How do *you* usually play J-RPGs?

[Shademp]

I'm curious about this. I find that some obsessive choices I make are not universal. To get the ball rolling, here are a few examples.


- I do my best to speak to all the NPCs and ensure that I've triggered all the lines they have. Unfortunately this is keeping me from properly enjoying Grandia (which I am currently playing) because the NPCs are too many, the text doesn't scroll fast enough, and I have to speak to each of them three or four times to be sure that they have nothing more to say. So as an effect...Grandia mostly bores me right now. XP
Choose to not speak to every NPC? IMPOSSIBLE!


- I never flee from battles. My completionist nerve fears that the game will have a visible counter for how many times you have fled from battle and I consider the save file to be "corrupted/dirty/incomplete" if the counter goes above zero. My pride also prevents me from fleeing. YOU WIN OR YOU DIE! Flee-based commands are a nono.


- If there is a bug or an overpowered move, I will exploit it. I will never choose to not use an overpowered move just to make the game harder. Some might avoid the Enemy Skill materia in FFVII for this reason, but I simply can't avoid it. I don't see the point with making the battles last longer by not equipping and evolving Enemy Skill.


I suppose my playstyle can be summarized as that of the "perfectionist exploiter". What is your style? The one who speeds through the game and keeps your characters low level? Or are you the grinder?

 

[Hisako]

Grind all day erry day, talk to all the things (although not fleeing from battles and doing exploits in the game ain't necessarily mah thang)

 

[Interslicery]

I havnt really played an rpg since FFXII. Life has gotten in the way and they're just too long.

I used to talk to everyone I could, never run from a battle, latch onto a few specific characters and stay with them for the entirety of the game (Cloud/Tifa/RedXIII fo life sucka), I'll generally explore the map but won't go out of my way to figure out how to get somewhere if it seems too difficult.

 

[ForceStealer]

Not like you

I've never been a completionist. If I'm really enjoying a game, I do have a little bit of drive to collect all of x or unlock y ability, but it's only if I'm in the mood. I really have to perceive it as providing enough fun to justify the tedium. I will not do it just because it is there. I really don't care for grinding unless the combat is just that fun. I will do it for awhile if necessary but I have a limit, and it's a lot earlier than most completionists.

I will only speak to every NPC if I'm REALLY into the story. I know what nearly every NPC in FF7 says, for instance (and gleefully sought out everyone I could talk to in Crisis Core and on the Shera in Dirge), but no way was I gonna go around reading what all those people in FFXII were gonna say. I got shit to do.

I also have no compunctions against running. I don't do it often, usually because I hate grinding and I think an RPG should be reasonable to complete if you fight substantially every battle you come across. But if my party's nearly dead, if I really hate a particular type of enemy, a game has an absurdly high encounter rate and I'm out of patience, or if I'm in a rush to get to the next save point, sure, whatever.

I have little, more minor compulsions, it bugged me to have any "NEW" icons flashing next to the Datalog in XIII so I would go through the articles to get rid of it.

 

[AvecAloes]

Not like you

I've never been a completionist. If I'm really enjoying a game, I do have a little bit of drive to collect all of x or unlock y ability, but it's only if I'm in the mood. I really have to perceive it as providing enough fun to justify the tedium. I will not do it just because it is there. I really don't care for grinding unless the combat is just that fun. I will do it for awhile if necessary but I have a limit, and it's a lot earlier than most completionists.

I will only speak to every NPC if I'm REALLY into the story. I know what nearly every NPC in FF7 says, for instance (and gleefully sought out everyone I could talk to in Crisis Core and on the Shera in Dirge), but no way was I gonna go around reading what all those people in FFXII were gonna say. I got shit to do.

I also have no compunctions against running. I don't do it often, usually because I hate grinding and I think an RPG should be reasonable to complete if you fight substantially every battle you come across. But if my party's nearly dead, if I really hate a particular type of enemy, a game has an absurdly high encounter rate and I'm out of patience, or if I'm in a rush to get to the next save point, sure, whatever.

I have little, more minor compulsions, it bugged me to have any "NEW" icons flashing next to the Datalog in XIII so I would go through the articles to get rid of it.

Exactly like that ^

Although I'm probably a little more, I don't know...ditzy? I find that sometimes I have a hard time understanding or absorbing what the hell is going on because I'm constantly trying to push forward, so I end up going "AHA! THAT's what that meant!" during my second playthrough of any JRPG (games that have a mechanic built in for forcing me to get the story get a bonus in my book, such as KH: BBS as you play through the same story 3 times). I also tend to rely on guides a lot more than some, especially Force, and especially during my first playthrough. I hate the feeling of being lost and not knowing where to go next. I also tend to get impatient easily, so if there's a puzzle or something that I'm stuck on for longer than 30 seconds, I have no shame in looking up the answer or the proper way to find the solution (here's looking at that stupid clock puzzle from XIII-2).

 

[ForceStealer]

See, now I do like solving puzzles on my own. If I'm well and truly stuck I'm not above looking it up, but I will make every effort to solve it myself.

I also generally won't use a guide the first time I play through a game. I want my first playthrough to be MY experience with a game. Figure things out myself and later discover what I could have done differently. Like in Mass Effect, I don't want a perfect playthrough my first time, I want to make the decisions and encounter the consequences, then in subsequent playthroughs I'll fiddle with the systems.

The exception to that is a game I really just want to get through on my backlog to get a cursory understanding of the story and this experience and then move on to the rest of my backlog. I want to play Baldur's Gate 2, but I know I could spend dozens of hours on it and I can't have it monopolizing that much time with all the other games I have to get to.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Long periods of grinding to get over-levelled followed by long periods of pushing through the story as fast as possible until I'm at a point where I get killed by everything; repeat.

I'll do the sidequests if I love the world. All FFVII sidequests have been completed at least once, also all FFXII. I love FFXII because grinding is made an integral part of the game.

 

[Cthulhu]

I dunno, I just play them through once, . Often with a walkthrough, don't want to miss something that may be important (I backtracked after finding out there's optional characters in FFVII, :/ )

 

[Drax]

Gamefly has forced me to get through them as fast as possible so that I can move on to the next game. As such, Fire Emblem: RD is killing me. 8D

But that's kind of a healthy way to approach the game than how I used to go about it, I think. I used to have almost an OCD with RPGs and finding everything, so much that I really had trouble enjoying the games.

So after plowing through story mode, I have a good chance of respecting the game (familiarity, nostalgia, sense of accomplishment), and if I feel like it at some other time, I may go for a 100%. Because then I know what to do to advance the story and I don't get so obsessive with wasting hours making sure I got everything on the first playthrough.

That's why I love the HD releases, because I've been meaning to play FFX and X-2 again.

 

[ForceStealer]

Long periods of grinding to get over-levelled followed by long periods of pushing through the story as fast as possible until I'm at a point where I get killed by everything; repeat.

This is how my friend does it. I dunno how you guys do it, not only does grinding suck, being overlevelled completely robs the game any fun, I feel like I would never enjoy a game this way.

And that's my biggest problem with XII

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Definitely a "perfectionist exploiter" which takes on a whole 'nother level as I play most of my old games on emulators which have "save states".

I also tend to like looking up the game mechanics so I know what effects stats have and stuff like that and I always have some type of faq on hand.

This is how my friend does it. I dunno how you guys do it, not only does grinding suck, being overlevelled completely robs the game any fun, I feel like I would never enjoy a game this way.

How much I grind is determined by how "worth it" it is and by how much I enjoy it. In FFVII, I didn't grind because I wanted more Exp, but because I wanted more AP. FFVIII was the same way, only in that game, I grinded more on Triple Triad games because not only did I really like the mini-game, but also because it was the best way to get higher-level magics.

I also have more fun figuring out effective ways to beat bosses then actually beating them. I had tonnes of fun figuring out how to junction Rinoa so that she was casting Meteor Wing twice as often as everyone was getting turns only for Ultimacia to be one of the easiest fights in the game...

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

I'm curious about this. I find that some obsessive choices I make are not universal. To get the ball rolling, here are a few examples.


- I do my best to speak to all the NPCs and ensure that I've triggered all the lines they have. Unfortunately this is keeping me from properly enjoying Grandia (which I am currently playing) because the NPCs are too many, the text doesn't scroll fast enough, and I have to speak to each of them three or four times to be sure that they have nothing more to say. So as an effect...Grandia mostly bores me right now. XP
Choose to not speak to every NPC? IMPOSSIBLE!


- I never flee from battles. My completionist nerve fears that the game will have a visible counter for how many times you have fled from battle and I consider the save file to be "corrupted/dirty/incomplete" if the counter goes above zero. My pride also prevents me from fleeing. YOU WIN OR YOU DIE! Flee-based commands are a nono.


- If there is a bug or an overpowered move, I will exploit it. I will never choose to not use an overpowered move just to make the game harder. Some might avoid the Enemy Skill materia in FFVII for this reason, but I simply can't avoid it. I don't see the point with making the battles last longer by not equipping and evolving Enemy Skill.


I suppose my playstyle can be summarized as that of the "perfectionist exploiter". What is your style? The one who speeds through the game and keeps your characters low level? Or are you the grinder?

I'm the same. I have to speak to every NPC, even on replays. I never flee from battles(unless it's in Pokemon and it's a random battle with a Wild Pokemon I don't intend to catch or fight). And I almost always exploit glitches and gamebreaking tactics, especially at difficult parts. I also almost always use a walkthrough when I'm playing, especially if it's Final Fantasy, but almost never if it's Pokemon(I can usually figure Pokemon games out on my own). I usually don't level grind unless I have to. I've never been a big fan of level grinding.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

I've never been a big fan of level grinding.

I've come to think of level grinding and AP grinding as two different things.

 

[JBedford]

First: I break the game where possible. So in VIII I spend ages playing Triple Triad to increase spell stock and use it with Junction, as well as getting the ultimate weapon items. Cannot play FFII without Action-Cancel and all the other methods of increasing stats. Cat Nip + Critical + Trigger Happy in X-2? Of course.

I never escape battles under normal circumstances. When I'm clearly going to die I do.

I try to do everything I can as early as I can, and I also over-level. I get all the available character's Limit Breaks in VII outside of Chocobo Farm before ever crossing the Marshes. FFXII has me spending a good portion of time exploring every area as just Vaan.

I would used to talk to NPCs, but it depends how the game works. XII is simply not worth my time, but a game like XII where not all characters can be talked to (IIRC, maybe that was another game), or VII, VIII, and IX where there are only a handful of enemies on each screen and they're usually not far from each other and don't have much to say. I'm not into talking to the same NPC more than once. If there's anything important they'll say it the first time they talk to me (which made me almost miss the Thunder Plains tower calibration minigame on X-2 because you have to talk to the guy a second-time)

If there's something to fight, I want to face it early as possible. This means I Game Overd in XIII-2 frequently.

I play most games only once. And I often play them, at least partially, with my brother. And his rules for playing games is different from mine. He does talk to every NPC until they have nothing more to say, and he does not like being killed in battle.

VIII is the only game I play low-level, and obviously that is because the systems is in my favour.

Edit: Oh, and I never use walkthroughs-- unless I get really stuck, and for finding out about sidequests and locations of Marks and Hunts. Stuff Zodiac Spear.

 

[Splintered]

Overgrinding to annoying levels, making sure I always buy up to date gear and if I don't have the money, I grind some more.

I talk to every NPC. Twice just in case. That got me in trouble in some cases, like Deus Ex:HR apparently all the hostages get killed if you take your time. Too bad I was waiting for some asshole to get off his cellphone.

I use to excessively horde items and never use magic in fear of using mp. I kind of changed that habit, it depends on the rpg. I still like hording stuff but unlike before I wasn't obsessive about it.

Even when I have two or three favorite characters, at least the first time I play I try to play with everyone in my party. Which isn't frustrating unless you are playing something like Chrono Cross.

I don't run from battle either, not unless I'm pretty much dead. Or they affect status ailments. Like those pumpkin fuckers in the Shinra mansion. Nope, not dealing with that. And no one is allowed to backseat rpg even if I can't beat a boss, I'll try over and over until my eyes bleed.

Walkthroughs, it depends I guess. If I start with one, then I'll look at every little thing until the end. If I don't, I'll avoid it as much as I can unless I'm stuck on something for more than a day or two.

 

[Novus]

Grandia rocks I'm tempted to buy it again on PSN now.

 

[Abortedj]

I do all three things mentioned in the opening post. I can't really imagine playing a j-rpg any other way.

In addition to that, play them laying down on my bed, watching movie/listening to podcasts while I play them. Insomnia is something that will make you love RPGs.

 

[ForceStealer]

How do all you people have the patience for so much grinding?

 

[Abortedj]

How do all you people have the patience for so much grinding?

I personally am a horrid insomniac, so I just have a lot of hours to fill. How anyone without this problem does it, no fucking clue.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

How do all you people have the patience for so much grinding?

Turn the sound of the game off and listen to music at the same time, if I'm playing it on an emulator have my browser open to something else, give myself a reasonable goal to reach (character level up, time limit, ability learned, etc.), come up with different ways of using character abilities to defeat enemies (especially if the abilities are OP)...

Pretty much do several things at once...

 

[Drax]

Well, Skyrim has the skill trees, so I usually get lost in developing those to see what I can do in the game. It also takes a lot of weighing which perk I want to level, because each skill complements the other skills in some way, but leveling up is not a very frequent thing in the game. It's almost like I ask myself "What skill will help me level up faster?" and depends on what method I'm trying to use to level up.

In fact, I care more about leveling than the actual storyline, since I'm still very far behind in the main quest, but at a very high level.

FFVII was fun because I found out I could max out materia and get a lot of money, and when I found out the scorpions/centipede things in the southernmost island were good for grinding said materia.

I think grinding works best when enough variables are laid out for the player to find on their own, and they get this notion that they're being sneaky, like they're breaking the game or finding loopholes. "What happens when I take this triple growth weapon and finally level up this All Materia that I've been struggling to max since the beginning of the game?" Or, "Hey I just found a way to snipe enemies without taking damage and rack up a lot of EXP, which is good because a really difficult boss is in the next area, and I know once I beat him the plot is going to advance big time."

You have to give players time to become familiar with what they've been given and experiment.

 

[Sprites]

My first playthroughs of RPGs I generally just go where you're supposed to go and don't deviate from the path and I kind of "Skim-read" the plot, so I can just beat the game and get a general basis of what's going on without making too much of it which sets me up for my replay. For this reason for instance I didn't cry the first time Aerith died in FFVII but I did cry the second time.

The Second time around I'm very, VERY in depth. I talk to everyone I can, I look for as many secrets available as possible, I use a strategy guide to help me find things I couldn't before and I look into the plot in as much detail as possible, usually making comments like "Ahhh that explains it better than the first time I played", for me it's my favourite way to do it. Then I grind my way at times too as my need for speed the first time around generally makes the bosses pretty tough for me as I'm either underlevelled or haven't learned enough spells or abilities.

 

[Rydeen]

Even if I have played it many a times, I rarely play a game with the goal of a perfect save file in mind (the only examples I can think of are FFVI and Chrono Trigger). Generally whenever I attempt an absolutely immaculate file I tend to mess up somewhere (not to mention, double and triple checking the guides is very tedious), so I generally just aim for a good file with most of the abilities and key items. I will grind if it is required, but will generally reserve heavy grinding for the end of the game (lessens my enjoyment and the challenge too much otherwise) provided I am interested enough to do it and want lots of abilities. I like to get myself very familiarized with the battle system and try to get creative with my setups - in FFVII, for example, I am pretty meticulous with my Materia (equip Deathblow to a character with a very accurate weapon, etc.)

If I am playing through an emulator, I often set the speed higher and make use of save states. I talk to a lot of NPCs (more than once, usually, but in Chrono Cross people never seemed to shut up) and try to explore as much as possible unless the dungeon is just too big and there's too many random battles, in which case I may peek at a guide so as to not miss something uber important. If I don't understand something about the story or the gameplay I can be a bit anal and will look into it. And, very importantly, if there is an option to steal, I will use it religiously as soon as it is available.

 

[Fangu]

How do all you people have the patience for so much grinding?

It's relaxing! I have to think during work all day so for me it's really calming to just do repetitive shit when I get home Although the grinding in XII around Phon Coast when the story was picking up was really tedious, I understand if people jumped off the game at that part. At least you get to choose yourself where you grind, unlike in XIII where you're pretty much stuck with the same monsters. And like Obs said, if the music is good, that's a big plus.

So yeah I like grinding, also because it's a good way to test out your equipment and skills.

I talk to most NPC's, but it depends on how well the NPC dialogue is written. Most FF's have interesting NPC dialogue, but I prefer the ones where they don't just only supplement the story/history, but also put in funny stuff, like small "easter eggy" stuff about the place their live, or other characters, especially when they mention something related to the main character's stories. Also I love it when they put in adult humour. In XII, there's a drunk moogle, there's also an NPC on one of the airships saying about a Viera singer in the same room that he's been "following her um... career". Then later when you defeat the monster on the ship, he says something about maybe he should start watching Vaan's "career" instead It's in the same style as the VII crossdressing and the Honeybee Inn scenes, and I love that stuff. There's been at least 5 times where an NPC has made me burst out laughing in XII. It's part of what makes me love that game. Also someone said the Mt Bur-Omisace scene didn't break their heart like the plate dropping in VII. To me, some of the NPC's after the attack breaks my heart completely. No seriously, almost made me cry.

So yeah NPC's, it depends. In XII I am constantly checking the NPC's, not because I have to, but because it's interesting. And that's what NPC's should be like to me, not something you have to do but hate to do, but something you like to do because it fleshes out the world for you. And so far the most interesting FF worlds to me has been VII and XII (and also VI). XIII-2's give out information, but don't add a lot of flavour to the game. I think I talked to them all, but that's more because I'm curious and don't want to miss out on any information. But it definitely helps if not all NPC's are information based.

It's hard to give a good answer to have I normally play JRPG's, because it all comes down to what I find are the strong parts of the game. Some games have a good story but poor gameplay, others are a lot of fun to play but the story and characters aren't that terribly interesting. If a game gives me no hint of flavour about a place, I find it gets boring, I'll want to get out of there as soon as possible, and the monsters just become an obstacle. But then there are games where the area and music is so well done I'd stay there forever. Like the Dalmasca Estersand music in XII; I could stay on that place forever because of that music.

The most important thing about how I play JRPG's is that I don't follow a manual or a walkthrough. I like experiencing stuff for myself, I like walking into that dungeon and be one-shotted, I like trying a boss battle 10 times before figuring out what to do. It's how I end up remembering which skills I have and how to use them. It also keeps me from doing what everyone has ever done before. And that's not a "I need to be special" thing at all, it's because of my love for the games. You never figure out new ways of doing stuff if you don't walk into something knowing jack shit. When someone online figures out a method of talking down some boss, everyone starts equipping and upgrading the same way. But JRPG's are clever, there are always more than one way to take down a target. With that many ways of customizing, there's always gonna be several ways of doing a fight. Just recently proven when I streamed XII and walked into the 2nd Gilgamesh fight on lvl 60 (before Ridorana) and one of my viewers said "yeah trying to fight him at this point is pretty pointless" but I managed to beat him anyway. If I'd gone online and read "you should be level this or that or at least have this equipment" I'd never even bothered trying.

So what I do is: I go in not knowing anything, and I explore. I guess that's how to sum it up.

 

[Abortedj]

Do to the heat of summer, mostly in the nude. Dead serious.