Much Ado About Everything

Steven provided me with this”>http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html”>this funny link .  If you ever played more than one game on Playstation 2 (or original Playstation) you’ll know what they’re talking about.  Good stuff.

There is one ‘but’ though.  It’s funny when it doesn’t get too long.  As you keep reading and the number or “rules” goes into hundreds, you’ll either start wondering why on Earth do you even play these games, or you’ll start  wondering if those guys are going overboard in nitpicking.  There are cliches in everything , and some of them actually represent the reason that we play these games, because they give them identity.  Like “saving the world” or “my village gets destroyed”.  Likewise, other clichees are necessary for the gameplay mechanics to work (such as progressive inventory and spells, level building, rewards for subquests etc.).  Think of it as giving the game designers a “structure”, a wireframe around which to build the game.  Limitations of the medium, just like with any art, if you will.  How are you going to make a game, or anything else, without it?

Now, while we need structure, that doesn’t mean that we can’t change the structure from time to time and from game to game.  Some cliches therefore don’t apply to all games.  Also, if you look carefully, lots of those “cliches” are aiming specifically to Final Fantasy series of games.  And if you consider how many there are and proceed to read them carefully, you’ll find that a good number of them aren’t really cliches, but simply plot weaknesses.  Yes, while there is a good reason to have enemies in each following area more difficult – and creating a believable story where that progression makes logical sense too would be very difficult – there is just no good reason to have a character hanging off the cliff while the others are having unlimited time to walk around, kill enemies, level up, do whatever, before coming to rescue.  In fact, this seriously impacts the enjoyment of game.  I don’t mind at all fighting with giant cacti (cactuars) and laughing at their
“10,000 needles” attacks, or even have a character die as part of the plot and not find it weird because they die during battles all the time – yet consider the game serious and its plotline “real”.  But things like “I wiped the floor with you losers, yet after the victory screen, it is you who has won the battle?” or “I defeated dozens of some guys with guns just now, and suddenly the game switches to a cutscene where a few more of guys just like those show up, point their guns at my characters who then proceed to -  surrender and raise their hands up?!” – things like those just spoil the whole thing for you and make you wince in anger.  I consider them an abuse of the creative license.