Put random encounters back in my JRPG

[Dreamboum]

Non-random encounters are overblown. They're far less practical and useful than they are made to be.

I have so many issues with it:

• I can't enjoy any area because they are overrun with monsters
• Monsters moving aimlessly takes me out of the experience super fast
• Any cramped area is going to be a nightmare to go through that will make you wish it was random
• Spells and items that reduces encounters now just reduces the amount of enemies on-screen, meaning you still have to deal with them
• You have to walk around to circumvent them, you have to dodge them, you have to wait for them to de-spawn when you just have to get wherever you want to be with random encounters
• Any straight line I could take in random encounter rpg becomes a goofy zig-zag to avoid one monster
  
• Mobs are most likely to outrun you anyway because of course their walk speed are faster than yours

The only time non-random encounters would work is if you put the time to make monsters part of the world but 95% of JRPGs doesn't have the budget for this. This, or you're The World Ends With you where YOU decide WHEN you should fight.

Only non-random encounters JRPGs I managed to stand is Chrono Cross, because you can run away instantly, and Valkyrie Profile, because you can freeze them and they are part of the environmental puzzles. Most JRPGs doesn't have that.

SMT4, DQ7, 8 and 9, Radiant Historia, Legend of Legacy, any modern persona, it's just super annoying. In most cases random encounters will be faster to deal with than non-random encounters for me, unless your encounter rate is Beyond the Beyond tier.

 

[Cybersai]

Definitely not, I'm actually hoping the next Pokemon game does away with it too.

I'm not a 15 year old teenager with endless free time on my hands anymore, I can't spend hours just fighting "random battles" doing nothing.

 

[Deleted member 6436]

Bravely Default and Second are the only JRPGs where I enjoyed random encounters, and that was because you could alter how often they showed up, even putting it down to zero if you just wanted to reach a save point. I'm okay with that.

Otherwise nah, I like the way it is now.

 

[Dreamboum]

Definitely not, I'm actually hoping the next Pokemon game does away with it too.

I'm not a 15 year old teenager with endless free time on my hands anymore, I can't spend hours just fighting "random battles" doing nothing.

Click to shrink...

You can run away in any Pokémon and you have items to remove encounters. I'll take that over outrunning a Pikachu trying to eat my ass

 

[Deleted member 14002]

Bravely Default and Second are the only JRPGs where I enjoyed random encounters, and that was because you could alter how often they showed up, even putting it down to zero if you just wanted to reach a save point. I'm okay with that.

Otherwise nah, I like the way it is now.

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Came to say Bravely Default slider for encounters.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

I'm fine with random encounters since most games have either an item to remove them or you can escape them. I would prefer something like the slider to make the rate what I want though.

 

[Chromanin]

I'm playing DQ8 right now and the random encounters are really difficult to stomach. There's so much of them and I get constantly bombarded.

I hate the same problem with skies of Arcadia. Holy shit the random encounters in that game.

 

[Deleted member 23381]

No. Come on man. No. No way.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

In regards to your complaints, I don't think there is a significant difference between random encounters vs. visible encounters. I think the main reason people prefer visible encounters is that it removes the element of surprise and gives the player some agency, which decreases feelings of frustration among some players when they want to avoid battle (even if there isn't much of a functional difference between the two, it's all perception).

Personally, I don't care either way. Random encounters don't bother me, visible encounters don't bother me, I don't find them significantly different from each other to have a preference. I do like when a game adds additional mechanics to initiating encounters though, which seems easier to do with visible encounters. Stuff like Persona where you get the jump on an enemy if you attack first or approach from behind.

 

[Dreamboum]

I'm playing DQ8 right now and the random encounters are really difficult to stomach. There's so much of them and I get constantly bombarded.

I hate the same problem with skies of Arcadia. Holy shit the random encounters in that game.

Click to shrink...

You have access to holy water pretty much immediately in DQ8...

 

[Master Chuuster]

I can't enjoy any area because they are overrun with monsters

Click to shrink...

That's true for random encounters as well, only in non-random encounters you know where the enemies are, and you can circumvent them.

Monsters moving aimlessly takes me out of the experience super fast

Click to shrink...

Random encounters are annoying as fuck and take you out of the experience faster.

Any cramped area is going to be a nightmare to go through that will make you wish it was random

Click to shrink...

You're assuming cramped areas are going to be overflowing with enemies, which isn't necessarily always the case. In fact it rarely is.

Spells and items that reduces encounters now just reduces the amount of enemies on-screen, meaning you still have to deal with them

Click to shrink...

So what else are they supposed to do? Remove enemies entirely?

You have to walk around to circumvent them, you have to dodge them, you have to wait for them to de-spawn when you just have to get wherever you want to be with random encounters

Click to shrink...

So basically you have a problem with the extra virtual steps you have to take to circumvent the on-screen enemies? Beats being spammed with random encounters. At least you know what to look for.

Any straight line I could take in random encounter rpg becomes a goofy zig-zag to avoid one monster

Click to shrink...

Again, you just have an issue with the extra walking you have to do? How is that annoying exactly? Or how is that more annoying than random encounters?

Mobs are most likely to outrun you anyway because of course their walk speed are faster than yours

Click to shrink...

I'll give you this one, this happens a lot.

 

[Dr Doom]

Random encounters mean less choice. Visible encounter is choice. Avoid to battle

 

[Rahxephon91]

I wouldn't mind something like Wild Arms 5's mechanic where you can turn off a dungeon's random encounters by defeating an embarrassingly named enemy.

Or of course Bravley Default 1.5's way of doing it.

 

[Korigama]

They're gone and I'd like them to stay that way. As for modern Persona, I would understand if it were P3 or P4, but P5 does far more to make navigating around and pre-empting enemies much more feasible than in previous games. Other RPGs do need to take a page from Chrono Cross in allowing for escaping from battle whenever, though.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

As long as you don't put them back in mine.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

How about no?

 

[Al3x1s]

Or can both styles as they are now and put encounters that make sense like CRPGs tend to do, seamlessly integrating enemies in the world properly. But between one or the other visible is always best.

 

[Slamtastic]

The only time non-random encounters would work is if you put the time to make monsters part of the world

Click to shrink...

So the solution is, do the thing, but well.

Plenty of games have random animals in their open worlds, and those form a good base for a well done version (slightly more complex and realistic than the often JRPG style of fading in and out of existence, moving randomly, and chasing you down as soon as you enter a radius).

And especially in say Pokemon, the prospect of getting on a hill, looking through binocs and seeing a new monster you've never seen before, getting on your horse equivalent riding monster, and going to where you saw that species at, actually seeking out and "hunting" it down instead of walking back and forth in grass, would improve the games a hundredfold.

 

[Dragon1893]

Fuck random encounters.

 

[Deleted member 437]

Monsters moving aimlessly takes me out of the experience super fast

Click to shrink...

But invisible monsters make it more immersive.

I'm sorry, I cant take this seriously.

 

[flatearthpandas]

I'm not too bothered either way. Random encounters with a spell or item (or yes, slider) to turn them off is the best. On screen enemies with invisibility spells or monsters running away at high levels is alright but not quite as good. Both ways can be annoying and even Bravely Default isn't perfect as it removes all tension from the game.

 

[Death Penalty]

I think it's probably objectively faster to zigzag than it is to transition into a new screen and navigate a menu after beginning animations to run away.

 

[Narasumas]

How about no?

Click to shrink...

 

[Dreamboum]

That's true for random encounters as well, only in non-random encounters you know where the enemies are, and you can circumvent them.


Random encounters are annoying as fuck and take you out of the experience faster.


You're assuming cramped areas are going to be overflowing with enemies, which isn't necessarily always the case. In fact it rarely is.


So what else are they supposed to do? Remove enemies entirely?


So basically you have a problem with the extra virtual steps you have to take to circumvent the on-screen enemies? Beats being spammed with random encounters. At least you know what to look for.


Again, you just have an issue with the extra walking you have to do? How is that annoying exactly? Or how is that more annoying than random encounters?


I'll give you this one, this happens a lot.

Click to shrink...

Check any Dragon Quest on the issue of cramped areas and see how it is. I've yet to see a JRPG that legitimately accounts for this in cramped hallways.

The effectiveness of encounter-reducing items and spells are severely hampered, I don't know why you're asking the question to me, the answer is pretty simple and is to put back random encounters.

And yeah, I have an issue with "extra virtual steps" the same way you have an issue with "extra virtual encounters". You don't have to be spammed with random encounters, you know what most JRPGs does though ? They can adjust the encounter rate for every area and give more tools to the player to reduce and or circumvent them.

Random encounters:

• I walk, there is a random encounter, I run away. I keep my walking going on. It's going to take some time for another encounter to appear.

Non-random encounters:

• I walk, there are enemies coming at me, I have to dodge them by zig-zagging, they circle back at me, they move faster than me, I get a fight anyway, I run away. I keep my walking going on. Oh shit they're already there. Repeat.

How is that better ?

 

[carlosrox]

Take the J out of RPGs more like it.

I fucking hate that term, I don't care what the reasons for using it are.

Back in my day they were just RPGs and WRPGs were just super niche. If anything should get its own little pet name it should be WRPGs. "J" RPGs I find a xenophobic term that usually tries to lump those types of games together as outliers when I'd say they outnumber the other types by a large margin, with more mainstream, long running series under their belts.

Was that term even a thing until last gen?

More on topic, I actually kinda miss random battles in RPGs more than most. I don't mind them as much as most people do.

 

[Taruranto]

This doesn't make any sense, your problem seems to be that "it takes time to navigate visible enemies", yeah well, but it takes a lot of time to get over 10 unavoidable encounters you can't avoid too.

• I walk, there are enemies coming at me, I have to dodge them by zig-zagging, they circle back at me, they move faster than me, I get a fight anyway, I run away. I keep my walking going on. Oh shit they're already there. Repeat.

How is that better ?

Click to shrink...

A lot of games with visible enemies let you stun them with an attack (Like, recently I can think of Radiant Historia), so you don't even have to dodge. Not to mention your issue seems to be that enemies are too fast, which is not always the case.

 

[gogojira]

I hate random battles so much more than seeing them on the map. Chrono Trigger made a lasting impression on me.

 

[Xero grimlock]

In regards to your complaints, I don't think there is a significant difference between random encounters vs. visible encounters. I think the main reason people prefer visible encounters is that it removes the element of surprise and gives the player some agency, which decreases feelings of frustration among some players when they want to avoid battle (even if there isn't much of a functional difference between the two, it's all perception).

Personally, I don't care either way. Random encounters don't bother me, visible encounters don't bother me, I don't find them significantly different from each other to have a preference. I do like when a game adds additional mechanics to initiating encounters though, which seems easier to do with visible encounters. Stuff like Persona where you get the jump on an enemy if you attack first or approach from behind.

Click to shrink...

the big difference is even if its a forced visible encounter i can adjust to it and heal if need be. Random encounters i have to be much more cautious which contributes to fatigue.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

I think generally it depends on the series and how obnoxious the encounter rate is. I HATE random encounters in Dragon Quest (except for the remakes, particularly VII and VIII) and Final Fantasy because it seems like every 3-5 steps you get into another battle, and they make it very hard to flee reliably. Whereas games like Pokemon has routes designed to where you either have the option to go encounter Pokemon, or walk through a route and battle trainers (or sometimes, you walk through a patch of grass and even then, it's not obnoxious as you will always be able to flee as long as your Pokemon's Speed is good).

 

[Xavi]

Take the J out of RPGs more like it.

I fucking hate that term, I don't care what the reasons for using it are.

Back in my day they were just RPGs and WRPGs were just super niche. If anything should get its own little pet name it should be WRPGs. "J" RPGs I find a xenophobic term that usually tries to lump those types of games together as outliers when I'd say they outnumber the other types by a large margin, with more mainstream, long running series under their belts.

Was that term even a thing until last gen?

More on topic, I actually kinda miss random battles in RPGs more than most. I don't mind them as much as most people do.

Click to shrink...

That's not even the point of this thread

Edit: nevermind, you edited your post

 

[Deleted member 18021]

Random encounters were integral to resource management-heavy old JRPGs like the original DQ and Final Fantasy games. The shift to story being a higher emphasis pretty much killed the case for random encounters.

You can still do them, of course, but I imagine you would need to borrow Bravely Default's option to turn them off wholesale, or at least tailor the frequency to your liking.

 

[Dreamboum]

But invisible monsters make it more immersive.

I'm sorry, I cant take this seriously.

Click to shrink...

It's an established convention for decades. The idea is not that you're taken to another dimension in order to fight. The idea is that what you're doing in the overworld is an abstraction of what's really happening. This is far easier to stomach than a monster coming at you in the overworld, then you're transported to another area in order to fight the same monster you just saw (sometimes it's not even the monster that hits you!).

 

[signal]

Definitely not, I'm actually hoping the next Pokemon game does away with it too.
I'm not a 15 year old teenager with endless free time on my hands anymore, I can't spend hours just fighting "random battles" doing nothing.

Click to shrink...

Elderly men keep ruining gaming.

Let us have our random battles, go take care of your children or re-shingle your roof or something.

 

[Derrick01]

What? Why would anyone want random encounters back? They're a big reason why jrpgs were such a hassle to play back in the day. It was merely something we tolerated because we didn't know any better.

Take the J out of RPGs more like it.

I fucking hate that term, I don't care what the reasons for using it are.

Back in my day they were just RPGs and WRPGs were just super niche. If anything should get its own little pet name it should be WRPGs. "J" RPGs I find a xenophobic term that usually tries to lump those types of games together as outliers when I'd say they outnumber the other types by a large margin, with more mainstream, long running series under their belts.

Was that term even a thing until last gen?

Click to shrink...

It changed when wrpgs became massive and jrpgs became even more niche than they already were in the ps1/2 days, and they were pretty niche outside of FF.

 

[Slamtastic]

Take the J out of RPGs more like it.

I fucking hate that term, I don't care what the reasons for using it are.

Back in my day they were just RPGs and WRPGs were just super niche. If anything should get its own little pet name it should be WRPGs. "J" RPGs I find a xenophobic term that usually tries to lump those types of games together as outliers when I'd say they outnumber the other types by a large margin, with more mainstream, long running series under their belts.

Was that term even a thing until last gen?

Click to shrink...

 

[ShinMaruku]

The avoidance of random encounters is one of the few postive trends made by developers, I will give them props on this one bright spot, because it's rare whole sale they do anything right.

 

[Al3x1s]

Take the J out of RPGs more like it.

I fucking hate that term, I don't care what the reasons for using it are.

Back in my day they were just RPGs and WRPGs were just super niche. If anything should get its own little pet name it should be WRPGs. "J" RPGs I find a xenophobic term that usually tries to lump those types of games together as outliers when I'd say they outnumber the other types by a large margin, with more mainstream, long running series under their belts.

Was that term even a thing until last gen?

More on topic, I actually kinda miss random battles in RPGs more than most. I don't mind them as much as most people do.

Click to shrink...

Pssssssst, wanna know what inspired the archetypal JRPG, Dragon Quest? Ultima! And Wizardry! I seriously doubt JRPGs outnumber C/WRPGs. Maybe the long running series do but that doesn't mean much when some of the long running series only really share the name and can be as different between parts as one WRPG to the next. Not that numbers matter anyway. So yeah, for us in the West there were P&P RPGs, then CRPGs, and then JRPGs.

 

[Horror]

Personally love random encounters. They're like real life lessons: shit happens you didn't account for, you can huff and puff about it or just deal with it right then and there. Otherwise, putting it off will hurt you in the long run.

 

[Dreamboum]

What? Why would anyone want random encounters back? They're a big reason why jrpgs were such a hassle to play back in the day. It was merely something we tolerated because we didn't know any better.

Click to shrink...

JRPGs were using non-random encounters for decades so I don't know what you're going on about making it look like it's a recent invention that was automatically picked up as better (it isn't).

 

[Namyu]

Definitely not, I'm actually hoping the next Pokemon game does away with it too.

I'm not a 15 year old teenager with endless free time on my hands anymore, I can't spend hours just fighting "random battles" doing nothing.

Click to shrink...

How would this even work in Pokemon? The patches of grass would have to be a mile long each.

 

[Eros]

Only if they do the Wildarms thing where you get a ! a few seconds before the battle and you can press a button to avoid it. Also don't make that a finite resource. If anything skipping battles will make unskippable battles harder because I'll have less experience. That's the punishment for skipping battles. Don't make me buy items or an accessory for it.

Otherwise hard disagree. I've always hated random battles.

 

[KarmaCow]

Definitely not, I'm actually hoping the next Pokemon game does away with it too.

I'm not a 15 year old teenager with endless free time on my hands anymore, I can't spend hours just fighting "random battles" doing nothing.

Click to shrink...

I've found I had to fight more battles with visible enemies because they're in the way compared to random encounters where I can just use an item to reduce the encounter rate.

 

[senj]

Haaaaaaard pass.

I've been playing my way through older Tales of games, but the random encounters in Phantasia are a huge turn off. Let me see enemies and avoid them if I care to.

 

[Wein Cruz]

No thanks random encounters is an archaic design decision that can stay dead.

 

[Richietto]

Ehhhhh. I mean if they do it like Bravely Default and allow me to control the random encounter rate sure. Otherwise fuck that garbage.

 

[Valkerion]

I like my random encounters too, but some games don't strike the balance for running into things sadly. Then again the OP's points about the monsters on the screen are valid as well...

 

[jrDev]

No way in hell! Hopefully Pokemon Switch does away with this...

 

[Deleted member 4037]

Hell no, they usually are super annoying because encounter rates are just not right. It makes the game a slog, give people options to engage, if they dont and they are under leveled its their fault

 

[Carassius Auratus]

The only games I've played where I liked random encounters are Pokemon and Etrian Odyssey (I'm sure there are other games with encounter system like these, just giving examples). I didn't like Bravely Default's method, either, since it was super unbalanced. Random encounters are usually annoying to me.

 

[soul]

Hell no. I love the oldschool JRPGs but actually seeing the monsters is so much better.