That meant even a story-dense game like Final Fantasy VI moved along at a brisk place, since the same quick “bug-eyed” or “lowered head” animation was enough to convey a mood in dozens of different situations. All the storytelling occurred with 2D sprites with a limited range of animation, and there was no such thing as selecting dramatic camera angles and watching characters emote meticulously. Part of the reason why games were shorter was just that “cinematics” as we think of them now didn’t exist yet. It used to be that most JRPGs could be finished in 15-40 hours, though of course that length could balloon if you just loved exploring a game’s world, such as with Final Fantasy VI. It’s still mostly the same experience but just different enough to be intriguing, and it’s likely the reason you can blaze through The Divine Force in 30-35 hours if you want.
The game is essentially designed to be played twice, since there are two protagonists to choose between who witness and participate in slightly different events in the game’s story.
However, one thing you can’t accuse the game of being is bloated. The Divine Force is a quirky game top to bottom, and its design decisions definitely don’t always work in the game’s favor. So I find it refreshing how Star Ocean: The Divine Force from tri-Ace and Square Enix is committed to just being small, in almost every sense. This sense of “hugeness,” whether in terms of literal physical environments or general game scope, feels like a trend in mainstream 3D JRPGs. With the exception of SMTV, you’re looking at potentially more than a hundred hours to complete each game, unless you just start skipping sidequests and/or nonessential cinematics.
Persona 5, Dragon Quest XI, Shin Megami Tensei V, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 all have a couple things in common: They’re fantastic JRPGs, and they’re huge.
0 kommentar(er)
