6th March 2010, 12:33 PM
I barely played 12 (didn't like the battle system all that much, but I guess I need to get used to it; I was hoping it would be more like Kingdom Hearts' battle system), but I agree that 10's lack of freedom to explore sucked. I've never really played western RPGs, so I can't really compare, but the old Final Fantasy games had a bit more freedom. Sure, until you get your airship, you're pretty much stuck to a small portion of the map, but at least there was an overworld, you could usually backtrack to previous towns (amid hordes of random encounters, no less), and you could go on side quests to other towns along the way. Zelda is pretty much the same way; you could visit some areas before the story required it if you wanted, though without certain items, you may not have gotten far.
From how you describe western RPGs, I imagine they're somewhat like Grand Theft Auto (also a western series) in which you can explore the town and do whatever you want until you decide to advance the story by starting the next mission or completing a particular objective or whatever. If that's the case, then yes, that style does appeal to me.
From how you describe western RPGs, I imagine they're somewhat like Grand Theft Auto (also a western series) in which you can explore the town and do whatever you want until you decide to advance the story by starting the next mission or completing a particular objective or whatever. If that's the case, then yes, that style does appeal to me.