Rebuttal to: The Importance of Character Niches in RPGs

by Michael Brunett

Original Editorial: The Importance of Character Niches in RPGs

I am writing this editorial in response to Joseph Witham's. He brings out several valid points in his argument, such as the importance of varied abilities in the battle system; however, I am forced to disagree with his final conclusion. While the battle system is an important part in the RPG formula, it is by far not the most important. When he stated that the meat of the games were their battle systems and not their story or characters I almost laughed.

I feel (and most of the RPGamers that I know agree with me) that by far the most important part of an RPG are it's characters. This is the reason you play the game, not the battle system. When you first pick up a new RPG and put it into your system, you get a craving to meet the new and interesting people that are held within. Who was more worried with the fact that FFX's battle system didn't revolutionize gaming than how Tidus was going to save Yuna from using the Final Aeon? Or who was hurt more by FF7's "everyone can do everything system" than by watching Sephiroth impale poor Aeris as she prayed to the planet? I know when I'm playing a game my first and formost concern is with the character the game revolves around. This is perhaps why Lunar: Silver Star Story COMPLETE is my favorite RPG of all time, because of the charecters that trick you into thinking that they really exist, battle system be damned.

The next thing is the world, the theme, in one word, the Story. My reasons for this are about the same as with the charecters. When playing an RPG we're much more interested in "How the hell are we going to stop Lavos from destroying the future" than, "I hope the final battle is really unique." Yeah, I agree that a boring battle system is just that a boring battle system, but hey who really cares as long as we get to know the hero and watch him save the world?