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Encounter systems are, of course, an integral part of any RPG battle system. Throughout the years, encounter systems have evolved, though unfortunately, many RPGs today adamantly refuse to change from tired, generic encounter systems. Why many developers refuse to move to the future in terms of their franchises' encounter systems is beyond my comprehension, although there are in fact many, many ways in which developers can improve encounter systems in RPGs.
Traditional Random Encounters
Generic random encounter systems, by today's standards, are extremely dated, but if developers *insist* on sticking with them, there are many ways in which they can compensate for the typical flaws of normal encounter systems. For instance, many installments of the Pokémon franchise confine random encounters to caves and tall grass areas, whereas the player can travel stress-free across grassless regions. However, in the Pokémon series, there are many trainers that literally *force* the player to fight them without proper warning, which isn't exactly a good idea. A good way of resolving this would be to warn a player when, for instance, going through a door will advance the story or lead to a boss encounter, such as in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and the Digital Devil Saga dilogy. And actually have *save points* before such encounters.
Another flaw in random encounter systems such as those in Pokémon Diamond/Pearl is the sometimes unnecessarily long gap between encountering an enemy and actually beginning the battle. In the aforementioned Pokémon titles, it takes a whole *ten seconds* before players are actually able to input a command for their default Pokémon; that's just insane. Other RPGs that somewhat suffer from this problem are Final Fantasy IX, where battles take a little while to load, and Suikoden V, where, in many instances, winning battles actually takes less time than encountering them. Certain titles, such as Xenosaga Episode III, actually do a nice job in cutting down the time between encountering fights and actually starting them.
The Suikoden series, too, has traditional random encounters, although when the party's levels are high enough, the player has the option to "Let Go" or "Release" weak enemy parties to spare the player the time an annoyance of battling enemies that reward little experience (especially since experience in the Suikoden titles is proportional to character levels). Moreover, there are, unless I'm mistaken, special Runes that can completely nullify random encounters with weak enemy parties, allowing for largely stress-free travel when revisiting the games' areas.
That brings me to another problem I see with most traditional random encounter systems--the escape option not always working, even against weak enemy parties. I know that having the escape option work might make RPGs easier, but in my opinion, there are some compromises to this, such as Suikoden's technique, or even a system where, if enemies' agility is higher than your party's, they can attack your party while attempting to escape, yet still let you escape afterward. Still, the ability to escape from boss battles, in my opinion, wouldn't be a bad idea either, especially if the game forced you to fight them from the beginning if you came back for them, and they said something to the extent of "Coward! Come back when you're ready!"
Another issue is experience and monetary rewards from random encounters from which the player chooses to escape. Sometimes, RPGs choose to reward players nothing for escaping from encounters, although in some instances, players might have devoted a *lot* of time towards difficult encounters before escaping. Some of the Wild ARMs games, I believe, reward players for monsters they've killed in a battle from which they escape, and I personally think this would be perfectly reasonable, and really not make RPGs any easier or harder.
To be honest, I'm not a big fan of random encounters in tactical RPGs with dot-connected overworlds such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Growlanser II. I'd strongly prefer it if, in those instances, encounters on certain fields were completely optional, and this, in my opinion, would be a far less annoying solution.
Other RPGs allow the player to adjust their encounter rates, such as Wild ARMs 4, where, if the player has advanced far enough into a dungeon and defeated a certain enemy, he or she can turn off encounters completely to allow for stress-free dungeon navigation. The Tales of... and Dragon Quest franchises too allow for adjustable encounter rates with certain spells and items. Overall, if developers insist on having traditional random encounters, there are certainly ways in which they can make them seem less generic and frustrating.
On-Screen, or "Collision," Encounter Systems
I can't quite pinpoint the very first RPG that had on-screen encounters, although Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, technically the only true RPG Zelda, had a system where enemies randomly spawn on the overworld, and if Link touches one of them, the player goes to a side-scrolling field where he can fight a few enemies for experience and/or leave back to the overworld. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, too, has on-screen encounters, although unlike in many modern RPGs, they remain static, and the player can simply approach them to begin fights.
On-screen encounters, however, would evolve into more complex forms. An instance of this evolution occurs in Earthbound, which, in my opinion, perhaps has one of the best encounter systems to date. Enemies, if they feel they can take on your party, charge at them, and either they can catch the player off guard, or the player can catch them off guard. If the party's levels are high, on the other hand, enemies will cower and run away, and in most of these instances, if the player chooses to encounter them, an instant victory will occur, with the party still gaining experience and money.
Other RPGs would adopt similar formulae, such as Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, where, if the active character is strong enough and slashes an enemy, that enemy will instantly die and give the player party experience to distribute as desired and/or items. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, too, adopts a formula where enemies, if the party's levels are high enough, will run away from the active characters, and either the monsters can take the party off guard or the player can catch the enemy off guard.
Furthermore, certain RPGs with on-screen encounter systems, such as Lufia II, Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Abyss, and the Valkyrie Profile titles, allow players to freeze or stun enemies to avoid having to fight them, a perfectly reasonable system.
Granted, there are certain RPGs that poorly implement on-screen encounter systems, such as the SaGa series, Lunar remakes, and first three Grandia titles, where enemies, regardless of the party's strength and levels, charge the player. In my opinion, however, on-screen encounters, if implemented properly, are certainly preferable to traditional random encounters.
Other Encounter Systems
Other RPGs, such as Dragon Quest VIII, choose to have ultra-powerful enemies appear on the field (alongside normal random encounters), which the player can capture to use in a monster party if victorious. Wild ARMs 3, furthermore, has a system where indicative exclamation points appear above the active character's head, with the player able to skip encounters, although skipping encounters indicated by white exclamation points will drain the player's encounter gauge, which the player can increase through special items.
An encounter system I would like to see in an RPG is one where random encounters are completely optional. In such a system, exclamation points randomly appear above the active character's head, and if the player presses the confirm button, he or she can see which enemies compose the encounter, after which he or she can either choose to enter the battle or simply skip it. The closest RPGs I've seen with such a system are the third and fourth Breath of Fires, where indicative exclamation points randomly appear above Ryu's head on the overworld, though the confirm button takes the player to a field where the player can fight normal random battles.
Conclusion
In summation, regardless of whichever type of encounter system RPG developers opt for, there are certainly many ways in which they can implement them properly. Properly-implemented encounter systems, in my opinion, can certainly spare players headaches, and would allow for more enjoyable gaming experiences.
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