Character Classes or Blank Slates?

[Wolf Kanno]

Haven't done this in awhile either. Which type of party do you prefer, a game where everyone already has a role to play in combat and their classes are pre-set, or do you prefer a game where everyone is a blank slate and the customization system determines how everyone is going to be?

[NeoCracker]

Depends really.

FF IV, for example would have been silly if I were able to transform Kane into the party Black Mage.

It depends mostly on the flavor of the game. FF V, while having unique and named PC characters, gets away with it because of how they draw powers from the crystals and what not.

I'll even give FF VIII a pass because, as non-sensical as the Junction system is in a flavor context (I'm not saying it's hard to use. The system itself is straight forward enough.) at least it works well enough to explain why anyone can do anything.

Ideally it would be an expanded system of Xenosaga 3 though. Multiple routes you can take with one of your characters that allow them different options, however all the routes are ones that make sense for the character in question.

There's also the Devil Survivor Route, which allows you to set the abilities, but the stats themselves are pre-done on all but your main. This keeps you to giving them set ups that make sense with their spreads, while also giving you some room for variety.

If we look at FF, the worst offenders of this are FF VII and XII. VII has a pretty big variety of characters, yet such minimal difference between them after the game starts picking up steam. XII is "Well, here is your board, pick whatever the smurf abilities you want. That Vierra who is suppose to be a master of all weapons? PFt, make her a staff wielding black mage."

Oddly enough though, I still like both games.


Edit: To finish, don't give me a variety of part options if the options I pick have little to no effect

[Formalhaut]

If we look at FF, the worst offenders of this are FF VII and XII. VII has a pretty big variety of characters, yet such minimal difference between them after the game starts picking up steam. XII is "Well, here is your board, pick whatever the smurf abilities you want. That Vierra who is suppose to be a master of all weapons? PFt, make her a staff wielding black mage."

Fran's stats are among the lowest of the six, so she's hardly a battle hardened Viera...

[chionos]

Honestly I don't know which I like more. Sometimes it's situational as Neo pointed out.

I think I lean more toward classes. I know in my tabletop gaming I like the traditional class-based system instead of newer classless systems.

[Del Murder]

I like a mix of customization but with each character having their own unique strengths/weaknesses and abilities. FFVI pretty much did this which is why it's my favorite.

[Futan]

Always loved the jobs systems. :x

[Formalhaut]

Always loved the jobs systems. :x

Job abilities made X-2 actually somewhat decent for me

[Faris]

It depends on the story and the character. If Cecil was something other than a Dark Knight or Paladin it wouldn't make sense to the story. Same if you could turn Yuna into a warrior in X. V works for having blank slates because no one is specifically known as a ninja or mage.

[Raistlin]

I don't have anything against pre-set classes/abilities, and some games have managed them very well. But my favorite RPGs for gameplay are more geared towards the "blank slate" approach. Of course, that can be done poorly too (FFVII, for instance, makes customization too easy and inconsequential).

[Denmark]

Classes, because I can't be bothered to customize characters that I really don't care for (read: Aeris)

[VeloZer0]

I don't mind having characters set into classes, but I do feel this is possible to do while leaving in a strong character customization element. Tinkering with party set-up is something I really enjoy, so if that is eliminated I tend to get pissy. But if you take a game like FF9 which had permanent classes but still had you choosing support abilities to shape the class was a good compromise (I would have gone more towards customization, but that is just me.)

If I have to chose between the two I go for blank slates, but I don't see any reason you can't do both.

[Bolivar]

My personal favorite is probably FFIX, where there's obviously clearly defined roles, relevant to the plot, but the ability system VeloZer0 mentioned allowed for so much customization within those roles.

I think the safest bet for development though is closer to FFVII and FFXII, where the average non-enthusiast gamer will be able to coast by and not be punished for build mistakes, but there's just enough differentiation on the statistics page to allow veteran players to go hardcore optimization on subsequent and low level playthroughs. They're also two of my favorite games.

[ShinGundam]

I don't like character classes, it can be very limited and it just takes longer to actually learn your abilities and sometimes you have to backtrack to change abilities or class.

I prefer blank slate approach and characters in FF7/FF8 aren't as blank slates as you guys think.Also, i prefer my characters personalities to influence their skills but that doesn't seem to work in a way that i like in FF because skills are standard stuff.