[General Discussion] Everything turning Action/RPG: FF, DQ, Shining Force, etc

Random Battles were done out of NESSESITY, as hardware limitations prevented the enemy from always being there on the screen. Only for important bosses and character battles did the enemy show up on the 'overworld' screen.

But, with technology improving, Random Battles became more of a tradition then limitations on any part by the system. One of the first popular RPGs with overworld enemies was Chrono Cross, and it might have been ahead of its time in that respect. A good segway between both systems I found was in Tales of Symphonia, where the enemies appeared on the overworld map, but were indigiuishable black blobs, so even though you could see the enemy approaching, you had no idea what you were fighting, so it was still random.

FFXII then introduced us to enemies who not only appeared on screen before battle, but there was no visible transition between walking around and "zomg enemy!".

Think of it as a natual progression of the genre. In a couple years a new style of play will develop and then as all genres do, there will be immitations of that style. Not exclusive to RPGs either: Think of the Term "GTA Clone", with rival games borrowing from GTA's open ended gameplay style.

Given that the Flagship DQIX will appear on the DS, and Revenant Wings being on there as well, Tactics Style of battle may make a resurgance on Handhelds, and a closer approach to "Real-Time" RPG action will develop with FFXIII (Or so the battle system descriptions have implied).

But considering Tales of Symphonia and Tri-Ace themselves for a moment, while the mechanics of enemies might change, there was a wholy different style of battle within that company's titles as well (Star Ocean 2, 3), and even though the battles were still Random to a degree, there was still a vibrant difference in how those titles handled things versus the Final Fantasies... SO, things may go completely different from what I stated above and some other method of battle may develop independantly or be taken from another Genre.

Genres evolve, and so life will continue.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Monkey King

Lufia and Romancing Saga were doing this years before the Playstation even existed. Chrono Cross wasn't ahead of its time so much as every other RPG was/is behind the times.

I guess my memory betrays me ¯\(º_o)/¯

and from reading the last few posts, I think we need to redefine/clarify the definition of Action-RPG.

There's nowhere I can't reach.