One thing that surprised me about the
Feel The Hatred: Random Battles monthly musing I did was how much agreement there was with my point of view. In the past, I've had conversations about this with gamers vigourously trying to defend Random Battles by any means possible - but those comments were very much in the minority here.
Every so often, I get the JRPG urge. This time it's because of
Chrono Trigger's DS release coming up. It has made me really want to replay it because I haven't done in a long, long time. I should resist, though, as I'm saving myself for the DS version.
Yay.
Sometimes, when this JRPG urge happens, I might try a game with random battles, telling myself 'well, maybe this time around I won't mind them.' Inevitably, I don't end up finishing the game. It's not that I get mad at it and make a conscious 'Oh, forget
this' decision. It's just that I'll gradually get worn down to a point where I'm playing it less and less, then about a month later I'll suddenly think 'Oh, look at that - I stopped playing it. Well, I can't be bothered to remember where I was and carry on, now.'
So here's what I want to do:
Final Fantasy VI (originally III in the US) is, I understand, like the
Revolver to
FFVII's
Sergeant Pepper. While the latter is flashier and generally more celebrated, a lot of fans consider the former to be the superior game. It's also a game which I have started to play about three times before. I always got frustrated with the Random Battles before getting very far.
Donk.
This time I'm going to try to finish it. Really
try. I'm not a masochist, I just want to understand the good things people say about it as well as the things I find bad. One of the ways I'll try to do this is by blogging my experiences, good and bad, as I go along. Something you can all do to help is encourage me by telling me how good the bit coming up is (without spoiling it for me), or giving me advice on how I can minimise frustration when going through the next area. My hypothesis is that by using the D-toid community as a crutch in this way, I'll just about be able to limp through the game and find the experience worthwhile. Whether that turns out to be true or not, well, that's the purpose of this Great Random Battle Experiment. If there are other d-toiders out there who have had a similar problem getting through this game in the past, why not join me?
So. Here we go.
FFVI. Tonight. It's a date. We're gonna get through this , together.
SurplusGamer's blog
Follow
RSS
Contact
I agree with all your points about random encounters, though I don't think I hate them quite as much as you do. Regardless, this game really is worth the perseverance.
Also, last year, I had just bought Final Fantasy III for the DS. But I quit playing for months after I reached the second town. Thats how quickly the random battles worn me out.
But I started playing again earlier this year, and I'm currently at the final dungeon. But I quit playing again after that, because the final boss requires me to do tons of tedious grinding for levels.
I think the perfect RPG's are the ones that let you progress more naturaly, with minimal amount of grinding. I think Lost Odyssey are a good example of this. Lost Odyssey's difficulty was more based on tactics, instead of what level your party members where.
If you want to see a random battle system done right, try playing Atelier Iris 2 on the PS2. Every area you explore in has an encounter meter. As you fight battles, the encounter meter drains out, and when it's empty, you won't get in any more battles in that part of the area until you leave back to the world map. That way if you're exploring for treasures or ingredients or something, you can just clear out the monsters, then look around at your leisure.
When you start getting 5 exp per battle its usually an indication for that you're strong enough to progress in the game. I personally felt that random battles happened more rarely in Losy Odyssey than other games I've played. but thats just me.
I guess I could've tried out that game. But Sony removed BC support on the PS3.