PixelKnight
Observing the process
- Pronouns
- He/Him
RPGs, and usually turn-based ones, are occasionally accused of not changing much as a genre over the years. It’s not a criticism that carries any weight when you play a lot of them and dig into the intricacies of their combat systems, but it’s something I’ve often found to be an interesting illusion- the pacing of combat in something like Octopath is very different to manouver-on-the-field games like Trails.
However, it’s not really combat and how the pacing is managed and how different series do it that I want to talk about here, as much as, while playing Eiyuden Chronicle, one of the things that's really stuck with me is a change to party formation that I hadn’t seen before.
You have 3 types of party ‘slot’ for a total of 10.
The first six are your main battle party of six characters in two rows. Tanks and melee DPS types up front, spellcasters and archers in the back, you know the drill. But you also have a single slot for a support character. These are often characters who are non-combatants, academics, diplomats, servants, traders, craftspeople, etc, giving bonuses like ‘get more relevant resources from x supply point’ or ‘gain the ability to reform party at save point’ or ‘get more money after combat’. However, these aren’t always just your non-combatant allies. Some characters can be fielded as both in the main battle party, or as the support slot, the latter usually showing off what they are good at outside combat. It’s really interesting, as it gives a multi-faceted view of the less ‘I’m all about killing stuff’ characters.
The last 3 slots are really what inspired me to make the thread though. They are called ‘attendant’ slots, and they allow you to have up to 3 of your characters with the party, not contributing to combat or anything else, but counting as present for story and progression and quest purposes. Bearing in mind that Eiyuden, like Suikoden before it, has you recruiting a hundred heroes of which the majority can go adventuring with you. Sometimes you need X in the party to recruit Y. And whenever you reach a new area, you’ll often have mandatory new characters with you as local guides or important local heroes you need to help before they’ll join. But let’s say you’ve got a battle party that’s working really well, that you’ve put a lot of time and cash into sorting out their equipment and runes (extra skills and spells etc). You don’t have to kick one or more out to add some local new character that isn’t well equipped and that you aren’t particularly interested in levelling up. And that’s really cool.
Not only that, but all support and attendant characters appear in the game when you’re talking to people, keeping things natural- of course x is with you, they’ve been in the back the whole time.
It’s a set up that works really well for the game, allowing you complete control over who is fighting, who is levelling up, and who is just with you as you were told they had to be for the next dungeon.
Anyway, what’s your favourite new mechanic in an rpg or any other game that you hadn’t seen before? Doesn’t have to be the first time it’s occurred (it’s not like I’ve played everything), but something that made you think ‘yeah that’s a really good idea!’
However, it’s not really combat and how the pacing is managed and how different series do it that I want to talk about here, as much as, while playing Eiyuden Chronicle, one of the things that's really stuck with me is a change to party formation that I hadn’t seen before.
You have 3 types of party ‘slot’ for a total of 10.
The first six are your main battle party of six characters in two rows. Tanks and melee DPS types up front, spellcasters and archers in the back, you know the drill. But you also have a single slot for a support character. These are often characters who are non-combatants, academics, diplomats, servants, traders, craftspeople, etc, giving bonuses like ‘get more relevant resources from x supply point’ or ‘gain the ability to reform party at save point’ or ‘get more money after combat’. However, these aren’t always just your non-combatant allies. Some characters can be fielded as both in the main battle party, or as the support slot, the latter usually showing off what they are good at outside combat. It’s really interesting, as it gives a multi-faceted view of the less ‘I’m all about killing stuff’ characters.
The last 3 slots are really what inspired me to make the thread though. They are called ‘attendant’ slots, and they allow you to have up to 3 of your characters with the party, not contributing to combat or anything else, but counting as present for story and progression and quest purposes. Bearing in mind that Eiyuden, like Suikoden before it, has you recruiting a hundred heroes of which the majority can go adventuring with you. Sometimes you need X in the party to recruit Y. And whenever you reach a new area, you’ll often have mandatory new characters with you as local guides or important local heroes you need to help before they’ll join. But let’s say you’ve got a battle party that’s working really well, that you’ve put a lot of time and cash into sorting out their equipment and runes (extra skills and spells etc). You don’t have to kick one or more out to add some local new character that isn’t well equipped and that you aren’t particularly interested in levelling up. And that’s really cool.
Not only that, but all support and attendant characters appear in the game when you’re talking to people, keeping things natural- of course x is with you, they’ve been in the back the whole time.
It’s a set up that works really well for the game, allowing you complete control over who is fighting, who is levelling up, and who is just with you as you were told they had to be for the next dungeon.
Anyway, what’s your favourite new mechanic in an rpg or any other game that you hadn’t seen before? Doesn’t have to be the first time it’s occurred (it’s not like I’ve played everything), but something that made you think ‘yeah that’s a really good idea!’
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