Final Fantasy IV on GBA!

[A Black Falcon]

It's not really hardware issues so much as software. People just don't realize that the software used to program games has been advancing as much as the hardware. If we were still using the languages they used to program NES games, you would NEVER see something like Super Smash Bros Melee (1 million lines of BASIC!).

I said 1985 because, while Wizardry I didn't have as much of an alternative from random battles, I doubt anything released from FFI to the present has any excuse...

During the MAIN game, I agree EM. I tend to fight every single enemy I see when playing through CT or SMRPG anyway because I want the experience. The deal about random vs avoidable is this, you have the CHOICE, and it isn't really annoying. You see, sure you can run away from every encounter if you are travelling back to some old area, or just crush all the enemies, but consider the time saved if it was just a straight run to that treasure chest you missed. That's the thing. ABF doesn't like the idea of needing to go through what is essentially tedious and pointless taking up of time just to do a small task in some old low level area. He can just avoid enemies until one is actually truly in his way in a game like CT, but not in FF.

Running around in a maze, not knowing where to go, fighting random battles all the way is one of the least fun things you can be possibly doing in a videogame... that gets so awful and frusterating... forced backtracking is just as bad, of course, except that the battles are even easier (and less rewarding) because of how weak earlier-in-the-game enemies are... really, I know that the second disc of Tales of Symphonia events-wise was probably longer than the first one, or perhaps even, because of how it let you fly, battle-free, to any location... it made it take so much shorter... it's tough, though. You expect to do fighting in an RPG so you want to have to do some... but making your game longer through lots of forced backtracking is about as nice a way of doing that as forced levelling to be able to beat challenging bosses is... and forced levelling is one of the most evil things RPGs can do. "Here, run in circles for an hour so you'll be able to fight this boss"? How bad can your game design get?

First, the screen shatters, then the shards blow off screen to reveal the battle scene. The enemy may ambush you, but for this example, they won't. You select your character, pick Flee, and you're gone. A few seconds pass, ou're told you got no money or experience, and your back to the world map. About 20 secons, and that's even giving a few seconds for margin of error. All games have different running options but come on. To the best of my recollection it takes even less time to run from a FFIV battle. If you're playing an RPG which you're already going to pour potentially several dozen hours into, I can't believe you're complaining about having to waste 20 seconds here and there.

Multiply this by hundreds and you begin to see the scope of the problem... and that's ignoring the high frusteration factor of 'oh no not ANOTHER battle while I'm just trying to walk across the stupid screen'... 'where's the ToS enemy-freezer (the fire thing you use in dungeons) when you need it'... etc. I know, the first time through you have to fight most of the enemies because either you're forced along a linear path and have to anyway or you need to to be strong enough or they give you items you need (like the save-circle unlockers in Tos)... but still, it's a lot less annoying when you can actually see them coming.

Though I will say, it's even better when the thing is representative of the group itsself, and not just a simple "large group or small group" indicator like Symphonia has...


Oh yes, one other thing I've mentioned many times before at TC that helps RPGs... an element of tactical strategy -- that is, movement. From SCD/PSX Lunar's moving around a battle field towards your target to Skies of Arcadia's special attacks that affect different enemies depending on how you and they are aligned (though unlike Lunar you can always attack every enemy with everyone, removing the element of range from the picture) to the games with seperate lines you can arrange where the front row is for melee attackers and back row(s) are for your mages, healers, and archers, it adds a definite element to RPGs that is quite welcome...