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[Dice]

So as technology has advanced I've noticed RPG cinemas getting pretty good, but something that hasn't changed much are the cinematics in battle. Outside of summons, the best spells in a lot of RPGs are still just a character from your party's line causing a brightly colored explosion on the enemiy's party line. I watch animes like Bleach and see how high-level fights go in those shows, and I wonder why the cinematics of stronger moves aren't similar in today's RPGs. I mean it's 3D, you can do whatever you want, but people still use really boring angles with almost no personality or flair from the character.

 

[Suikoguy]

I'm hoping FF13 goes more in the direction you describe.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I'm hoping FF13 goes more in the direction you describe.

It is.

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

FF13 is going to make virtually every battle appear straight out of Advent Children

 

[kaizoku]

I think FF 13 is like that. But that almost makes it into an action rpg.

star ocean 3 was pretty cool, you get a bunch of moves and you combo them together was very smooth, but was almost like a beat em up.

if you want turn based....I dont know how you would make that work. You would need action aspects, i.e. select a move, press buttons as they appear on screen etc, then you could have moves or set pieces like god of war. but can you imagine how hard that would be in random battles, making animation for each enemy in the game???

 

[Greenpanda]

I'm sure that part of the reason is that, unfortunately, there's a sizable contingent of RPG fans who get unhappy when there's anything more cinematic than guys standing in a line and swinging swords at the air.

But, yeah, as the posters above me have said, I think FF XIII will definitely have more flair

 

[Dice]

I think FF 13 is like that. But that almost makes it into an action rpg.

star ocean 3 was pretty cool, you get a bunch of moves and you combo them together was very smooth, but was almost like a beat em up.

if you want turn based....I dont know how you would make that work. You would need action aspects, i.e. select a move, press buttons as they appear on screen etc, then you could have moves or set pieces like god of war. but can you imagine how hard that would be in random battles, making animation for each enemy in the game???

I'm confused, I don't see why having better cinematics would change the gameplay? It's like this...

Strong move in current RPGs:

-Character stands in party line and swings sword, a laser blast shoots across to hit the enemy party line.
-The camera angle doesn't change.
-Nothing happens but the beam going across.
-Enemy's reaction is akin to sneezing except for the heavy HP damage.

Strong move in well-directed RPG:

-Camera changes to close up of the character
-Character does a preparing stance and their aura appears/explodes around them
-Character announces the name of the move
-Camera changes as it would in an amime for these things
-Character backs up (perhaps by way of teleporting) and their party moves out of the way.
-Character jumps in the air and swings their weapon, creating a huge blast that moves towards the camera, causing an earthquake and ripping a trench in the ground.
-Enemies get blasted back, slightly changing the location of the battle (yes, this means larger battle maps than the 20ft squares of current games)
--If enemies are defeated, it goes to a closeup of your character with the enemies in the background and they say something cocky/funny.
--If the enemies are strong and withstand the attack, the cinematics have a bit of trash talk between the characters to transition to the next option or the enemy's attack.


See, I'm just looking for things to be more cool, and you could imagine how creative magic attacks could get. It wouldn't change the gameplay at all, only use the obvious abilities of 3D to make things interesting. I mean if your attack is just slash or kick, then it should be that boring, but when the best moves for your character are still so boring it's dumb. It's pretty sad when intense real-time games like fighting games advanced in cinematics much better than turn-based games.

I'm sure that part of the reason is that, unfortunately, there's a sizable contingent of RPG fans who get unhappy when there's anything more cinematic than guys standing in a line and swinging swords at the air.

Then have an option to turn it off/shorten it like in FF games, or keep battles from being every 15 seconds and make them more thoughtful so it doesn't get so irritating. Also the character interactions should make it more interesting depending on who you are fighting.

 

[MoxManiac]

As long as it doesn't make things longer, i'm for it. But things need to be quick.

 

[MrDaravon]

I'm confused, I don't see why having better cinematics would change the gameplay? It's like this...

Strong move in current RPGs:

-Character stands in party line and swings sword, a laser blast shoots across to hit the enemy party line.
-The camera angle doesn't change.
-Nothing happens but the beam going across.
-Enemy's reaction is akin to sneezing except for the heavy HP damage.

Strong move in well-directed RPG:

-Camera changes to close up of the character
-Character does a preparing stance and their aura appears/explodes around them
-Character announces the name of the move
-Camera changes as it would in an amime for these things
-Character backs up (perhaps by way of teleporting) and their party moves out of the way.
-Character jumps in the air and swings their weapon, creating a huge blast that moves towards the camera, causing an earquake and ripping a trench in the ground.
-Enemies get blasted back, slightly changing the location of the battle (yes, this means larger battle maps than the 20ft squares of current games)
--If enemies are defeated, it goes to a closeup of your character with the enemies in the background and they say something cocky/funny.
--If the enemies are strong and withstand the attack, the cinematics have a bit of trash talk between the characters to transition to the next option or the enemy's attack.


See, I'm just looking for things to be more cool, and you could imagine how creative magic attacks could get. It wouldn't change the gameplay at all, only use the obvious abilities of 3D to make things interesting. I mean if your attack is just slash or kick, then it should be that boring, but when the best moves for your character are still so boring it's dumb. It's pretty sad when intense real-time games like fighting games advanced in cinematics much better than turn-based games.

Then have an option to turn it off/shorten it like in FF games, or keep battles from being every 15 seconds and make them more thoughtful so it doesn't get so irritating. Also the character interactions should make it more interesting depending on who you are fighting.

Sounds like you want to play an action game dude.

 

[DDayton]

Well...

I believe the simple reason is that as RPGs consist of lots and lots of battling, most RPG players would get sick of stupidly long animations in every battle. See the Pokemon Stadium games for examples of this.

Fire Emblem seems a bit more "cinematic" than many other RPGs, at least in the style of the animation used...

 

[Pakkidis]

This idea will only work if the player has the ability to skip the cutscene/animation. Sure watching it the first time would be cool, but after seeing the same animation/cutscene when performing moves the 100th time will get very boring.

 

[Dice]

As long as it doesn't make things longer, i'm for it. But things need to be quick.

It wouldn't have to make things much longer, you can have cool stuff happen pretty fast. Plus the more elaborate stuff would only be for the most powerful moves which shouldn't have to be used against random enemies. However if the developer is too stupid to keep this from happening then there could be a short/lame version option.

Sounds like you want to play an action game dude.

Again, the fact that this description reminds you of an action game shows the pathetic cinematic advancement of the RPG genre in comparison to other genres. All of those things I described would just play out after selecting the move from the menu, you wouldn't be in control of them. I just think if you're going to be spending hours watching the characters do the moves themselves after you select them from a menu, then the moves should at least be cool.

-edit-
Heck, you could even have different moves available depending on the natural forces of the area around you. This would affect the elemental aspect, and maybe there could be different spiritual alignments for different places as well, and that would change the moves you get and keep the cinematics from getting too repetitive. And if the enemy is strong against that type of magic, it would be shown in a cool blocking/reflection animation, not just in their lack of received damage.

 

[kaizoku]

I'm confused, I don't see why having better cinematics would change the gameplay? It's like this...

Strong move in current RPGs:

-Character stands in party line and swings sword, a laser blast shoots across to hit the enemy party line.
-The camera angle doesn't change.
-Nothing happens but the beam going across.
-Enemy's reaction is akin to sneezing except for the heavy HP damage.

Strong move in well-directed RPG:

-Camera changes to close up of the character
-Character does a preparing stance and their aura appears/explodes around them
-Character announces the name of the move
-Camera changes as it would in an amime for these things
-Character backs up (perhaps by way of teleporting) and their party moves out of the way.
-Character jumps in the air and swings their weapon, creating a huge blast that moves towards the camera, causing an earthquake and ripping a trench in the ground.
-Enemies get blasted back, slightly changing the location of the battle (yes, this means larger battle maps than the 20ft squares of current games)
--If enemies are defeated, it goes to a closeup of your character with the enemies in the background and they say something cocky/funny.
--If the enemies are strong and withstand the attack, the cinematics have a bit of trash talk between the characters to transition to the next option or the enemy's attack.


See, I'm just looking for things to be more cool, and you could imagine how creative magic attacks could get. It wouldn't change the gameplay at all, only use the obvious abilities of 3D to make things interesting. I mean if your attack is just slash or kick, then it should be that boring, but when the best moves for your character are still so boring it's dumb. It's pretty sad when intense real-time games like fighting games advanced in cinematics much better than turn-based games.

Then have an option to turn it off/shorten it like in FF games, or keep battles from being every 15 seconds and make them more thoughtful so it doesn't get so irritating. Also the character interactions should make it more interesting depending on who you are fighting.

why are special moves special? why are cinematics.....cinematic?

because they are rare, saved for the big moment, require something a little extra.

if everytime you pressed it it did this big scene you would get pissed off. esp in a random battle rpg. plus they would no longer be special.

if you use them as special move sonly, they're not much different than special moves we have now.

your idea also involves two teams standing side by side waiting for orders.

like i said previous, star ocean has a rather cinematic style and if you want anime style battles it will have to be an evoution of that OR the interactive cut scene variety OR an action game.

replacing current attack animation with drawn out scene would not go down well and the effect would be zero.

 

[Dice]

why are special moves special? why are cinematics.....cinematic?

because they are rare, saved for the big moment, require something a little extra.

This is not true in animes, even common battles have a little flash to them.

if you use them as special move sonly, they're not much different than special moves we have now.

Um, yes it would because special moves now are really boring and suck unless it summons a creature.

replacing current attack animation with drawn out scene would not go down well and the effect would be zero.

It wouldn't be drawn out, more things are described but that's just because it's more interesting, more camera cuts and whatnot. It wouldn't take too much time to play out, even stuff in Valkyrie Profile is somewhat similar and not drawn out, but 2D in perspective so it's limited.

 

[Error]

cinematic battles means battles will take more time, so no thanks.

 

[SolidSnakex]

cinematic battles means battles will take more time, so no thanks.

I don't think that's the case if done properly.

 

[Dice]

cinematic battles means battles will take more time, so no thanks.

This is only true because exp is based on fighting a ridiculous amount of tedious pee-on battles rather than what is accomplished within them and outside of them (hellooooo PC RPGs). Besides, even in such a format you shouldn't have to use your kickass moves to finish up pee-ons quickly.

 

[WalkMan]

Well Suikoden seems to be the original cinematic RPG. The game zoomed up on characters during critical hits and did all these random pannings. Then Suikoden III and Wild Arms 3 had that free-form idea where characters move around on the field freely doing their attacks. A step-up from the line-based battles.


The issue is that the cinematic battles have to be fun and less time-consuming.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

While things looking super spiffy during actual gameplay could get slow, I've long thought it would be neat to have an optional replay that would show the battle happening at a quicker pace without all the pesky waiting for player input. Would be especially interesting in turn-based strategy games.

 

[NotWii]

This is only true because exp is based on fighting a ridiculous amount of tedious pee-on battles rather than what is accomplished within them and outside of them (hellooooo PC RPGs). Besides, even in such a format you shouldn't have to use your kickass moves to finish up pee-ons quickly.

I was really confused to what the hell you were trying to say.
It's "peon"

 

[Fallofmart]

Because RPG players hate change and the advance of their genre.

 

[MrDaravon]

This is not true in animes, even common battles have a little flash to them.

Um, yes it would because special moves now are really boring and suck unless it summons a creature.


It wouldn't be drawn out, more things are described but that's just because it's more interesting, more camera cuts and whatnot. It wouldn't take too much time to play out, even stuff in Valkyrie Profile is somewhat similar and not drawn out, but 2D in perspective so it's limited.

My main problem here is a lot of your comparisons are being made to anime. Anime is a non-interactive form of entertainment, as opposed to RPGs. They SHOULD look flashy and good.

Anything long and drawn out would get old fast. But RPGs are more about gameplay obviously if you want flashy you're probably not into RPGs anyway. And if everything looked super awesome, what would happen when you actually got to the end of a game and got the legitimately good stuff? Even skipping the stuff would get old. Reading yoru description of how you would want a battle to go is absurd, seeing as how in most RPGs you will do hundreds if not thousands of battles. For boss battles I could see that maybe, but I don't need this epic action drama when I'm fighting some slimes with a wooden sword or whatever. Realistically they could do some stuff with the camera as has been mentioned.

I see what you're saying though, but if RPGs started gaining that level of flashiness it could possibly lead to RPGs becoming flashier with less actual substance, which is why most of us PLAY RPGs. I'm re-reading your posts now, and you're basically just describing an action anime, but you're trying to fight it into RPGs.

When I want over the top awesome and bad-assery, I play DMC 3 or Ninja Gaiden. Not that RPGs shouldn't have some of that, but RPGs are more about the gameplay.

So you are basically asking for a game where you select a command from the menu (like "attack") and that sets off a series of whiz bang cool looking cinematic action combos just like Ryu's UT in NGB.

AMIRITE?

Thank God, I feel like I'm one of the only sane people here.

 

[Dahbomb]

So you are basically asking for a game where you select a command from the menu (like "attack") and that sets off a series of whiz bang cool looking cinematic action combos just like Ryu's UT in NGB.

AMIRITE?

 

[SolidSnakex]

The future

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/e306/titles/fabula/ff13/e3trailer.html

 

[kaizoku]

This is not true in animes, even common battles have a little flash to them.

Um, yes it would because special moves now are really boring and suck unless it summons a creature.


It wouldn't be drawn out, more things are described but that's just because it's more interesting, more camera cuts and whatnot. It wouldn't take too much time to play out, even stuff in Valkyrie Profile is somewhat similar and not drawn out, but 2D in perspective so it's limited.

look man. if you want it to be like an anime, the only choices open to you are a) action games b) interactive cut scenes ala god of war or shenmue or c) turn based with new elements.

if you think keeping the same format but spicing up the animations will make it more exciting you have no idea about what cinematics means. you will get bored after 200 times. it wont even be like an anime, it will just be the same as it is now. player stands there, does a pose and shoots/attacks in a certain way. end video. next move.

you seriously want big bang special effects for normal attacks which would take only 3 seconds? i even get bored of the animation in advance wars and fire emblem. i turn those off. in shin megami tensei i switch auto on as often as possible cos its boring, not because its not cinematic but because i see it hundreds of times. thats why they go are made to pass quickly.

example, in some FF 3D games the member runs out and attacks the enemy or does some long animated sequence. This pissed me off so much! I preferred the 2D wave arm/sword and thats it. I prefer the pokemon sound effect and thats all. no long animations taking 3 seconds per attack please.

i want random battles to last 5-10 seconds, not one attack.

 

[Error]

Because RPG players hate change and the advance of their genre.

this is a ****ing retarded comment, it's not like I don't want change. but adding something completely uneccesary like more cinematics in battle is not something I look for in RPGs.

I welcome good changes like Valkyrie Profile style of narrative, battle system etc. Nocturne's emphazis on party management and weaknesses of enemies and stuff I like changes that make the gameplay awesome not stupid aesthetic shit like more cinematics in RPG battles.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Because RPG players hate change and the advance of their genre.

It's not an advance when all it does is make the game take longer and pleases eye-candy people that all they want is less playing and more non-interactivity.

Dice: It'd make the games that are already pretty long even longer (unless there is a skip option like you suggested), and it will get pretty boring after a few viewings of the move. It'd just be like in other games that you have to watch an FMV then fight a boss, then if you die you have to watch the FMV every time before getting to try the boss again. It may look cool visually, but it'd get annoying in some cases and would slow the game down unless there was an option to skip them (which afaik not many games have this option right now).

 

[MrDaravon]

It's not an advance when all it does is make the game take longer and pleases eye-candy people that all they want is less playing and more non-interactivity.

Well said.

Did you change your avatar to the Flik/Nina Unite attack permanetly? Every time I've seen your avatar today it's been that.

 

[Dice]

For the last time I'm not talking about normal attacks for dumb battles! Read my posts, don't just "get the gist" of them.

kaizoku, these games would be sure to have "lameass" under a "cinematics" variable of the options menu just for people like you.

 

[Red Scarlet]

I haven't put them back on random yet.

Dice: check out my previous post edit. If it's just for boss battles and these super flashy things are unskippable, they would be just like what I described in my added response.

 

[meltpotato]

this is a ****ing retarded comment, it's not like I don't want change. but adding something completely uneccesary like more cinematics in battle is not something I look for in RPGs.

I welcome good changes like Valkyrie Profile style of narrative, battle system etc. Nocturne's emphazis on party management and weaknesses of enemies and stuff I like changes that make the gameplay awesome not stupid aesthetic shit like more cinematics in RPG battles.

great reply. i'd even go as far as to say overdone, shoehorned cinematic battles would actually damage the inherent aesthetic of a great battle system like that of VP.

 

[Bebpo]

Because eleborate attacks are not fast.

You want a quick burst of fire. Not a dramatic engulfing of flames that slowly burns away at the enemy.

Rpgs are trying their best to make that quick burst of fire more and more graphically pleasing with more lighting effects, shadows, etc... but the idea is to keep the low-tier/middle-tier spells and attacks quick and to the point. Plus it makes the high-tier ones look that much more elaborate and cool when they're much more cinematic/nicer-looking that the rest.

VP2 is a really good example of good looking attacks/spells that are still quick.

 

[Dice]

great reply. i'd even go as far as to say overdone, shoehorned cinematic battles would actually damage the inherent aesthetic of a great battle system like that of VP.

WTF I'm the one who originally brought up VP as a good example of what I'm referring to.

If you guys want to continue discussing this go ahead, I don't see a reason to post if people are just going to assume what I say instead rather than read my posts. I guess RPG's aren't the only thing you lack any sort of patience in.

 

[Y2Kev]

Please no supernova.

That was so amazing to watch. And then Sephiroth casted it 7 times.

 

[Speevy]

As long as it doesn't lose any interactivity, it can be as cinematic as the developer wants.

 

[meltpotato]

WTF I'm the one who originally brought up VP as a good example of what I'm referring to.

If you guys want to continue discussing this go ahead, I don't see a reason to post if people are just going to assume what I say instead rather than read my posts. I guess RPG's aren't the only thing you lack any sort of patience in.

well i was speaking to Errors post and he was not replying to you. VP is a great example and definitely shows better what you are asking for.

 

[ethelred]

The future

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/e306/titles/fabula/ff13/e3trailer.html

Ugh. No thanks.

this is a ****ing retarded comment, it's not like I don't want change. but adding something completely uneccesary like more cinematics in battle is not something I look for in RPGs.

I welcome good changes like Valkyrie Profile style of narrative, battle system etc. Nocturne's emphazis on party management and weaknesses of enemies and stuff I like changes that make the gameplay awesome not stupid aesthetic shit like more cinematics in RPG battles.

Yes, exactly. I love change and innovation within RPGs, and some of my favorites are those that have innovated the most. There are a ton of awesome new ideas that continue to get explored within the RPG genre by a variety of talented developers -- folks at Atlus, Akitoshi Kawazu, Yasumi Matsuno, the guys that did Dragon Quarter, Sting, and so on et cetera. They make all sorts of gameplay advancements.

Cinematics have their place in an RPG... or rather, in *some* RPGs. Cinematics can be used to help tell a different sort of narrative than usual, and I think that worked out pretty well in a number of games (though cinematic storytelling also has the potential to go very, very wrong in an RPG). But that's all tied into the story or all-around prettiness. In terms of the gameplay, cinematics simply don't lead to any advancements or forward movement for the genre.

 

[Fallofmart]

this is a ****ing retarded comment, it's not like I don't want change. but adding something completely uneccesary like more cinematics in battle is not something I look for in RPGs.

I welcome good changes like Valkyrie Profile style of narrative, battle system etc. Nocturne's emphazis on party management and weaknesses of enemies and stuff I like changes that make the gameplay awesome not stupid aesthetic shit like more cinematics in RPG battles.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[meltpotato]

Ugh. No thanks.

qfmft. ugh. *barf*

 

[Greenpanda]

I'm sure that part of the reason is that, unfortunately, there's a sizable contingent of RPG fans who get unhappy when there's anything more cinematic than guys standing in a line and swinging swords at the air.

Sounds like you want to play an action game dude.

cinematic battles means battles will take more time, so no thanks.

I preferred the 2D wave arm/sword and thats it.

It's not an advance when all it does is make the game take longer and pleases eye-candy people that all they want is less playing and more non-interactivity

Ugh. No thanks

qfmft. ugh. *barf*

there's a sizable contingent of RPG fans who get unhappy when there's anything more cinematic than guys standing in a line and swinging swords at the air.

The prosecution rests, Your Honor.

 

[ethelred]

The prosecution rests, Your Honor.

Because of FF13? Sorry, but disliking the style and general approach of Advent Children does not equate to wanting everything to stay the same or getting upset if there's anything more graphically involved than simple slashes

I don't like the director of the game. I don't like the *movie* he's basing things upon. So when someone comes in with a big smilie and says "It's the future!!!" yeah, I'm going to give a big no thank you in response.

 

[Greenpanda]

I don't like the director of the game. I don't like the *movie* he's basing things upon. So when someone comes in with a big smilie and says "It's the future!!!" yeah, I'm going to give a big no thank you in response.

Er, in what way is FF XIII based on Advent Children? I'd hate FF XIII too if it were based on Advent Children, but ... it's not. I mean, has Toriyama said anything like that in an interview or something that I just missed? Otherwise, I don't see the connection at all, honestly. Sorry :\

 

[Bebpo]

I don't like the director of the game. I don't like the *movie* he's basing things upon. So when someone comes in with a big smilie and says "It's the future!!!" yeah, I'm going to give a big no thank you in response.

You don't like Toriyama? ;_;

FFX-2 rocked!

 

[charlequin]

I don't think the idea of drawing on action games for turn-based inspiration is such a bad idea, though. I'm thinking of something kind of like what FFXIII looks to be leaning towards, only (possibly) even more expanded. Imagine a game with a tick-based system (like SH2 or FFX) but where instead of a character's turn coming up and taking a single action, they took a series of battle actions that had their own individual tick lengths and which went on simultaneously with other party members' actions and with enemies' actions. Each character would have some small but diverse selection of 4-8 "standard" actions that were all essentially "basic attacks" but that looked different and had distinct length/offense/defense stats. You could introduce a whole strategic defense vs. offense quality to action selection without all the baggage of full positioning, and you could use some basic algorithms to determine how different attacks and defenses interacted. If you did it right you could have the PCs at least jumping around and doing their sequences of basic moves in different orders (and interacting directly with the actions of enemies), and it might seem more like a real "fight" than normal RPGs, since everyone would be performing actions all the time.

EDIT: Support behind Bebpo x1,000,000. X-2 is amazing!

 

[Greenpanda]

To be fair, I agree with nearly everyone in this thread that long attack animations are supremely obnoxious. But I don't think that's what the OP was proposing at all. I think Dice and I are both suggesting that battle systems could incorporate more movement and flair while still playing at the same speed.

That's my 2 gil

 

[SolidSnakex]

Because of FF13? Sorry, but disliking the style and general approach of Advent Children does not equate to wanting everything to stay the same or getting upset if there's anything more graphically involved than simple slashes

I don't like the director of the game. I don't like the *movie* he's basing things upon. So when someone comes in with a big smilie and says "It's the future!!!" yeah, I'm going to give a big no thank you in response.

It's very much the future when it's trying to take menu based combat into looking like an action game. Something that's never really been attempted before. If they can pull it off its going to be an amazing experience and a big step forward for the genre.

 

[My Arms Your Hearse]

Er, in what way is FF XIII based on Advent Children? I'd hate FF XIII too if it were based on Advent Children, but ... it's not. I mean, has Toriyama said anything like that in an interview or something that I just missed? Otherwise, I don't see the connection at all, honestly. Sorry :\

Nothing about the game is "based on" Advent Children, though I believe the developers have said they want the battles to resemble Advent Children battles (i.e. be very fast and spectacular - as demonstrated in the trailer).

 

[mollipen]

cinematic battles means battles will take more time, so no thanks.

Have less battles, but have each battle be more important and cinematic instead of some junk random encouter. Problem solved.

The current battle system in 95% of RPGs out there is garbage, and should have been left behind when we graduated from the 16-bit era. Unfortunately, however, that can also be said about a lot of what goes into Japanese RPGs still to this day. If there was ever a genre that needs to be totally scrapped and re-made, while ignoring the bitching of the hardcore fans, it's the JRPG.

 

[ethelred]

Er, in what way is FF XIII based on Advent Children? I'd hate FF XIII too if it were based on Advent Children, but ... it's not. I mean, has Toriyama said anything like that in an interview or something that I just missed? Otherwise, I don't see the connection at all, honestly. Sorry :\

In terms of the general style of the game, how they want it to look and the feel they want the battles to capture, yes, it's certainly being inspired by Advent Children.

You don't like Toriyama? ;_;

FFX-2 rocked!

There were a lot of things that I liked about the game, but... no, on the whole, I don't really like Toriyama very much. If they got him to come up with cool ideas for battle systems or character development systems, that'd be great, but as a director I don't care for him.

It's very much the future when it's trying to take menu based combat into looking like an action game. Something that's never really been attempted before. If they can pull it off its going to be an amazing experience and a big step forward for the genre.

And I repeat: no thanks.

Have less battles, but have each battle be more important and cinematic instead of some junk random encouter. Problem solved.

But you're really not adding anything gameplay-wise by doing that, and you are in fact taking a lot of the gameplay away and just replacing it with eye-candy filler.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Have less battles, but have each battle be more important and cinematic instead of some junk random encouter. Problem solved.

The current battle system in 95% of RPGs out there is garbage, and should have been left behind when we graduated from the 16-bit era. Unfortunately, however, that can also be said about a lot of what goes into Japanese RPGs still to this day. If there was ever a genre that needs to be totally scrapped and re-made, while ignoring the bitching of the hardcore fans, it's the JRPG.

Play something else, then. Hardly any JRPG's these days are similar to 16-bit ones at all.

Indeed.