Habits of RPG Players.

Well, I finally got my PS2 back from Fatty’s house. In anticipation of Persona 4, I decided to finally give 3 a full playthrough (one of the few games that I DO plan to finish). I couldn’t help but notice the little details that plague me when I play RPG’s of any sort; especially the console variety.

Have you ever heard of the “Perfect Game” in any RPG? The kind of game where you simply MUST play the game so that you maximize your stats, inventory, equipment and explore the best possible plot? Have you ever reloaded a game twenty times in order to get one plot crucial minigame sequence JUST right so you got the best reward? Have you ever rewound an entire game back to the beginning stages just so you could get a quest from that lone NPC that you overlooked the first time through? Better yet, if we’re talking western RPGs, have you ever spent a lifetime the character creation screen meticulously calculating, planning and rolling stats for your character? Consulted FAQs and guides in order to get an optimal playthrough?

All of these tiny habits break the whole “Role Playing” aspect of an RPG. I see myself commiting to all these various things that ruin an RPG experience. Doesn’t it make more sense to answer an NPC’s questions or respond to a dialogue tree as you would in real life? Isn’t that what imbues your in game persona with your own character? So what if you miss that extra 10,000G or 200 Life Elixirs? What if you don’t want to power level for 2 hours in order to take down the most powerful (but totally optional) monster in the game? Why do you even need a guide, which was written with the bias of another player, to tell YOU how to play YOUR game?

I’ve tried my damned hardest to stray from the “Perfect Game” mentality. It’s hard to do, but if you would just put down the guide, leave the stat calculating to the machine and just play the way you would, an RPG becomes so much richer. Otherwise, it’s just a chore to grind your ass all the way to an ending that half of the gaming population has achieved.

Damn. I hate RPGs.