The grind in (J)RPG's and potential other games

[Deleted member 69942]

Recently I was thinking about the current state of (J)RPG's. There are quite a lot of RPG's coming out and they all have different ways of improving the so called "grind".

In video games, grinding is performing repetitive tasks, usually for a gameplay advantage or loot but in some cases for purely aesthetic or cosmetic benefits. The general use of grinding is for "experience points", or to improve a character's level.

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I made a little poll to ask what kind "tool" do you like with the so called grind in gaming?

I just put a few I have seen recently popping up and I wonder what you really enjoy :). It is my first thread I make so I hope this is alright?

 

[Deleted member 8468]

I've been playing the FF12 re-release on gamepass, and the 4x mode plus the chain system in that game are great. Chaining is just killing the same enemy type in a row, without killing other enemies or using a save point.

I'd say Gambits help make this quite automatic too, though they're a core feature and not just for grinding.

 

[ShroudOfFate]

Exp share is my favorite in RPGs with big casts where you can't use everyone all the time. Especially when the inevitable party split happens, you don't get fucked for not using your least favorites.

Faster battles are welcome and Bonus Exp opportunities are fun also though

 

[ARobotCalledV]

Exp sharing across all party members, even non active members, has been a godsend in recent jrpgs.

Bravely Default let's you up the encounter rate which is great for when grinding out classes.

 

[Redcrayon]

I don't mind so much the main party in a JRPG/SRPG etc. You've usually got them tooled up with the best equipment, tons of skills etc. What really annoys me is when party members on the subs bench fall way behind, accompanied by anything where the game suddenly expects you to make a party out of them, or use them in a boss fight. Sometimes even the final boss fight (I can think of several that do this). My preferred way of mitigating grinding with a large cast is what Trails and several others do, which is that reserve members automatically receive enough xp to be a level or two behind the main party, but not six hours of grinding behind.

 

[dancingphlower]

Experience sharing is nice, because otherwise I'm just going to use the party setup that I have already invested into... ain't nobody got time to grind to keep every member of the party at parity.

 

[Kamek]

JRPGs are really special to me. Sometimes, it's like an experience I don't want to end. If it's an amazing game - I enjoy the grind. Playing through Yakuza 7 gave me a feeling of JRPGs of old. I took my time with each encounter and enjoyed grinding certain areas. I guess it helps that not many new games are out that piqued my interest. I had already beated Demon's Souls by that time. If it's a game I want to savor, I enjoy the grind.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

If I have a oarty like in a FF game, where it is advisable to switch because of different skills and bosses being weak to different type of attacks, please let the whole crew gain exp, no matter what. Sure, active members can maybe get a little bonus, but overall, everyone should level up the same.

For trashmobs, just to what Earthbound did. If I can't loose the battle no matetr what, just lemme win it automatically.

In a game like Fire Emblem, gimme all kinds of side missions. Constantly, without unlocking some shit or paying for them. I wanna level up those, not being in battles often or that one young farmer/village boy.

 

[KeRaSh]

EXP share is the way.
Don't let me sideline characters that don't get EXP just to have a scenario where I have to use all characters split across two parties.
To be honest, I wouldn't mind if the game only features the same amount of main characters that actually fit in my party.

 

[TheMadTitan]

Star Ocean's bonus meter thing is probably the best, imo. Sure, modern ports let you speed up movement and animations and some games give you items and whatnot, but Star Ocean 3 and Star Ocean 4 had meters that you could build up in battle. And depending on how you filled them, you could stack ridiculous EXP and money bonuses.

 

[Pein]

Just make it fast

Btw what's a good grind heavy JRPG? I have DQ12 and s, persona 5 royal and the digimon cyber sleuth games, I want something hard and that you gotta grind to beat bosses. I just finished FF7 remake and that didn't have to be grinded at all.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Just make it fast

Btw what's a good grind heavy JRPG? I have DQ12 and s, persona 5 royal and the digimon cyber sleuth games, I want something hard and that you gotta grind to beat bosses. I just finished FF7 remake and that didn't have to be grinded at all.

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Have you played FF12? The game has a huge amount of endgame/optional bosses that require some serious grinding and loot to beat

 

[Le Dude]

What? People like EXP share so much?

I hate it because it feels like who I choose for my party doesn't actually matter. Everyone levels up anyways so it doesn't feel like you're investing into the characters.

I like bonus experience so much better because it still allows you to bump up a character you previously didn't use, but it doesn't just automatically make every gather experience the same

 

[the magical kitsune]

Another vote for Earthbound and it letting you autokill enemies that are way weaker than you. A similar skill was useful in Blue Dragon where you could automatically defeat weaker enemies on the overworld to get their SP.

Other than that, about the only grinding I enjoy is when I hunt for metal slimes in dragon quest to get that dopamine rush. I do also like the way the bravely games automate things after a point.

 

[Zeal543]

I haven't had to grind in an RPG in over a decade, not counting MMOs. So I guess FFXIV's daily roulettes

 

[diablogg]

I like grinding so I chose other. There's something relaxing there for me, like mining in WoW, just turn your brain off and do this relatively mindless task, there's a fulfillment there.

 

[pbayne]

Even though you never really needed to grind in i thought The World Ends with You had the best system where you could opt to chain multiple fights together in a row that would stack an exp multiplier for each fight. It was a great risk vs reward system and could actually turn normal fights against trash mobs into tense fights of endurance.

 

[The Mango Sentinel]

Hmm I dunno...I can't think of an (j)rpg recently that I've had to grind in to complete the main game. I fucking hate grinding in order to do the main quest. Optional endgame bosses are another story, but I would just be grinding my main team anyway, so something like exp share would be useless. I guess any sort of bonus exp is nice.

 

[KtSlime]

Grinding is rarely needed if you understand the game.

 

[Lumination]

Let's go the opposite direction. Give me FF13's approach of level gating and then appropriately balancing your encounters for the max level. Then make that max level easily achieveable and you have a well-balanced, no grinding game.

 

[roguebubble]

When the cast is bigger than the party size used in battle then exp share or even just auto-leveling to a 1 or 2 levels below the main party or what the game designer considers to be a fair level for that point in the narrative

Otherwise just have enemies give appropriate amount exp for a smooth levelling curve

 

[Disclaimer]

I literally cannot remember the last time I had to grind in a JRPG. It's almost never needed when people think it is; they just want to brute force the game rather than engage with its mechanics.

 

[Top%Rattata]

Bravely default is really good for this. It actually does a few things:
- Allows you to speed up battles, so all animations are done super fast
- Increase the encounter rate by double
- Allows you to save a repeated set of actions, so you can auto-battle
- And then, thanks to the Brave mechanic, you can brave in to negative BP, and finish a fight in a single turn

Thanks to all of these things combined, grinding in the Bravely games is easy-breezy... which is good, because IMO there is a little bit of necessary grinding in those games. (I mean, if you know what you're doing, you can get away with not grinding, but most people will have to when playing through the first time).

 

[Deleted member 69942]

Let's go the opposite direction. Give me FF13's approach of level gating and then appropriately balancing your encounters for the max level. Then make that max level easily achievable and you have a well-balanced, no grinding game.

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This I like the most. I think Dragon Quest XI did this quite well if I recall right. I never had an issue with anything. Until post game were grinding became a thing.

 

[Enduin]

Ehh not many games really require grinding, but many make grinding really easy and powerful to where it can be tough to not participate in and really over level your party. Bonus EXP in FE was an awesome idea and something I wish they would reintroduce it. Especially with how prevalent secondary skirmishes have become in the franchise.

Easy endless grinding in those game really devalues the experience and even if you aren't actively trying to grind like hell and keep it to a minimum it's very easy for a handful of units to just dominate and soak up kills and EXP and just become too OP. It would be fantastic if only main missions offered up individual EXP along with Bonus EXP for completing secondary objectives, while side missions only provided Bonus EXP and certain other rewards based on overall performance and the execution of certain secondary objectives. This would still give players the ability to grind if they wanted/needed to help bring up lower level troops while better limiting just how overpowered certain other units become.