In your opinion what are must have features for a modern RPG

[Praygon]

HI everybody,

Rpg's have come a long way since the good ol days of plots you can sum up in 2 sentences, Savepoints, and the infinite grind. I've started taking a project I've been nursing for the past year much more seriously and I've learned from previous failed attempts that as tempting as it is downloading every shiny plugin and resource is a mistake and quickly turns the project into a nightmare mess if you try to include them all.

So that's got me to thinking if you trim the fat what are the "essentials" for a modern RPG, Now I'm not talking graphical wise since that's highly subjective because as undertale showed even games that look like they're from the late 80's can still capture peoples imagination easily, I mean more in terms of Game Design and features when you start a project or play a game yourself what's the kind of stuff that you Expect a modern RPG to have.

Thanks for your time dudes.

 

[Finnuval]

Good story and strong characters!

Now i know thats not what you are asking exactly but those hold the prime spot - if they are bad no feature in the world is going to save it and vice versa any plugin/mechanic you ad should be in some way in Service of that story.

Ofcourse this doesnt count for certain game types but for an rpg it does, in my opinion.

I dont care of its openworld sandbox or lineair map to map aslong as it serves the story. I don't care if its full of (non mandatory) minigames or has none aslong as it makes sense to the world, characters and story.
Etc etc.

Thats my two cents anyway, though I doubt theyll help you much xD

 

[CraneSoft]

- Retry upon death. No game overs.
- No cryptic things that require a guide to figure out.
- No permanently missable items/content.
- Visual encounters.

Other than that, I don't really care much as long as your RPG is fun to play, those are merely anti-frustration features that fixes the issue of classic RPGs xD.

 

[Praygon]

Good story and strong characters!

Without a doubt, The RPG's that have stood the test of time are usually the ones that dare to tell a deeper and mature story (Xenogears) or can manage to tell the cliche Anime boy saves the world story but in a much more interesting setting and with actual stakes beyond a dark lord being mean (FF7)

- Retry upon death. No game overs.

Now this one is interesting because I've been inspired by games like radiant hystoria and the bad ending to Shadowrun Dragonfall to think Gameovers can be a really cool way to give a peek into an alternate Bad path rather than just a Splash screen with some sad music.

 

[Dororo]

Now, please, don't blame for what I'm saying, but this is exactly the modern trend:
A: aim to kids. Kids are the audience.
B: study kids and what they like.
C: kids love meme, creepy pasta, incoherence and something to share on YouTube. Just that.
D: kids doesn't like to lose, so make your game goes in automode. That's why they like Minecraft: you can't lose.
E: kids love to be gratified, so give 'em a lot of prizes in the form of gacha for each single, silly goal they reach. Gacha everywhere.
F: kids aren't sofisticated, be explicit.
G: spread the legend around that your game is the most difficult ever. It doesn't need to be that.
H: kids are proud of unusefull goals, so give them trophies. Auto-trophies work fine.
I: blood, sex, horror, whatever you know kids shouldn't face: give to them and they'll wanna play that "forbidden game" to be proud sharing with their friends online.
J: hope that a couple famous YouTuber do some gameplay - or pay them for that.

Do that and you're halfway to MODERN success.

 

[michaelmartin341]

decent combat. thats really it for me if we are talking jrpg/rpgmaker style. the battles have to be interesting and well paced. dont make me spam attack.

 

[Praygon]

Now, please, don't blame for what I'm saying, but this is exactly the modern trend:
A: aim to kids. Kids are the audience.

A rather cynical but accurate assessment, You also forget though the lucrative Weeb market. Slap an anime girl with tig ol bitties and a naruto clone on your cover art and you're laughing all the way to the bank.

While it is much more likely to sell and pick up meme traction/streamer bait if it's aimed at kids I've always wanted to eventually make something closer to the tone of FF tactics like a real meaty story with characters that act like actual human beings. I appreciate your input though lad.

decent combat. thats really it for me if we are talking jrpg/rpgmaker style. the battles have to be interesting and well paced. dont make me spam attack.

God yes, The amount of RPG maker games I've played where the best strat is just hold down enter during combat and basic attack your way to victory. I think a lot of game designers could benefit from flat out making an early game boss immune to basic attacks so the player has to learn what skills their team has and how to use them effectively.

 

[Solar_Flare]

Now this one is interesting because I've been inspired by games like radiant hystoria and the bad ending to Shadowrun Dragonfall to think Gameovers can be a really cool way to give a peek into an alternate Bad path rather than just a Splash screen with some sad music.

It's interesting that you bring up Radiant Historia, because that is a game with no game overs, is it not? As I recall, if you die, you can just continue playing from the last checkpoint, or even jump to a different location in the timeline.

 

[Praygon]

It's interesting that you bring up Radiant Historia, because that is a game with no game overs, is it not? As I recall, if you die, you can just continue playing from the last checkpoint, or even jump to a different location in the timeline.

Yes essentially even if you die horribly the time travel/void world kicks in and you can just go back to a previous decision. The "game over" in that game is more you witness the effects of your poor decisions for a bit before you're kicked back to the try again screen.

Which i'd love to see more game's do, You could even get silly with it and have cutscenes for if you die to the first rat outside of town something like "The gods clearly embarrassed at how much of an epic failure their chosen turned out to be, decided to up and leave our universe forever heads bent in shame at their creation, dooming us as reality falls apart"

 

[RCXDan]

Snip

Ah yes, the influencer money combo. Fellas I would not follow this formula if you want to make an actually good game, heh. Especially the gacha part.

As for my takes:

* Retry upon death: while not a pure RPG, Kingdom Hearts got it right from its first try with its continue/load game functionality. It only got better as time passed cause now you can even retry fights and swap out equipment at the same time. I'd love to see this more in games, not just RPG Maker.

* HP bars: I don't like not being able to see how much damage I'm doing. Showing the enemy's HP adds a lot more than it detracts, so for any modern RPG it just feels like a smart choice.

* Good, well thought out combat: As you do. It's funny though, cause Chrono Trigger had the right idea despite being a golden era RPG - it's a little easy in hindsight, but that game did force you to use your skills intelligently to defeat most major enemies. A lot of RPGs can benefit from giving their stronger enemies unique strategies and gimmicks so you can't just steamroll them with the attack button.

* No truly permanently missable content. This one just makes me a lil angry cause I've never truly enjoyed that kind of aspect in an RPG due to my completionist tendencies. I'd even go as far as to contrive reasons why this one-of-a-kind thing somehow wound up here instead of being lost forever.

* A good story and characters since ultimately that's the thing most people take away from an RPG

* Save anywhere / A form of auto-save: It's just more considerate to the player's time.