Quote Originally Posted by Mercen-X View Post
The only cool thing old-school RPGs have to offer are character designs and story. Rarely, if ever, do you find anything else worthwhile like extra game features, battle mechanics, music, altering storyline, minigames, etc. IMO it's those missing puzzle pieces that make most, if not all old-school RPGs mediocre... in fact, modern R-fans would agree that even the latest RPGs are still mediocre without this even though they've got hotter graphics. Sure, we like the graphics better, but it doesn't cover up the fact that the game is just a replicant.
Um... Chrono Trigger and Shin Megami Tensei 1 and 2 do altering storylines and unusual gameplay mechanics and they are both old school 16-bit RPGs. I just wanted to point out that the old games did alot more than people give them credit for.

I do agree modern games are becoming a bit more mediocre depending on the genre and developer. Even games that actually have intriguing game mechanics don't drive the idea hard enough and thus they feel like a sad attempt at being innovative, Eternal Sonata was a good example of this. Others are so complex that only the hardcore could appreciate them like The World Ends With You.

For an RPG, I feel you need to figure out what kind of story you want to do and its setting. From the story, I feel you need to build the combat and experience system based on what you are doing for the world design. We've reached a point in the genre where everything about the title has to be based on the original concept and design. Its in these main parts you need to bring in your innovation and make them a part of it. Concept, Story, and Gameplay.

I wanted to write a story once about a soldier who supposedly dies and returns a few years later as a rogue whose goal is to kill his former Lord's son, cause the child was tied to the end of the world. The child himself appears to be an innocent and now his mother sends her entire kingdom to kill him including former friends who may or may not join him.

Course, I like moral ambiguity and forcing the player into decisions that have no heroic or "nice" spin to it. You are screwed either way. If you want we can start this as a basis if you want or come up with another idea.