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A battle system should be like a brass choir in a band: providing the basic elements to the overall sound and sending the music to the audience. If the brass is too loud the melody is often overpowered and if the brass is quiet the band loses pitch and volume. In either case, if the brass is out of tune, it hampers the quality of the composition, and this holds true for games and battle systems.
Many RPGamers these days judge the games they play on the battle system and the gameplay, but this is like listening to the brass alone. By fighting in a game you get a sense of what the characters must endure. This is a necessary component for you to feel how the characters are feeling and to understand why they do what they do. By making you to step into the shoes of the characters, the developers can strengthen plot and the individual personalities to a point not found anywhere else. In other words, the fighting is just another way to make you become the character, if not to understand them and thus aid the advancement of plot.
Regardless of its importance, battle is nonetheless merely a part of a larger whole, and it cannot overshadow or be overshadowed by that whole. For example, in Xenogears the design, the story and the battle systems were all equally integral in giving you a sense of the world and the character's feelings; it was great not because of any one aspect, but a strong whole. The sound of the band shouldn't be evaluated by one part because each section of the band contributes to the overall sound of the band. Again, this is true of battle systems and RPGs; the former cannot work independently of the latter.
If the battle system is too unique and radical, or if it is flawed from the start, it will substantially detract from the game as a whole. Looking at recent games it is my conclusion that the developers today want to expand the boundaries of this genre to touch a larger audience. What the game developers fail to notice is that the genre is very delicate, unlike adventure games. Any one bad aspect of a game, if bad enough, can overcome the good aspects of it, but in an adventure game the balance is changed; it can have a bad plot and storyline, yet still be a good game. Why is this, you ask? Well, if the battle system is bad the overall game suffers since one section is off and not sustaining its part. But in an adventure game, the plot, storyline, the battle system and many other components are different and are trying to do different things.
Think of it like a line graph as an RPG and a bar graph as an adventure game. In a line graph, if one component is low it affects the line binding the components together as well. This makes the whole line look awkward and incorrect. Conversely, in a bar graph one component can fall and it doesn't affect the rest of the bars. If the battle system doesn't carry its own weight then the game will be bad. There are also graphs inside the graphs and the same rules apply there as well. If the battle system is original yet is difficult to understand the first time through, or is implemented poorly, the overall game loses its balance. In such a case, you are not connected to the characters and their strengths and weaknesses, but are merely a gamer trying to figure out the awkward combat. By trying to reach a wider audience, developers have created many new battle systems that expand the boundaries of the genre. This, incidentally, has resulted in unusual or complicated battle systems, not all which work as well as intended, and some which are yet stronger than any other aspect of the game.
A good battle system isn't based on how fun and exciting it is alone; there are many factors involved. First and foremost, the battle system needs to be simple. If you spend the first few hours of an RPG trying to decode the battle system then you are not likely to enjoy it. This not only hurts the gameplay but destroys any immersion or character building within that system. Second, the battle system needs to challenge your mind and your hands. Battle systems shouldn't be easy to master but the player should have a grasp of the controls in a few hours. If you can master the battle system in a few hours, the rest of the game loses challenge, and the reverse holds true as well.
The brass choir is the most important part in a band, even though their part isn't the one usually remembered; this is by design, as it can neither overwhelm nor be overwhelmed. Without them, the basic elements of the tune would be lost, and the band's unique elements would suffer. They should be the unsung heroes in the dark, but now, in this day and age, we've forgotten that plot is the central focus of an RPG, and that everything is ultimately subordinate to the plot, which is arguably the key difference between RPGs and other genres. The sound of the band has to be just the right tone, pitch and tempo to make the right sound.
Would you buy an album with only harmony?
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