MK634'S PROFILE

As long as he doesn't try to get Link to deliver anymore letters I wont mind his presence.

Originally Posted by trance2
I can't believe you didn't mention Liliana in that list! Seriously, she'd be an awesome Assist Trophy.

I didn't mention her for the same reason that I didn't mention other FE characters like Aya, Chiki, Sheeda, ect... mostly because I had to draw a line somewhere. Though in retrospect I should've mentioned the original Pegasus sisters Paola, Katua, and Est due to the fact that a) they are the most reoccurring characters in the series, and b) that a Triangle Attack would make an awesome Assist Trophy assist.

Updating to cover games I've beaten or have remember beating since my last post.

Games I've beaten part 2:
Odin Sphere
SRW OG
Summon Night Swordcraft Story
RockmanDash's 1 & 2

Games I've played part duxes:
FF X (I forgot that I only made it into Sin, but I didn't actually beat him.) + Crystal Chronicles
Estpolis Denki 2
Legacy of the Wizard
Lunar SSS Complete (not the original SegaCD game)
Baten Kaitos

Games that I own but have yet to play...too:
Lunars Silver Star Story (the original SegaCD game) & Eternal Blue Complete (also not the original SegaCD game)

Edit: So it's now just an edit instead.

I thought four's was better.

But sevens' does make for a close second.

For regular RPGs FF6's everyone's different approach worked very well in my book with one character learning magic/techniques at set levels while another required collecting certain items while others learn from enemies/battlefields and those left out on that could at least equip relics that could improve their abilities.

However I also like Fire Emblem's level progression for it's stat and level development. Characters that are similar on the surface can be quite different depending on how their stats grow. Like the Red and Green Social Knights both being similar except one gets stronger faster while the other gets quicker faster and at the end two characters with the same abilities, maneuverability, and equipment could end up being quite different.

For adventure RPGs like LoZ and SoM it's difficult to choose between finding useful items and power-ups hidden throughout the game or a skill/magic level-up progression. They're both really good and work best when implemented in these types of games.

I also liked DQ8's alchemy system that not only allows one to create newer and better arms and armors out of old ones and the occasional item and allowing them access to items that wouldn't have been gotten till much later, but it allowed the player to create needed items on the fly rather then having to go all the way back to the nearest town.

Hell there's even the R&D element from games like Megaman Legends and SRW where you need money to upgrade a weapon/mech's abilities like power, ammo, range, and ect. Allowing a player to customize as they wish.

But if I had to choose one overall type it'd probably be a 'to each their own' approach.

Originally Posted by WIP
So a question is, does ANYONE like forced ability progression? If so, why is it so prevalent?

It's less of an 'everybody likes it' and more of an 'its ease to implement' question. It's much easier to control the difficulty level of a game using a level progression system because, lets face it, the first two spells that a player would most likely learn in DQ1 would be Heal and Healmore(or Return). Also it allow designers to focus more on developing those characters' personality traits instead (generic though they may be).

2-handed wielding
cover
transforming abilities
auto-abilities
barrier magic
destruct magic
illusion magic
enemy proficiency attacks (2x damage versus Dragons, Zombies, ect...)
martial art abilities
stat bonuses

Btw, after forgetting about this discussion for about week I've spent the last four days trying to catch up on some of the ideas discussed since my last post. I still haven't finished yet.