Comments from a Noob : )

[citizenchris099]

Allow me to preface my comments by saying I was a bit of a casual gamer in the 8bit era (was born in 80, got my first N.E.S. at age 10 ect…) and have only recently gotten back into games. Literally the only R.P.G’s I’ve ever completed are the original F.F. and K.O.T.O.R..
That being said I must say that I was intrigued by FF 12 due to its real time battle system (as K.O.T.O.R. had a similar system) so I gave it a shot and needless to say I’m completely addicted to this game. I must say there is one aspect of the game mechanics that I find curious. It seems that arbitrary “leveling up” is a complete must in order to get anywhere in this game.
Now I’m sure this is a “duh” statement to most but here me out. I have little frame of reference, I understand this makes me a noob but it also gives me a little objectivity I think. K.O.T.O.R. was set up so that there was little of this arbitrary leveling up. In fact the leveling up in this game consisted mostly of completing the side quests (which you honestly had to do in order to obtain any amount of $$) But it was part of the flow of the game. One wasn’t left with the feeling that they had to halt the progress of the game in order to gain the proper levels. FF12 on the other hand (now I’m speaking only for myself mind you) one must it seems spend hours leveling up in order to have a fighting chance at the subsequent boss. Now the leveling up also means $$ and LP in addition to XP but you catch my drift.
Are most modern RPG’s set up this way? Are games like K.O.T.O.R. the exception to the rule?

Understand that I love FF12, this is just an observation.

 

[natedog_74]

Well I have had to run around and level to get past a few bosses, but I have gotten addicted to hunting. With that comes levels, loot, LP, exp. So now I am hunting marks quite regularly and find that when I do move on with the storyline I completely OWN the boss that is next up. I notice on most FF games that it requires some form of leveling to make it past certain bosses in the games. that is my opinion only.

 

[Demaian]

Well in most Final Fantasy games, it is very WISE not to fall behind on your levels because the difficulty of the boss will stop you at some point. Or even the regular monsters. I have to say, yes, RPGs these days expect you to raise your levels if you don't want to die so easily.

I personally think the other FF games were rather easy on the leveling to some extent. I must say though, FF12 was a suprise in difficulty. I think FF12 is the hardest out of other FFs. Especially if you aren't at the right levels, the monsters will overkill you.

The most annoying RPG I've played so far had to be 'Star Ocean III Till The End of Time' for a variety of reasons. In that game, unlike most other RPGs, you can level your characters up to level 200... I don't reccommend it because getting EXP isn't as easy as you think. And you certainly don't level up that fast. I think some of the monsters in that game were ridiculously powerful and I ended up spending hours upon hours levelling up. Soon after, I got tired of it. I don't think it was a great RPG anyway, but a lot of other people seem to like it.

I also find that in FF12, it is hard to obtain money and you can easily become penniless if you spend money buying their new weapons and armor, not to mention items like Hi-Potions and Phoenix Downs cost a fortune. It's not too hard to gain money, but I thought it was in the beginning. Or at least, not enough to support my party. Unlike FF12, in something such as FFX, you got money through defeating battles with a good amount and I never really went penniless in that game. FF12 is another story... Also there are many differences in the FF games. In FF12, you have to buy a chocobo for a limited ride as well. In FF9, you would eventually be able to obtain your own chocobo if you wanted and the ride is unlimited throughout the world...

 

[citizenchris099]

Being such a noob I had no idea how “hard” this game is. It seems my lack of reference was prolly a good thing as I’m hearing a lot of complaints from my rpg friends who are playing through the game.
As far as $$ once I got the thief cuffs I was golden. I just have Vaan/Bash steel first thing…sometimes they manage to steal two items then poach for another (though poaching doesn’t always work)
Basically the leveling (for me) has gone something like this. New area great…new monsters that murder me…fine, fine….i kill, kill, kill till they are laughably weak compared to my crew then move on to the boss. That seems to be the patern. To be honest as far as hunts I do that for the lark of it cuz it sure aint worth it for the $$ and exp…it is fun though.
So what do you guys think of K.O.T.O.R. compared to this game? Or other American open world real time battle system RPG’s (mmo or not) I see a lot of American RPG influences in this game.