WHAT ELEMENTS FROM EXISTING GAMES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE REUSED?

author=Skie Fortress

author=LockeZ

author=RyaReisender
Reading FF6 and "multi" makes me think another thing I would like to see:
- RPGs where a second player can take control of half the characters in battle (in FF6 you could set it so that in battles you can enter commands with a second gamepad too)

I liked this feature, but the problem with it was that half the game was spent outside of battle, and the second person couldn't control anything at all during that time. I'd love to see some sort of hybrid of FF6 style 2-player battles and Secret of Mana style 2-player exploration. You'd probably need touch encounters, but it would be cool.

Reading this and then thinking about it, Chrono Trigger would have made for a cool multiplayer game. Or at least the added functionality. Since your party follows you on the map, maybe one or two could split off from the leader to be controlled on the same map by the second/third player, and when events are initiated, everyone gathers automatically like usual.

Of course, in battle, the characters assigned to their player would be controlled by them. Heh, I can imagine all the heated strategy discussions and squabbling over when to use team attacks and items and such that would arise from that. Sounds like fun.

Now that would be interesting... Legend of Mana got close to that no? just wasn´t turn based :O And I love turn based hehehe Also there was Dofus... I think it had a co-op tbs thing XD

Even Dungeons And Dragons Online has on-screen combat. But it's a good MMO anyway.

Online-based TTRPGs? The main problem with that is the increased effort a game master has with remembering all the world status (like which door is open or not) and also suffer from being very slow (having to wait until everyone came on and replied and stuff every turn).

I liked that Final Fantasy 10 actually let you use all of your characters. The Overkill mechanic was kinda fun as well.

In Earthbound, you automatically insta-kill weak troops on the field, provided you don't get back-attacked. Also , the Fire, Ice, and Lightning spells had different properties besides their element. Fire attacked an entire row, Ice did the most damage on a single target (and could also freeze), and lightning attacked random targets, usually missing, but I think it destroyed any shields the enemy had up.

Paper Mario:
- Avoidable enemies
- Choosing what you get from a level up. In particular, I've always enjoyed forgoing HP in favor of MP and Badge points (that game's equipment, basically), allowing you to steamroll the game with the right setup and nailing the Action Commands. Also, the amount you get from a level up isn't very much, so its not like you're missing out on a whole lot if you skip some enemies.
- Being able to reorganize your stats for a fee.
- Quick Menu for using items and switching party members in the field.

Chrono Trigger:
- Battles take place on the field. I also like this because the transitions JRPGs usually use often startle me! Especially FF10's glass breaking.
- The line and area attacks, combined with how enemies and party members shift around during battle.
- Dual Techs. The Triple Techs seemed a bit pointless, but I used the Dual Techs all the time.

Evolution 2:
- The grid-based battle system is pretty cool. Basically, you had two sets 3x3 grids, and various skills that you had would hit certain patterns on the enemy grid. Though, like a lot of JRPGs, overpowered skills and white magic, coupled with pathetic enemies, makes it all kinda moot.
- I also liked finding, buying, and upgrading the various Cyframes that determined what skills you had. You also learned new skills by spending points that you got at the end of each battle. You could also choose to learn skills IN battle, which would save you the MP cost that one time.
- Switching the lead character to get different dialogue from NPCs and when inspecting objects. Also, practically every object in the game can be inspected.

Oh, and being a dog in Okami. I loved chasing my tail, barking, digging, peeing on enemies, and making NPCs pet me. I can't think of any other game that has that.

author=DBAce9Aura
Riviera the Promised Land had a mechanic where multiple characters could use the same item but benefit from it in different ways. For example, A magic staff could be used by one character for a fireball attack while another character can use it for a healing spell. It's actually one of the main reasons I was sold on that game.

That sounds hella fun.

I think it was one of the Wild ARMs games that had a boss who you had to use fire and ice spells on, back and forth, to weaken it's metal armour. Eventually it cracked the armour (as would really happen with fast heating/cooling with certain metals) and I thought it was a great idea to add stuff like that into a game. Where your skills and spells actually have effects on the enemies beside just damage/debuff/etc.

Pretty sure Wild ARMs (the first) had a split party system in the later areas of the game, where your party had to go through different areas of a tower at the same time. I always find those kinds of things fun and there should be more of them.

I also enjoyed the split party system in Suikoden III where you have three different parties that eventually meet up and join together towards the middle of the game. It was a great story-telling device as each party came from different 'factions' but went through the same areas around the same time - so you'd see the story unfold from three different points of view and realise that no-one was wrong, just as no-one was right. Double points if what you do in each 'thread' affects the other in some way.

Also, Threads of Fate - where you had two main characters with two different stories the interwove a lot since they were in the area at the same time. Just seeing one person doing their own thing while you're playing as the other character can be really neat. Like, "Oh, that's when she's doing such and such. Cool!" Also, the ability to absorb monsters and transform into them, using their skills and attacks was a really cool feature, especially considering it was an action battle system.

Aria of Sorrow's ability system, where you collect abilities from defeated souls. That was like the best thing ever. I wish it was a thing again.

And....hm...a time travel RPG that doesn't ruin stories. Chrono Trigger was a good example of that. But after that....not so much.

I totally wanna see passive skills be affected by your stats as opposed to being influenced by some hidden value most players aren't gonna see. I'm so surprised at the amount JRPGs with passive skill systems that haven't done this, especially considering that mechanic is half-expected in WRPGs.

For example: http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/SRD:Skills_by_Type

RyaReisender
On the other hand I also like it when all new characters start at level 1, even further into the game. Often character who join later will get stronger at the same level, but it then requires some time investment. But it's fun to see how the characters grow and what their strong points are in the end.

I've been trying to figure out a game in which you are constantly going back to L1 for some reason (and to make it fun, which is the hard part). That low-level play is usually the most memorable and engaging part of RPGs for me, so... yeah.