Character creation/modification

[Razputen]

I was just thinking with all the games with character creation/modification why has'nt Square done it on the consoles?

Any Thoughts?

 

[Siren]

Square's games are definitely focused around a central plot; like most JRPG's, they're entirely scripted. Granted, there are a lot more options for players with the narrative than there was a good ten years ago, but it's still a tightly structured game. If Square were to allow the player to create the characters, not only would they be pretty uggo and not fun to look at for 30+ hours, but it also has the potential to fuck with the narrative which, let's be honest, is part of the reason why we buy the games.

I mean, look at FFX. They let you name Tidus-simply name him- and it fucked with the entire game. I cannot even imagine how annoying it must have been to never refer to him by name.

Bottom line: they're tightly scripted, and that's the way (uh-huh uh-huh) I like it.

 

[Razputen]

well yeah i know that im talking about like letting you actually see a little change in the armor they wear when they equip it ya know.

 

[Shamdeo]

This is inherent of most JRPGs.

 

[Square Ninja]

This is inherent of most JRPGs.

i would almost blame final fantasy for this

It's just really easy to restrict players to predefined characters because it's a very tried-and-true literary method of storytelling. It's much easier to write for a character when you know exactly how he or she is going to behave.

Older RPGs like Wizardry never really had this problem because they were all just text in a first-person perspective world. Granted most of those old RPGs never really had stories like we see in games now. Whether or not this is a good or bad narrative approach is up for debate.

 

[Stavvy]

Also, those games didn't have voice acting, which is why most games won't let you even name main characters. Gets hard to never say the protagonist's name.

 

[Shamdeo]

i would almost blame final fantasy for this

It's just really easy to restrict players to predefined characters because it's a very tried-and-true literary method of storytelling. It's much easier to write for a character when you know exactly how he or she is going to behave.

Older RPGs like Wizardry never really had this problem because they were all just text in a first-person perspective world. Granted most of those old RPGs never really had stories like we see in games now. Whether or not this is a good or bad narrative approach is up for debate.

It's easier to have a silent hero, whom you assume you project your own personality onto and hope that makes an impact on the player without having to write any notable dialogue.