When I was playing some old favourite CRPGs of mine; I was shocked by how differently games were made back then. Sure they are old and dated, but they still hold up really well against today's AAA streamlined-generic-fantasy-setting-over-written-American-culture-all-over-the-place RPGs.
If there is one thing that I both hate and love about old school rpgs; it is the reinforced role play experience. What do I mean by that?
In Elder Scrolls Daggerfall, the game does not holds your hand until you beat it. There is no big arrow on screen telling you where next to go, and there are like 9 or 10 main stats that are actually important and can only be mastered by trial and error. You can screw yourself up, and getting the bad ending without even knowing that until it's too late. The game is not leveled at all, so you have to actively think when you play rather than just swing your sword until you get the big chest at the end of the dungeon.
In system shocks 2, you have to put some points in research before you can do anything with the objects surrounding you. There are many situational skills that are absolutely essential, and you have to think hard and plan ahead.
The list goes on and on.
That have became the past already. In today's games, video game companies are willing to do anything to make their game as inoffensive and generic as possible to appeal to the tasteless masses. Thus there are so many shooters, because they require no skills. As long as you know how to use the mouse & keyboard or a ps 3 controller, you can play them. You don't need to think, just keep on playing and buying their dlcs.
One great example I'm sure will get eggs thrown at me is Skyrim. Though it's not as bad as Oblivion, it's still pretty messy. You can become the arch-mage at the school without even know any magic (except for fire, frost, cast light and warding, which any individual can acquire and use). You can become the leader of the thief guild wearing full heavy armor and never sneak at all. The magic combining is removed, and it's extremely easy to break the game and make the already easy game become even more mind-numbing. This is certainly in an effort to let players experience most of the game within one single playthrough. Sure, it succeeded. It's not without any cost. Skyrim is generic, it does not grow on me the longer I play. The first impress is surely nice, but it's completely 2-d once you are done with it.
To me, RPG elements are quite essential for my enjoyment and immersion. When the game is not asking me to learn or to do anything, I will lose interest. I would argue these complexities are essential.
What differs skyrim and daggerfall is that in skyrim, you can dump all your points mindlessly into health, magic, stamina without a second thought. Everything is handed to the player, and there is no input needed. The same thing happened to Diablo 3, even though it has a lot going for it, it is streamlined to the point that it's just about a linear stat growth. You can simulate the experience by just repeatedly adding numbers together.
So, if linear stat growth is bad, then what is a good system?
I can only speak through my own experience with games I've played over the years, so I may miss something important.
One I would name it POE system. It's all about giving player choices while limiting their options. Players have to actively think about their build, what gear to get, what skill and what modification to get, and how to spend their points. This system focuses on the variety of character building. However, it's really repetitive and there is no distinctive difference between individuals with the same build. In other words, all the depth is in the planning phase rather than in the executional phase.
Another system, I would name it dark souls system. In dark souls, your stats and equipment are not important as your play style and your skill. Experienced players can basically roll over the game using no shields and invest no vitality, whereas noobs will struggle even with the most OP cookie-cutter builds. This system is wonderful, because it makes your character grows on you as you are getting better and better at it. However, there aren't much choices and there is no depth in the planning phase.
The last one is Daggerfall system. The character stats are not only important for beating the game painlessly, but also they are important for your role-playing experience. You can't beat the game just with the best gears and dump all your stats into strength, agility and health. This makes the planning more stressful.
Another example would be one of skyrim's mod: frostfall. this mod adds in the needs of staying warm and fed. It overall makes skyrim a lot better.
To sum it up, a perfect ideal core system revolves around the complexity on both combat and plot advancing & survival elements on both executional and the character planning phase of a game.
I'm not saying SG needs everything, and whatnot. I'm simply stating elements I deem as essential hardcore pure RPG's must have.
(Thus, in a perfect world situation, the best crpg ever would be a better written daggerfall with better skill diversity; good combat system; and the needs of eat, drink, stay comfortable and healthy.)
Feel free to add your own examples and ideas or thoughts down below.
If there is one thing that I both hate and love about old school rpgs; it is the reinforced role play experience. What do I mean by that?
In Elder Scrolls Daggerfall, the game does not holds your hand until you beat it. There is no big arrow on screen telling you where next to go, and there are like 9 or 10 main stats that are actually important and can only be mastered by trial and error. You can screw yourself up, and getting the bad ending without even knowing that until it's too late. The game is not leveled at all, so you have to actively think when you play rather than just swing your sword until you get the big chest at the end of the dungeon.
In system shocks 2, you have to put some points in research before you can do anything with the objects surrounding you. There are many situational skills that are absolutely essential, and you have to think hard and plan ahead.
The list goes on and on.
That have became the past already. In today's games, video game companies are willing to do anything to make their game as inoffensive and generic as possible to appeal to the tasteless masses. Thus there are so many shooters, because they require no skills. As long as you know how to use the mouse & keyboard or a ps 3 controller, you can play them. You don't need to think, just keep on playing and buying their dlcs.
One great example I'm sure will get eggs thrown at me is Skyrim. Though it's not as bad as Oblivion, it's still pretty messy. You can become the arch-mage at the school without even know any magic (except for fire, frost, cast light and warding, which any individual can acquire and use). You can become the leader of the thief guild wearing full heavy armor and never sneak at all. The magic combining is removed, and it's extremely easy to break the game and make the already easy game become even more mind-numbing. This is certainly in an effort to let players experience most of the game within one single playthrough. Sure, it succeeded. It's not without any cost. Skyrim is generic, it does not grow on me the longer I play. The first impress is surely nice, but it's completely 2-d once you are done with it.
To me, RPG elements are quite essential for my enjoyment and immersion. When the game is not asking me to learn or to do anything, I will lose interest. I would argue these complexities are essential.
What differs skyrim and daggerfall is that in skyrim, you can dump all your points mindlessly into health, magic, stamina without a second thought. Everything is handed to the player, and there is no input needed. The same thing happened to Diablo 3, even though it has a lot going for it, it is streamlined to the point that it's just about a linear stat growth. You can simulate the experience by just repeatedly adding numbers together.
So, if linear stat growth is bad, then what is a good system?
I can only speak through my own experience with games I've played over the years, so I may miss something important.
One I would name it POE system. It's all about giving player choices while limiting their options. Players have to actively think about their build, what gear to get, what skill and what modification to get, and how to spend their points. This system focuses on the variety of character building. However, it's really repetitive and there is no distinctive difference between individuals with the same build. In other words, all the depth is in the planning phase rather than in the executional phase.
Another system, I would name it dark souls system. In dark souls, your stats and equipment are not important as your play style and your skill. Experienced players can basically roll over the game using no shields and invest no vitality, whereas noobs will struggle even with the most OP cookie-cutter builds. This system is wonderful, because it makes your character grows on you as you are getting better and better at it. However, there aren't much choices and there is no depth in the planning phase.
The last one is Daggerfall system. The character stats are not only important for beating the game painlessly, but also they are important for your role-playing experience. You can't beat the game just with the best gears and dump all your stats into strength, agility and health. This makes the planning more stressful.
Another example would be one of skyrim's mod: frostfall. this mod adds in the needs of staying warm and fed. It overall makes skyrim a lot better.
To sum it up, a perfect ideal core system revolves around the complexity on both combat and plot advancing & survival elements on both executional and the character planning phase of a game.
I'm not saying SG needs everything, and whatnot. I'm simply stating elements I deem as essential hardcore pure RPG's must have.
(Thus, in a perfect world situation, the best crpg ever would be a better written daggerfall with better skill diversity; good combat system; and the needs of eat, drink, stay comfortable and healthy.)
Feel free to add your own examples and ideas or thoughts down below.
