The Splendor of Job Class Systems

by Josh Davis 

For some reason the prospect of a job or class changing system has a certain allure to it. There are three main points to be made here. First, many popular and successful games implemented such a system. Second, this sort of system gives the player much more control over the course of the game, and it gives the player one more thing to do other than be led around by the nose in a monotonous rhythm I call 'RPG syndrome'.

When stated earlier that "many popular and successful games implemented such, some of you out there in the audience were out there shaking your heads muttering, "oh yeah, name one!" I will do that; in fact, I will name several: Shining Force and Shining Force 2, Final Fantasy 5, and Final Fantasy Tactics are all at the top of my list. Who can forget the ten levels one had to struggle towards in order to promote a character in the original Shining Force, or the steeper 20 necessary for the sequel? In both cases, promotion helps the player achieve a sense that he or she has accomplished something great; moreover, it breathes new life into the game, as even the greatest of characters grow static after numerous trying battles. More rewarding still is that promotion gives characters that have been completely and utterly useless a new lease on life. Being handed a nice clean slate is justifiable, too; normally, the characters that had been seemed to be the epitome of pointless morph into terrorizing terminators.

Next, we have Final Fantasy 5's job system, which ties in directly with the plot; the number of jobs you have to choose from is proportionate to the progression of the storyline. Also, as I said, it gives the player more control; with the job class system, you can, to a degree, mold the protagonists to fit more closely your personal opinions of them, or give them classes that you feel suits the personas they portray in both dialogue and action. My 'final' word of Final Fantasy 5 supports the third point I made; it helped prevent 'RPG syndrome'. Perhaps 'RPG syndrome' would be better-titled 'Linear syndrome'(that is where the player is led around by the nose without the pleasure of side quests to divert him or her and lessen the sometimes over-dramatization we see in the grand epic plots of RPG's). It gives the player something else to do, it adds to the joys of leveling up and it was like a continual bar of 'sweet success' as my party developed an impressive array of skills and techniques which motivated me to keep playing the game.

Several of the things I mention in the case of Final Fantasy 5 can be said for Final Fantasy Tactics, except for one very important difference. Because the characters start from "square one" or "squire one" in Final Fantasy Tactics, almost devoid of personality or even identity in general (save for a name), it is your task, even your responsibility, to mold them into powerful warriors for your cause. It was sometimes like the case of Margarita, a character I had who began as a potion-carrying chemist; when she grew into a mediator, it seemed that she had become a different person. Since you can retain skills learned in other professions, however, I found myself relying on the same or at least very similar tactics throughout the game. This, in my opinion, is a very innovated spin on character development, and furthermore, a definite step in the right direction for the future. Finally, something new appeared in FFT: the game didn't force you to keep characters you didn't like, which goes back to the point being made about class changing giving the player more control over the course of the game.

I believe that more job or class changing systems should be put into RPG's of all variations, to one degree or another, because I don't think there are doubts in the minds of the masses that the shining examples I have focused on were anything less than just that - shining! (No pun intended) So, if you've steered clear of said games in the past, I hope this editorial will provoke you to trot on down to your local store or flea market and get crackin'!