Peter Parker's Dillemma
I've been playing Persona 3 quite a bit lately to prepare for Persona 3:FES. It's far from a perfect game as it can get very grindtastic at times. However, I think what keeps me coming back to it rather than the seemingly endless dungeon excursions, is the social element of the game. Like no other game I can easily think of this game captures the comic-book idea of trying to maintain a social life and identity seperate from the adventure sections. I would kill to have this mechanic incorporated into some good comic book games. Most hero games such as the Spiderman titles and the Justice League game, etc have had complete focus on the costumed hijinks. But what makes these characters compelling is the binary lives they lead, not just that they beat up criminals in their pajamas. Even City of Hero's didn't offer the chance of creating an alter ego. Giving Mary Jane piggyback rides (uggh) does not make for characterization. Imagine a game in which you had a team of heroes that not only went out and kicked butt together but actually socially interacted with each other. For example, imagine that two of them have had a rocky romantic relationship with each other. Trying to keep the team united against internal pressures as well as external enemies. To me this sounds like it could be very compelling. This is probably a dream, and I'm probably not conveying my idea as well as I could, but do you find this idea appealing as well?
"..when the chips are down these "civilized" people will eat each other. You'll see...I'll show ya."-The Joker
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This is exactly why I love Persona 3 as well. It's like playing two games at once, each simultaneously at odds with one another and yet positively entwined! You need to build your relationships in the social interactions to increase the power of your personas and aid success in Tartarus, but to spend time in Tartarus you need to sacrifice some of your social opportunities.
Maybe I'm explaining it wrong, but I love the way it works. Very unique jrpg, I'm very glad I picked it up!
This is actually quite close to what I'm advocating. You'd still have the action but the social aspects would be just as important. What if your character has to choose between his civillian job or pouring all his resources into pursuing the villain? Does your character flirt with the supermodel he just saved or does he try to keep his social and hero life seperate? What if you're dating someone in your civillian life but find yourself attracted to a female crimefighter you've run into? So many interesting possibilities.
"..when the chips are down these "civilized" people will eat each other. You'll see...I'll show ya."-The Joker
This was an idea played with in Vampire: The Masquerade. You could be a badass vampire and kill with reckless abandon, but the other vampires did not like it. You had to keep your "secret identity" secret or there were consequences. I think this is definitely a theme that should be explored more. There are a lot of situations that could benefit from this: super heroes, Jedi in OT Star Wars lore, Star Fleet on some pre-warp planet, Earth invaders, WWII spy games. Maybe Ken Levine is reading this thread.
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There was also a similar mechanic in the White Wolf Mage RPG. You had 2 warring factions of people who've "Awakened" and were mages. Problem was is if you were a mage and used magic out in the open you suffered what was called a Paradox. So if you wanted to cause someone in a car to get hurt you wouldn't just throw a fireball at the car. But you could cause an animal to dart out in front of another car at just the right time to cause that car to swerve into the target. Or you could cause an electrical short in the traffic light and the other lanes pile in on the car... Lots of fun for everyone
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Yeah, but really it just plays out like the jocks vs. the emo kids.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
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Wow, fond memories, I played in a technocracy campaign back in my pen and paper role playing days. Nothing like hunting down a few reality deviants. Wonderful toys FTW!
"..when the chips are down these "civilized" people will eat each other. You'll see...I'll show ya."-The Joker
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Gamer Tag: Rantyr
The jocks are cavalier about their power, and the emo kids obsess over how terrible it is to be cavalier about their power.. It's been done many times, Anne Rice novels come to mind, for instance.
Ah... none of our games were like that.
Gamer Tag: Rantyr
I was referring more to that emo kids pretend they have secret dark powers and the jocks beat them up with their fists.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
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Great thoughts, mindcrime. You are right, this is exactly what is missing from City of Heroes. Not only are secret identities a great dramatic force, but I imagine they'd make a wonderful gameplay mechanic, provided you care enough about the social world as much as the combat.
I have got to pick up Persona 3.
We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all.
Wait and get FES at the end of April.
As has been said, it IS grindtastic, but it if you're okay with that you will probably enjoy it immensely.
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