RMVXA What do you expect in a fantasy game?

[Kirri]

Hello!

I'm currently working on a fantasy genre game. With monsters and stuffs. But... something feels empty. So, I'm asking you guys, what do you expect to see in a fantasy game?

Thank you
- smhaaokir

 

[Mystic_Enigma]

I can't really say there's much I can "expect"...Being Fantasy, what's or off the table is up to the developer's imagination Magic? Sure! Talking animals? Why not?! High-tech airships? Book me for the first flight! You should ask yourself about the overall feel of your world and what sort of things could fit in there to achieve it.

 

[rue669]

I'd probably rely on the tropes in fantasy:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Fantasy

Then from there, add your own twist to a popular, well-known, and expected trope.

 

[Black Pagan]

I'm a Great fan of Anime. So personally, I would love to see a Fantasy Game that borrows Ideas from Popular Anime these days which are more into the "MMORPG / Action / Role-Playing" Genre, as of lately. Anime like Goblin Slayer, Log Horizon or Shield Hero for a Start.

 

[gstv87]

depends on the style of fantasy, but to some greater or lesser degree, there's always some kind of political intrigue.
like, when the hero turns out to be a prince of some lost dynasty that has a claim to the throne..... or something.
it doesn't have to be the main plot tho, it can be a side quest where you help another character become the king.

a bit of 4th-wall breaking is also fun at times, like when you hint plot points of other franchises like LOTR or WOW: "Hey, I found this ring.... wonder what it does.... I hope it makes me invisible!"
something like that.
when it's used as an inside joke, it pays off well if it meets your target audience's knowledge.
kids won't get it, but adults might.

 

[Quill-Hawthorne]

Personally, I like some world-building to be involved in any kind of fantasy. It makes any world more believable and easier to grasp. I'm not saying to create a 150-year history of your world, but some basic lore is nice.

Also, things should make sense in-game, such as if Celestia can't use magic to summon her fork from the kitchen, but somehow summons a whole army at the climax, I'm going to squint at the story logic for a bit.

 

[MushroomCake28]

Fantasy games can be many genre: rpg, adventure, first-person, sandbox, etc.

If you're talking about the typical JRPG fantasy, like the final fantasy franchise, then it's usually a fantasy/medieval world (although futuristic stories and modern stories also exist) with magic and a semi-decent plot (doesn't need to be amazing, but needs to be entertaining enough to keep the player going).

 

[Tech]

Fantasy can be anything, from your "standard" orcs vs elves to a drug trip, and even out in space (we need more space fantasy, BTW). Fantasy means "imagination." But what I expect is the aforementioned orcs vs elves.

 

[Finnuval]

Not going to be much help but this is pretty much the answer to the question 'what is fantasy' : https://www.masterclass.com/article...ature#what-is-the-fantasy-genre-in-literature

As for what ppl expect from a 'fantasy' game... well those can differ as much as ppl can .

 

[NinjaKittyProductions]

Well for fantasy, here is a small list of some standard tropes:

1. Reluctant Hero
2. Someone or Something or Some Country that needs saving
3. Villian that is hellbent on world domination/destruction/political shift of ideals/ex-hero that is tired of the status quo
4. Magic... either physical or supernatural
5. Legendary Weapon/Armor/Trinket/Spell
6. Monsters... whether for destroying or befriending (not every slime is out to eat you)

This, of course, is not a full list, just a generalistic one that most stereotypical JRPGs have.

 

[alice_gristle]

Knights and magic castles! 'Nuff said.

 

[Halcyon Days]

A solid world-building honestly, the biggest advantage of the Fantasy type for me is to be able to create an universe whom you can customize freely

 

[HumanNinjaToo]

I wanna see magics, swords, and big boobies!

 

[Nightblade50]

honestly I dislike fantasy... I've just never really read/played a fantasy book/game that I really enjoyed. I feel like we've moved past that

 

[Cormorant42]

150-year history of your world, but some basic lore is nice.

Challenge accepted.

 

[gstv87]

1. Reluctant Hero
2. Someone or Something or Some Country that needs saving
3. Villian that is hellbent on world domination/destruction/political shift of ideals/ex-hero that is tired of the status quo
4. Magic... either physical or supernatural
5. Legendary Weapon/Armor/Trinket/Spell
6. Monsters... whether for destroying or befriending (not every slime is out to eat you)

should I be worried that I tick all the checkboxes?

 

[NinjaKittyProductions]

should I be worried that I tick all the checkboxes?

Not at all. It just means you understand the basics of the fantasy genre ^_^

 

[Jhale M.]

I would say that the best thing to make a fantasy story feel like a fantasy story (assuming it is medieval/feudalistic style) is to establish the baseline for the world. "World building" is the general idea, but I think it is most important to ensure we know what the average person is doing in this world, the effects of disrupting it, ways that cool things that don't exist in reality have balanced themselves out to form a society and whether or not there are distinct social castes or tribes to be aware of. So much of anime fantasy fails this even though they can go into insane detail about their battles and such. I feel like those shounen stories are not truly fantasy, just action/drama stories where the world is used to remove boundaries from action. So I guess that's basically the two of the main types - fantasy that has a basis so that you can live in its world and value its events, and then fantasy where you are just creating a world that allows you to write what you want. A third type would be uninspired or thoughtless genre fantasy where they just copy ideas from Tolken and the Dark Ages as if it has to be that way, or they could follow some other over-saturated idea that is trendy such as vampires and people from other dimensions (or teleporting into a game-like world). Even these genre fantasy ideas can be done more faithfully and serve as a true fantasy with a basis and lasting stakes involved so long as you are not just chasing money, convention and or popularity.