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It's no secret that magic has been used in many an
RPG, for good or ill. However, there are just times when it's
completely out of place. Now don't get me wrong, I perfectly expect
to see magic in a fantasy setting. However, it's woefully
inappropriate for a sci-fi setting such as Xenosaga. Now yes,
Ether (the magic in Xenosaga) is attributed to nano-machines,
which explains MOMO, Ziggy and KOS-MOS. However, Ether is also
attributed to paranormal ability. How exactly did Shion, a human
scientist who doesn't seem to spend a whole hell of a lot of time
dabbling in the occult or supernatural, attain paranormal abilities?
Seems to me like a glaring plot hole and the insistence in following
RPG conventions. Now this may improve when I get around to playing
Xenosaga II, but I'm not holding my hopes up.
Xenosaga isn't the only game where
traditional magic doesn't make sense. Mario & Luigi: Superstar
Saga has the Brothers Actions, attacks that Mario and Luigi perform
together to deal serious damage to the enemy. However, these battle
moves are limited by “Bros. Points,” which function
effectively as magic points. Now why is it that these actions,
mostly involving jumping and flips, have such an artificial limit? I
understand that having these attacks in infinite supply affects the
challenge of the game, but at some point the MP paradigm just stops
making sense.
Now where am I going with this? It's simple. In
order to elevate magic above a nonsensical throw-in. First off, if a
character has magical abilities, it must be explained why, especially
in modern or sci-fi worlds. Shion, for example, could have some sort
of spiritual/occult background, or perhaps have Extra Sensory
Perception (ESP) that manifests itself outside of battle as well
(things like telekineses and/or telepathy). It doesn't require huge
amounts of exposition to make magic make sense.
Secondly, for nontraditional magic, the MP
paradigm has got to go. If you're going to make something unique,
don't slap on a standard MP system. Instead, try to think of a way
to make the limitation fit in with the new system. For example,
Bros. Actions could only be effective on enemies that have been put
into a sort of stunned state where they can't counter. There's
plenty of ways to make new magic feel like new magic (and add some
strategy to the proceedings, by the way).
Either way, it's important that magic be a fleshed
out part of the world it's being used in, either in the story or in
the execution of the magic itself. Otherwise, it seems odd, out of
place. With some careful thought and dedication to the product,
magic could be an intricate and important part of the game world
instead of something thrown in because gamers expect it to be there.
And if all else fails, it's OK not to have magic at all. Just think
of something else to use as an alternative to the fight command.
That might be interesting in and of itself.
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