The turn based RPG had a big thing going for it, it's story. The computing power of consoles, and even computers, in the mid to late 90's just couldn't deliver what designers wanted so they were forced to write a better game, and thats what a quality RPG was, an excellent story that required you to work your way through and solve it. There were often shortcuts but eventually you had to sit down and let the story unfold to find out what was happening and why.
Dragon Warrior was my first taste at the Turn Based RPG, an 8 bit relic from the days of NES and I have no idea how many times I finished this game. It had all the elements that RPG are based on, hit points, monster combat, armor and weapon upgrades, and leveling up; it was quite an experience when you leveled up enough that you're main battle spell 'Hurt' became the amped up version 'Hurtmore'.You could take him on anytime after you hit level 20 and probably succeed, but if you made it to level 24, the boss was your bitch!
Wild Arms was a perfect example of quality Turn Based RPG's. The three main characters always reminded me of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia, and you had to help them grow and face the villain trying to destroy their world. You didn't need to be fast on the buttons, but you had to make sure that you had the correct equipment, supplies, and, most importantly, spells ready to use. You also had to know when to use what and the best way to approach it, these were strategy games, thinkers, not button mashers. Plus, Rudy got some kickass guns as time went on.
Suikoden, god bless you Konami, is another prime example, an amazing game, released a couple years before Wild Arms it was a groundbreaker in the genre. You had a party of 6 people with you and you wandered the world collecting soldiers for your army. The game was broken up by army battles that amounted to Rock, Paper, Scissors. Normal play required not only leveling your own character, but different characters throughout the land, needing the right combination of skills and weapons to fight effectively.
I'll finish this journey down memory lane with one more game, Breath of Fire III. I never got to play 1 or 2 or any of the others that came out in this line, but that one game alone was worth the play. The first time through it took me over 120 hours to play; I never did finish it a 2nd time due to the time constraints but it's another great game. A party of 3 interchangeable characters, yours being able to morph into a dragon during battles, the dragon being dependant on the combination of genes you collected and used, leading across a medieval world, an ocean, and finally a post apocalyptic wasteland, ending up with a final boss battle against God, or at least the closest version they were willing to put in the game. Side games consisted of fishing, trading, and, of course, gambling.
I've said it many times before, I value story and plot above action and flash. I'll play a buggy game to death if it has a good story. You want proof? I've finished The Force Unleashed 3 times, on both the 360 and the PS3. I've got other tales I could recount (Star Trek: Legacy anyone?) but I think that sums everything up perfectly. I also have to say they knew how to pay attention to detail in those games. Wild Arms was the first game to let you walk through a water puddle and leave wet footprints behind; doesn't sound like much today, but 12 years ago that was an unheard of use of computing resources. Don't even get me started on the puzzles, my god the hours I spent trying to figure out things like the right sequence of paintings to look at in order to get a secret door I wasn't even sure actually existed to open; once you know what you're looking for and what to do it's 3 seconds work, but solving them was mindnumbing at times. No wonder I used to smoke!
As I said, this is mainly nostalgic, I actually own all these games and could play them anytime I want, but I don't. I've newer and bigger fish to fry (Bioshock 2 anyone?).
A good game is worth it's weight in time, and these games were magnificent, for their time.
This reminds me of how jealous I was that you had a Playstation during those years. :)
ReplyDeleteI noticed there was a PSP Wild Arms game but I won't pay more then $50 for a game. Hell I can count the ones I bought games that were over $30 on one hand.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya on the price thing.
ReplyDeleteThey made a few sequels to Wild Arms, I wonder if thats one of them or if it's a reprint of the original.
From what I read it sounds like a spin off so a new story featuring the female character whose name evades me at the moment
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