To those of you who have played all kinds of RPG's and MMORPG's, I'm just wondering what kind of combat you prefer? I am mainly talking about spell combat, but you can tell me about melee if you prefer. And what kind of style do you prefer? I won't poll, but here are some examples:
1) EverQuest style: First person, but you can scroll out to third person. The magic and melee combat involves targetting an enemy, and then you select from a massive range of spells (or abilities). You click an icon... and it starts powering up, and then unleashes at the target.
2) Diablo / The witcher style: You click click click to batter the mob, with just several bits of effective but simple magic.
3) NWN2: Massive selection of magic, top down view.
4) Oblivion: First/third person, not a huge amount of magic, but a fair bit of choice, and you just target your cursor and fire the spell.
Heres what I think..
None of them have nailed it yet. I like the way it works in EverQuest, because it felt like my character was actually powering up a spell, and then firing it. Unlike the likes of NWN, where you just click the icon and it just kind of appears a moment later. I also liked how you HAD to mix spells in EQ. You couldn't just do the boring spamming of spells that you do in many other games (firebite! firebite! firebite! and one more firebite! to finish the enemy off). In EQ, you would have to do little routines. As an Enchanter, you would stun an entire room full of mobs, followed by slow, followed by cripple, followed by some damage over time spells, and then finish it off with nukes.
To me, that is the best, but it is closely followed by Baldurs gate and Neverwinter games, where, thanks to the massive selection of D&D spells, you can do pretty much anything you want. There are loads of "debuffs" to weaken the enemies, and yet loads of offensive spells like fireball and ice storm etc,. There are the cloud type spells. And there are the utility type offensive spells, like the grasping roots which hold all the enemies in place. So you could use the grasping roots which grabs hold of a room full of enemies, and then you smack them down with a big fireball. But the creatures died too fast. I preferred the longer fights of EQ.
So to me, a perfect game would be EQ style, but with an even wider selection (like NWN/BG/D&D spells), and also, with the ability to target an area of ground, and fire an area affect spell at it. A fireball, or call down an ice storm or whatever. You can then lead enemies into it, or if you screw up, you end up not doing much damage at all. So you target enemies as usual, but there are some spells that you can target onto the ground. And lastly, for good measure... I would have a few spells that you aim, Oblivion style. Bolts of lightning or flaming arrows etc... Ideally, the enemies would be dodging around, so you have to use a bit of skill and coordination to land those spells. The advantage being that they do more damage than the usual targetted spells.
I've been playing RPG's since the olden days of Eye of the Beholder and stuff, and although there have been a billion RPG's, I still haven't seen any that have really made it how I would like it. And no matter how pretty games get (like Oblivion), I just can't stand it when they make a magic system that just involves firing the same generic flamey arrow type spell over and over.
Anyway, I'd love to know what you all think, if you can be botheredMaybe most people aren't interested in this stuff, but I always preferred this magic combat in games, much more than just running around and shooting rockets or machine guns. I do still like FPS's, just not as much. And there isn't a whole lot of thought you can put into aiming an AK47 at someones face and pressing left mouse.


LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Maybe most people aren't interested in this stuff, but I always preferred this magic combat in games, much more than just running around and shooting rockets or machine guns. I do still like FPS's, just not as much. And there isn't a whole lot of thought you can put into aiming an AK47 at someones face and pressing left mouse.
Reply With Quote





)
