Favorite Rpg Mechanics

[Stratadrake]

Okay, I know we all have favorite games of each genre, and many of us have a liking for RPG's . . . which are the best?

No, that's not the question. The question for the day, what are some of the best RPG [b]mechanics[/b] you've seen in a game?

That's right. Not the games themselves, but the various aspects that go into the gameplay -- which of those are your favorites and why?

To kick off the thread, I'll give one an example of my favorite RPG mechanics:

Mechanic: "Death By Noncombat"
Game(s): Quest for Glory series (by Sierra), particularly the original

Sierra's old Quest for Glory series ranks high on my list of favorite RPG's, but that's not important. One of my favorite aspects of this game is that it's not just an RPG, it's a hybrid between RPG and old-school adventure game. Remember those days of adventure gaming where if you walked into a puzzle without the proper items in your inventory, you'd wind up dead? Quest for Glory was like that, only with RPG factors added in.

In modern RPG's, there's only one way you can lose the game, and that is to get killed in combat. But in the case of Quest for Glory 1: So You Want To Be A Hero, that's far from the case. Being a hybrid adventure/RPG, there are over fifty different scenarios that can cause the death, permanent imprisonment, or otherwise game-overness of your main character. Yet only two of them involve any actual combat, and those are:

- Get killed by the monster outright.
- Get exhausted (stamina depletion) from too much combat. Your adventurer faints, and it's game over.

It's true that death by combat is the biggest cause of a game over in QFG1. But there are far more varied, and more interesting ways to lose the game. Such as:

- Try to sleep all night in an 'unprotected' (i.e., everywhere except in town) area, because some monster always makes a meal out of your character.
- Visit the local cemetery at night. The wandering spirits will sap the life right from your character. Better pack a protective potion instead.
- Visit the local ogress. Getting past her front gate is a puzzle in itself, and she'll be more than happy to turn you into a frog (which triggers another, timed, puzzle). Fail and it's frog soup for the would-be hero.
- Visit the local brigands' fortress. It's guarded, garissoned, and booby-trapped, and their leader will run you through at the slightest provocation. There is a total of ten different ways to get killed in the fortress, all of them involving either traps or timed puzzles.
- There's a white stag in the forest. But there's also a Dryad, the protector of the forest. Don't harm the stag, or the dryad will make you replace it (she's got magic, you know) .
- There are also rare flowers in the forest. Better not harm them either.
- There is a circle of mushrooms in the forest. Eating one produces some trippy effects, but don't overdose.
- Try to go thieving in the town. Most of the houses are firmly locked and barred, and the sherriff is easily awoken. There are, indeed, a few places you can rob (that is, if your character is a thief) but don't go overboard.
(etc.)

* * *

There are many other cases of interesting mechanics, interesting gameplay elements in various RPG's. I'll mention some more of my favorites later. In the meantime, out of the RPG's that you've played, what are some of the best mechanics you've seen?
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[TomtheMighty]

I enjoy the morality aspects in some RPGs. Especially Knights of the Old Republic. Almost every desiscion you make has bearing on your light/dark side standing. For instance. . .

I had to discover the source behind a darkside tainted grove. I found the source, a fallen Jedi. I could kill her or attempt to bring her back to the light. If I bring her back, I would have a new party member with force powers, if I kill her however, her Jedi friend would be angry and leave the Jedi and join the sith for revenge against me.

It is that kind of stuff that I love, their may be right or wrong answers but you are allowed to choose which path to take. Which is why I am looking forward to Fable for the Xbox this fall, where you can be as good or evil as you please.

[One_Winged_Angel_Returns]

Would Sin Harvest count, from Kingdom Hearts? I know it kills ya, but its fun when you try to be swift-fingered with the buttons before Sephiroth charges and kills ya!

(Ain't I annoying?)
Don't anybody call me a Sephy lover!
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Your heart is confused, yet your mind thinks it knows where to go...~Dayne Omega

[TrinX]

Well, the first time I played Kingdom Hearts I found the battle system to be strange. But then as I played through the game more, I fell in love with it because it was so different and innovative. I loved the way you used both analog sticks to control battle commands. And being able to put spells on a quick-cast menu was convienient as well. It's one of my favorite RPG battle systems to date... not turn-based but an interesting real time system.

[One_Winged_Angel_Returns]

I agree with that. I wish Final Fantasy was like that; its not fun attacking one person @ a time. Go KH!
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Your heart is confused, yet your mind thinks it knows where to go...~Dayne Omega

[Stratadrake]

I could rave about Kingdom Hearts all day. But that's only because here's another one of my favorite RPG mechanics.

I'll call it the "You Can't Take It With You" rule.

Mechanic: Limited battle inventory
Games: Various, including the original FF, FF2, Kingdom Hearts, Legend of Dragoon, Paper Mario, and more

I'll be blunt: I don't like RPG's where you can carry more items than an entire shop into battle. If you have 99 Phoenix Downs, why worry about characters being knocked out in combat? Just take damage and heal as necessary. This creates an unfortunate, tactically-devoid scenario which I call "He who has the most items wins". I mean, when you think about it, in practical terms those items must weigh something, so how in the blazes are you going to be able to carry thousands of little items around with you?

So, I like games where your inventory is limited in one way or another. This of course, can create the unfortunate scenario of not being able to pick up a new item because your inventory is full -- but on the tactical side, if one character's been KO'd, do you use a consumable Phoenix Down on them, and risk having no more left? Or do yo ucast a Life spell and risk not being able to use as much magic? Or . . . do you simply improve your tactics to avoid them being KO'ed in the first place?

Limited inventory tactics tend to go well with real-time battles, like in Kingdom Hearts where you must equip your items before battle begins, in order to have them available during combat, and in the combat itself, it's up to YOU to avoid damage from enemy attacks through skillful maneuvers and sterling tactics. Yes, in a typical turn-based battle system, you can't avoid taking damage, and that's the nature of the game.

Perhaps the biggest effect of having a limited inventory is that it places a limit on the total time for which you can endure combat. If the battle draws long, you'll inevitably run out of items, and then combat will have to end, one way or another. Thus, to survive a long battle, you'll have to conserve your items, and you'll have to do this by thinking tactically, and by using offensive and defensive powers to their fullest.

Examples of games with limited inventories:
- Super Mario RPG. Inventory is limited to 20 items (not including key items and equipment).
- Paper Mario. A limit of [b]ten[/b] items (again, not including key items and equipment). What kind of healing items do you pack? Do you pack a revive mushroom (or two) as well? Is there room for any attack items when you're done?
- Legend of Dragoon. A 32 item (or item-type, I forget which) limit.
- Original Final Fantasy. No real limits on items, but the only items you can use in combat were Potions and Pures (antidotes), neither of which are very effective mid- or late- game. You can also use some pieces of equipment as items, but you're limited in how much equipment each character can carry as well.
- Final Fantasy 2. Each character can equip two items, and those are the only things you can use in battle.
- Seiken Denstetsu 3. Your battle-ready inventory is limited to nine item types, and nine quantities of each type. Any additional items are put into "storage", an unlimited repository that you can manage outside of combat only.
- Kingdom Hearts. Similar to SD3 and FF2, you can have a nearly unlimited amount of items -- but you can only equip so many for combat at a time. A nice bonus is that when you pick up an item mid-combat, it goes straight into one of your combat item slots (if you have one available).
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[HeavenlyKunoichi]

If any of you like KOTOR YOU WILL LOVE THE MECHANICS OF THE GAME JADE EMPIRE. Just go here and be amazed
...
http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_jad...e3_2k4_demo.wmv
http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_jad...empire_doc1.wmv
http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_jad...empire_doc2.wmv
http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_jad...empire_doc3.wmv

If these don't load, open windows media player and then copy and paste the urls into the open url menu.

[Stratadrake]

I fail to see how mere videos demonstrate why a game's mechanics are good. Please explain it yourself....
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