So in that lens, TRPGF isn't necessarily doing it differently than even the greats....maybe you just can't design that magic that makes a great RPG what it is. Meaning TRPGF has as much chance of creating one as Square did.
Even as a huge Chrono Cross fan, I think you are pretty on point, but I need to address this.
I think what a lot of JRPG's lack compared to the proclaimed "Golden Age" of the 90s is actually pretty easily defined, and it's not nostalgia. It's just something TRPGF isn't getting. In Lost Sphere, right off the bat the layer is introduced to Spritnite, Momentum, Sublilmation skills/effects, Reflect/Counter, Artefacts, Vulcosuits, Food, and Equipment Upgrades. Most of these mechanics are quite forgettable.
There is a demand for 'deeper' RPGs, but there's a misconception that more mechanics make a game deep, making it quite laughable when a JRPG has a ton of elements that can ultimately be ignored and have little to do with the game's world or story.
This is what I mean by a 'checklist'. These elements weren't originally designed for each other, they were designed for different games and were brought together just to be throwbacks to their respected games.
FF6 tied the elements of it's World, Story, Characters, and Gameplay around a single noun. "Espers".
As a gameplay element, they allow characters to learn any magic they want by equipping the right esper for a number of battles. To make this a character element, we have to change the rules a bit. Tera is half-esper, so she is able to learn some magic as she levels up naturally. We turn this back into a story element by bringing up relations between Espers and humans, and how Tera is a product of both and is a representative of both. This ties back into character with Celes, who in gameplay can also learn some magic when leveling up naturally. However, in the story, she was artificially infused with Esper powers to have this gameplay mechanic. This ties back in both story and character with the villain Kefka, who was the first experiment and it took away his sanity.
A lot of the story, gameplay, and a lot of the plot-important characters in the best RPGs, IMO, were all tied together in some way. Clear mechanics which are expanded on outside of gameplay. In FF7 it was Mako, which was used to create Materia. In modern Legend of Heroes titles, it's Orbal technology.
Tokyo RPG Factory believes more mechanics are better, but it doesn't work well they have no purpose alongside the rest of the game.
@JaxonH Well, that doesn't sound very good... If YOU aren't up to playing games, that's not good at all!
@Seacliff Extremely great insight into the workings of JRPGs, I completely agree, and great use of examples. The addition of as many mechanics and systems as possible also ties into "AAA" thinking with all their superfluous, ancillary, ignorable systems in the games. And it's not just TRPGF, I think that same problem makes a majority of JRPGs these days feel bloated and meandering. Xenoblade and the crafting system, IMO was needless and a sidetrack for the game (the first one) for example.
I'd agree there's confusion between "complexity" for the sake of being complex, versus complexity in the classic games that usually resulted not from the existence of complex systems, but from complex potential uses of otherwise simple systems. "Focus" should be the watchword of JRPGs from now on. They should be focused and feature simple systems that can expand to complex use. That's what made the genre great in the past. CT wasn't particularly complex. You bought weapons and equipment. You didn't have to gather materials and craft them. Combat wasn't particularly complicated, it just made you play each battle as a strategy game using your combo of 3 players and their charge gauge. But battles felt purposeful and felt like they were taking place on a path of progression through a big world.....not walking in a circle on a small dirt track to find battles. (Watch, the next S-E game will feature a FOCUS system and tie it to characters and story and gameplay. You heard it here first!
Ok, been playing this over the weekend, and i see what people are saying about too many mechanics.
Because of the Spritnite upgrades for weapons and armour, I am broke and dont want to buy new armour only to have to upgrade them which cost alot of money. The Vulco-suits are kind of pointless until you unlock their powers later in the game. Then there is the sublimation points, and the momentum powers, and all the weird items which means nothing, except selling them, and the different fish from fishing points.
It's just soo over worked
Reading thru the comments it appears this hasn't gone down all that well. I'm giving it a go because I'm one of the few who enjoyed Setsuna.
It's considerably better to look at than the previous game, but it's a strange come down after 100 hours of Xenoblade 2. Seems rather plodding in comparison, but I'm hoping that wears off soon.
@bellow I'm liking the storyline, except some bits are abit obvious what's going to happen, and sometimes it's a bit random. Its just that there is so many mechanics (only just worked out what sublination is yesterday after playing it for 2 weeks) I never use the mech suits, have skipped out so many weapons as i've just upgraded my old ones with forging so there was no point in them, and there are so many different artifacts. Just all abit too over complicated for such a simple game.
But still liking it and will play it until the end.
@Bunkerneath I'm not averse to jumping on YouTube if something isn't making sense. Spent hours on there trying to unravel the intricacies of the systems in Xenoblade 2. And even after beating the game I read in this very forum how 'dark binding' or some such nonsense, was a good way to beat the final boss. In 100 hours I'd never even heard of that in the game😀
Got to the capital city. Sure is pretty. I'm glad I played Setsuna. Some of the systems are still in place, like approaching enemies from behind to get some momentum, and the game isn't really explaining itself, unless it does later.
@scubydo you know I'm really just at the start. I really liked setsuna, myself, so I'd say go for it. However, it hasn't sold that well by all accounts, so if you're really on the fence you could wait for the inevitable special offer on the eshop.
For someone who hasn't played either lost sphere or I am setsuna, which would be a better pickup now? I've got the desire for a classic, light JRPG and trying to decide between the two.
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Topic: Lost Sphear for Nintendo Switch
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