Yeah, I think if it's just tiny sprites doing the emoting it's like... they're already tiny and not too detailed, so you're not expecting TOO much and your brain just kind of fills in the details anyway. Whereas if you're looking at a closeup of their face then you're already expecting it to be more realistic, the details are RIGHT THERE in front of you and there's nothing to fill in.
Plus if you're using the main sprites instead of talksprites, you can have them all there on the screen at once and have them all react at once. So it's a little more natural than showing you reactions one at a time like everybody's taking turns.
oh oh, yikes. D: Yeah, who exactly is out there going "yeah this game was okay but it really could have used some rape" and why would you ever listen to them, ugh. Especially if it makes a plot hole like that.
Oh yeah, the encounters are handled well too. The enemies just chill on the map, and they're not hostile. So you can choose if you want to fight them or not. Because the game is so easy, you can easily zip through areas you're not interested in, or sit and level a bit if you're bored or curious.
Oh, cool! Yeah, I like it when games let you choose when/if/how to engage enemies, so there's not all that pressure on you (also so you don't end up fleeing and trying to make them get stuck on level geometry, ha... ha.). And also so you can mess around with your inventory beforehand if you want. TBH there's nothing more satisfying than finding that perfect combination of equipment that means a specific enemy can't hurt you at all.
Yeah, I'm able to fill in a lot of what's going on with little sprites with just a hint in the right direction of how they feel. FF6 comes to mind in particular for this, but Chrono Trigger too! And Secret of Mana, though SoM really had very few cutscenes compared to the other two, haha. It just feels more immediate and like the world is more cohesive, like talksprites and such feel sort of like they're on a different plane than the rest of what's happening, if that makes sense? Not that that's a bad thing necessarily, I just prefer the former I think.
Also a good point about multiple reactions at once! Which could save a lot of time, haha.
I'm assuming the rape bits were meant to be shocking and horrifying, but it just sort of felt like a kid waving blood and guts at you going BOO! BOO! ARE YOU SCARED YET?? BOO! like I've seen this before kid, it's nothing special. If I hadn't been warned about the rape coming in though I probably would have been angrier about being blindsided by it than just being disinterested, haha.
The enemies were really convenient! I liked being able to see where they were and know I could explore an area without getting interrupted, but I could fight them if I wanted to to see how I was doing. |D It was a pretty elegant solution to the problem of random battles I think. Although, to be fair, the game was so easy on that front that you really didn't NEED to have them, they were optional. A more in-depth RPG doesn't really have that luxury.
Yeah, I get what you mean--when it cuts to a different style for a cutscene or even just a conversation then there's that disconnect. It might be worth it, if the regular art style/game engine isn't up to whatever you're trying to show, but still.
That too! Like even if it's not objectively saving much time it still feels less like you're being... made to wait I guess.
Yeah less is more sometimes.
Ah, but even if leveling is a big deal and you're going to want to fight pretty much every enemy anyway, it's still muuuuch nicer to be able to choose when and how you fight them. Or even to be able to skip certain types of enemies that are a huge pain or tedious or whatever.
Haha yeah, exactly! And yeah I can see why people would want to do it, it just gives things a bit of a different feel. Important things to consider when staging a game, haha.
AND YEAH THAT IS ALSO TRUE it would be SO nice to be able to just skip the most annoying enemies sometimes. THERE ARE MANY ENEMIES THIS COULD APPLY TO. It was a really convenient system.
Yeah, there can be a little "Okay, things are getting serious for a little while here so sit up and pay attention" aspect to it too. Though from what I've heard some designers like that a little TOO much. Or a lot too much, haha. Like the more, and the longer, cutscenes, the more seriously people are going to take it. no man it's just going to be a running joke about you and cutscenes.
It's kind of a shame you don't see it that much, though. Like... there's only a couple of games I can think of just offhand that really do that. The Enchanted Cave 2 (and the first one) does it though--kind of. They don't fight you until you try to get in their square, but sometimes you do have to fight something to get to the exit or to get to a chest (and if you don't have the "return to surface" scroll yet you do have to be able to get to the exit) although this is mitigated by the pickaxe items you can get. Then you can just dig around stuff. Though, not too often, because pickaxes are one-use items, you dig one square out and it's gone. (Plus they're kind of rare.) But yeah, if something that's pretty much pure dungeon crawl can have enemies that don't chase you, then I think other things could too.
EXACTLY, you can just go at your own pace and it's sooooo nice. :O Though I guess maybe that's why some of them don't? It's a little less tense/urgent if you know nothing's going to chase you. It's just, you know, I like that lack of urgency.
Plus if you're using the main sprites instead of talksprites, you can have them all there on the screen at once and have them all react at once. So it's a little more natural than showing you reactions one at a time like everybody's taking turns.
oh
oh, yikes. D: Yeah, who exactly is out there going "yeah this game was okay but it really could have used some rape" and why would you ever listen to them, ugh. Especially if it makes a plot hole like that.
Oh yeah, the encounters are handled well too. The enemies just chill on the map, and they're not hostile. So you can choose if you want to fight them or not. Because the game is so easy, you can easily zip through areas you're not interested in, or sit and level a bit if you're bored or curious.
Oh, cool! Yeah, I like it when games let you choose when/if/how to engage enemies, so there's not all that pressure on you (also so you don't end up fleeing and trying to make them get stuck on level geometry, ha... ha.). And also so you can mess around with your inventory beforehand if you want. TBH there's nothing more satisfying than finding that perfect combination of equipment that means a specific enemy can't hurt you at all.
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Also a good point about multiple reactions at once! Which could save a lot of time, haha.
I'm assuming the rape bits were meant to be shocking and horrifying, but it just sort of felt like a kid waving blood and guts at you going BOO! BOO! ARE YOU SCARED YET?? BOO! like I've seen this before kid, it's nothing special. If I hadn't been warned about the rape coming in though I probably would have been angrier about being blindsided by it than just being disinterested, haha.
The enemies were really convenient! I liked being able to see where they were and know I could explore an area without getting interrupted, but I could fight them if I wanted to to see how I was doing. |D It was a pretty elegant solution to the problem of random battles I think. Although, to be fair, the game was so easy on that front that you really didn't NEED to have them, they were optional. A more in-depth RPG doesn't really have that luxury.
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That too! Like even if it's not objectively saving much time it still feels less like you're being... made to wait I guess.
Yeah less is more sometimes.
Ah, but even if leveling is a big deal and you're going to want to fight pretty much every enemy anyway, it's still muuuuch nicer to be able to choose when and how you fight them. Or even to be able to skip certain types of enemies that are a huge pain or tedious or whatever.
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AND YEAH THAT IS ALSO TRUE it would be SO nice to be able to just skip the most annoying enemies sometimes. THERE ARE MANY ENEMIES THIS COULD APPLY TO. It was a really convenient system.
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It's kind of a shame you don't see it that much, though. Like... there's only a couple of games I can think of just offhand that really do that. The Enchanted Cave 2 (and the first one) does it though--kind of. They don't fight you until you try to get in their square, but sometimes you do have to fight something to get to the exit or to get to a chest (and if you don't have the "return to surface" scroll yet you do have to be able to get to the exit) although this is mitigated by the pickaxe items you can get. Then you can just dig around stuff. Though, not too often, because pickaxes are one-use items, you dig one square out and it's gone. (Plus they're kind of rare.) But yeah, if something that's pretty much pure dungeon crawl can have enemies that don't chase you, then I think other things could too.
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man that sounds kinda cool :O I WONDER WHY MORE GAMES DON'T HAVE MORE NON-HOSTILE ENEMIES IT'S REALLY CONVENIENT
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but yeah haha.
EXACTLY, you can just go at your own pace and it's sooooo nice. :O Though I guess maybe that's why some of them don't? It's a little less tense/urgent if you know nothing's going to chase you. It's just, you know, I like that lack of urgency.
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