I remember a day when old RPG games had either a level cap or a definite ending. From Pool of Radiance to Secrets of the Silver Blades to Final Fantasy the game had a final boss or stage and often had some type of level cap. Today, gamers don’t want it to end, they’d rather have the option to wonder around aimlessly or completing minor quests in order to soak up every ounce of money they spent on the title.
Now even Bethesda is saying “we’ve learned our lesson” from the whiplash of ending their game title and capping levels. Gamers want to go back and re-try content they missed, they want to run side quests and talk to everyone in the world they want to grind themselves to über powerful levels and become a god in their fantasy world. Can you blame them?
You can’t really blame them for wanting to maximize the content, although it’s slightly more evolved than RPG’s of old. Perhaps it was World of Warcraft and other MMORPG’s that brought us to the stage in life where we all want to squeeze every last RPG dime out of the title. As a kid I wondered the world of Hyrule and covered every tile of graphical color, burned every bush, bombed every stone looking for all the content. However, even Zelda had an end with scrolling credits – you didn’t just land on a platform with your master sword and a dream.
Other titles have used level caps to limit you and draw you into the next release of the game. This was popular in the D&D world because the game is designed to target specific levels of difficulty. They may only allow you to gain level 10 because the enemies are no tougher than level 13, allowing the challenge to be good but not overwhelming. If they allow you to get to level 50 they’d have to design the game so all the enemies grow powerful along with you — that’s not always a desired result.
Final Fantasy is a popular franchise that typically allows you to grow infinitely powerful depending on how much time you want to spend repeat killing the same enemies. Gamers aren’t always into the grind, they just want to grind “enough” to make the challenges a little more do-able.
Today, however, with larger storage capacity, larger development teams and the desire to build more value into your gameplay experience titles have dozens of side quests and sub-plots that are totally optional. The result of so many sub-quests results in a player who is much more powerful at the end of those quests compared to a player who sticks to the narrow path of the main plot. So, games much grow dynamically challenging to keep the fun per dollar high.
Do you like your RPG’s to have a definite end and a high but capped level?
@WatchDogs – The problem with MS cloud computing is similar to PS Move. If it’s not obligatory or bundled with the system the install base is lower so the devs are less inclined to develop for it. Kudos to Ubisoft for taking advantage of the cloud but it is true that for users with slower Internet connection, the ‘dynamism’ may not be as improved as they say.
@Sony Dualshock4 – I’m pretty sure this can be fixed with a firmware update or at least I hope it can. There has to be a hardware option to do that – I understand that it’s the software that’s not allowing it at this point. As far as the battery lifetime goes, I have to say I’m satisfied with Dualshock 3. True, it’s a pain in the butt that you can charge it with the system off. I own two controllers so if one runs out of juice I plug it in and use the other one. As a last resort I could play with the controller plugged in but it rarely comes to that. Having said that, I hope it will be possible to charge the new controllers with the PS switched off.
@Indian prices – I agree with Jonah that EA could verify their customers somehow. A credit card would be the easiest way out although a mail-in method would also work. Punishing those people just because some idiots from the other side of the world take advantage of the system is precisely why EA gets all the ‘accolades’ it gets year in and year out. #WorstCompany
@Vita – it’s true that there aren’t many or even a few AAA Vita games in development but I like to be more optimistic. I hope that Vita will gain popularity with the new Playstation and once the install base grows, developers will notice that it makes sense to make games for the handheld.
Also, bringing back older games makes sense in this context. For people who buy PS4 and don’t have PS3 right now, Vita could be the way to experience the great PSN games such as Dead Nation (YEAH!) or Guacamelee.
By the way, have you played Velocity Ultra on the Vita? Look below.
@QOTW – I have to say Velocity Ultra. It’s a great vertical shoot’em up for the Vita. However, it has a twist in that your ship can teleport through walls and other obstacles. It’s easy to learn, more difficult to master, it has achievements and trophies and it requires a lot of skill if you want to complete all the stages flawlessly.
@Dynamicism (is that a word?)
OMFG!!! Dynamic water!!! I wonder if it involves advanced fish AI? Having a marginally better environment won’t sell the console. It sounds like a cool gimmick, but just like in GTA, rushing through the city at high speed you won’t even notice it.
@Matrick
If I would not care any harder, I would
start sucking in other people’s cares and turn UK into a country full of apathetic pricks (i.e. France). I don’t tend to place names to faces in the video gaming business. For me he will always be that smug short guy who wasted a lot of time on conferences talking crap no one cared about.
@PS controllers
Don’t care. I bought an adaptor that lets me plug in my Xbox 360 and PS2 controllers into my PS3. Haven’t used the official PS3 controller ever since. If I get a chance to do so with PS4 I will gladly. Dual shock controllers overstayed there welcome; a relic of an era long past that should have been redesigned at the PS3 stage.
@favourie Indie game
I played 2 in the last year. Both of them were rip offs of another series. CastleMiner Z is a Minecraft clone which focuses less on building and more on mob survival. It has craftable guns and loads of zombies to shoot. Another game is White Noise; a Slender rip off. Almost the same but has coop which results in some hilarious gags. I tend to turn to indies because a lot of them have coop support. Most mainstream titles just concentrate on pvp multiplayer.
Candlejack is such a lame meme. Look. I said Candlejack and I am still here. It’s not like I am making fun of Vladimir Puti-
In Soviet Russia, Candlejack is abducted by you.