favorite RPG story concept

[darkchrono]

Which type of story concept do you think is best. The two very most popular types are the king's, queen's, knights, and princess's and what not. And it seems like the other type of popular story concept going these days is the kind of goth look. With vampires and demons and all that fun stuff.

Personally I can deal with (and even partially like) the mid-evil set up with kings's and kingdoms and knights and princess's and what not (the only problem is that concept has been done over and over again to the point to where it is hard to think of something new to add into the game that nobody has seen before. But for some reason I am not a big fan at all of the vampires and demons concept. If I read a review and even if it says it is a really good game but the main storyline is about vampires or demons I won't even think about checking it out. I just think the whole vampire and demon concept is really uninteresting.


The concept that I find as being interesting though is kind of the concept they had in xenogears. That nobody is really good or evil but they are all somewhere inbetween. And that they are all doing what they are doing for there own reasons. And nobody in the world has really superhuman attributes (unless they were genetically made to be stronger). Mainly I like the concept of where the characters act and relate to eachother similarly to the way people in real life act and relate to eachother.


So which story concept do you guys like the most in RPG's. And which story concept do you like the least.

[Aphelion]

I like games where there's this balance darkchrono mentioned in Xenogears: the characters aren't aligned to good or to evil, but their actions reflect those of humans at this point of time. I also like when the main villain has a good amount of decency and humanity, not being only the ultimate supreme being of the netherworld, but also when he feels like killing the main characters because they're destroying something important to him.

I think the king 'n queen n' save the princess style has been overused, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it anymore. Something I don't like is when the main character has an underdeveloped past, like "oh, he's living here for 5 years, we found him ashore at the nearby beach and he had amnesia, so we took him in". That kind of plot can't get anywhere.

[XxSephirothxX]

I think a medieval-esque setting with fantasy elements is my favorite for an RPG. Suikoden III and most old-school RPGs are good examples.

[Mercen-X]

Star Ocean

[Shoeberto]

I prefer sci-fi heavily over medievil settings.

Also a deep, complex story appeals rather than something that just has face value. Deep as in Xenogears deep.

[darkchrono]

Is anynbody a real fan of the vampire or demon concept that there's alot of out there now. I know I'm not. But I figured that alot of people were into that concept nowadays considering how many games seem to use it.

[Vyk]

Those are PC games. Or Persona. If they had something on a system I actually appreciate I might check one out. But Persona I've heard bad things about (and by that I don't really mean bad), and my PC isn't a gaming machine at the moment. So I can't check out Vampire Masquirade or whatever. But kudos on the Xenogears mention. My absolute favorite game/rpg of the old style. And like has been said I have a great respect for mideival RPGs. The only bad thing is they're so typical. Even the ones that try to throw in a new plot, the game play is just so... blah. Random turn-based encounters just suck these days. Right up there with Xenogears for me is now the KOTOR games. The battle system was so far from annoying (unlike a typical RPG) in fact I found it hugely enjoyable. I have no preference for the setting, considering Baldur's Gate (mideival) is still easily on par with KOTOR (sci-fi) ... (Yes, I love BioWare) Its how the games are done and how they present their content that matters. The old games were just too cookie cutter. I think I've fallen out of typical Japanese RPGs. Big time. Random encounters trouncing any attempt to explore, and bland and predictable plot and character development. Gah.

[Destai]

I hate medieval settings. I like modern settings like Midgar in FFVII or FFVIII. Figures theyre the hardest to come by.

[Black Mage]

I hate medieval settings. I like modern settings like Midgar in FFVII or FFVIII. Figures theyre the hardest to come by.

Really? Nowadays I'd say they've increased in popularity, and are just as prominent, if not more so than the ol' medieval setting. What with games like Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, X and X-2 (a little bit..), Star Ocean 3, Xenosaga I and Xenosaga II. If not, that's at least a lot more than in the past.

Personally, I enjoy the old medieval style story more so even if it has been done numerous times. That's not to say I don't like other settings though, as I love Star Ocean as well.

[kikimm]

I always liked the medieval settings much, much more. However, I do not like the typical medieval plot, involving something like saving a princess, and your dad turns out to be the villain, and a friend you lost is this mysterious new dark knight. Eh. Things like...Drakengard, say , appeal to me a lot more because of it's original, and unique premise. It starts out a bit...generic-looking, but it doesn't stay that way.

That said, I also like modern ones. By that, I mean Vampire Masquerade: Bloodlines (excellent game, by the way), Persona, Silent Hill (not an RPG, I know, but give me a break) along those lines. Not so much into the technology scene, which I find boring.

[Destai]

I hate medieval settings. I like modern settings like Midgar in FFVII or FFVIII. Figures theyre the hardest to come by.

Really? Nowadays I'd say they've increased in popularity, and are just as prominent, if not more so than the ol' medieval setting. What with games like Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, X and X-2 (a little bit..), Star Ocean 3, Xenosaga I and Xenosaga II. If not, that's at least a lot more than in the past.

Personally, I enjoy the old medieval style story more so even if it has been done numerous times. That's not to say I don't like other settings though, as I love Star Ocean as well.

Of those Id only consider FF VII and VIII to be modern. Xeno or Star Ocean is sci fi. X seemed asian (well maybe a little modern but there werent much in the line of cities or anything)

[Lord Chainsaw]

Setting doesn't have to be terribly original for me. I tend to like games that are about something, rather than just being a belligerent set of events piled up one right after the other. Problem with my desired set up is these poor storywriters aren't designing 90 minute movies, but 30 hour games. Consequently, the fetch quest and the scavenger hunt scenarios rear their ugly heads. So our options are either:

A) Have a story that's generally about something, but since the game is so long and video game writers don't feel like putting forth their best effort, we sink into a conformed pattern of "go through earth dungeon, break earth seal, go through water dungeon, break water seal..." until we eventually get to the good part at the end. The plot in this case is short and sweet, but we've got to go through a lot of busywork to get to the good part. Or...

B) Have a story that's about many different things. This one is very hard to do. It is enough trouble designing stories that are about one general theme (even most novels are about one central plotline), so when they keep adding and adding to the conflict, the quality starts to decline. It's pretty much interesting the entire way through, but it isn't incredible.

I have favorites from both categories. Either way I love games with symbolism and morals. E.V.O. had a lot of symbolism. It was about one general theme. The conformed pattern in that game's case seemed to weave itself into the story instead of act as busywork. That is an example of a good game. Why can't more games be like that?

[Dreddz]

I like the Sci-fi Big Corporation takeover storys....aka FFVII