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Hi, I'm Cybrim. I would like to discuss the importance of magic in your game worlds. Remember that in every world magic is NEVER a "Fix-All" in fact it causes many problems.

Edit- I'm giving a brief description of things and events, not trying to make them the focus. I'm examining them and their effects; Please add more and give your opinions on how creators telling similar stories may create a better atmospheric game.

Yes the mandatory "Final Fantasy" section; if you want you can skip this section but there are some suggestions down below to help impact you.

In Final Fantasy 5 Magic was limited on what class or secondary ability you assigned, but because of the crystals shattering the world gets more "corrupt" as you play, the problem here is there is no real threat of the world ending, the crystals are useless, this would have been the time to integrate enemy level-ups.

In Final Fantasy 6 dead/dying Espers were trapped in Magicite or utilized into Magitech armor. Magic is originally limited to specific people, this is amazing, then an actual world-changing event occurs and guess what? It matters.

In Final Fantasy 7 Materia was hardened Lifestream that came from Mako energy, which when harnessed was killing the planet. Some magic was so powerful it was locked away and it took a sacrifice to get to it, afterwords ancient sentient giants awaken and you have to battle them to get really cool equipment or bragging rights.

In Final Fantasy 8 magic was limited to monsters and magical creatures (given the worst names ever, "GF") but forced creatures to level up with the player. You only got weaker and had to spend hours DRAWING MAGIC to become powerful enough to face new challenges.

In Final Fantasy 9 your equipment taught you abilities and spells. You could also assign your passive abilities!

--- End of Final Fantasy section.

In Diablo you had characters that had specific abilities but spells were assigned to scrolls or books, scrolls were single-casts and books taught you magic, this is the hardest game in this series.

In Diablo 2 you had characters that had abilities and spells which required skill investments to unlock, only 1 ability was ever truly effective per class, thus the min/maxing was born.

In Diablo 3 you had the best possible way to build your character, start out small and customize over time to create your favorite layout, sure you had to sacrifice one awesome sub-feature for another but it was merely about your playstyle.

--- End of Diablo Section

"I'm not trying to get people to agree with me, I'm trying to get people to think." - Alan Moore

I am asking that you think about how magic/psionics has consequences, both good and bad for each character and their world.

Check out these games for more indepth: Magic: The Gathering, Persona 3, Persona 4, Path of Exile, Final Fantasy X, Tales of Xilia, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Golden Sun, Dragon Age 2 (Skip Origins, it is just too clunky), Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Breath of Fire 3, Child of Light, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Rogue Galaxy, Dragon Warrior 1/(Dragon Quest 1) Titan Quest: Immortal Throne & Grim Dawn.

Each of these games handles it's world differently, the idea of Magic/Psionics has an immediate impact (what your characters/enemies do) and a worldly impact, whether it is political, environmental, distortional or revolutionary in nature.

The type of "Magic" you use in your game should have impact on story, define your characters as independent entities with differing motives (Diablo 3), change the world both substantially (Sin FFX) and minorly(Golden Sun), impact your bonds and relationships with PCs and NPCs (Persona 3 & 4); and finally be useful outside of combat (Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Dragon Warrior).

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