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RPGs that are not epic
Garu
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I was having a conversation recently about what makes for good fiction and scope was brought up. Basically, my position is that greater stakes do not necessarily make me care more about the outcome in stories. I don't care so much whether the entire world is at stake or merely a single person, provided the story does a good job getting me invested. In fact, I often find raising the stakes to be a rather cheap and lazy shortcut to get me to care more about the outcome. "Why should I care about the protagonists retrieving the MacGuffin? Oh because the whole world will be destroyed if they don't for some arbitrary reason." Now, I should mention that this is merely a personal preference and I do not mean to disparage anyone who prefers that style of storytelling. I started to think back to all of the RPGs I've played in my time and it occurred to me, probably not surprisingly, that virtually all of them are epic in scope. By that I mean that in nearly ever single one the fate of the world is at stake, with an apocalyptic outcome for failure. If you fail in Oblivion, the world is pretty much doomed. If you fail in Fallout, the world will be overrun with mutants. Mass Effect has galaxy spanning superweapons in play (though I admit I have not finished that one).
This is particularly egregious in JRPGs, where there tends to be some sort of world devouring entity that threatens to obliterate the world if the heroes fail. All the Final Fantasies clearly fall into this mold, for example, as does the Chrono Series and pretty much everything else by Square Enix. So, Which games aren't epic? Tactics Ogre comes close, since it seems like all that is at stake is who is in power on the continent, but throws in an 11th hour revelation that raises the stakes. Silent Storm implies that the villains will take over the world if you fail, but at least it wouldn't be destroyed. It's an action RPG, but Link's Awakening way back on the Gameboy is probably the best example, since all that is really at stake is the hero. Aside from those, I'm pretty much drawing a blank.
So, my question to you are twofold. First, can you think of any RPGs where the stakes are relatively low? Second, are such games feasible, or is the target audience always going to want an epic?
This is particularly egregious in JRPGs, where there tends to be some sort of world devouring entity that threatens to obliterate the world if the heroes fail. All the Final Fantasies clearly fall into this mold, for example, as does the Chrono Series and pretty much everything else by Square Enix. So, Which games aren't epic? Tactics Ogre comes close, since it seems like all that is at stake is who is in power on the continent, but throws in an 11th hour revelation that raises the stakes. Silent Storm implies that the villains will take over the world if you fail, but at least it wouldn't be destroyed. It's an action RPG, but Link's Awakening way back on the Gameboy is probably the best example, since all that is really at stake is the hero. Aside from those, I'm pretty much drawing a blank.
So, my question to you are twofold. First, can you think of any RPGs where the stakes are relatively low? Second, are such games feasible, or is the target audience always going to want an epic?
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Front Mission (1 and 3 anyway, only ones I've played) only depict regional engagements in a larger conflict. There's not much indication that failure would lead to more than a territory changing hands or perhaps localized destruction.
Really the only thing you are fighting for is yourself and a few friends.
I never asked for this!
The stakes are actually much higher.
Do the Pokémon games count? Because the plot of those is always just I Wanna Be The Very Best, Like No One Ever Was (and fuck everyone else).
I was considering Mentioning the Suikodens except that even in 1 you're also fighting against Windy, where she'll be super powerful and try to take over the world and stuff if she get the Soul Eater. For some reason.
But yeah, BoF Dragon Quarter is probably the best bet for this.
Man...Marche is such a douche.
Also in Evolution (if I'm remembering it correctly) you're fighting for money and treasure initially, but even when it ramps up
So uhm, yay Dreamcast?
That's probably why the Dreamcast died. It didn't look at the big picture.
What about Skies of Arcadia? I mean, I've never played it, but I assume it involves some form of world-saving, right?
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Sonic Adventure 2 ramps up from saving the world to saving the universe.
Yes.
And you should play it. It's available on the GameCube, which means it's playable on the wii. You have little excuse.
So play it, ok?
On the other hand, if you make the right kind of wrong decisions you pretty much destroy all of creation...
You fight to get people's memories back, one at a time.
These people had incredibly boring lives not worth remembering.
It eventually comes down to something much bigger, but I never found myself caring about the scope, only the characters involved.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
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Zelda is an action/adventure game and Psychonauts is a platformer.
I don't know, if I woke up in a world where the only females were one milf, one butch school-age girl, and a race of half-furries I think I'd want to leave pretty quickly (but not before taking advantage of the whole not being able to die thing. Hara Kiri!).
I never asked for this!
If you suddenly found out you were immortal, the first thing you'd do is stick a sword in your stomach? I can think of quite a few more interesting things to try first...
Stick a sword in somebody else's stomach?
The first two Shadow Hearts games are interesting in that while they do end up being about saving the world, but at the same time they're very much about the main character's personal stuff. SH2 is primarily about the protagonist's personal quest but ends up getting a somewhat disappointing generic save the world quest tacked on at the end.
Torment has one of my favorite plots in any game, largely because it's all about the Nameless One and HIS personal demons. Saving the world doesn't enter into it at all.