What about a non-random encounter system makes it so you can't see the general strength of the enemy and plan for them?JRPGs that were smart about random encounters also gave a visible threat level, you knew when you were going to get a fight approximately and you could account for it. Now in non-random most of the time you get encounters by being blindsided. And you've got to HOPE that the game communicates well enough that the mob you're going to fight is from the same level as you and not something 20 levels higher. Something that most likely would never happen in random-enc games because they didn't have any reason to put some super hard monster randomly on the encounter table.
The only reason we had random encounters to begin with is because of the processing power required to render enemies on the map. We're no longer constrained like that, so the archaic practice needs to die for good.
Bravely Default and Second are the only JRPGs where I enjoyed random encounters, and that was because you could alter how often they showed up, even putting it down to zero if you just wanted to reach a save point. I'm okay with that.
Otherwise nah, I like the way it is now.
Outrunning a Gyarados while surfing on your Walrein actually sounds pretty amazing... Pokemon overworlds need more Pokemon in them.You can run away in any Pokémon and you have items to remove encounters. I'll take that over outrunning a Pikachu trying to eat my ass
Non-random encounters are overblown. They're far less practical and useful than they are made to be.
I have so many issues with it:
- I can't enjoy any area because they are overrun with monsters
- Monsters moving aimlessly takes me out of the experience super fast
- Any cramped area is going to be a nightmare to go through that will make you wish it was random
- Spells and items that reduces encounters now just reduces the amount of enemies on-screen, meaning you still have to deal with them
- You have to walk around to circumvent them, you have to dodge them, you have to wait for them to de-spawn when you just have to get wherever you want to be with random encounters
- Any straight line I could take in random encounter rpg becomes a goofy zig-zag to avoid one monster
- Mobs are most likely to outrun you anyway because of course their walk speed are faster than yours
The only time non-random encounters would work is if you put the time to make monsters part of the world but 95% of JRPGs doesn't have the budget for this. This, or you're The World Ends With you where YOU decide WHEN you should fight.
Only non-random encounters JRPGs I managed to stand is Chrono Cross, because you can run away instantly, and Valkyrie Profile, because you can freeze them and they are part of the environmental puzzles. Most JRPGs doesn't have that.
SMT4, DQ7, 8 and 9, Radiant Historia, Legend of Legacy, any modern persona, it's just super annoying. In most cases random encounters will be faster to deal with than non-random encounters for me, unless your encounter rate is Beyond the Beyond tier.
I'm playing DQ8 right now and the random encounters are really difficult to stomach. There's so much of them and I get constantly bombarded.
I hate the same problem with skies of Arcadia. Holy shit the random encounters in that game.
Bravely Default's encounter slider is game breaking. That's not a good way to design encounters in a game.
Take the J out of RPGs more like it.
I fucking hate that term, I don't care what the reasons for using it are.
Back in my day they were just RPGs and WRPGs were just super niche. If anything should get its own little pet name it should be WRPGs. "J" RPGs I find a xenophobic term that usually tries to lump those types of games together as outliers when I'd say they outnumber the other types by a large margin, with more mainstream, long running series under their belts.
Was that term even a thing until last gen?
More on topic, I actually kinda miss random battles in RPGs more than most. I don't mind them as much as most people do.
You have access to holy water pretty much immediately in DQ8...
Bravely Default's encounter slider is game breaking. That's not a good way to design encounters in a game.
Nope. It completely breaks dungeon design. It's the devs giving up and giving the player a cheat code. It's something that should be locked behind a late game or NG+ wall, not be given out at the start.Give the player complete control is better than any other way encounter rates could be designed. For players that don't want to use it can just leave it at default setting.
Nope. It completely breaks dungeon design. It's the devs giving up and giving the player a cheat code. It's something that should be locked behind a late game or NG+ wall, not be given out at the start.
Then hide it behind a super easy mode that unlocks a bunch of cheats. It's not a substitute for real encounter design. There's all sorts of things I'll use cheat engine for to speed up a game, but I wouldn't even suggest they actually be a core element of the design.Nope. It lets the player choose how they want to play. Stop trying to force your way of playing on everyone.
Often you can see the enemies forming and just run past them (although in a few spots they do spawn in a way that blocks the corridor, making them basically obligatory battles disguised as random enemies). Alternatively, even when that isn't possible, you can hit them to guarantee a first strike, while with random encounters it'd be just luck.It's a good comparison with SMT4. SMT4 has mobs that appears out of nowhere and when the hallway is cramped there is no way to dodge them. You get two fights in an hallway when it would only be one in Nocturne. I really don't see the improvement.
Then hide it behind a super easy mode that unlocks a bunch of cheats. It's not a substitute for real encounter design.
Dungeon crawlers and blobbers are like the one genre that uses random encounters to any real effect. If there's no threat of wipe or any real danger of running out of resources, they don't serve much purpose.Random encounters only work when the fights are very very difficult.
They lifted the mechanic from Wizardry but then neutered the difficulty so much that they are just dull. In Wizardry, every encounter was a very real possibility of a party wipe, which with limited save capability (only in town) could cause you to lose literally hours of progress. If you play the original versions of Wizardry dead characters could be *wiped from your save file forever* if they were eradicated. This created a level of tension you would not believe, and made walking down hallways waiting for that next random battle incredibly nerve wracking.
Now this is a weird response. This entire thread is about game design. Sorry, but having optional cheat codes to bypass encounters is not a good solution for the limitations of random encounters. Put them in the game if you want, but it's not something to point to.Lol, real encounter design. Seems like you have epeen issues, even in a single player game.
How does someone else using this encounter slider affect your experience?
Now this is a weird response. This entire thread is about game design. Sorry, but having optional cheat codes to bypass encounters is not a good solution for the limitations of random encounters.
I never said it did? The entire point is that Bravely Default's encounter slider is a cop-out and not a good defense of random encounters. If you have to completely break random encounters for it to be palatable, that's not a good thing! I don't really care how anyone played that game. Or any game for that matter, nothing I've said is about players.Again, how does someone else using sliders affect your experience?
The only weird responses here are yours given your mental issues about how everyone should suffer through and play it just like you.
If you've been following this thread, most people are complaining about random encounters, and Bravely slider is one of the few ways that people find random encounters acceptable.
I never said it did? The entire point is that Bravely Default's encounter slider is a cop-out and not a good defense of random encounters. I don't really care how anyone played that game.
Uh no. I've said none of this. Learn to read. And please stop accusing people of having mental issues.Yes, you do care about how others play. Coz otherwise we wouldn't be having this argument. Since you have the choice of not using the slider at all, you can play this game just like any other game with random encounters. But your problem is others can use the slider, and somehow that makes your experience worse.
Get help.
Uh no. I've said none of this. Learn to read. And please stop accusing people of having mental issues.
Yeah same here. RPG by default for me are RPGs from Japan. Anything else is the "non standard" and gets an identifying prefix.