RPGs... to grind or not to grind?

what do you do when you play an RPG? do you grind the hell out of it to make sure you're prepared for anything or do you go with it and get just the right level to beat something?

i'm slowly enjoying grinding since it's a lot of help, but i used to just be the right level for whatever so i can move on.

Sometimes a mixture of both. I remember when I had a lot of free time on my hands, I grinded for months on Dragon Warrior VII. Needless to say, I pretyt much set myself up to breeze through the rest of the game.

You dont have to grind on every RPG, Lost Odyssey requires virtually no grinding at all.Allicrombie

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]You dont have to grind on every RPG, Lost Odyssey requires virtually no grinding at all.ASK_Story

I prefer to grind. I like watching my characters grow more powerful.Yagr_Zero

[QUOTE="ASK_Story"][QUOTE="Allicrombie"]You dont have to grind on every RPG, Lost Odyssey requires virtually no grinding at all.Allicrombie

I didn't know that. Never played LO. But I think a well-designed RPG, western or Japanese, fuse grinding with the game's progression where you level up naturally with the flow of the game instead of sidetracking for hours trying to get stronger just to beat a boss.

Grinding should be optional IMO, and to make it not worthless, they should have secret insanely hard bosses you can fight so you'd have a reason to grind. In that way, both casual and hardcore RPG players can enjoy it. I know some RPGs have secret tough bosses but I sometimes hate it when a regular mini-boss or boss is so tough you're forced to grind for hours just to beat it to move on. There were so many times I just stopped playing for weeks and even months because I got tired of it. That's NOT good game designing.

Like I said before, I love Dragon Quest but the game forces you to grind for hours, like DQIV. There was this one mid-game boss that was so difficult that I got killed with two hits or less. I had to grind for hours just to beat it. And to make it worse grinding in DQ games is a very slow process. I just gave up and didn't play the game for months.

And I don't think you can level up by grinding in Chrono Cross or Chrono Trigger. As I recall, I think you only level up when you beat a boss or get passed certain check points in the game.

[QUOTE="ASK_Story"] Sometimes it's fun like Diablo II, Titan Quest, etc., while others it becomes tedious. For example, I love Dragon Quest but even I admit it gets tiresome after awhile. Yagr_Zero

Yeah, I know what you mean. Like that Black Sigil DS game. It could've been a great RPG but I hear that there's a random battle every two-three seconds. And to make it worse, the battles last far too long.

This was actually my biggest beef with Skies of Arcadia and Valkryie Profile 2. I love these games and wanted to love them but they were so tedious because of the battles that lasted way to long. Especially VP2 because grinding is a must to progress in the game. It got really tiresome to the point I didn't want anything to do with the game.

Skies of Arcadia as well. This could've been one of my top 3 favorite RPGs because I love the characters, premise, and concept of the game. But the battle system was one of the worst I've ever played. Even small little weak enemies lasted for five minutes. Ugh, couldn't take it anymore.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Like that Black Sigil DS game. It could've been a great RPG but I hear that there's a random battle every two-three seconds. And to make it worse, the battles last far too long.

This was actually my biggest beef with Skies of Arcadia and Valkryie Profile 2. I love these games and wanted to love them but they were so tedious because of the battles that lasted way to long. Especially VP2 because grinding is a must to progress in the game. It got really tiresome to the point I didn't want anything to do with the game.

Skies of Arcadia as well. This could've been one of my top 3 favorite RPGs because I love the characters, premise, and concept of the game. But the battle system was one of the worst I've ever played. Even small little weak enemies lasted for five minutes. Ugh, couldn't take it anymore.

ASK_Story

[QUOTE="ASK_Story"]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Like that Black Sigil DS game. It could've been a great RPG but I hear that there's a random battle every two-three seconds. And to make it worse, the battles last far too long.

This was actually my biggest beef with Skies of Arcadia and Valkryie Profile 2. I love these games and wanted to love them but they were so tedious because of the battles that lasted way to long. Especially VP2 because grinding is a must to progress in the game. It got really tiresome to the point I didn't want anything to do with the game.

Skies of Arcadia as well. This could've been one of my top 3 favorite RPGs because I love the characters, premise, and concept of the game. But the battle system was one of the worst I've ever played. Even small little weak enemies lasted for five minutes. Ugh, couldn't take it anymore.

Yagr_Zero

Ideally, the combat system should be flexible enough so that grinding is not a requirement to advance in a game. For me, grinding is a last resort. I only do it if everything else I do fails.

I don't grind at all until the game hits me with a brick wall of difficulty. Then I go grind-crazy and totally overcompensate.Paladin_King

I grind like a horny teen who stuck in to a nightclub.

I usually casually go through an RPG staying just enough ahead of the curve that i dont really have trouble beating something. I do tend to hold up before the very end and spend time grinding, obtaining super secret awesome ultimate weapons, abilities etc etc etc so i can TKOWN the last bosses.

The first time through usually goes like that. The following trips through the same game i generally try to make challenging by underleveling.

I grind like crazy and even then it's sometimes not enough. This holds true for SMT games in my experience. One move by an enemy can suddenly wipe your whole team out, so not only do I have to grind but I need to prepare a moveset to counter the enemy's moves.

I've never been a huge fan of grinding, but I definitely will do a lot of side quests to make my character more powerful or collect unique items. If it's a game like Oblivion where you can just walk out into the woods and kill little rodents, then, no, I'm not up for that.

I enjoy the reward from grinding so I always do it, even if it causes me to burn out on the game.

I grinded super crazy in Lost Odyssey. The system is where the 4 best characters in terms of attack power and magic power can learn any skill from the other characters or items as long as you get alot of XP while wearing those items or being partnered with those other characters. You can get like... almost 20 skill slots per character. Because of that, I was doing alot of stuff non-stop.

The dangerous thing was that you got achievements for figuring out every spell/skill for the other characters so I just grinded them until I got that achievement and knew that there was nothing else I could possibly learn from them. I wasn't really trying to get higher levels, I just wanted the skills. I probably could have beaten the game within 50 hours, but I invested over 100 hours into it.

I'm OCD like that. If you tell me I can level up or learn new skills, i'm going to play until the game sucks too much (Eternal Sonata) or until i've learned everything possible. Leveling and learning new skills is a MAJOR plus of RPGs for me. I played Fallout 3 in two chunks: I immediately stopped once I hit Level 20 (level cap). Like 5 months later I purchased the DLC that raised the level cap to 30 and stopped again as soon as I hit 30. There are times when leveling is the only real thing i'm enjoying about a game.

So yeah, for me grinding is awesome. I think WRPGs epic fail themselves by having non-respawning enemies and level caps. It's so ironic. JRPGs usually have bad combat but they let you combat grind to your heart's content. WRPGs usually have better combat but they do everything in their power to stop you from enjoying it. It's so ass backwards.

Depends on how much I have to grind. The Dragon Quest series is a great example. IV and V while there was some grinding involved, it didn't feel overdone and the flow of the game wasn't broken. VII and VIII? Good god. I still enjoy those titles, but cripes was it ever a headache to grind sometimes. Playing a game should not feel like work, and those 2 titles really pushed the limit.

One of my favorite games in regards to grinding was FFVIII. While I know it is essentially the red headed stepchild of the series, it had one of the best setups in regards to grinding...in that if you knew how to use the junction system, there was almost no need to grind at all.

So yeah, if grinding doesn't break the flow, I'm fine with it.

Grinding means an RPG is difficult, and that's what I like. I personally love starting out only being able to do three fights at a time, then buying one new dagger, and progressively get stronger.

It really depends on the battle system. I love grinding in FF games, but for instance with SMT: Devil Summoner, I just got sick of the battles and would of taken ages for me to level up as I'm way under-leveled for the final boss.

[QUOTE="ASK_Story"][QUOTE="Allicrombie"]You dont have to grind on every RPG, Lost Odyssey requires virtually no grinding at all.Allicrombie

gotta love the tower of Enlightment

You dont have to grind on every RPG, Lost Odyssey requires virtually no grinding at all.Allicrombie

This game would not even let you grind until far into the story line. You would get to a certain level and then you would get like 1or 2 xp from battles until it you progressed further into the game.

what do you do when you play an RPG? do you grind the hell out of it to make sure you're prepared for anything or do you go with it and get just the right level to beat something?

i'm slowly enjoying grinding since it's a lot of help, but i used to just be the right level for whatever so i can move on.

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]You dont have to grind on every RPG, Lost Odyssey requires virtually no grinding at all.Sacif

This game would not even let you grind until far into the story line. You would get to a certain level and then you would get like 1or 2 xp from battles until it you progressed further into the game.

i grind so i dont have a ny trouble for boss battles. :P.. and when i like to see some new abilities the characters have.

If the RPG has a great battle system then grinding can be fun and very worth it. I for the most part enjoyed level grinding in Valkyria Chronicles because the game play was just so fun. It also feels good to have your characters at a high level after all the work.

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]You dont have to grind on every RPG, Lost Odyssey requires virtually no grinding at all.ASK_Story

Im going through chrono trigger and there are parts where you can grind if you want to, so the capabilities are there.

[QUOTE="Sacif"]

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]You dont have to grind on every RPG, Lost Odyssey requires virtually no grinding at all.Senor_Kami

This game would not even let you grind until far into the story line. You would get to a certain level and then you would get like 1or 2 xp from battles until it you progressed further into the game.

Never said that you had to grind, just stating that when you go into a new area, you can grind if you want to, even though the leveling is controlled by the progression of the game.

I usually tend to play the game, I find it's the most fun way to level up. Particularly with something like Morrowind, where you can just go out and explore the entire island, and come back having gained about 6 or 7 levels.

I do grind sometimes though... even in Morrowind. Usually the skills I don't usually get to use that much by just playing the game.

I hate grinding. It's never fun.

If I'm ever playing a game that requires grinding, I usually just try to play it through with underleveled characters - they're usually a lot more fun/rewarding that way.

Depends on the story - better story I want to get to it quickly

Personally i recomend not grinding it can make the game to easy.

Only grind when you know you have to to get the most out of the experience.

I hate grinding in RPGs. It takes away a lot of the immersion since all that's on your mind is "just one more level". The only "RPG" that I tolerated the grinding part was Diablo 2.

The weird thing about grinding in games like Diablo is that it's not as annoying. I guess it probably has to do more with the loot than the grinding itself.

The weird thing about grinding in games like Diablo is that it's not as annoying. I guess it probably has to do more with the loot than the grinding itself.

King9999

I rarely grind in rpgs, it takes the fun out of the game if boss battles become easy. Most of the time I barely meet the level required to be able to take down a boss character. It takes a few tries but it really pays off when you get him down.

I love RPGs, but unfortunately I hate grinding especially if the battle system is turn-based. It takes too long. I try to beat the game by just going through the story. I only grind when I get stuck due to my characters being too weak.

I hope in future RPGs (especially JRPGs) there will be many ways to level up, not just by beating enemies.

for the cost of games now, i will grind the hell out of them just to get my moneys worth. even if i dont have to!!

Playing DQ8 without grinding is impossible. There are three great leaps where grinding is neccessary, one of those being the beginning. Otherwise, I try to go through the game at a reasonable pace, and only grind if the area ahead is way too tough.