Wednesday 10 January, 2007

Alright! So, I did level up and made it through the temple just fine after that. I forgot that SH2 is one of those games where out-of-party characters get experience too. More RPGs need to have that feature. It saves so much time when it comes to leveling up your party members.

There are learning curves, and Shadow Hearts has like...a "re-learning curve." I forgot so much stuff from not playing it for so long. It took me a while to get back into it. Most RPGs aren't really like that, I guess. It's usually, "once you get it, you've got it."

The crest system for magic is...urgh. It's like materia (FF7) but way more annoying. And the "recommended" option is never helpful at all. It always fills up your characters with the most useless crests. I know it was for customizing your characters more, but it was something this game could've done without. SH1 did without it just fine.

So, I was getting frustrated and bored while I was in the temple. Random encounters, how I haven't really missed you. And I know they're a staple in RPGs, but I'm starting to get a little tired of long boring aimlessly-wandering-around dungeons. But once I got back to the good stuff--that is, the plot--I was happy again. Fought Rasputin, and now it's time to go after a certain naughty priest. I got to the tower that Nicholai is hanging at, then decided to take a break there. Looking forward to coming back to it tomorrow!

Also, I forgot how much I love Yuri. He's one of my favorite RPG protagonists ever. Because he's a dork but endearing and funny and has personality.

So, how would you design a magic system for an RPG? Where would you start? What would you make a point of incorporating? How would you implement skills and items to effect and be effected by the magic system?

If you decide to try coming up with the magic system, how hard do you think it would be to pick up? What sort of interface would you design?

Interesting question...well, in the first Shadow Hearts game, characters had a specific spell set, with magic only that character could use. They learned new spells by leveling up. I think that is my most preferred way of having magic in an RPG, something you learn automatically, that is specific to the character (as in, fits their "job class" or "element," like in Super Mario RPG or Chrono Trigger). I also like it when a character learns a spell and keeps it as part of their magic list permanently, rather than it being transferrable.

It makes you more prone to picking a party based on actual abilities rather than simple aesthetics. Like in Mario RPG, I can bet that hardly anyone went without Princess Toadstool in their party once they got her because she was the main healer in the game. But in games like FF7 or SH2, I tend to pick my party based on the characters I like, rather than their skills. I guess that's not necessarily bad, it's just...I like characters to have their own special skills.

I like magic systems to be useful but simple. And fun to use. If the magic is boring, I tend to only use healer and brawler-types. But in games like Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger, magic is fun and useful. Probably because of the reasons I said before, but also because you don't have a massive list of spells to choose from.

...Well, I just realized that I could talk about this forever. Never really thought about it before, but little aspects like that are really significant in games and their gameplay. Magic! It's important.