INTERESTING/INSPIRING RPGS

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Hey all. Just thought we should have a topic where people discuss or talk about various RPGs with interesting design concepts, or things that have inspired you to make certain games. Interesting battle systems, magic systems, storylines, overall concepts, whatever people might take inspiration from.

As a note, when I say interesting or inspiring, I don't necessarily imply 'good'. Some of the games I've drawn a lot of inspiration from are not necessarily good, or I may not even like them all that much. They can inspire us with unique game systems or stories, even if they don't do them well on their own.

My own personal list, off the top of my head:

Metal Max Returns: An old school JRPG, never released stateside. I found it interesting that for most of the game (at least what I've played, I didn't get through much) there was no real central story, but a bunch of kill monster quests, as you were a bounty hunter. It also has tanks included in the combat, and as vehicles you ride around in.

Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu: An RPG for the SNES, its pretty bland, very grindy, and not very likable unless you really like DBZ. However, the combat system is something I've not really seen elsewhere. You get five cards in your hand, with different symbols and numbers, symbols for the kind of attack/defense, numbers for how powerful it is. You can give those cards to up to 5 fighters (you could have far more in your team if you don't let them die, perma-death is a thing for the optional characters). It created an interesting system where you wanted to save certain special cards for boss fights, and use the cheap ones while grinding.

Legend of Mana: Not really the best Mana game, but I found the creatable map the most interesting part. Basically, each time you need to go to a new area, or finish a big quest, you get an item representing an area. You can place that area on the world map connecting to areas you've already placed. The further it is from your 'home' location, the more difficult the enemies are, and placing places next to each other might cause extra effects.

Cyber Knight 2: A cool little RPG in general, where you are commander of a starship, commanding a group of mech pilots. The upgrade system where you salvage parts from enemies is cool, the combat system itself was pretty cool with grid movement and such in a side by side RPG, and the fact that units you didn't have in party could back you up with supporting fire.
Well, anything with Akitoshi Kawazu's finger is a big inspiration for me. (except for crystal chronicle. I've never played that and I have no intent of playing it unless somebody flat out gives me the game and a console.)

The series which he most blatantly plays around with weird, but fun mechanics is the SaGa series. He has a few other obscure titles under his belt, like Wild Card.

Some interesting things about SaGa

The Free Scenario system: Some games offer a variant of this system, which is pretty different from other multiple-character rpgs because while those normally end up with the same final boss and everybody's on the same party, in those games (esp. SaGa Frontier which is the one I've played the most) the stories are actually completely separate, even though they do happen in the same world and more or less same locations, and while some stories bleed within eachother (esp. in regards to recruitable characters) each feels like their own, distinctive story -- with its own distinctive final boss even! I haven't seen that done much, and I want to do that eventually.

Character Systems: In SaGa games character growth and skill learning is never straightforward. (except well, the non-kawazu directed SaGa 3) most games feature a stat-rise post battle, based on your in-battle actions, though the specifics of the system change on a game by game basis. There often are proficiency systems with weapons, as well, and skill learning in general can happen in multiple ways, such as bought in shops, learned after battle or even the Glimmer system, where the character learns a skill and performs it for free mid-battle. They are all in all very complex and fun systems.

Ogre Battle is one that immediately comes to mind. A system where you have little control over individual fights but instead it's all about planning and unit composition. This is something I guess I'd like to see more of. I've always been fascinated by a certain lack of control. In strategy games I'm not a huge "micro"-guy so the idea of designing a unit and have broad battle plans appeal to me. (despite this I can't ever win any battles in Gratuitous Space Battles, even though it should be right up my alley :)
Ogre Battle actually drove me kind of crazy when I played it when I was younger. It probably would have still driven me crazy if I hadn't used a guide when I played it later. So much of the game hinges on stuff it doesn't tell you about. It's interesting that the narrative is so open (particularly for a game that came out on a console with such limitations on its memory space,) but I felt like it really didn't make it easy to either predict or explore the consequences of your choices.

For me, the top is example is probably Suikoden III. It's not generally considered the best of the Suikoden games, but it deviates from the typical RPG in a lot of ways that the other games in the series don't, and it's a source for a lot of interesting ideas I don't think I've seen anywhere else.

I talked about the character customization system in one of my earliest posts on this site, and the use of treasure chests in another post on that topic. But here's another thing it did which I found interesting. Fast turn-based boss battles. Rather than turning boss fights into a war of attrition, most of the plot-based boss battles in the game are decided one way or the other over a few turns.

Applying to the series more generally, I like the idea of having a large party of characters where a lot of the people you recruit serve purposes other than combat. It makes the protagonists' struggle seem less one-dimensional when they have to call on a bunch of people with widely different skill sets.
EarthBound
There are a lot of little touches that I like in this game, such as the auto-win system, the differentiation between the fire/ice/lightning spells beyond their element, and character-specific quirks like Ness getting homesick or Poo not recovering as much as others when eating western foods.

Chrono Trigger
I liked the battle system, for the most part. Namely the dual techs, the positioning element (though some control over where characters moved to would've been nice), and not having the battles take place on a separate screen.

Paper Mario 1 & 2
While the Action Commands are the most talked-about system, I honestly find most of the commands to be boring filler. It'd be nice if there were more commands like Bobbery's Bomb Squad, where the timing affected something other than an extra point or two of damage.
What I actually like about the game is the level-up system, where you choose between HP, MP, or Badge Points, and the Badges themselves. They had a really wide variety of effects. The thing that I like about the system is basically the sort of risk-reward aspect of forgoing HP in favor of more firepower. (Okami has a similar thing going on.)


Pokemon
Mostly I like what they've been doing in terms of having moves with really different effects since about Gen 3. Having a huge variety of potential party members is also pretty cool.
However, my experience with the games, which is limited to the first 3 gens, is that you really don't get to experience more than a small sliver of this variety without lots of grinding, breeding, and trading. I'd figure that as the series goes on, and the number of pokemon increase, the number of mons in any particular area would increase, but instead it seems they just stick to the new guys and a small handful of classics, and then make you back-trade for the remaining 75% of the roster. Having to do breeding chains to get certain moves on certain mons is also really tedious.

e: Tales games
I love the skits. A nice way to flesh out characters without forcing it on the impatient types. Also, there seriously needs to be more LOCAL co-op adventure/RPG games that aren't Diablo-esque dungeon looters.
Final Fantasy I: One of the few FF games I've finished, and the only one I repeatedly come back to in various versions/mods. I love the party customization and open-world that you can literally complete in reverse after getting the first Orb/Crystal.

Star Ocean: The Second Story: My jam for a whole summer back when it came out. I filled 2 PS1 memory cards with save files playing through different ways to find all the characters and playing with both mains. The only bit I never finished was the bonus dungeon and the final boss sans limiter.

What stuck with me about the game was the battle system (it was the first action RPG I played) and the "Private Actions" system. You press a button before entering a town you've already visited, and the party splits up, letting you wander as your main alone, seeing new events, and talking with other characters while they're doing their own thing. I felt this was a really neat way to do character building, and a way to have little buddy stories and vignettes without bogging down the main story with them.

"OFF": Throwing in an RPG Maker game, this one holds the honor of the game that made we really want to develop using RPG Maker (especially 2003, seeing what could be done with the engine). It strikes a good mixture of thematic presentation, haunting story telling, and solid gameplay. It also serves as a great example of what can be done to reinforce your game's themes through art and music with a low budget. I also unambiguously love the random encounter music.
Inazuma Eleven

A DS/3DS RPG series very notable for the fact that its combat system is matches of soccer (though the 'random encounters' are simple 4v4 (DS) / 5v5 (3DS) matches were the first goal wins), with the entire game being based around the sport. Characters are done very well and storytelling goes at a good pace given how many characters you're given. Furthermore, every player in the game, including random mini-team members, can be recruited to join you, safe for a very few exceptions. Only issue I have is how badly the games (especially the newer ones) discourage or outright prevent you from using those scout characters.
author=turkeyDawg
e: Tales games
I love the skits. A nice way to flesh out characters without forcing it on the impatient types. Also, there seriously needs to be more LOCAL co-op adventure/RPG games that aren't Diablo-esque dungeon looters.

Straight up: I fucking hate every single Tales of game I have ever played. Thinking about Abyss makes me literally start ranting and raving about how much I hate it. They are terrible games and I hate them every single one oh my gOD

But yes, oh man, I will throw in my vote for skits being EXCELLENT. Tales games just do a real nice job of establishing character chatter? Like even the side characters that get pushed out of the spotlight after their shitty subplot is over get fleshed out and developed beautifully! You know who they are, what they want, and most importantly, how they feel about all the other losers they're palling around with.

Not that I'm actually interested in these people. Most of them infuriate me (although there are a few Symphonia peeps I want to just like... pick up and put into a better game), but I will fully admit they are definitely capital c Characters.

SKITS ARE A GOOD IDEA GET YOUR CHARACTER CHATTER IN YER GAMES

*crawls under rock and ruminates about how much they hate Abyss while throwing darts at a photo of Luke von Fuckface and muttering "i lost 50 hours to you AND I DIDN'T EVEN ENJOY MYSELF"*
author=emmych
author=turkeyDawg
e: Tales games
I love the skits. A nice way to flesh out characters without forcing it on the impatient types. Also, there seriously needs to be more LOCAL co-op adventure/RPG games that aren't Diablo-esque dungeon looters.
Straight up: I fucking hate every single Tales of game I have ever played. Thinking about Abyss makes me literally start ranting and raving about how much I hate it. They are terrible games and I hate them every single one oh my gOD

But yes, oh man, I will throw in my vote for skits being EXCELLENT. Tales games just do a real nice job of establishing character chatter? Like even the side characters that get pushed out of the spotlight after their shitty subplot is over get fleshed out and developed beautifully! You know who they are, what they want, and most importantly, how they feel about all the other losers they're palling around with.

Not that I'm actually interested in these people. Most of them infuriate me (although there are a few Symphonia peeps I want to just like... pick up and put into a better game), but I will fully admit they are definitely capital c Characters.

SKITS ARE A GOOD IDEA GET YOUR CHARACTER CHATTER IN YER GAMES

*crawls under rock and ruminates about how much they hate Abyss while throwing darts at a photo of Luke von Fuckface and muttering "i lost 50 hours to you AND I DIDN'T EVEN ENJOY MYSELF"*


The Chrono Stone games of Inazuma Eleven have skits in the form of InaLink (basically, WhatsApp). You constantly get updates in it as you progress with the story, with some of the secondary characters getting to talk in it as well. Another helpful story thing is Inapedia, which explains terms that are used in the game - they're not always comprehensive as they're written by in-game characters, though.
author=Rine
Hey all. Just thought we should have a topic where people discuss or talk about various RPGs with interesting design concepts, or things that have inspired you to make certain games. Interesting battle systems, magic systems, storylines, overall concepts, whatever people might take inspiration from.

As a note, when I say interesting or inspiring, I don't necessarily imply 'good'. Some of the games I've drawn a lot of inspiration from are not necessarily good, or I may not even like them all that much. They can inspire us with unique game systems or stories, even if they don't do them well on their own.

My own personal list, off the top of my head:

Metal Max Returns: An old school JRPG, never released stateside. I found it interesting that for most of the game (at least what I've played, I didn't get through much) there was no real central story, but a bunch of kill monster quests, as you were a bounty hunter. It also has tanks included in the combat, and as vehicles you ride around in.

Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu: An RPG for the SNES, its pretty bland, very grindy, and not very likable unless you really like DBZ. However, the combat system is something I've not really seen elsewhere. You get five cards in your hand, with different symbols and numbers, symbols for the kind of attack/defense, numbers for how powerful it is. You can give those cards to up to 5 fighters (you could have far more in your team if you don't let them die, perma-death is a thing for the optional characters). It created an interesting system where you wanted to save certain special cards for boss fights, and use the cheap ones while grinding.

Legend of Mana: Not really the best Mana game, but I found the creatable map the most interesting part. Basically, each time you need to go to a new area, or finish a big quest, you get an item representing an area. You can place that area on the world map connecting to areas you've already placed. The further it is from your 'home' location, the more difficult the enemies are, and placing places next to each other might cause extra effects.

Cyber Knight 2: A cool little RPG in general, where you are commander of a starship, commanding a group of mech pilots. The upgrade system where you salvage parts from enemies is cool, the combat system itself was pretty cool with grid movement and such in a side by side RPG, and the fact that units you didn't have in party could back you up with supporting fire.
author=LightningLord2
author=emmych
author=turkeyDawg
e: Tales games
I love the skits. A nice way to flesh out characters without forcing it on the impatient types. Also, there seriously needs to be more LOCAL co-op adventure/RPG games that aren't Diablo-esque dungeon looters.
Straight up: I fucking hate every single Tales of game I have ever played. Thinking about Abyss makes me literally start ranting and raving about how much I hate it. They are terrible games and I hate them every single one oh my gOD

But yes, oh man, I will throw in my vote for skits being EXCELLENT. Tales games just do a real nice job of establishing character chatter? Like even the side characters that get pushed out of the spotlight after their shitty subplot is over get fleshed out and developed beautifully! You know who they are, what they want, and most importantly, how they feel about all the other losers they're palling around with.

Not that I'm actually interested in these people. Most of them infuriate me (although there are a few Symphonia peeps I want to just like... pick up and put into a better game), but I will fully admit they are definitely capital c Characters.

SKITS ARE A GOOD IDEA GET YOUR CHARACTER CHATTER IN YER GAMES

*crawls under rock and ruminates about how much they hate Abyss while throwing darts at a photo of Luke von Fuckface and muttering "i lost 50 hours to you AND I DIDN'T EVEN ENJOY MYSELF"*
The Chrono Stone games of Inazuma Eleven have skits in the form of InaLink (basically, WhatsApp). You constantly get updates in it as you progress with the story, with some of the secondary characters getting to talk in it as well. Another helpful story thing is Inapedia, which explains terms that are used in the game - they're not always comprehensive as they're written by in-game characters, though.

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