One of the biggest criticisms I see when navigating game forums, or perusing the comments section of a review is game length. This is especially true if the game has “RPG” tied to it. It seems that the classification of “role-playing game” or “role-playing elements” comes with the inherent requirement to have tens to hundreds of hours of content. Personally, I feel that appraisal based solely on length is a reductive process as the genre can provide so many other incentives warrant a play through.
Role-playing games, and those that borrow their mechanics, utilize several key elements to make their experience entertaining and fulfilling. Rather than a singular hook, RPGs require the synthesis of story, combat, and exploration with a much higher level of scrutiny than most other genres. If the player cannot fully connect with the story, there must be other factors present to keep him or her in the game. What I’ve come to learn from years of playing RPGs and reading feedback on sites like GameFAQs and NeoGAF, is that not everyone weighs their experience on story or combat alone.
But what aspects of RPGs can make the difference from a single play-through to that quest to see every little detail in the game?
Character Progression in RPGs
It may sound obvious, but if a character doesn’t feel like he/she is getting stronger and wiser, the incentive to keep playing diminishes quickly. It’s hard to feel immersed in a game if those you control don’t seem to be learning or improving with you. If you can see what’s coming around the bend, your character should also be on the same page.
This can also be said about combat. I can distinctly remember times where I felt that I was much better at combat than my on-screen counterpart, and it rarely inspired me to continue playing.
Let’s separate the importance progression between story and battle and get deeper into each.
Involvement in Story
The way your character interacts with the world feels best when it comes across as a mutual experience. To be drawn into the story and grow attached to your character, there needs to be a correlation between what you are making them do and how it is informing that character’s development. If you are reading everything and gaining detail about the world or plot, it makes sense that your character should not be constantly mystified at every twist and turn. The last thing that anyone wants is to feel like they are dragging a dimwitted protagonist from point to point without him/her gaining anything from it.
Take the Mass Effect series, for example. Throughout the trilogy, you control Commander Sheppard and his/her rag-tag group to prevent the universe from enslavement and utter annihilation. It seems like an insurmountable task at first and requires interaction with a slew of people and places before Command Sheppard is equipped to complete the mission-at-hand. One of the largest triumphs in this game was the level of choice within the story, but this choice was largely effected by how much the player had done to get to that point. If you hadn’t taken the time to talk to those around you, or investigate your surroundings, Commander Sheppard’s decisions felt uninformed. As the player branched out and interacted with the world, actions and dialogue trees would open up with immense breadth and diversity. But more over than the ability to choose, the choices themselves felt more relevant to the plight of Commander Sheppard and his/her mission.
Conversely, Final Fantasy XIII fails to connect the characters to the story. As you progress Lightning and her brooding crew from setting to setting, character interactions seem forced. Many of the characters are too resolute in their own shortcomings to ever evoke an understanding of their plight. My main problem lies within the juvenile protagonist Hope Estheim. Throughout his journey, Hope will constantly defy maturation, even though he often laments about recognition of his own faults. After confronting Snow on his supposed responsibility to Hope’s mother’s demise, Hope gains no sense of understanding of Snow’s position on the matter. Hope confesses his use of revenge as a coping mechanism, yet still proceeds to direct venom and disdain towards Snow. This made it really hard to root for Hope, or have any care at all, as he actively disregards his own revelations towards the matter.
Just with the story lead, or leads in some cases, the lesser characters you utilize must provide a beneficial or anecdotal quality. The worst thing in a game is to be stuck with a grating or indignant character who seems to counteract all the goodwill set forth by your characters. Sometimes worse than a poor protagonist, a friendly character who provides nothing but contention can make your progression seem in-effective or disingenuous. The worst thing that a game can do is require you to protect or care for an entity that has and will do nothing but contradict the progress you are making.
Progression Through Battle
One of the best parts of character progression is the feeling that your character is growing from novice fighter to a battle-hardened tactician. As you fight through the hordes of enemies and roadblocks in your quest, you want to feel that you have become an indomitable force to lend credence to your ultimate success. It bears importance in realizing that the forces causing so much strife within your character’s world should initially be too much to overcome. That upward progression enables you to connect with the plight at hand and strengthens your resolve in reaching victory. It makes you actually feel like a hero.
There are several variants utilized to manifest a compelling sense of accomplishment within this arena. Commonly, progressive equipment and skill systems will go a long way in preventing battles from feeling lackluster, or the antagonizing force from feeling ineffectual. Progressing from a rudimentary sword or gun to that mouth-watering, hulking tool of destruction will provide that sense of accomplishment and ascension to power. Gaining that awe-inspiring spell and casting massive amounts of destruction upon would-be combatants will showcase how far you’ve come from a fledgling adventurer.
The Diablo series, in my opinion, demonstrates great understanding and acceptance of this concept. In the beginning of a Diablo game, your character will be equipped with crude accoutrements and deal paltry sums of damage upon the scourge of enemies plaguing the countryside. As you dispatch your foes and search each nook and cranny on your path, you begin to gain the loot and skills necessary to defeat your ever-growing adversaries. By the end, your rewards will render you with the feeling that you could overcome any challenge thrown at you. You feel that you have the ability to topple even the most insurmountable odds, in order to extinguish that malevolent force causing your world such peril.
It isn’t just about the power though, as a feeling of mastery can come from the acquisition of an extensive set of battle expertise. I look to the Tales series in this regard, as their “Artes” system provides a deeply nuanced sense of finesse in battle. As your characters obtain higher levels and more experience in battle, the range of skills they can employ expands greatly. Each Arte has its own unique function, and the combination of Artes can lead to inflicting massive damage to foes, especially when gaining access to the master Artes (which are the “ultimate” skills of the battle system). With the game’s real-time combat mechanic, as the player increases his/her proficiency with Arte implementation and combination, the resulting effect can feel quite spectacular. Most RPGs reward their players upon gaining greater understanding of their battle systems, but the Tales series has an uncanny knack to make the compensation for this feel downright heavenly.
Final Thoughts
No matter what you attach to most in an RPG, it is hard to argue against the needs for proper character progression. In order to gain that feeling of achievement within the game, it is important to be regularly rewarded for the fruits of your labor. There are still many other aspects of RPGs that aid in its uniqueness, each with their own necessity. It’s important to recognize these aspects in order to prevent marginalizing the genre. Many times we have our own “definition” of what an RPG should be, and without appreciating all the aspects we may be missing the larger message.
What’s your favorite RPG for character progression?
The Lone Gamer...er 
My favourite RPG, for all intents, be it Story-Telling, Character Progression and Gameplay is Fallout 3.
While the perk system was nothing new, it was always a nerve wrecking time when i had to choose a perk. Because i could only have one perk when i would’ve done better with 3. As such, there was always a trade off making you think about how you want to go about your business. Do i make my machine gun stronger or my speech to help me get out of a tough situation?
KoA:Reckoning had a rather intriguing system. I actually liked the destinies we were allowed to have. That was fun and refreshing!