What makes an action hack'n slash RPG fun..

[Archaven]

I'm just sharing my thoughts and opinion on what makes an action hack'n slash RPG fun.. just one word to describe for me is.. FLASHINESS! :D

 

Sorry to have to make it capital to highlights the significance and meaning of it . One of the core elements in action hack'n slash RPG that hooked me up is how flashy those skills/powers/moves of characters. I find that animation in Sacred 2 was a little bland and less appealing due that it wasn't flashy enough for me. Not sure why, i'm more hooked up on Torchlight because of those flashiness? :D

 

I would like that characters in DS3 to have:-

 

1. More FLASHY (sorry to repeat it ) combinational skills/moves. I do know that hack'n slash seems to be kinda repetitive to keep on spamming the same moves/skills/combat arts over and over again. I would prefer IF the system would allow combination of skills and moves to make the animation of killing monsters/enemies more stylistic and gory (optional). Let's take for example the monk class (err just example k?).. Let say it has the following moves/techniques:

 

1. Move/Skill 1 - Iron Palm (Max skill points allocatable: 200)

2. Move/Skill 2 - Thousand Cuts (Max skill points allocatable: 200)

3. Move/Skill 3 - Shattering Blow (Max skill points allocatable: 200)

4. Move/Skill 4 - Exploding Kick (Max skill points allocatable: 200)

5. Move/Skill 5 - Critical Strike (Max skill points allocatable: 200)

 

Each of the above skills would have it's own level and players are free to allocate skill points to any of the skills to make the specific skill to be more powerful/inflict more damage/etc. HOWEVER, the highlights here is that those move/techniques can make up a series of COMBO to make the animation of the combat more flashy and adds more variety. To clear things up, for example if you are fighting a very powerful tank, let's say you assigned your RMB (Right Mouse Button) for Combo 1 which has (Iron Palm, Thousand Cuts, Shattering Blow, Exploding Kick, Critical Strike), then each time you Right Clicked, you will unleashed different moves depending on the order of your combo selection.

 

Above just is my opinions/suggestions to make hack'n slash combat more appealing rather than example (If you are playing a Fire Elf in Sacred 2, it's either Incendiary Shower or Blazing Tempest, you basically just spam one move/skill infinitely..) which lacks variety.

 

As mentioned, just my opinions in making the game better! So if you don't like my ideas don't need to get offensive and flame me about it as i'm not Obsidian developer that is making the game

 

Cheers!

Edited June 21, 2010 by Archaven

[mkreku]

So if you don't like my ideas...

AAARGH!! WHY DID YOU COME HERE?! WHAT ARE YOU, AN IDJOT?!? I HATE YOU, YOUR FAMILY, THE DUSTBUNNIES UNDER YOUR BED AND

 

...don't need to get offensive and flame me about it as i'm not Obsidian developer that is making the game

Oh. Carry on then.

[Amentep]

My only hope from an action RPG is that it not be too fiddlely. And by that I mean if I have a button to attack, one to do a "special attack (magic/skill)", one to feint, one to dodge left, one to dodge right, one to block, one to jump, one to parry, one to dodge roll left, one to dodge roll right, one to switch weapons, one to switch spells/skills then I'm never going to remember it and will spend most of the fight trying to figure out what button I'm supposed to press until I die.

[LadyCrimson]

My only hope from an action RPG is that it not be too fiddlely. And by that I mean if I have a button to attack, one to do a "special attack (magic/skill)", one to feint, one to dodge left, one to dodge right, one to block, one to jump, one to parry, one to dodge roll left, one to dodge roll right, one to switch weapons, one to switch spells/skills then I'm never going to remember it and will spend most of the fight trying to figure out what button I'm supposed to press until I die.

The more posts of yours I read, the more I like you. ...I'm the same way.

 

Myself, I don't really care about flashy or combat animations...although when they're there, I don't complain, since they are nice to look at. For me hack n slash is largely about treasure hunting. I like the hunt and thrill of having that awesome thingie finally drop.....all to become stronger so I can more effectively cover the floor with monster corpses. Or just to collect them. Course, it's also nice when there's a bit o' strategy involved at times, like being able to duck around corners and snipe at groups or draw them out one at a time or something, so it's not just about dashing in guns/fists blazing/quaffing potions. Probably why I liked starting Diablo1 Sorceror's so much. Had to do a lot of that initially cause he was so weak.

Edited June 21, 2010 by LadyCrimson

[Freeid]

2 words

 

Multiplayer co-op

[Morgoth]

Blizzard.

[Wombat]

My only hope from an action RPG is that it not be too fiddlely. And by that I mean if I have a button to attack, one to do a "special attack (magic/skill)", one to feint, one to dodge left, one to dodge right, one to block, one to jump, one to parry, one to dodge roll left, one to dodge roll right, one to switch weapons, one to switch spells/skills then I'm never going to remember it and will spend most of the fight trying to figure out what button I'm supposed to press until I die.

I guess this is the other side of accessibility issue. I think one of the reasons why ARPG could become so popular is that, its "action" only requires simple clicking although the resulted repetitiveness probably contributed to its decline. Nowadays, even console action games became easier (cf Wii and Kinect) and I don't think the designers are making the control scheme inaccessible from non-hardcore action gamers. They have to sell the game to many more people. Furthermore, it's unlikely that many of Obsidian designers are good at playing hardcore action games.

 

So far, two attacking modes for each class is mentioned. If there are just these attacks and magic/special abilities, then, I don't think these are too complicated. So, we can put our time to tactics rather than remembering complicated control schemes to release special abilities like in a game below.

 

IMHO, rather than Japanese cartoony martial arts action game's complicated button scheme which requires button mashing or conventional ARPG's mindless clicking, the control scheme of ARPG needs tactical depth. To achieve that, it should be as simple as possible while providing meaningful tactical choices.

 

It hugely depends on what kind of action do you expect. One of the lessons of Alpha Protocol is that designers have to think about what kind of game play the players would expect for their games.* However, personally, I don't blame the designers even if some players feel betrayed simply because they expected Street Fighter like game-play in this game.

 

* BIS/Obsidian had been working on similar type of games for years and, while their mind must know that they were making a game for different type of players, some of them don't seem to be able to imagine the reactions of the players at least in earlier stage of the development...

[Monte Carlo]

Blizzard.

 

I only agree with Morgie occasionally, but the man really is on the money with this one. The problem is, in fact, that Diablo et.al do the action RPG thing so well... you have to wonder how to beat it.

 

I don't think you can, so why I'm glad to see Obz involved in this project is that they will inject a little bit of plot, character and dry humour into a not-too-unfamiliar action RPG package and it will sparkle. As it happens, I'm with the OP in the general spirit of what he's saying too.

[Junai]

"just one word to describe for me is.. FLASHINESS! :D"

 

*sigh*

What's with the flash and gloss? I just don't get it. Or maybe I'm getting old.

 

Wishlist; less trashcan-lid-sized elbowpads, less 15 yrs old manga-girls wielding 8-feet long broadswords, and less bikini-clad bimboes which look like they came outta Baywatch. And less magic-animations which cover the whole screen so you can't see wtf is going on.

 

How about a fast paced version of Myth II - Soulblighter, with realistic animations and graphics which are up to date?...

Fairly short, but well-written cutscenes/score-updates - with real artwork and a Hrothgar storyteller-voice..

 

 

 

Just my 5c.

 

J.

[WorstUsernameEver]

"just one word to describe for me is.. FLASHINESS! :D"

 

*sigh*

What's with the flash and gloss? I just don't get it. Or maybe I'm getting old.

 

Wishlist; less trashcan-lid-sized elbowpads, less 15 yrs old manga-girls wielding 8-feet long broadswords, and less bikini-clad bimboes which look like they came outta Baywatch. And less magic-animations which cover the whole screen so you can't see wtf is going on.

 

The 'manga-girls' and 'bikini-clad bimboes' have actually been staple of western rpgs for a LOT of time.

[Oner]

I don't remember manga girls, where were they?

[HoonDing]

The 'bikini-clad bimboes' at least make perfect sense.

 

[Oner]

The 'bikini-clad bimboes' at least make perfect sense.

 

What is this I don't even

[HoonDing]

Heh, kids these days...

 

Anyway, 8-ft long broadswords is only the beginning.

 

 

God, I love Japan.

[Wombat]

It is well known fact that, traditionally, D&D franchise used quite a lot of exploitation in this area, which "appealed" young Avellone, too. DSIII seems to allow the players to customize the outfits of their characters. However, it is too early to expect you can enjoy bikini outfits for your characters.

 

One possible problem here is technical. Even if the players try to choose bikini for their characters, their armor may conceal bikini and the rest of their characters' bodies. This can easily get in and cruelly break the typical male fantasy.

 

Another problem is psychological and may occur in multiplayer mode(s). There are indeed, someone like Junai. Also, hypothetically, someone like LadyCrimson may not want other MP characters to wear bikini or even less before her husband. Also, some people may feel offended when other people let their own characters wear bikini or less. Personally, I don't like to see male characters wearing bikini, too (Oddly, topless male characters are O.K. in my eyes while "top" only appears too "barbaric"). So, is that possible for players to limit the outfit customization of other players?

 

[Off Topic]

God, I love Japan.

Japan has gone further than that... According to the narration, the "armor destruction system" allows the players to break opponents' "armor", which covers different body parts. The effects are visually refracted. The players can defeat the opponents by concentrating on a single body part but alternatively, they can go for "Perfect Knockdown", which is done by breaking every single piece of "armor." Damn...this sounds pretty tactical...so, it seems to be not a a joke that it is advertised as orthodox simulation RPG... Probably, it shouldn't come as a surprise considering the background: The original game seems to be franchised under the partnership between Hobby Japan and Flying Buffalo (yes, the company which released T&T...most of their series are introduced as game books and the game above is not an exception). I wonder if I should call it innovative, though.[/Off Topic]

[Monte Carlo]

Dungeon Siege had the attractive red-head in full armour, albeit tailored for the female form. A non-issue for me.

[HoonDing]

Females in full armour is perfectly fine, as long as the armour design lacks breast protrusions (which, imo, is worse than chainmail bikini).

Edited June 23, 2010 by virumor

[WorstUsernameEver]

Females in full armour is perfectly fine, as long as the armour design lacks breast protrusions (which, imo, is worse than chainmail bikini).

 

I've seen people (female, even!) complaining about the Power Armor being non-girly in Fallout 3.

Make of that what you will.

[Wombat]

I've seen people (female, even!) complaining about the Power Armor being non-girly in Fallout 3.

O.K. I'll put my cynicism on this topic aside... Some players really seem to like enjoying fashions of their characters. Even people who are not into "cosplay" type of masquerading, quite many people seem to enjoy dressing their avatar. Indeed, it's escapism but, after all, we are talking of role-playing as heroes/heroines in a fantasy world, after all. So, why not try to explore this direction? Maybe, some artists may be interested in working on clothes from various cultures.

 

BTW, speaking of vanity, some people, especially Asian female complained of MP characters in Western MMORPG, saying something like "I'd like to be beautiful at least in an imaginary world." Personally, I'm not a great fan of the world where everyone is like a model but this may be an important factor for some people.

[Amentep]

I don't really have an opinion on women's armor in the sense of a typical rounded cuirass vs a sculpted look (ala the Greek "muscle cuirass) vs impractical cleavage cuts.

 

I do wish you had a variety of options for your character, but I confess to being peculiar over the armor my characters wear as the same look isn't always "right" for different characters. But in the end I always roll with what the game gives me.

Edited June 23, 2010 by Amentep

[Monte Carlo]

I saw the cover of that King's Bounty: Armored Princess game.

 

Not only does it have the lamest name of Any. Game. Ever. it also has some of the most egregriously sexist cover art of any game I've seen. Don't get me wrong, I think Germaine Greer is a type of breakfast cereal and I like my Megan Fox screensaver as much as the next bloke, but the iron balconette that poor woman is wearing is just wrong. All properly trained artists study anatomy first for a reason.

 

Cheers

MC

[HoonDing]

[Monte Carlo]

LOL Virumor pwned by the dreaded 403!

[Archaven]

Developer.. What i would suggest is make the game you wanted to make. Do not be actually bothered by fanaticism or closed-minded individuals that may or may not limit your game.

 

Some would agressively object protusive outfit.. some would actually like more options, variety that suits their roleplay. It's a subjective matter whereby it could result in arguments and heated discussions.

 

All in all, my opinion is .. do not be obstrusive to the point that it may result in nudity but be open enough to be revealing and have as much variety possible.

[Wombat]

Since that the main MP mode seems to be just drop-in/out with no character import/export, there unlikely to be deep customization on the appearance of the characters after all, I guess.