What do you want out of PS4/XBone RPGs?

[Agent D.]

I think something I'd like to see in upcoming rpgs is a more active battle system. Kinda like a cross between Legaia stuff and Saga Frontier 2, but more like an action game. Imagine a battle starts and you're given an option to fight either 1 on 1 with an enemy for a more detailed battle, or group vs group for a simplified and faster fight (Saga Frontier 2), and in the 1v1 fight it was almost like a fighting game where you could associate different basic attacks to controller buttons and combine them to form special attacks or combo strings. It's boring to simply hold down a button all day for basic fights, but sometimes you just want that easy answer, so you can choose the group fight and essentially press (button) to win.

I also had this really fucking radical idea for a battle system in more action rpg style where you did special attacks based on your terrain. Think geomancer in FFtactics but to a whole new degree. Like if there was water in the immediate area you could use it to heal players or attack an enemy, or if there was a patch of grass you could use that to grow vines amd plants to ensnare your foe or gas them with different plantlife for sleep or poison or paralysis. Of course, in the instance where an element isn't available you'd have an option as well. You could carry instant element mods like a bottle of water or a torch or a plant, though these would give you smaller effects depending on quality. I know it sounds like it's been done before, but I can't think of any game that ever portrayed it in this way. You have so many games that give you alchemy for making items or changing them, and it's pretty standard rpg fare to have elements and elemental spells and such, but this would be less like a spell and more like literal field manipulation, almost like in Avatar TLA. Actually, when I think back on it, it reminds me a lot of that show, but more in a magical way. This would be more science fiction. Lots of babbling, I know, but hey...maybe one of you aspiring video game developers will see this and throw it out there for use one day....I can dream.

[MeshGearFox]

I want to preface this by saying that I'm sick of other people in other chatrooms/fora complaining about me complaining about RPGs not playing well enough because RPGs are a "Story driven genre" or whatever. Like RPGs aren't supposed to be fun. Screw that, RPGs can be DAMN fun.

Anyway.

wrt Agent D's post:

I've noticed that what I hate in battle systems is not so much long battles but battles that are long because I'm not doing anything. The lengthy attack animations in Xenosaga and Wizardry 8 piss me a lot off, it's time where you're literally just watching stuff without actually PLAYING, and it adds up. (Long charge times between attacks also annoys me, although not really as much. Septerra Core's the only one where I found the ATB bars unbearably slow).

Remember when summon animations in the FF games got really long because the hardware was better and you could make these really pretty animations? I do worry about that resurging any time the hardware gets better. What I'd really love to see is, not just what Agent D is talking about with battles being more interactive, but also just shorter animations in general so you can spend more time on the actual interactive bits.

It's boring to simply hold down a button all day for basic fights, but sometimes you just want that easy answer, so you can choose the group fight and essentially press (button) to win.

This is why I like Ys. Combat's essentially hands off but it lasts a literal fraction of a second. Blows are exchanged, you get hurt (or only take a little damage if you hit the enemy from the side), and the game carries on. Regular battles in most RPGs just AREN'T consequential, and Ys treats them as such.

I also had this really fucking radical idea for a battle system in more action rpg style where you did special attacks based on your terrain. Think geomancer in FFtactics but to a whole new degree.

This sounds REALLY familiar. Hasn't some game done something like this?

[Agent D.]

That's exactly what I mean at the end their mesh. It feels like parts of what I described are everywhere. Elements all over the place in the atelier iris games, geomancy in final fantasy, elemental attack manipulation somewhere else....i think it all just sounds so second nature because it occurs in every game in one form or another. Still, the concepts all sound great together...so I hope to see something like that one day.

[Aeolus]

...Land Buggies, Ice Drillers...

I am so ashamed of myself. Those two. And Hydrofoils. This is what I want out of PS4.

I KNEW there was one other vehicle in that game.

[Agent D.]

You know, another thing I would like to see in rpgs and maybe action games in general are knockouts instead of just kills. Like if kill an enemy, you get more exp but less drops and maybe no ap, however a knockout or a surrender could have varied battle results. Things like that would give players more options in fights, especially in cases like rpgs where item accrual and specialized points for abilities or magic are always liked for things like low level runs and challenge modes.

Now this is more of a personal desire as a fan of wrestling, but I'd like to see more wrestling fighting maneuvers in rpgs. I'm a big fan of submission maneuvers and they don't see a lot of play in anything outside of wrestling  and suplexes don't fucking count. I wanna use a sleeper hold to choke someone out, then raid their pockets for new stuff and get ability experience for using a skillfull grab that will help me learn how to do something more destructive. Even more interesting would be a similar situation where instead of them getting knocked out they give up and offer rarer stuff for letting them go.Obviously this would only work on humanoid opponents but still....i like the idea greatly.

[ZshadeZ]

You know, another thing I would like to see in rpgs and maybe action games in general are knockouts instead of just kills. Like if kill an enemy, you get more exp but less drops and maybe no ap, however a knockout or a surrender could have varied battle results. Things like that would give players more options in fights, especially in cases like rpgs where item accrual and specialized points for abilities or magic are always liked for things like low level runs and challenge modes.

Play the Gothic series. You can knock out or kill most non-wildlife enemies.

Now this is more of a personal desire as a fan of wrestling, but I'd like to see more wrestling fighting maneuvers in rpgs...

That's a worse idea than attacking a tank by throwing a ball at it.

[Agent D.]

If Sabin can Suplex a Ghost Train, then I should be able to give an F-5 or a Chokeslam to a tank these days.

Besides, how come every martial artist can punch the shit out of a robot or vehicle? Most of the time, it's heavy hitters that would sooner grapple you that would generally show off by bending a plate of steel or punching his way through a wall. I'm just saying why does it always have to be some asian martial art? They fucking love wrestling in japan, as seen by the fact that most pros train there. Gimme Greco from Chrono Cross or Rico from Xenogears. Hell, even Ziggy had a sleeperhold in Xenosaga 3 which was awesome.

[Sagacious-T]

Speaking of suplexing trains, it would be pretty cool to see the "Bayonetta" of RPGs. Top notch, ultra high quality gameplay matched with a ridiculous over the top storyline. 

[Yggdrasil]

Speaking of suplexing trains, it would be pretty cool to see the "Bayonetta" of RPGs. Top notch, ultra high quality gameplay matched with a ridiculous over the top storyline.

Bayonetta is not the best high-speed action game out there. Is close, but Devil May Cry 3, Ninja Gaiden II/Sigma 2 and Vanquish are the best the genre has to offer so far.

Special mention to God Hand too.

[Cyril]

Someone mentioned terrain attacks.  I'd love for more of those!

Aksys is doing that interesting color-based attack skill in the game they're developing.  Suikoden Tactics had a really interesting elemental system you could use too.

[Sagacious-T]

Speaking of suplexing trains, it would be pretty cool to see the "Bayonetta" of RPGs. Top notch, ultra high quality gameplay matched with a ridiculous over the top storyline.

Bayonetta is not the best high-speed action game out there. Is close, but Devil May Cry 3, Ninja Gaiden II/Sigma 2 and Vanquish are the best the genre has to offer so far.

Special mention to God Hand too.

I never said it was the best. Let's please not start this debate here.

[Aeolus]

Ocean Palaces that look like the Fourth Angel from NGE

Wait which game was this. This sounds familiar.

Missed this. I'm specifically referencing the last vehicle you get in Beyond the Beyond.

...Land Buggies, Ice Drillers...

I am so ashamed of myself. Those two. And Hydrofoils. This is what I want out of PS4.

You know, thinking about PS1 (Phantasy Star 1) again, I'd kinda like to see a RPG with a female lead that isn't A) an anime~moe~kawaii~desu~blob, B) a Heavy Metal cover model clad in nothing more than a chainmail bikini, tattoos, and piercings, C) somebody like Lightning who's basically a non-character in their own fucking game and flatter than a sheet a paper, D) the OTP/another girl in the harem for the stealth main character and/or male lead, E) only optionally female and not even really anticipated as the primary choice of protagonist, F) leading a team of entirely female Jpop Idols/Charlies' Angels ripoffs, or G) in a game that will ultimately amount to soft core porn. Bonus points if you give the female a role beyond party healer, mage, or middle of the road Jill-of-All-Trades (or make being in such roles actually useful).

Basically, I want what the OP wants, i.e. The fucking moon (to go with my cheese and whine), because I just don't see this happening any time soon (outside of indie titles).

[ZshadeZ]

Ocean Palaces that look like the Fourth Angel from NGE

Wait which game was this. This sounds familiar.

Missed this. I'm specifically referencing the last vehicle you get in Beyond the Beyond.

...Land Buggies, Ice Drillers...

I am so ashamed of myself. Those two. And Hydrofoils. This is what I want out of PS4.

You know, thinking about PS1 (Phantasy Star 1) again, I'd kinda like to see a RPG with a female lead that isn't A) an anime~moe~kawaii~desu~blob, B) a Heavy Metal cover model clad in nothing more than a chainmail bikini, tattoos, and piercings, C) somebody like Lightning who's basically a non-character in their own fucking game and flatter than a sheet a paper, D) the OTP/another girl in the harem for the stealth main character and/or male lead, E) only optionally female and not even really anticipated as the primary choice of protagonist, F) leading a team of entirely female Jpop Idols/Charlies' Angels ripoffs, or G) in a game that will ultimately amount to soft core porn. Bonus points if you give the female a role beyond party healer, mage, or middle of the road Jill-of-All-Trades (or make being in such roles actually useful).

Basically, I want what the OP wants, i.e. The fucking moon (to go with my cheese and whine), because I just don't see this happening any time soon (outside of indie titles).

PS4 where Chaz dies instead of Alys.  "His swing never did get much better... anyway, time to kick some asses."

[Aeolus]

PS4 where Chaz dies instead of Alys.  "His swing never did get much better... anyway, time to kick some asses."

Meh. Alys was more of the game's Jagen anyways. Besides, I really didn't want to get stuck with those growth rates (she was for all intents and purposes like Nei from PS2 except for the level lead instead of doubling up on the leveling rate).

Of course, it would've been nice if PS2 developed its characters beyond having them show up on your doorstep saying "Hi. I want to join your party." and little else.

[Arklight]

I want games that make me FEEL STUFF.