Over the years, it seems the RPG genre has accumulated a truck-load of stereotypes. Some of them are endearing, but I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing for a bit of a change. So, what would you like to see in the RPGs of the future?

Though it seems weird, I personally want a married couple as the main characters! There have been so many love triangles and budding loves over the years that I want a couple who has already traveled that road. :D It would be interesting to see their interactions throughout the game.

Also, for the love of overworld maps, give me save points in the wilderness! I don't want to travel across the desert to the next town when I'm low on HP!

I agree whole heartedly. I am so sick of these crazy LTDs and such. It's time for some stability. Here's a small list of changes I'd like...

- Minor characters get more involvement. So much wasted potentiol...
- If there is a romantic rival, make her likable! VII did that and so can other games!
- Enough with the cliche "superior race". The cetra thing in VII is incredibly lame.
- Less swords. Why do so many people think Sword> Gun. We have guns today and not swords for a reason.
- Explain the difference of death. Ex: It takes a monster 20 hits to kill someone but then they are shanked in the stomach by someone they die. Plus, when a monster kills them you can raise them but NOT when they are shanked!

At times, I tend to be semi-traditional with my RPG cliches. But I DO enjoy a change now and then...

* First male lead's weapon not a sword = I agree with you, Neko. Swords are cool, but there are other weapons that need more spotlight.

* Main male lead with BOTH parents = As in not orphaned or single parent, and no tragic happening that separates them. How the hero is gonna go out on adventure is the problem...

* Another Type of Villain = Yes, we know that with pretty villains, it sells well. But isn't it time for other villainous people to have their spotlight at being tha antagonist? There are times when pretty guys are good on the eyes, but phail'd at being an antagonist.

NooooooOOOOOOO!!! We must not see a lot of guns in RPG games. They suck the fun out of games like GTA (which is terrible overall, but guns are part of the reason why). Think about it, all the classics (Mario, Sonic) are bright and cheerful. Swords aren't used today so we can see them used by our RPG hero in a cool fashion, even using their sword to cast spells (Like Steiner in FF IX). Guns are not cool, and I would hate to see them overtake manual weapons like swords and daggers in RPGs.

I haven't played many recent RPGs. I loved all the ones for the PS1, all the FFs, Grandia etc. But Final Fantasy XII was horrible. I haven't even played that much of it because of just how real it seemed compared to the other games. So I say incorporate more fantasy back into RPGs and give us a world that we can escape into, something that clearly is not real, but something that is enjoyable.

Likeable characters helps. Not a moody, I-only-care-about-myself main character for a change is nice too. A friendly leader in a group is much more enjoyable than say Zidane at the start of FFIX. Character development is good, but not in the way that they have a complete personality overhaul.

Pyra's another villain reason is good. Though, I thought the Sephiroth in flames scene was iconic, there are still many types of villains that could be used to be more unique rather than your typical "I want to destroy the world" ones. That doesn't include Necron saying "I want to destory the world and the rest of the universe."

Scott:

Quoted FTW.
I'm definitely with Scott on the whole guns VS swords thing. I know it's cliched, but it's one of the many reasons why I got into RPGs in the first place. We already have guns everywhere in the real world, so I would prefer not to see them in my RPGs. Swords look neater too when you're doing attack moves. I find guns sort of dull, since all it usually takes is some trigger pulling.

If you guys think you'll enjoy RPGs with guns, play the Wild Arms series. Though I find the battles a bit dull at times due to the usage of guns, it's still decent.

Keke:

It's very interesting that you should bring that up. If anyone has ever played Lufia 2, you'll recall that there was a love triangle in the first half of the game. However, the hero marries one of the girls during the second half and they have a child together. Of course, they're then on this journey together as husband and wife. It's certainly very different as I haven't seen any other RPGs take things down that road. The first half of the game was definitely more interesting to me though, probably because there was more drama when the LT was involved. Storylines might be less dramatic if we take out the cliches of LTs and boyfriend/girlfriend relationships.

Over all, I think that people are simply used to the idea of two lovers getting some much deserved peace and then finally settling down together at the conclusion of a story. RPGs usually stick to this cliche because I think they tend to follow the basic settings of a good old story told by the fireplace or that of a fairytale. I actually like the majority of the cliches I've seen in RPGs since they're what attracted me to RPGs in the first place and prefer things not to change...but that's just me. :P

So what you're saying, Neko, is that they should get rid of the idea of minor characters?

I tried to avoid saying this, because I was positive I would word it wrong, but I wholeheartedly agree. There's just something about using a sword in battle that is cool. Could you imagine LotR with guns? Pfft, boring.

Hope you don't mind me adding my opinion, but I say that would be a bad idea (I'm sure you agree). Some characters actually work best as minor characters. God forbid me dragging the Harry Potter series into an RPG discussion, but my favourite characters in the HP series are all side characters. But, perhaps if they had a lot more page time, I wouldn't like them so much. Maybe I value the pages they do appear on. The same can be said for minor character in RPGs who can be loveable by being in scenes they only need to be.

While I agree that minor characters should be just that, I hate it when 'main' characters are generally ignored (here's looking at you, Final Fantasy VIII). These are characters in your main party, but their stories and background aren't developed. It makes them feel like a waste of pixels.

I'll admit that comabt wouldn't be very showy with guns, but I still do love using them as weapons. I do wish giant rifles and shotguns were more common, though; I'm tired of tiny pistols. :lol:

There's also the case in Dragon Quest V, where the Hero married one of two girls and their children became playable characters.

As for the swords, as I mentioned, I'm semi-traditional; I like swords in fantasy, but wouldn't mind a nice change, as long it's not TOO much like guns. If the main male lead use a gun, I either think 1) It's Sci-Fi or 2) Modern-world game.

Minor Characters

Personally, I rather that minor characters be minor and major stay major. If I want more exposure and action for the minor characters, I'd turn to fanfiction.

Not if everyone was wearing pirate costumes. Pirates kick ass. Anyways, yes, there are a lot of cliches... more than you think.

http://www.project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html Click. I would rather not ruin it for you.

Oh, and Oblivion for the f***in' win. That game destroys any Japanese RPG.

I'm still waiting for one where the hero doesn't get the girl and loses her to a secondary character. You know, I still wish that Rosa had ended with Kain instead of Cecil. Or what if Rinoa ended up with Seifer? I have unhealthy amounts of sympathy for the anti-hero, you see, but I have a guilty desire to see the antagonist and the female lead ending up together. I don't know how it'll be done (certainly not the happy trail of sunshine and flowers), but that would be a fanfiction come true!

This is interesting to me, I haven't thought about it often but I agree with you Schala, seeing the other guy or girl get the character the hero wants would be a refreshing dynamic. I like the two examples you brought up as well, especially Squall and Rinoa. When the coupling seems forced it can really hurt the story and your attachment to the characters. But to have the lead have a romantic interest in someone and yet there not really be a major love story is definately not done often and as with everything else, if done well could be a quite compelling storyline.


As for major characters vs. minor characters and the depth we get to learn about them, that is tough. I guess for me I think that the main party should all have a good amount of background and screentime if you will. Taking FFVII as an example I felt that game did an excellent job in helping you invest in all the members of Avalanche, not just Cloud and Aeris. You learn there motivations for fighting and really get a good idea of their character, yet I also felt there was depth in their characterizations. While as the ealier mentioned FFVIII seemed to focus to much on Squall and Rinoa and did not give enough on the rest of the main fightning party (in my opinion). I am sure however it is a very thin line before you bog down the story to much by giving to much detail about the characters and not enough on the progression of the story. Most games do not seem to be able to find the right balance.

As for weapons of the main character, I think the hero having versitility in weapons he or she can use is a fun compromise. I don't know if I am a fan of all the characters having that feature all the time but I think that is interesting for the main character. I will admit that I find guns more boring than the other type of weapons in games but they sure can be wonderful when you need a long range attack :lol:

Valkyrie Profile is awesome that Lenneth has the ability to use two weapons (swords and bows). I wish more RPGs would grant their main character more ability with various weapons (like DQVIII and Legend of Zelda).

Swords are nice... but sometimes the main character could strive to be a little different...(tonfas in Suikoden II, bare hands/martial arts in Xenogears, Hundred Arms has the main character FORGE his own swords with the help of various other girls). I also find guns boring. You just point and shoot... not very impressive in an RPG.

I really don't care if the main character is childishly happy like Sora or angst full of emo like Fei... character interaction is the key for me. How he carries the story, his conflicts and ideals, how he treats his friends and enemies and love interests reels me in.

And I want a bad guy who has substance. Crazy as hell and they were abused since they were chiiiildreeeen don't usually do it for me. They're evil because they want to. They are aware of what they are doing and doing it because in their own twisted line of thinking, it is logical.

Was reading through the list of RPG Cliche`, here's what I want to see.

The Good Guys captured by the Bad Guys/Villain while resting in an Inn/Camp. Not hearing something and manage to escape, but successful capture. I'd like to see how that came out.

Haha, definitely. That would be something unexpected and surprising but also rather amusing.

One thing I would love to see if perhaps an RPG in the modern world. Like an adventure happening in the present time? I mean there would be lots of possibilities open to developers and gamers, this could also create quite a unique plot.

Or heck even a RPG where you are the bad guys, and not a plot that eventually turns them good.

There's also the idea of that there being two main characters, perhaps where the one you were controlling from the start is killed halfway through and you take control of the one who was travelling with them.

AND MORE FEMALE LEADS. Kuki of really knows of Alisa Landeel from Phantasy Star and Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI :(

This is a funny, love-hate thing with me. Being a girl myself, it'd feel weird if I didn't support more female leads (although I don't buy into the "girls need a female character to identify with and enjoy something" idea).

But from experience playing games with female leads, I've found a lot of them to be written rather... straight. (Not sexually, though most of them are that too. :P Asellus is the only SE character I can think of immediately who is a lesbian.) They are strong female characters, but they rarely entertain me. And when a character fails that, he/she is quickly forgotten post-game. I love humour in my main characters, even in the ice blocks like Squall. But female characters always seem to be written in extremes that somehow avoid humour-- they're either too pure/magical to be made fun off or they're too emotionless to fit into a joke (or they're gross caricatures like Le Blanc).

Basically, I think up a list of 10 funny characters and it's overflowing from testosterone. :lol:

QFT! This is shallow of me, but come on-- in a genre where the extent of your involvement in battles is smashing the X button (with occasional other-button tapping), my main criteria is how cool the attacks look. :lol: If guns get cool animations during battle, then sure, bring more in. It feels like I'll never tire of swords, but I definitely think RPGs (specifically, the main hero! Stop relegating cool weapons to side characters!) should draw more inspiration from history's wealth of gorgeous armaments with which to maim, injure and/or kill people.

Or a mix of modern and traditional. Elie's gun tonfas in Rave are awesome, if sorely underused.


Now, for my wish?

A fat/chubby main character.

Who ISN'T an idiot, buffoon, klutz, glut.

Who IS smart, capable, shines in a leadership position.

Who is female. Not gonna push my luck with this one.

He/she doesn't have to be grotesquely overweight, but I'm sick of The Fat Guy in every game/movie/series be the stupid one.

Breath of Fire IV. When the party first met Ursula... granted she's not a bad guy (she joins you), but she's a member of the Empire sent to capture Ryu. And she did caught them while they were camping. XD

Well, try Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth and Valkyrie Profile Silmeria. Wild Arms 3 has a main female character. Star Ocean the Second Story (I love Rena Lanford... have a great time playing her character with the freedom to choose her love interest).

For Lynn's search for a funny female lead... I can only remember Mint from Threads of Fate. Trust me... she's hilarious.

I don't exactly know of Valkyrie series, I've never seen them in the shops over here so they might not be available in Europe.

Oh I've got Star Ocean 2, and I prefer to play as Rena to Claude. The bad thing is I tend to select Claude so I can get Leon in my party since he is my favourite character. While Rena is one of the main characters, you get the choice of either the male or the female, I would partially like to just be made to play the female. Rena's quest and background is much more interesting than Claude's, its also an unexpected twist with her past is revealed with did satisfy me despite SO2's poor story.

Though I am looking forward to its enhanced remake and the remake of SO1 on the PSP :)

And I called myself a BoF fan... Yep, that's one of plenty of reasons why I like BoFIV, the case where the good guys get captured by the bad guys (somewhat, as you noted, Ursula's just following orders and she's not bad since she's against a certain General's behaviour...).

Why do I have a feeling my request for my broken cliche` will provide fanfiction fodder?

Similiar here, never seen Valkyrie series before until I saw the PSP remake of the first game on sail (for the first time ever while stocks last!), so I'm interested in how the female protagonist portrayed. All PAL sufferers unite! Should there be a club?

Hmm...anything else...?

You play the role of a Valkyrie and basically roaming the world to recruit the souls of fallen warriors.

Quite morbid stuff... Lenneth handles the judge and jury thing quite seriously. Fortunately, she seems to show compassion for people, despite her icy mask. And she dabbles in romance as well... humor is not staple in this game, because most of the characters who joins her dies horrible deaths.

So yes, Pyra, please get the game.

My complaint is the VAs though. Like all of Enix's games back then. Terrible.