So continuing on from 2 weeks ago, it's back to the JRPG theme and another 2 critical aspects of the artform known as the JRPG
So the next point of focus is the ever important characters of the story. One of the worst things about most JRPGs is that there's often at least one character you just can't stand, whether their too stuck up or too much of a scaredy-cat there's rarely a collection of 5-7 amiable characters in the game, so for my game I'd try to strike a good balance, the main character with a good heart and sense of justice but at the same time can be a bit of a dick, a kick-ass fighter girl everyone thinks is cool, a little kid with a big attitude and bad mouth that's not afraid to talk down on even the toughest of opponents, a skilled fighting animal like a wolf and a few other less important but still skilled and non-whiney partners. Oh and not to forget the idiotic main villain who has anger issues and can't ever seem to understand that his plan is silly and he will evidently die by the hands of the legendary blade that he keeps mentioning in spite, yes I've deliberately made this guy annoying so the player will only be more motivated to off the guy at last. All a bit cliche, sure, but hey, it works.
 |
| Vanille from FF XIII, the horrible mess you get when you make a character too pleasant |
The next important focus-point is Side-Quests, every good JRPG has them in order to help you gain extra experience points or money or whatever, but the problem with most JRPGs is the repetitiveness of them, even in some non-JRPG games like Borderlands the side-quests consist mainly of an NPC telling you to 'go over there and kill that shit, then rummage through the shit to find and pick up 5 portions of shit carcass which you can't get from every dead creature, bring them back to me and let me tell you where you'll find the next batch of shit.' It's stupid, and it only gets worse when a bit later another NPC tells you to go back to the place where you killed all the shit for that other guy and kill some more for a different reason (Canaan Online I'm looking at you!). So for my JRPG you can expect a better set of side quests, sure with some killing involved but not grind worthy, the side-quests will be split into five-sections each making a little story you can progress through, from helping a love-struck couple torn apart by their families reunite, to helping an artist take photos of and build sculptures of some of the biggest and deadliest creatures in the world by fighting them for the best photos, from helping a young guild master make his little guild famous, to being a servant to a princess, and more, each climaxing with their own unique boss battles. Yes from my game you can expect more than boring fetch quests, much to Fido's dismay (sound of whimpering dog).
 |
| My current quest list from Canaan Online, sure I enjoy it but all the quests are pretty much the same! Just look at it! Kill something and get a sword, kill something else over and over to get wood, kill another thing over and over for some gear, blah blah blah, etc etc, donkey. |
