplay that doesn't bog down (see Final Fantasy 9)
Myriad side quests and other things to do (see Final Fantasy 7)
No characters under the age of 20. And facial hair.

EDIT:
Good music. RPG music >>>>>>>>>>>RPG graphics (see Dragon Quest 8 or Chrono Trigger/Cross)
 
jtardiou said:
nah im looking for a classic console type RPG, i think badlurs gate is kind of like diablo 2 no? im looking something like a TALES OF game except with a good story line
Click to expand...

Baldur's Gate isn't like Diablo at all really. It's a typical western style RPG in that it emphasizes character development and a more free-roaming battle system. It's loosely turn based, though the turns are hidden enough to make it appear fluid. It has hands down my favorite cast of characters in any game ever. If you don't know Minsc you're really missing out.

It can't cost more than about 5 dollars and will run on any computer made in the last 10 years probably. Check out Planescape:Torment while you're at it. It's in the same vein and is a marvelous RPG in it's own way.
 
jtardiou said:
nah im looking for a classic console type RPG, i think badlurs gate is kind of like diablo 2 no? im looking something like a TALES OF game except with a good story line
Click to expand...

Anno covered it. BG2 is very story-driven and has excellent combat. You're thinking of the console Baldur's Gate games (Dark Alliance 1 and 2) which are indeed Diablo-clones, and not what I recommend.
 
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