| ArtznCraphs said: Final Fantasy games are different in terms of setting, not in gameplay or interaction. It's go into battle screen, order off a menu. Scant NPC interaction, no choice of going for or against a particular action, no thief skills usable outside of combat, no pre emptive attacks. Same as Dragon Quest. Same damn thing since Dragon Warrior and Phantasy Star. FF12 was a step forward in some ways, but it's poo-pooed by the supposed fanbase on the internet, even though every adult JRPG fan I know of in the real world thinks it's the best thing to happen to the series in a long time. Why should the genre even progress when it's fanbase wants FF7 everytime. And if you're going to include Kingdom Hearts, you might as well include Deus Ex. In Deus Ex your performance and options and even the story itself are effected by numbers and character interactions to a FAR greater degree than Kingdom Hearts, or any SquareEnix game for that matter. Not to mention it's infinitely more immersive than any of the so called traditional RPGs on either side. But I do agree that WRPGs need a serious injection of art and style. |
Very few FF games share an identical combat system. While it's true they share a similar combat system, you are comparing within series. Many FF games let you completely customize the class of your character, and don't limit you to the pre-defined classes people seem to think they do.
FFXII is panned by fans because it's ridiculously easy (I rarely even picked up the controller in battle), has a ridiculous cliche plot (George Lucas needs to sue), and the worst characters in the history of video games (Vaan needs to die a horrible death). Apparently the people you know in the "real world" prefer pretty graphics over good gameplay and plot. That said, getting rid of random encounters was certainly a step in the right direction. As was the removal of a fixed camera.
Pre-emptive strikes are possible in recent Dragon Quest games such as Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker on the DS, which has no random encounters. Gameplay in the Dragon Quest series is always turn based, but does have some variety in that depending on what you are playing. To use DQM:J as an example again, you select tactics patterns and combination attacks for every member of your party before the turn begins. Sort of hard to describe, but it's an interesting unique system.
And again, if you are going to add in more games, how about games like Baten Kaitos with card based battle systems? Or Tales, with active time linear motion battle systems. There is tons of variety in RPG gameplay.
