Things you didn't like in old RPGs

I love RPGs, but there are some things in the older games that I can't stand. And here they are;

Each character has his own inventory - It's so annoying having to shuffle around items and equipment, and also not being able to carry too much stuff.

Action menus - I can't just walk up that staircase, I have to go stand on it, bring up the action menu, and select "stair".

High random encounter rates when trying to solve a puzzle -:evil:

Flee commands that don't have a 100% success rate - This enemy just killed one of my guys in one hit, probably because I'm not supposed to be in this area yet. I'll just select "flee" and get the heck out of here. Oh, my flee attempt failed, and there's the Game Over screen. Wonderful...

"Thou hast slain thy terrible slime. Thou hast gaineth 1 experience point. Thou needeth 923 experience point to achieve one level up"

Other than that, I would say anything present in Quest 64. That game was the collusion of everything that could go mediocre in RPG's, especially the whole "run away from every spell and attack ever" your hero got to practice.

--> 2D.

--> playing a character "chibi style"

Hit % I'm standing right next to the enemy DAMMIT!!, Lock picking %, Disarm traps %, etc.

Shops selling weapons, etc for crazy prices when you can find the same items for free.

Shoddy rewards for completing difficult quests

Useless party members and character classes

Huge build up to a boss fight that turns out to be a cake walk. "This guy can cut mountains in half with his massive sword and I beat him without losing so much as a third of my Hit points.":lol:

The carbon-copy turn-based fights.

When half the game is spent mindlessly whacking a button, or picking one of three exciting options ad infinitum, and watching icons wiggle at each other a bit slowly and repetitively, then it really doesn't take long for it to become tedious.

Also, those crap shops whose assistants could never manage to find a decent sales pitch before trying to flog you equipment (For example, along the lines of "My sir those boots look fine on you, and they come with a SP +2 bonus to boot.... and if you try on this lovely hat then as you can see, your MAG and DEF are enhanced considerably ")

- Grinding

- Mind-boggling random encounters

- convulted interface

Repetitious battle themes.

I remember playing some RPGs without sound because of that!

Lack of clues for direction as in "I have no idea what I need to do next!"

Some RPGs had no story.

Another thing I hate is the end of game mystery boss. You know, the one that never gets any mention in the story, but just appears at the final battle. I can only think of one game guilty of this, and it's pretty irritating. I don't want to spoil the game for anybody, so I won't post it here. But, if you must know, here it is.weltall1028

I knew who you were talking about before clicking on the link. I was sitting there and I realized that this boss has nothing to do with anything.

Some of the graphics.

There were old-style RPGs which looked spectacular, such as Chrono Trigger or Mario RPG, but then there were also some real dogs out there.... my eeeeyes ! my eeeeeyeeeeess !

;) I wont; shame any by mentioning them by name, I'm sure plenty of us here have seen 'em though.

I remember that certain games, such as the original Final Fantasy, had this annoying rule:

Let's say that you are facing multiple enemies in a battle. If you have, for instance, 3 characters targeting a single enemy. But that enemy is killed after only 1 character attacks, so then the remaining 2 characters, instead of attacking another live enemy, have their attacks automatically miss. Thankfully, newer RPGs and remakes remedy this stupid rule.

Another thing I hate is the end of game mystery boss. You know, the one that never gets any mention in the story, but just appears at the final battle. I can only think of one game guilty of this, and it's pretty irritating. I don't want to spoil the game for anybody, so I won't post it here. But, if you must know, here it is.weltall1028

i also knew what game it was before i clicked on it. i honestly enjoyed that game but when i got to the boss i was just thinking "WHAT!?!?!?! where did this guy come from? what does he have to do with anything!?!?"

I hate most of the things mentioned in this thread but no one has said excessive inventory management. I've played some games that have an inventory limit of twenty to thirty items and you would have to warp out of a dungeon or pick and choose treasure, it's just pointless to impose that on a player and it sure as hell isn't fun.Second_Rook

Yeah, that's the reason I haven't played Odin Sphere too much. I can deal with the excessive slowdown, but that small inventory ring is frustrating.

I remember that certain games, such as the original Final Fantasy, had this annoying rule:

Let's say that you are facing multiple enemies in a battle. If you have, for instance, 3 characters targeting a single enemy. But that enemy is killed after only 1 character attacks, so then the remaining 2 characters, instead of attacking another live enemy, have their attacks automatically miss. Thankfully, newer RPGs and remakes remedy this stupid rule.

UltimateXShadow

Golden Sun is kind of like that too. If all 4 characters target one enemy, and the first guy kills it, the other three characters will defend. Not as bad as swinging at air, but it still sucks.

Getting into a random encounter every 2 steps.

Having to level up several times before you can go to the next area.

The fact that you spend 80% of the time grinding.

Dying after forgetting to save for the last few hours.

Yeah, that's the reason I haven't played Odin Sphere too much. I can deal with the excessive slowdown, but that small inventory ring is frustrating.weltall1028

You didn't get very far in the game did you? You get about 5 bags midway through, which is over 60 items. You don't need 60 items at any one time..if you do then you need to go back and level up some more.

Each character has his own inventory - It's so annoying having to shuffle around items and equipment, and also not being able to carry too much stuff.

Action menus - I can't just walk up that staircase, I have to go stand on it, bring up the action menu, and select "stair".

High random encounter rates when trying to solve a puzzle -:evil:

Flee commands that don't have a 100% success rate - This enemy just killed one of my guys in one hit, probably because I'm not supposed to be in this area yet. I'll just select "flee" and get the heck out of here. Oh, my flee attempt failed, and there's the Game Over screen. Wonderful...

weltall1028

"Thou hast slain thy terrible slime. Thou hast gaineth 1 experience point. Thou needeth 923 experience point to achieve one level up"

SirSpudly

Repetitious battle themes.

Lack of clues for direction as in "I have no idea what I need to do next!"

Some RPGs had no story.

titanic5445

Dying after forgetting to save for the last few hours.

RossRichard

Let's say that you are facing multiple enemies in a battle. If you have, for instance, 3 characters targeting a single enemy. But that enemy is killed after only 1 character attacks, so then the remaining 2 characters, instead of attacking another live enemy, have their attacks automatically miss.

UltimateXShadow

all of these and i still cant comprehend why Dragon Quest VIII is praised so much. it has everything you said here, it has no story ( i mean it was terrible ), annoying random encounters oftenly, different character bags for each, grinding grinding grinding, after you kill your enemy with one shot your other members do not attack, annoying battle theme, etc etc. DQ8 is sum of all these bad things and yet its praised like its the best...

i also dont like useless magic. magicians should be more powerful than normal characters since they easily die but game makers make magicians fragile and yet they barely can deal same amount of damage like normal melee fighters...

^ its been awhile since i played DQ8 but im pretty sure you attacked a different enemy when the initial target is killed. also i don't think you have to make a menu selection to walk up the stairs. also the story imo is pretty good (basic rpg story though) and i thought all the places they wanted you to go were pretty obvious (i think there was one time where i had to go run around and talk to a whole town before i found out what i had to do)

but it definitely does have grinding.... so so so much grinding. also the magic user thing is pretty annoying (weak magic user whose spells deal average damage, extra damage against elementally weak creatures) and there were a couple battles where even after i got whooped i went and leveled up 4 or 5 levels and managed to BARELY scrape by. but, i think they were just trying to make it hard.

^ its been awhile since i played DQ8 but im pretty sure you attacked a different enemy when the initial target is killed. also i don't think you have to make a menu selection to walk up the stairs. also the story imo is pretty good (basic rpg story though) and i thought all the places they wanted you to go were pretty obvious (i think there was one time where i had to go run around and talk to a whole town before i found out what i had to do)

but it definitely does have grinding.... so so so much grinding. also the magic user thing is pretty annoying (weak magic user whose spells deal average damage, extra damage against elementally weak creatures) and there were a couple battles where even after i got whooped i went and leveled up 4 or 5 levels and managed to BARELY scrape by. but, i think they were just trying to make it hard.

z4twenny

If that's your opinion of DQ8, may I suggest you never touch Dragon Warrior 7 (PS1). Even though it also had the fixed attacking mechanic, the amount of grinding is insane, even more so when the game starts all characters at level 1, even when your party is level 25. Then there's the intro, where you will be reading and walking around the same small island for 2 hours solving puzzles and helping people out. 2 hours before you get in a fight, and probably another 2 before you can afford the next set of armor for everyone.

DW7 is a 150 hour game for those who complain about lame storylines, just be prepared for it's Chauncer's Tales meets Gulliver's Travels presentation.

A couple of the games don't have much direction. Yagr_Zero

That sounds like Breath Of Fire II.

Something else I didn't like was Final Fantasy II's empty rooms in dungeons. You go in expecting to find treasure, instead you get forced into tough battles every single step. :x

[QUOTE="z4twenny"]

^ its been awhile since i played DQ8 but im pretty sure you attacked a different enemy when the initial target is killed. also i don't think you have to make a menu selection to walk up the stairs. also the story imo is pretty good (basic rpg story though) and i thought all the places they wanted you to go were pretty obvious (i think there was one time where i had to go run around and talk to a whole town before i found out what i had to do)

but it definitely does have grinding.... so so so much grinding. also the magic user thing is pretty annoying (weak magic user whose spells deal average damage, extra damage against elementally weak creatures) and there were a couple battles where even after i got whooped i went and leveled up 4 or 5 levels and managed to BARELY scrape by. but, i think they were just trying to make it hard.

SirSpudly

If that's your opinion of DQ8, may I suggest you never touch Dragon Warrior 7 (PS1). Even though it also had the fixed attacking mechanic, the amount of grinding is insane, even more so when the game starts all characters at level 1, even when your party is level 25. Then there's the intro, where you will be reading and walking around the same small island for 2 hours solving puzzles and helping people out. 2 hours before you get in a fight, and probably another 2 before you can afford the next set of armor for everyone.

DW7 is a 150 hour game for those who complain about lame storylines, just be prepared for it's Chauncer's Tales meets Gulliver's Travels presentation.

i've actually played DW7 before, i remember i didn't make it through the game but what i played of it i enjoyed it. i found it again and plan on playing it again and finally completing it :P

[QUOTE="z4twenny"]

^ its been awhile since i played DQ8 but im pretty sure you attacked a different enemy when the initial target is killed. also i don't think you have to make a menu selection to walk up the stairs. also the story imo is pretty good (basic rpg story though) and i thought all the places they wanted you to go were pretty obvious (i think there was one time where i had to go run around and talk to a whole town before i found out what i had to do)

but it definitely does have grinding.... so so so much grinding. also the magic user thing is pretty annoying (weak magic user whose spells deal average damage, extra damage against elementally weak creatures) and there were a couple battles where even after i got whooped i went and leveled up 4 or 5 levels and managed to BARELY scrape by. but, i think they were just trying to make it hard.

SirSpudly

If that's your opinion of DQ8, may I suggest you never touch Dragon Warrior 7 (PS1). Even though it also had the fixed attacking mechanic, the amount of grinding is insane, even more so when the game starts all characters at level 1, even when your party is level 25. Then there's the intro, where you will be reading and walking around the same small island for 2 hours solving puzzles and helping people out. 2 hours before you get in a fight, and probably another 2 before you can afford the next set of armor for everyone.

DW7 is a 150 hour game for those who complain about lame storylines, just be prepared for it's Chauncer's Tales meets Gulliver's Travels presentation.

....it's Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales...and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. I don't mean to be anal retentive, but I'm pursuing a minor in English Literature, so I HAVE to reply, you know, and DQVII was amazing for those very reasons, and I think another poster already refuted a lot of those complaints in relation to DQVIII...

I remember that certain games, such as the original Final Fantasy, had this annoying rule:

Let's say that you are facing multiple enemies in a battle. If you have, for instance, 3 characters targeting a single enemy. But that enemy is killed after only 1 character attacks, so then the remaining 2 characters, instead of attacking another live enemy, have their attacks automatically miss. Thankfully, newer RPGs and remakes remedy this stupid rule.

UltimateXShadow

The SMT:Persona series was even worse in that respect. I actually enjoyed that gameplay mechanism, because it required the player to be more aware of the HP of the enemy, its elemental attributes, and the player's character's strength/agility/etc. Though I will admit that I enjoy it's absence even more, hahaha.

I love RPGs, but there are some things in the older games that I can't stand. And here they are;

Each character has his own inventory - It's so annoying having to shuffle around items and equipment, and also not being able to carry too much stuff.

Action menus - I can't just walk up that staircase, I have to go stand on it, bring up the action menu, and select "stair".

High random encounter rates when trying to solve a puzzle -:evil:

Flee commands that don't have a 100% success rate - This enemy just killed one of my guys in one hit, probably because I'm not supposed to be in this area yet. I'll just select "flee" and get the heck out of here. Oh, my flee attempt failed, and there's the Game Over screen. Wonderful...

weltall1028

Besides that, the need to level up, fighting a few hours and seeing if you have enough level to fight boss/enemies in the next area to investigate.

you need action menus

most of them are turn based, so combat is stupid

too many puzzles

I hated running into enemies literally every two steps and running into those unbeatable enemies that get to attack two times every turn. :evil:

Long Fetch Quests:

See "Getting a Gold Bar" in Breath of Fire

[QUOTE="SirSpudly"][QUOTE="z4twenny"]

^ its been awhile since i played DQ8 but im pretty sure you attacked a different enemy when the initial target is killed. also i don't think you have to make a menu selection to walk up the stairs. also the story imo is pretty good (basic rpg story though) and i thought all the places they wanted you to go were pretty obvious (i think there was one time where i had to go run around and talk to a whole town before i found out what i had to do)

but it definitely does have grinding.... so so so much grinding. also the magic user thing is pretty annoying (weak magic user whose spells deal average damage, extra damage against elementally weak creatures) and there were a couple battles where even after i got whooped i went and leveled up 4 or 5 levels and managed to BARELY scrape by. but, i think they were just trying to make it hard.

z4twenny

If that's your opinion of DQ8, may I suggest you never touch Dragon Warrior 7 (PS1). Even though it also had the fixed attacking mechanic, the amount of grinding is insane, even more so when the game starts all characters at level 1, even when your party is level 25. Then there's the intro, where you will be reading and walking around the same small island for 2 hours solving puzzles and helping people out. 2 hours before you get in a fight, and probably another 2 before you can afford the next set of armor for everyone.

DW7 is a 150 hour game for those who complain about lame storylines, just be prepared for it's Chauncer's Tales meets Gulliver's Travels presentation.

i've actually played DW7 before, i remember i didn't make it through the game but what i played of it i enjoyed it. i found it again and plan on playing it again and finally completing it :P

i really liked DW7. it was pretty challenging, the encounter rate was similar to that of other dragon warrior games, and once you get to the point where you can choose character job, there is an unbelievable amount of character customization. it's really long, though, and goes through pretty much every RPG archetype story you can think of.

if you're willing to put in the time, i think you'll find it rewarding, but if you don't enjoy watching your characters level up and gain new abilities through plenty of grinding, then this one may not be for you.

you know, thanks to a similar thread, i am now 3 discs deep in FF9. i'm pretty sure i'm gonna pick up dw7 again, thanks to this one.

*edit - i can't believe the spellcheck censors the word c l a s s

Having to return to a certain place in a HUGE map just to save my progress got in my nerves...

In some games, not being able to buy items to resurrect fallen members...

I don't think anyone mentioned this, but sorry if I missed it:

Very few/infrequent save points: I'm looking at you, Dragon Warrior !!!

God bless checkpoints!!!

Having to return to a certain place in a HUGE map just to save my progress got in my nerves...

In some games, not being able to buy items to resurrect fallen members...

cfamgcn

I thought that was pretty irritating too. I wish more games had a save anywhere feature like the Lunar series.