If you're going to make an RPG, the one thing to avoid is having combat become monotonous. Seeing as you'll want to fight to level up, and just because of random encouters (although if you could see enemies on the world map that'd be even better), keeping combat original throughout the game is the number one thing in a game that keeps me coming back, and the biggest downfall of a lot of games, including Chaos Rings, which I'm still enjoying despite some monotonous combat. I've been playing RPG's for about 10 years now, if not more, and the 2 things that keep me coming back for more are: 1.) Intriguing storyline and characters 2.) Combat that stays fresh throughout the entire game. For the story, check out games like Final Fantasy VII and X, my two favorite games in the series. They pulled me in because of the story. And for good combat, check out any sort of Mario RPG, especially Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. That said, depth is also a must. If you can run through and do everything there is in the game in a day or two, most players will be disappointed. As long as you have side quests, lots of gear (visual representation of your gear on your in-game character is a really nice touch), the strongest of which being hard to obtain or part of a longer side quest, and other hidden things in the game, it improves the game by a lot. I found that to be the biggest downfall of Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, which I enjoyed quite a bit despite the lack of extra side-quests, which were present in Superstar Saga and made the game that much better. Hope that helps.
If you're asking us about making an RPG, I think we need a bit more info about what sort of RPG it is, since the genre is so broad. Is it a turn based RPG? Strategy RPG? Action? Are you going for the JRPG or WRPG feel? That sort of stuff, a bit more info would be nice.
Also as an idea to the TC about RPG's, I always thought a good concept would be a game centered around just boss battles, with little or no random combat. These are always the most exciting encounters in RPGs. Dungeons would be puzzles and mazes that give you access to new items, and have multiple unique battles. The key would be designing each monster to feel unique, have attack patterns, everything you expect from big bosses in a regular RPG, and also finding a way for the difficulty to ramp up from encounter to encounter naturally. Most battles should be optional, you could maybe figure a floor of a dungeon would have three, with only one being forced blocking the entrence, and the other two would be there for you to find new items or weapons, and leveling up if you are having trouble. Party members could be monsters that you have to buy, and if you are savvy enough create an interesting fusion/mating system that allows the player to create their own party without leveling(because they game shouldnt be about grinding). A simple set up of a town with a dungeon would be good, trying to go too big in concept with an indie RPG won't work. Focus on gameplay and balance and the mood and setting of the dungeon and town.
Since Mineko and I were mentioned as one of the "upcoming heavy hitters" I'm very curious to see how this turns out, and whether I may want to add to or subtract from some of the RPG elements I am planning. Please continue!
By the very nature of most RPG's, combat will become a bit repetitive after a while... this is why story is so important to me for longevity of play. In fact, story is one of the those things in ANY game that is able to keep me coming back to finish it if it is good. Unless a game has absolutely stellar game play, I usually just don't have the patience to finish the whole thing, because there is no sense of long term accomplishment. Many games use skills and leveling up to semi negate this issue, but most of the time its not enough (many games it doesn't even matter what you buy or level up, so at first it seems cool, then you realize its not all that). I actually think this is a HUGE problem with not finding depth on the app store. That being said, when you look a the top 25 "depth" is not something that the majority of people are looking for Anyways back to RPGs (btw I would also love to make an RPG -- so much dev time though), I think Somerandomdude pretty much nailed the most important parts. Cool combat and character development (items, skills, magic systems) that keep you interested and figuring out new things in the short term, while cool and interesting characters and story keep you going long term. I also like a combat system that makes you do more then just use random skills when you have the magic points for them, attack, and heal who is low on HPs. Even something simple like elemental counters and things like that add a lot of depth to the combat and keep you from just going on autopilot in battles and wishing you could auto resolve them instantly
There is a ton of good information in this thread regarding different kinds of RPGs. There are certain aspects of the RPG that engage people and for me it is the following: 1) Character progression. Really need to feel that you are getting more powerful as you progress through the game. Many of the other items in the list are to support this. 2) Ability to upgrade equipment. Loot hunting and improving is a huge part of my enjoyment of an RPG. Also, it is a huge disappointment to me when a game does not visually show that I have improved armor or weapons. 3) Ability to upgrade skills 4) Multiple classes with different playing styles. Usually focuses on mele (e.g. warrior, rouge, ...) vs. ranged (mage, archer, ...). I often like play through first as a warrior and then as a mage. 5) I do like a good story but it just has to be enough to explain why I am doing what I am doing. It does not have to be deep or anything but needs to explain why I am doing the various quests. 6) Make it work full screen on the iPad and scale the controls to match! Good luck and I look forward to seeing what you come up with! -Greg
An RPG in the vein of the tales (Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Vesperia etc) series would be great.
I'm tired of RPG games that try to emulate the look and feel of old SNES games. There are enough of them (Zenonia 1 & 2, Inotia 1 & 2, etc). I would love to see more games like Chaos Rings with good gameplay, story, AND modern graphics. Or at least with graphics that have more than 2 frames of animation per character.
How much chatter do they get on TA - would it be worthwhile? RPGs get quite a bit of chatter on TA. Which others are the best? Not in any order: 1. Crusade of Destiny 2. Dungeon Hunter 3. Chronicles of Inotia 2 4. Space Miner 5. The Quest 6. Zenonia 2 There may be some I missed What would you like to see in an RPG? I have been longing for a full 3D RPG with great graphics, with a huge land to explore, many different types of enemies, tons of different items with tons of customization including weapons, armors, legs, helms, gloves, and boots etc. Also many different quests and side quests to do that will make the game have lots of replayibility. And also last but not least a type of online component with PVP and stuff.
I am not sure if this counts as one, but I am loving Solomon's Keep right now. I also had an idea for something that i think would be a blast.... Like a 3rd person Action RPG hybrid that had something like a Hoard mode from Gears of War. with Multiplayer that would be a blast!
Solomon's Keep does count, and in fact I think it's an excellent model for a project from a small development studio like Sauce Digital. It's a game of limited scope (basically a dungeon crawler) but with tons of personality and even a fair amount of depth. Good call!
You might want to check out Necromancer Rising if you have not already done so. It's more dungeon hack 'n slash, but has a good chunk of what you're looking for above.
I think turn-based RPGs are the way to go. ARPGs, in addition to lacking depth and strategy, just don't transfer over well. Squarezero made a point about how most RPGs on the iPhone are fantasy-based. It would certainly be a way stand out if you did try a different setting.
id like an rpg that steps away, far away, from that typical fantasy dungeon type theme. im really sick of the typical rpg where you go to the village, talk to the elders, go into the meadow to fight off a never ending source of monsters, then go grind in a dungeon to fight off some large monster thing . blah blah blah. it's the same thing every time! maybe the setting could be some modern place. i dont really know maybe like an office and a school or something. i like zombies. just enough with the fantasy!!! id like to see an rpg with a deep, rich storyline.... maybe even as deep as something like phoenix wright or professor layton (complete with dialogue cutscenes). thats just what i want. just please, make something different from the typical rpg.
personally I'm looking for more turn based games like Final Fantasy. Where strategy and lvl grinding becomes key. Also if you look away from your iDevice for a second you're not dead. When Square brought FF over from the PSP all I could think is "where are more games like this." It just makes sense. Twitch games have problems being precise on a touch screen. Maybe that's why i've been playing rogue style games so much recently. **Also just cus i'm throwing my opinion out there doesn't mean I haven't played any ARPG's. Several of those mentioned in this thread are on my iPhone now
hmmm ill inject some thoughts into the matter: IMO the key is: -brand and/or franchise recognition (if possible) -if new IP: it either needs to come correct and satisfy all expectations from a given genre (fantasy, western/easter, scifi ect) or break out from the mold and offer up something unique and original -deeply intriguing story, well written & witty dialog, and an experience that is well directed (ill expand on this below). -stunning art style with at least psx quality graphics, get off the grid and onto some pre-rendered backgrounds (at least) with lush weather and/or augmented effects (a la snow, rain glowing butterflies whatever) -amazing soundtrack (very crucial) -deep character development and customization (simple to understand plus make sense in the world/story) -beta test the hell out of it, then beta test it some more, and then some! stay true to the vision, but keep an open mind! directing: even if you have an epic plot line, with intriguing developments and situations with lots of mystery and well thought out twists, and even if you pull all the emotional strings imaginable with a personal character based story, and present it through well written dialog, and inject lots of lore background and atmosphere into the experience... if you drop the ball on the directing its going to flop. directing the experience is crucial it needs to be thought out planned out tested optimized tested some more and then tweaked again if need be... the activities the gamer has to do in order to proceed forward in the game needs to be dialed in perfectly to accommodate for the story and the overall theme. the key is: -variety is essential -you have to decide weather you want to tell the gamer what to do directly or indirectly (i.e. NPC direction/contextual dialog or its something the gamer has to figure out) -it has to be fun -try to come up with clever incentives like a new skill, new character or anything that fulfills that 'dangling carrot role' that keeps the gamer engaged -the activities must be balanced with the story and specifically the main character's personality (unless its a silent hero type) if its not some kind of clever plot tactic the activity has to be believable as something the main character would actually do given the circumstances. -if you want to leverage a clever plot tactic or something that kinda surprises the gamer to ponder "why would he do that and why do i have to now go and look/do X" and they wont know until they reach X and find that out or the character later explains his actions in dialog. -point is the activities neeed to be well balanced with the story and personality of the characters in that story and can not be built entirely with generic cookie cutter activities
Exactly. If I was yearning for a good, original story, I'd pick up a novel. RPG is, at its heart, built off stock characters, with some variations here and there. Some have better stories than others, but none are really "good". Even in the movie world, you don't have to be so very original to be good. What more for games.... Avatar is an example. Gorgeous movie with pretty solid characters, but as far as originality goes, its plot consisted of very old themes. When I find unique games, it's almost never about story.
I've been meaning to respond Vinvy but until now I hadn't had the time to properly articulate my thoughts on the issue of story. Let me just start by saying (only because cloudscastles brought it up) that I'm also a published genre novelist and short story writer, and I even spent a year at Tor books in the publicity department. Obviously, I don't think that RPG storytelling is any way groundbreaking or even original (though a few games get close); in fact, even the best ones like Chrono Trigger feel more like mashups of existing stories than original compositions. But the key here is that "good" does not necessarily mean "original" or "unique." Let me put it this way. Why was Iron Man a better movie than Transformers? They both have fairly cliche story lines, or at least very familiar ones. But Iron Man manages to make you care about the characters and their fate within the first five minutes, it presents events in dramatic fashion without unnecessary complication, and the action is shown in a way that is clear and compelling. Transformers, not so much. Why is Die Hard better than something like Sudden Death (which has pretty much the exact same plot). Same reason: you care about the characters, you understand the action, the villain is a ton of fun. Great RPGs may not offer original stories, but they create settings that are worth exploring, compelling characters that you want to learn more about, and plots (familiar or not) that lead to satisfying conclusions. This, of course, has to be combined with compelling gameplay, great combat mechanics, a strong leveling/ progression system, good customization, etc. But with out a decent story, all those wonderful traits strike this player as pointless, in the same way that great action and special effect feel empty in a movie that has no compelling story at it's core.
Honestly I feel like if you make your RPG like other RPGs, you'll get nowhere since there are all these big ones coming out. You need to get really creative and make something not *completely* new, but still unique. Sword and Poker managed to be a successful RPG without anything except the concept being stellar.
