Note: This article contains spoilers for Legend of Dragoon.
Most RPGs define their combat systems by the choice they offer. The difference between a fighter and wizard is not just their stats, but also what verbs they pick. In large part, combat depth is achieved by providing many relevant choices to the player.
RPGs sometimes mix things up by limiting said choices. The idea, presumably, is that the player will be challenged out of their comfort zone by being forced into a smaller skillset. However, this also poses challenges for the designer, since it limits the valid space for both sides. Limiting the player also means limiting the opposition, since there are fewer situations the player can handle with their reduced skillset.
It is no surprise then, that many designers fail to make enjoyable challenges out of such restrictions. Often even in good RPGs, they end up being slogs where your party is gimped and either fights against ridiculously weak opposition, or is curbstomped by unfair odds. Plenty of examples abound; the Magnet Cave of FF4, Heckran Cave of Chrono Trigger, Fanatics Tower in FF6 are a few prominent ones.
Legend of Dragoon tries something similar with a few encounters, and regrettably does not succeed. It is not however due to a lack of trying. The designers attempted to explain the restrictions in universe reasonably and there are ways around it. That said, they are still largely failures, and it's worth looking at them as a learning exercise.
Grand Jewel
The Grand Jewel is the first blatant example. There are technically other battles which limit your choices before this, like having Haschel forced in your party while fighting a bandit or a mid act boss speeding up if you use Dragoon form. However, the Jewel is notable in outright disabling one of your most powerful commands that you were used to by this point. If any of the team transforms into a Dragoon, it nerfs their offenses and defenses considerably. This is a huge deal, since normally the Dragoon transformation is a huge power and defense boost. It's also pretty much the main way of casting spells. Locking all of this is a huge setback to the player.
That's not the only problem though. In Legend of Dragoon, transforms are a commitment. Once transformed, characters can't turn back until they have depleted their meter. While normally this is a neat way to balance out the raw power of the transform, it ends up being a huge dick move for the newcomer. This also makes it so that unless players somehow foresee this restriction and drain their dragoon bars, strategic spells like Rose Storm are off limits.
Let's talk about the player's options. Considering that they can't transform, and thus can't cast spells, this leaves them to... attack and use items. This is pitted against a behemoth that not only uses a slew of strong spells, but also screws with party levels to nerf their damage even further.
In the end, what should have been an interesting gimmick turns into an absolute slog devoid of strategic depth. But, that's not all...
Divine Dragon
Soon after, the party runs into the Divine Dragon blowing up the city they last visited. Thèy rush to the mountain it resides on to defeat it. To weaken it, they use the Dragon Block Staff from the earlier boss fight before engaging it.
The Divine Dragon fight largely has the same effect on Dragoons as the last boss, as is expected. While it's not as egregiously unfair or tedious as the Grand Jewel, it still largely showcases the flaws of blocking an important part of the mechanics. While the staff is a bold attempt to contextualize the dragon's real power, it still feels unfair to have the boss use all of its powers when you can't use your spells.
Doing it Right
Since I've posted a few examples where restricting choices was done wrong, I feel it's best to end with one of doing it right. Lloyd is a boss fight later into the story. He also restricts Dragoon transforms, however in his case the punishment is much less severe. When a party member transforms, he will attempt to instantly kill them with his sword. This is actually established a long while back, when he murders a party dragoon in a cutscene with the exact same sword. While this does hurt the player a bit, it doesn't outright lock out transforms. This is because the instant death can be worked around by equipping an accessory, making it an effective tradeoff rather than a complete block. This even opens up alternate strategies, as he will waste several turns trying to kill the immune dragoon. It's a meaningful restriction that makes a fight more memorable and interesting without gutting strategic depth.
Comments
Post a Comment