I like the way it's handled in some rpgs, like Trails, where the area it's set in is only one part of the larger world. Lot's of fantasy WRPGs do it this way too, where you are usually going from tackling small threats in small areas to tackling a large threat threatening a huge area, rather than heading to outer space to confront some alien god or whatnot. Such games tend to make personal development slow and remind you that, no matter how strong the party is, you're still one (interesting and random) element in a world of powerful factions you haven't even met yet.
Part of it comes from the idea of a 'world map' allowing you to traverse every inch of habitable existence, combined with the game world only existing for the purposes of that one game and one story. Once the party can zip around the world in under ten seconds, summon elementals and has taken down dragons and greater demons, and any hint of opposing factions can be traversed to and defeated, an enemy that's just a mortal ruler of one place or whatever feels like small fry. It's then combined with bullshit anime power levels crap (Hey, Trails again). That can't help but make a teenager go from a naive nobody to an awakened master sanctioned by the earth goddess/tree of life (another way-overused trope in JRPGS) or whatever inside of a few weeks.
I just finished playing The Outer Worlds, and it was great that the plot that affected the lives of everybody in an entire solar system didn't need gods, aliens or alien gods to have the party make a major impact forever, for good or ill.
Part of it comes from the idea of a 'world map' allowing you to traverse every inch of habitable existence, combined with the game world only existing for the purposes of that one game and one story. Once the party can zip around the world in under ten seconds, summon elementals and has taken down dragons and greater demons, and any hint of opposing factions can be traversed to and defeated, an enemy that's just a mortal ruler of one place or whatever feels like small fry. It's then combined with bullshit anime power levels crap (Hey, Trails again). That can't help but make a teenager go from a naive nobody to an awakened master sanctioned by the earth goddess/tree of life (another way-overused trope in JRPGS) or whatever inside of a few weeks.
I just finished playing The Outer Worlds, and it was great that the plot that affected the lives of everybody in an entire solar system didn't need gods, aliens or alien gods to have the party make a major impact forever, for good or ill.
