Here are the bulleted notes I took while watching: Unskippable cinematic (unpausable, too) Initial character creation is number heavy with very little explanation (e.g. range of attributes goes...
Here are the bulleted notes I took while watching:
Unskippable cinematic (unpausable, too)
Initial character creation is number heavy with very little explanation
(e.g. range of attributes goes from 0 - 1000 with no explanation)
Attributes can never be changed after initial creation
(even with items or temporary buffs)
No respec
Many aspects of the player's character can't be set at all
-name
-gender
-background
-appearance
-voice
The player's character is a cultural outlier
(e.g. playing an unusually tall dwarf named whackadoo)
None of the important story elements can be changed or altered by the player's decisions
None of the mechanics mesh with the story
The effectiveness of the character's actions are based on real player ability, not character skill
aiming is done manually
blocking is timing based, and skills have no effect
Minigames for everything (also based on player ability, not character)
-disarming traps
-picking locks
-haggling
-etc
Minigames are inaccessible and difficult
-color-based minigames
-math-based minigames
-time-sensitive minigames
Stealth is typical (stay in dark and hidden behind objects)
BUT
stealth has no UI element to indicate to the player where their attention is focused
Useless perk choices
-e.g A perk increases the character's armor class while they are hidden and untargetable
Some character builds can't finish the game
Actions can be taken while playing that prevent the game from being finished
Critical quest items can be sold or lost/destroyed
Storyline is completely linear
Player choices aren't going to matter
-they might seem like they matter, but they don't
-all dialogue choices lead to the same ultimate outcome
-all quest choices lead to the same ultimate outcome
Big unskippable cinematic right before challenging encounters
Lots of exposition to explain the story in these cinematics
I get that he's having a bit of fun. Also, I generally agree with Tim Cain's philosophy on what makes RPGs great. However, he is, perhaps inadvertently, saying that many JRPGs are making bad decisions as they often have fixed player characters with sometimes unusual backgrounds and very linear stories that offer very little player agency outside of combats. But, I love JRPGs, too, and wouldn't suggest that they're bad RPGs just because they don't offer the same amount of player choice and agency that your Fallouts and Planescape Torments do.
Well, two thoughts - One, in the Western sense, they are bad role-playing games. You don't play a role in most JRPGs, you play a character. One could say that since FF1 let's you build your whole...
Well, two thoughts -
One, in the Western sense, they are bad role-playing games. You don't play a role in most JRPGs, you play a character. One could say that since FF1 let's you build your whole party it's more of an RPG than FF7 which only lets you fiddle with their magic and equipment.
Two, in a general sense, due to the schism between JRPGs and (C)RPGs, Tim's background, he's not laying any criticisms on JRPGs since he's not taking about them. Many of these critiques may be equally leveled at JRPGs but that's just because most of those things suck whether they're in JRPGs, FPSes, or RTSes.
Here are the bulleted notes I took while watching:
(e.g. range of attributes goes from 0 - 1000 with no explanation)
(even with items or temporary buffs)
-name
-gender
-background
-appearance
-voice
(e.g. playing an unusually tall dwarf named whackadoo)
-disarming traps
-picking locks
-haggling
-etc
-color-based minigames
-math-based minigames
-time-sensitive minigames
BUT
stealth has no UI element to indicate to the player where their attention is focused
-e.g A perk increases the character's armor class while they are hidden and untargetable
-they might seem like they matter, but they don't
-all dialogue choices lead to the same ultimate outcome
-all quest choices lead to the same ultimate outcome
I get that he's having a bit of fun. Also, I generally agree with Tim Cain's philosophy on what makes RPGs great. However, he is, perhaps inadvertently, saying that many JRPGs are making bad decisions as they often have fixed player characters with sometimes unusual backgrounds and very linear stories that offer very little player agency outside of combats. But, I love JRPGs, too, and wouldn't suggest that they're bad RPGs just because they don't offer the same amount of player choice and agency that your Fallouts and Planescape Torments do.
Well, two thoughts -
One, in the Western sense, they are bad role-playing games. You don't play a role in most JRPGs, you play a character. One could say that since FF1 let's you build your whole party it's more of an RPG than FF7 which only lets you fiddle with their magic and equipment.
Two, in a general sense, due to the schism between JRPGs and (C)RPGs, Tim's background, he's not laying any criticisms on JRPGs since he's not taking about them. Many of these critiques may be equally leveled at JRPGs but that's just because most of those things suck whether they're in JRPGs, FPSes, or RTSes.