Written in 2024 by vio81
Sometimes, a playbook is there for tearing it up - however, like with so many things in life, the question is how far you go when breaking the rules? If you try too hard, you will alienate your core fanbase; and if you are too conservative, people will complain that it is the same thing all.over.again. So, assuming you focus on one specific aspect to set you apart from contemporary titles or the predecessors in a long-running series - what would it be?
The predecessors, namely FF6,7,8 and 9 did stick to a pretty similar set of rules:
FMV Videos (see 7,8,9), Love-Story between angsty Teenagers (7,8 and 9 had these as well), and time sinks called Triple Triad or Tetra Master - and FFX stuck to the playbook in that regard (FMVs, Tidus x Yuna, Blitzball)
What sets FFX apart though is how the plot is narrated:
Right from the start of the game, the main character Tidus is narrating what we as the player are experiencing - and you spend some 20,30-ish hours to catch up to the very scene where the intro starts.
Shortly afterwards, the linear presentation gives way to a more open world, basically giving the player access to a large part of the locations we've already been at:
We are no longer locked into the story "as it happened", but rather write (== play) our own version of the story.
Think about that when you try that "dodge lightning-bolts" mini-game!
It doesn't happen very often that a game manages to _feel_ like it would be a sequel in a long-running series, even though it is a completely new game: SQEX designed FF11 to become the template for MMORPGs, and used Ivalice (which was also used in Vagrant Story and FF Tactics) for the backdrop of FF12 - and Lost Odyssey stepped up to fill the gap left by 11 and 12.
After playing the game, you would over-estimate the impact/role that Hironobu Sakaguchi has played for getting this game released - he's credited as writing the plot and - if Wikipedia can be trusted - his company (Mistwalker) has been involved in the story, world building and character design, whereas external staff that was brought in to get the game released includes people who worked on Shadow Hearts or Phantom Dust:
15 years after playing the game, it is even more surprising that LO _feels_ like a proper FF title, and that's the main reason for recommending it - approach this game as a FF title that never was, and you may enjoy it more than you would otherwise. Be warned though - it has random encounters and feels more akin to FFX than, say, Star Ocean 4.
Speaking of MMORPGs - how does an offline-MMORPG sound for you?
The .hack//PS2 games did try their hand at this and - uh, found mixed success with this formula.
Magna Carta 2 presents a Korean take on that formula in the X360-era, and starts with a healthy dose of typical JRPG clichés: On your run-of-the-mill RPG island, an mysterious weapon is found in the ancient ruins close to the hometown of our hero that coincidentally suffers from amnesia. Zephie drops by and our love interests meet and go on an epic RPG adventure. When playing it for the first time back in 2010, together with resident admin DocOwer, we were both baffled that this game leaned so heavily into all those clichés in the first two hours.
Afterwards it starts to follow its own path, and the battle system keeps you entertained throughout the usual RPG plot: You can basically insta-switch from one member of your party to another member with a button press, and the battle system leans into that - give it a try and find out if that's a thing that can tide you across the first hour or so.
After handling sound programming for tri-Ace in Valkyrie Profile, Star Ocean 2 & 3, tri-Crescendo teamed up with Monolith Soft to create a RPG with a card-based battle system for the Gamecube. Sounds familiar? Indeed, Lost Kingdoms beat Baten Kaitos to the startline with the same idea, however, Baten Kaitos had one ace up its sleeve:
With a 4th-wall breaking plot and some pretty cool references to other games I don't want to spoil, Baten met critical success, and even got a prequel greenlit, much to my (and probably everyone's) surprise.
Baten Kaitos Origins (admittedly a lame title after part 1) never made it to western shores, so you had to import it back then ... and if you have played the first Baten, it really was worth the effort since it provided more insight into the deck o--- (alright, I'm gonna stop trying to cram in as many card-game based puns, I promise!) --- since it adds to the plot. Recent re-releases on Switch or Steam make it easy to check it out, so give yourself a carte blanche and give it a shot! (sorry, that was the last one, I promise!)
Persona 4, released _quite_ late in the lifetime of the PS2, and against all odds became successful enough to be re-released multiple times, and also get its own fighting game. Yes, that's not a joke, supposedly there even were arcade releases and a rhythm game spin-off - pretty good for a game that launched on ye ol' PS2, isn't it?
And that's just the start:
Using a who-dunnit plot as background for the gameplay, you can enjoy(?) life as a young pupil in a rural town in Japan, a fantasy many a RPG-player had back when they were young. P4 also improved significantly over part 3 by introducing multiple special-themed dungeons instead of the tower-climbing gameplay that P3 offered, so much so that I would pick P4 anytime over P3. Add to that a soundtrack that is still a banger today, more refined gameplay, character-design, plot-progression and you have a game that has honed a formula well enough for becoming a mainstream hit.
If you've never tried a Persona/SMT (Shin Megami Tensei) game before, give P4 a shot.
The obvious pick would be Teddie, a half-clown, half-bear character ... however, TV TV TV
Hanging out in the local Inn, let's ponder what we've encountered on this trip:
We've covered a plot narrated in hindsight, card-games, a korean take on the JRPG and a who-dunnit-murder-mystery summer vacation thrown in for good measure in our deck - and You just have to draw one card to give it a shot for getting off the well-trodden path.
Tune in next week then when we meet even more crazy examples than what we've covered here. Also with zero card-game based puns, promised!
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