I think it ends up telling us more when we figure out what you can do wrong.


- A nonlinear storyline does not necessarily mean more replay ability
On one side of this spectrum you have games like Diablo 2. It's not just the roguelike aspects that make it so replay worthy. Every character is immensely customizable and you can play through with 50 different skill builds and enjoy them all. You also have difficulty settings that aren't dictated by a boring slider and instead add more depth to the game. And yet, not once do you ever have a decision to make which impacts the plot in any way. On the other side you have games that are more like visual novels, which are so good that you don't even care much about the lack of customization or difference in playthroughs - instead you just want to experience them again. Games like Xenogears go here.

- Don't start making the movie before you have a script
You see this with a lot of sequels nowadays, making you wonder if the whole idea of Final Fantasy games each being unique was even more genius than it seems. In the rush to capitalize on a successful 'intellectual property', you have new games being announced before there can reasonably be a story made for them. So we're left with crappy forced storylines and plot holes galore. It's really sad, because without a good story an RPG is nothing.

- Don't scale everything with the player
This is a huge problem in many recent RPG type games. For instance, the experience you get playing Morrowind will always trump anything from Oblivion (Skyrim seems to be somewhere in the middle) because it regularly shows the player that there are limits. That doesn't mean you're dying all the time; more that you can wander into the wrong area and get your shit wrecked if you're not careful. You can also pick up some powerful items really early on if you're crafty enough... which, you know, makes sense. It just feels like you have options, and you get really into the world itself. Meanwhile, Oblivion and others just constantly remind you that you're playing a game that you have to progress through. So, for that matter...

- Don't constantly remind me I'm just playing a stupid game
One way to do it is mentioned above, but it's by no means the only way. RPG-style games being broken up into levels or stages can be a huge problem. It's all about how subtly it's done, of course. Look at Mass Effect (1) : you have tons of planets in various systems, and when you examine some of them it allows you to land there. You don't feel like you're restricted, and the main 'storyline' worlds are explored pretty similarly. There are definitely key stages to the game, but you certainly don't think of it in that way while you're playing. Mass Effect 2 took things in the opposite direction. You have a recruitment mission for each character, you have a loyalty mission for each character, and every side mission takes place in a very static space. You never feel like you're really exploring anything, and despite many missions taking place in areas you have access to they're still done like separate levels. Everything is super polished and presented to you in a really nice way, and it just demolishes any sense of immersion built up otherwise. In ME1 I need to find a planet in the Artemis Tau cluster to try and locate an archeologist that might have key information; in ME2 I'm just going to follow the text that shows me where I get my next squad member.

- Don't make a party-based game too difficult or annoying to control
I have this really intense love/hate relationship with the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series. Maneuvering a large party through some of the tighter areas of the game is tedious, and it isn't helped by the fact that you often have party members with different movement speeds ('you must gather your party before venturing forth'). Half the times I've played through these games I've just gone solo instead of dealing with the hassle. It's especially a problem in Baldur's Gate and BG2, because to experience all the great character interactions you actually want to keep a decent sized party.

- Give me real options, not fake ones
I remember being so damn excited about Baldur's Gate, because even though it was very linear compared to the actual D&D campaigns I had played IRL, it was still a huge advancement as far as gaming went. The idea was that games were still limited, and as the technology improved so would the ability to create worlds that were more and more dynamic. Unfortunately, we've ended up getting the illusion of choice more than the real thing nowadays. It's great to make seemingly meaningful decisions that don't ever have any real effect.

I also remember waiting years to play a fully translated Der Langrisser, which branched off completely at certain points in the story and had completely different characters to choose from depending on what your goals were - even to the point where you were fighting your original party members regularly if you took some of the more evil paths. The wait was worth it, because it was a truly brilliant game in just about every aspect. We need more games like that.


I'm sure there's a lot more to go on about, but I figured I'd just ramble some stuff off.