Why do people miss towns?

[Rase]

I freely admit that my personal experience with this game is limited to the first few hours and watching friends on the rest. However, one of the main complaints I hear is "They got rid of the towns!! " I'm just curious what made people like towns so much inn previous games.

Personally I saw towns as one thing: shops. I could not care less about talking with NPC's, checking every pot for a hidden item, and so on. In almost every JRPG my journey through a new town consists of Inn, Weapon Shop, Armor Shop, Item Shop, and on with the story. The only games I can think of where this isn't the fact are the Dragon Quest games, and I can't really say why I feel this way.

So, do people really find talking to one-line NPC's and running around a sterile area to be... fun? Something to really be missed? Apparently, so if that's you feel free to explain why, if possible.

[Brennan]

I guess it has to do with the town being a element of RPGness, for it to be like a safe haven where they can go to sleep in the inn, buy items at the shop, etc. etc.

[Shiny]

The cut scenes and NPCs within the towns add a personal touch to the storyline methinks. I also like to explore the towns and find solace in knowing I won't get interrupted by a random battle while doing so. I dunno maybe I'm just bias because I do enjoy sandbox gaming environments.

[VeloZer0]

I haven't found towns have had the same effect since the series moved to full 3D.

I agree with you about the shops, but I think you understate the importance of shops. One of the biggest joys I have in a game is finally reaching a new town in a far off local and running around to all the shops to find out what cool swag they have.

Also is the sense of safe haven. Back in the old days your MP didn't restore automatically at save points. Towns meant places to rest from your previous adventures and prepare for your next escapade. As they have taken virtually all of the sense of danger out of dungeon exploration naturally the sense of relief at finding a town is seriously diminished.

[oddler]

Yeah, I'll go the same route to say towns gave a sense of relief after a long walk through a particularly difficult area. They're like the reward for making it across a part of the overworld or whatever.

[Miriel]

Man, I LOVE towns. I love exploring them, I love talking to every single NPC. I love wandering into people's houses and just chilling there for a bit, cause I think it's really funny that you can just do that in games and not get shot or arrested for trespassing. Kinda the same reason I like sitting around in those demo living rooms at Ikea. I like hitting up the stores and seeing what this particular shop might have to offer. Buying stuff from a save point just isn't as homey.

I haven't found towns have had the same effect since the series moved to full 3D.

I agree with this. Towns used to be so cute. They're not so cute anymore, but more vast and realistic. I don't necessarily need realism from towns, just cuteness and lots of random treasures to steal from people's homes.

[Madame Adequate]

Man, I LOVE towns. I love exploring them, I love talking to every single NPC. I love wandering into people's houses and just chilling there for a bit, cause I think it's really funny that you can just do that in games and not get shot or arrested for trespassing. Kinda the same reason I like sitting around in those demo living rooms at Ikea. I like hitting up the stores and seeing what this particular shop might have to offer. Buying stuff from a save point just isn't as homey.

Agreed with all of this, 100%. Also, as was said, they're something of a reward for getting through the overworld or latest dungeon, they are generally safe places where you find various sidequests, minigames, and other such diversions.

I haven't found towns have had the same effect since the series moved to full 3D.

I agree with this. Towns used to be so cute. They're not so cute anymore, but more vast and realistic. I don't necessarily need realism from towns, just cuteness and lots of random treasures to steal from people's homes.

Sort-of agreed. I have no problem with big 'realistic' sized towns, the problem is that so few of them are, most just try to be and fail. After Lenele, they really don't cut it anymore, and I reckon it would be better to stick with small cute ones in the traditional style if they're not going to do it properly.

[Levian]

For an example on how great a town can be, see Treno from FFIX. Packed with sidequests, hidden treasures and events. I'd mention Alexandria and Lindblum too, but the sidequests of Treno are just awesome!

A well made town doesn't just have one-liner NPC's and shops, that's a crappy town. You should have to do stuff around town to get deeper into the story and progress it.

[Brennan]

I guess it wouldn't make sense if the characters who are supposed to be destroying the world went around for a stroll in one of Cocoon's many cities, though.

[Suikojowy]

Well like a lot of people said it's a time to relax but it's also a time to interact with people, the world and it's environments. In Final Fantasy XIII you barely get to talk to anyone outside the main party and excuse me if I'm starting to sound like a broken record (based on my other posts about this game) but it just makes everything empty and lifeless.

[Shiny]

The real reason: people like b & e's. Also, if you read this thread out of context it could easily be like you're talking about Daniel Towns.

[Lexy]

Diverse towns make the world seem more real. No real towns was one reason why I didn't feel like the world of XIII was real at all, rather just a place created just for me to run around. I miss talking to npcs and getting their views on what is going on in the world. And of course, a sense of relief and a rest period between battling.

[Flying Arrow]

It's satisfying to arrive at a safe haven after an arduous trip. Towns also break up the dungeon crawling and battling lest it all become monotonous and dulling. For plot and 'role-playing' reasons, it's also good to allow the player to engage the setting in as many ways as possible.

So, do people really find talking to one-line NPC's and running around a sterile area to be... fun? Something to really be missed? Apparently, so if that's you feel free to explain why, if possible.

The thing is, modern RPGs need to (and should) use superior technology to make town/haven sections more interesting. One-line NPCs and sterile areas were fine back in the day because, well, RPGs were still quaint and left a lot up to the player's imagination. Designing an HD game (for example) with the same tricks and conventions that one would use to design a SNES game is the first step to making a boring, stale game. In and of themselves towns aren't exciting or boring; they just need to be designed well (like any other element of a game), used cleverly (again, like any other element of a game), and interesting for reasons other than the fact that they simply exist for the player to pass through.

[theundeadhero]

I hate it when games have huge towns that take forever to explore or get anywhere like in FFXII or White Knight Chronicles. Back in the 2D days they were better. In FFXII I actually dreaded finding new towns because I knew it would take forever talking to everybody, seeing all the shops and completely exploring it.

[Mo-Nercy]

I hate it when games have huge towns that take forever to explore or get anywhere like in FFXII or White Knight Chronicles. Back in the 2D days they were better. In FFXII I actually dreaded finding new towns because I knew it would take forever talking to everybody, seeing all the shops and completely exploring it.

I agree with this. Towns like Rabanastre and Archades were fun the first time, but if you're going back to them to do something specific like trigger a sidequest, I don't like having to go through 8 screens and a cutscene of a hover taxi just to get there.

Having said that, no towns at all isn't good either. I think the PSX era games captured towns perfectly.