My ARPG Dilemma *(a little rambly)*

So I was sitting around and thinking about RPGs with action elements. ARPGs I guess. I've always had some issues with ones with free form stat allocation. I'm not sure why. Note that this isn't about games like the classic Ys series. I really do love the ones I've played. There isn't any free form leveling in them, just grind to get the best stuff in the town you made it to, try to find optional good items, bust heads. Very satisfying loop in those. Also this isn't about RPGs with free form stat allocation or builds where the action is turn based or menu driven. I'll explain more about those later...

All Options Open Yet I Have No Ideas...

So first thing is that I'm not against options. I like options. I like finding a flow that works for me. But that's the thing. I kind of have to find that flow. However, at the beginning of an ARPG and every level I have to make decisions that I'm not sure how they'll play out. What if I discover I like a certain style of weapon but am totally built wrong? Sure, lots of games have options to respec but for some reason that worry haunts me. It is my dilemma. Building for what I like is hard because I like a lot of things, maybe I like to just bash things in, or maybe I'll find magic fun. Maybe I wanna cause status ailments or optimize strange cooldowns (Torchlight 2 was kind of fun in this regard despite my dilemmas).

The problem for me is that I have to make these decisions with very little knowledge yet these decisions feel more restrictive and final despite being so open. Like yeah, I know strength is probably going to let me bash fools heads in better, but if I discover I like pole arms that needs agility or something. What if bashing fools heads in doesn't feel good so I should of built for magic? What if I built myself bad at what I want to do by accident? I like to experiment on the fly yet I have to build for something very specific that I'm not sure of what I want that to be yet.

Some games are Miss Frizzle, not afraid to let you make mistakes and get messy. I don't mind that. Like, I appreciate the souls series, from a distance, because they let you unless you are already very familiar with their style. But if I were to play one, I'm not sure what I'd want to do with it. Would the action click for me? I don't even know if they have respec. Everyone I know just knows exactly what they want to put their levels into, exactly what weapons they want to grab. Maybe I could be like that too except for another issue...

The Levels Feel Like They Don't Do Anything

This is going to be a hard one to explain since I haven't played a lot of ARPGs with free form stat/skill allocation and for all I know, there are games that buck this problem, but when I tried to play some of these from say the 360 era, a lot of times the level ups felt really underwhelming. Again, not saying souls does this, I don't know cause I don't play it. But I had games that try to do what souls does that just rubbed me the wrong way with regards to level ups feeling like they have no impact.

Maybe the damage number when up a couple digits but if it doesn't impact the game feel to me it just doesn't feel good to me. I know games expect you to have many level over a long course and enemies are designed with that in mind to keep up with that expectation but it still doesn't improve the game feel for me. Don't know why. Ys1 and 2 level ups feel super impactful because actual progress is gated behind them. So satisfying when you can finally kill something in a bump Ys.

This Sword Adds + 0.02 To Flame DMG

Loot games. I know some people are going to read the first section about options for the unknown and mention a Diablo-like that don't have those issues and they are right. Those games you pick a character/class in which it is very clear what they do, what stats make them do the thing better, usually not a lot of stats to choose, and any choices are easily respec'd, tested against a dummy, and very clear. But where it falls apart for me is the multicolor loot.

Oh you find a million of the weapon you want, but actually this isn't the right one cause the numbers don't line up so keep looking. It's all random. Here's a bunch of small tiny numbers that you gotta mouse over shit all the time, dump items constantly for space. Takes me out of the action having to stop all the time to check if the millions of weapons and gear you picked up is even worth keeping. I don't know. It isn't for me.

I remember trying Borderlands 2 with my friends. They all got it and 1 of them even bought me a copy so I could be the 4th party member. But like, shooting the guns never felt impactful or good. If you're chasing number go up then I think there's something in these kind of games for you. I think I prefer like set items, where developers can hide them in places or make them enticing drops from difficult enemies/bosses/secret encounters. This is just about a select subseries of arpg of course. Random feels fun in a roguelike where you base your decisions around the randomness, rather then wait for random to line up with your decisions.

How Come Turn Based/Menu RPGs Get a Pass?

Bias? Honestly I'm not sure. Turn based RPGs feel different to me and don't seem as punishing for making a bad build. You might have a more difficult experience, but a lot of times you'll just be making a different/unique experience for yourself. It kind of helps that a lot of these kind of RPGs that have free form stat allocation are party based. So what if you made a bad party member, maybe the others can cover those deficiencies. Highly unlikely you make em all bad and if you did, you can probably grind somewhere and fix things.

What about an early Fallout or other CRPGs? Well in those cases there are so many stats but also so many ways to solve your encounter. Plus I find those kind of games are usually very obvious how your stat points work or have an in depth manual about how they work. Some blobbers/first person dungeon crawlers aren't clear about the stats but because stats are only going to affect dice rolls and damage calculations, but not affect how it "feels" to hit someone with my big sword or small daggers.

But really I think for me it is some kind of bias regarding game feel. The action in a game, whether it be action action, action adventure, action platformer, or action rpg I need it to feel "good" to me to move or attack or cast spells, where as turn based or menu based games don't have to because you just move a cursor to something and pick it. The satisfaction comes from the decision making, which seems odd that I would say that considering what I said at the start of this page and I will admit, it might be a me problem or a bias problem.

For me, if I am moving the character actively, swinging my sword, dodging attacks, even if it is all just an illusion covering up dice rolls in the background, there is some part of that I think just needs "good" game feel. Of course my "good" is going to be different from yours or anyone else's "good" game feel. But that stuff feels important to me for the "action" part of the game. Anything turn based or menu based you just got to make selecting what I want easy. Cursor move good. UI snappy and clear, Good noises. Reads my inputs (you might be surprised to find that there are menu driven games that don't get this last part right).

I've Been Using Subjective Terms Like "Feels" A Lot

I've noticed that I've used the term "game feel" or "feels" a lot but I don't have any way to describe those things. They aren't quantifiable nor are they objective. The article is titled "MY ARPG Dilemma" after all. There's a lot of parts that make up game feel for something with action. Good keyframes, maybe some hitstop, juicy noises. But sometimes it is a mostly unexplainable "feeling" I get when engaging with enemies/bosses or even puzzles and mechanics and I've noticed that the games I have issue with in this regard, something about the RPG side gets in the way of this.

I fully admit a lot of this is some kind of bias and if you were to ask me exactly how those things get in the way, I probably don't have a concrete answer. Part of why I wrote all these words above were to maybe come to some conclusion but honestly most of this is just some unexplainable me problem, like how I don't like strawberry. However there is a little elephant in the room I want to discuss.

The Monster Hunter Elephant In The Room?

I want to bring up Monster Hunter (at least older ones, I haven't played Wilds) because while these games aren't really free form stat/skill allocation games as discussed previously, Monster Hunter does have a lot of skills you need to put points into. Instead of putting them in your character however, they are tied to armor, charms, decorations and armor slots. You're ability to build what you want, correct build mistakes, change on a whim, as well as changing weapons and building for them, or building around a fight, or an element... There's a lot of freedom in this system.

Of course there is one thing you can't control and that is how the game handles charms or decorations. Sometimes they are fully in your control but most often 1 of these things (and even some weapons) are out of your control of that what you can get. But I think the system is flexible in that you can work around these if you have something in mind. Unless you're bow I guess? I dunno, I don't play bow.

Sure if you want the absolute min/max build for your weapon, you'll have to fight whatever rng slot machine they decided to put in the game this time but outside of that, you still have all the control. If you're just vibing, you can put stuff together and try things out. Older games were pretty opaque about skills and the point system was very different then World onward but if you built it bad, just grind up and try it again. Change weapons, I prefer hammer for Teostra over Great Sword. Just so incredibly flexible and like every weapon is like its own little action game mechanic wise for you to explore.

Lovely series that I hope bounces back from whatever wilds is (or maybe the whole series just becomes not for me anymore that is cool and fine too).

In Conclusion?

I dunno, play video games and have fun. Don't worry about things like "dilemmas" so much. Don't put multiple games in a basket named "do not touch" because you're worried smacking a dude won't feel good. That is my solution to my dilemma, it might work for whatever yours is, it might not. Games are pretty expensive now new, but there are lots of older games that you can just play you know and steam sales on older stuff can be quite rewarding. Have some fun out there.