RPG Maker Forums

Hello gentle people of the interwebs, I've come to pick your brain again.

So now that I've largely finished making the small army of NPCs to populate the game world of my current project; I've started to give more thought to the plethora of countless potential interactions between the player & the 90+% of the NPCs who don't serve as quest givers or opponents.

Originally I had intended to create the usual style of dialogue interactions seen in JRPGs like Final Fantasy, Shining Force, etcetera. Where the player's interactions with the NPC usually bringing up the most pertinent bit of dialogue, for example "Hey (insert player name) have you talked to so & so?". & I had intended to create variety in what the NPCs would say based upon a "NPC" variable, combined with story progression triggers.

However, it occurred to me this morning that I ignored the possibility of another system, namely the less streamlined yet more interactive style of dialogues used in Western RPGs like Fallout & Elder Scrolls. Often with topic headings like "Rumors", "Background", "Advice", with the contents of the topic varying according to the individual NPC's respective identity. & additional topics being assigned based on the NPC's identity, location, & events that are occurring in game. Which could be utilized easily enough with a show choices common event.

So my questions for you are as follows. Has anyone tried using a system like those used in Fallout & Elder Scrolls with their own projects? Which do you prefer as a developer the streamlined style of JRPGs, or the more interactive style of Western RPGs? Which do you prefer as a player the streamlined style of JRPGs, or the more interactive style of Western RPGs?