RPG Guidance

[PolishedTurd]

I have long thought I'm not into RPGs anymore, lacking the large swaths of time I had as a kid. But I suspect there are some gems I might have missed that would fit into my current lifestyle.

More specifically, I am looking for games that hit all or most of these criteria:

• Very little grinding (or patches to avoid it)
• Linear progression. Not a lot of exploration, backtracking, "where do I go now?", etc. I don't want to talk to every sap in town and read their blurbs at two characters per second until I find the critical piece of info. Just point me at the next place to go and the thing to kill.
• Not a lot of text to wade through. If I wanted to read a book, I would.
• Some kind of real-time element to combat, ideally involving hand-eye coordination and timing, not just taking as long as I want to make a decision. Games like Fable and Tony Hawk have widgets in them where your timing, multi-tasking or coordination greatly affect the outcome. I fantasize that such a thing exists in RPG world, where the amount of damage you deal or receive also has an element of real-time skill, at the caliber of a fighting game or platformer. Short of this, even a countdown element where negative outcomes intensify over time would be an improvement over strict turn-based combat.
• Preferably on NES, SMS, TG16, Genesis/Mega Drive, SNES, PS1, Xbox, Xbox 360, or Steam.

At the time, I greatly enjoyed Phantasy Star 1 and 2, Dragon Warrior, Zelda 1/2/aLttP, Sword of Vermilion. But I could not stand grinding through Phantasy Star nowadays and would only entertain it now with a walk fast + double money/experience patch. The very worst thing I could imagine is the SNES Final Fantasy - walls of text, boring combat, grinding, endless length (from what I remember). I know I'm railing against key elements of the genre, which is why I've all but written it off for myself by now. I don't mean to insult anyone's taste, I'm just talking about my very clear preferences. Within these constraints, what am I missing out on?

[filler]

FFXIII fits all criteria.

[Malias]

Check out Grandia 2 as well.

[PowerPanda]

Legend of Dragoon for PS1 fits the criteria well. There is 1 optional backtracking moment where you actually have to switch discs in order to get your final Dragoon Spirit, and it's totally worth it.

The main draw is that the battles are practically a rhythm game. The more you're able to hit the right patterns, the more damage you do. Many people hate it for this exact reason.

There are some QoL patches up on this site for it.

[Jorpho]

The Spirit Engine!  Charming game.  Turns a lot of the old JRPG standards upside-down.  Also freeware.

I really need to play the sequel one of these days.

[FAST6191]

Legend of Dragoon and Final Fantasy 13? And they say I am a bad person. The former I might put down to bad taste but suggesting someone a bit tepid on the concept do Final Fantasy 13...

Anyway had something similar but it was largely solved by moving to things that are real time or more or less real time.

For that I found a few things on the 360, but I would probably pick Resonance of Fate there for those requirements. If you are feeling particularly flush then Magna Carta II could be a possibility, and no backtracking probably eliminates Eternal Sonata. That said I quite a bit of well done back tracking.

[Jeville]

Within these constraints, what am I missing out on?

Well, a lot.

[Chronosplit]

I second Legend of Dragoon.  Some of the points you mentioned are reasons why some don't like it: The battle system revolves around timed hits almost completely, the game is very much linear outside of some padding at the 2nd disc or about three sidequests, and outside of your attacks the game discourages grinding by making gains from random battles very low.  There's still reason to do them when found or for the odd need to get money (unlike a system like Chrono Cross for example), but the game makes it so that you're almost always at the proper level and boss battles will have by far the most reward.

Just be sure to keep around a guide for Stardust as some are missable and there is no way to tell where one is at all, I believe there's a Wiki about LoD that has just those locations.

[PolishedTurd]

Thanks! Of these, Magna Carta,  Resonance of Fate and Spirit Engine look most up my alley. Grandia looks like "push a button, watch the 20-second attack mini-movie again" in the footage I saw. Would drive me crazy. I can't tell what's happening in FF13.

The polygons and textures from Legend of Dragoon make my eyes bleed, but I will have to give it a shot.

To clarify, I'm not opposed to backtracking, I'm just traumatized from days of yore. When I was a kid, I would get maybe 1-3 hours to play games on the weekend, in 1-hour blocks split with siblings. If I spent my hour pointlessly traipsing the fire swamp again, trawling the towns for where to go next, it was a bummer (pause, long look at Faxanadu, Phantasy Star). It's not imperative to never backtrack, I just don't want the way(s) forward to be too obtuse. There was some NES RPG where you have to cast a spell in an empty room of a dungeon in order to get some critical item, and there is no clue or any other time you do that in the game. Too old for that now. Never again for me.

Regarding the combat mechanics:
In Gears of War, there is a reload widget consisting of a narrow vertical bar that slides across a horizontal bar when the reload action begins. The horizontal bar has a small highlighted section. If you tap the button at just the right time, when the vertical bar is in the highlighted section, you get a faster reload. If you miss, your reload takes much longer. If you do nothing, the reload happens in normal time. The risk/reward of executing a skill like that in the heat of conflict makes it more of a thrill. Really, it's just a silly mini-game, but the stakes make it interesting. Wouldn't it be cool (rhetorical question, seems like the community says hell no) if you had some choice of what aspects you could emphasize on your turn, such as accuracy, distance, area of effect, defense, efficacy of a healing spell, etc. But you could only choose 2 or 3, and each involved its own visual mini-game overlaid on the battlefield, perhaps even simultaneously. So one analog stick has to follow a glowing dot around a circle, while at the same time with the buttons, you have to match some timed sequence like Guitar Hero. And if there's any time left over in your turn, the number of times you can do the Konami code in 5 seconds becomes a damage multiplier. A bunch of parlor tricks like that might be a great time. Getting the exact timing of a single button press, or mashing the buttons as fast as possible might sound dumb, but have you ever knocked down Bald Bull with one jab when he charged, or gotten up from the canvas against Mike Tyson in Punch Out? That's the thrill I seek, in a quasi-turn-based setting with some story.

Hasn't it been done by now?

At any rate, thank you for the recommendations, and let me know if you think of more.

[Disch]

FFXIII fits all criteria.

You might be the first person I've ever seen actually recommend this game.  I've heard nothing but terrible things from everyone I know who's played it.

[Jorpho]

I was really, really looking forward to YIIK RPG; it was hit with significant delays as the developer encountered personal problems.  But the reviews have all been unenthusiastic across the board.  There's probably too much text to wade through anyway.

[FAST6191]

Thanks! Of these, Magna Carta,  Resonance of Fate and Spirit Engine look most up my alley. Grandia looks like "push a button, watch the 20-second attack mini-movie again" in the footage I saw. Would drive me crazy. I can't tell what's happening in FF13.

The polygons and textures from Legend of Dragoon make my eyes bleed, but I will have to give it a shot.

To clarify, I'm not opposed to backtracking, I'm just traumatized from days of yore. When I was a kid, I would get maybe 1-3 hours to play games on the weekend, in 1-hour blocks split with siblings. If I spent my hour pointlessly traipsing the fire swamp again, trawling the towns for where to go next, it was a bummer (pause, long look at Faxanadu, Phantasy Star). It's not imperative to never backtrack, I just don't want the way(s) forward to be too obtuse. There was some NES RPG where you have to cast a spell in an empty room of a dungeon in order to get some critical item, and there is no clue or any other time you do that in the game. Too old for that now. Never again for me.

Regarding the combat mechanics:
In Gears of War, there is a reload widget consisting of a narrow vertical bar that slides across a horizontal bar when the reload action begins. The horizontal bar has a small highlighted section. If you tap the button at just the right time, when the vertical bar is in the highlighted section, you get a faster reload. If you miss, your reload takes much longer. If you do nothing, the reload happens in normal time. The risk/reward of executing a skill like that in the heat of conflict makes it more of a thrill. Really, it's just a silly mini-game, but the stakes make it interesting. Wouldn't it be cool (rhetorical question, seems like the community says hell no) if you had some choice of what aspects you could emphasize on your turn, such as accuracy, distance, area of effect, defense, efficacy of a healing spell, etc. But you could only choose 2 or 3, and each involved its own visual mini-game overlaid on the battlefield, perhaps even simultaneously. So one analog stick has to follow a glowing dot around a circle, while at the same time with the buttons, you have to match some timed sequence like Guitar Hero. And if there's any time left over in your turn, the number of times you can do the Konami code in 5 seconds becomes a damage multiplier. A bunch of parlor tricks like that might be a great time. Getting the exact timing of a single button press, or mashing the buttons as fast as possible might sound dumb, but have you ever knocked down Bald Bull with one jab when he charged, or gotten up from the canvas against Mike Tyson in Punch Out? That's the thrill I seek, in a quasi-turn-based setting with some story.

Hasn't it been done by now?

At any rate, thank you for the recommendations, and let me know if you think of more.

Most games are pretty keen to hold your hand these days. Might miss out on some bonus sections and extras, and not going back to farm something from time to time can also make things a bit harder.

That description sounds like my wish for a fighting game engine in an action game. Some things got close but for the most part no.
Still Resonance of Fate somewhat has that (target selection happens in real time, and charging to fire can be sort of bypassed with an accessory (though with an accessory slot now gone) but is a time based thing, and Eternal Sonata introduced more and more things like that as the game progressed (technically optional). A few things also leant into battlefield placement in the properly turn based arena as well.
I should probably also note one of my not quite guilty pleasures in Doodle Hex on the DS.

Several things have quick time events (see some Final Fantasy 7 limit breaks for an earlier example) and several have button mashing that would put track and field to shame but for the thing like described then we are still mostly in minigames, unless you count lock picking sections and computer hacking sections. Closest I might have is Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles but that is more of a multiplayer gimmick.

[PolishedTurd]

Several things have quick time events (see some Final Fantasy 7 limit breaks for an earlier example) and several have button mashing that would put track and field to shame...

Had to guffaw at the notion of putting Track and Field to shame. What a workout that game was, in the days before turbo controllers. 

Quick Time breaks the 4th wall for me, significantly dampening the festivity. I would rather react more organically with what I see on the screen. Even if it's a thin layer of abstraction like the "Test Your Might" meter in Mortal Kombat, it works better than a concrete image of the button being pressed.

[Bregalad]

You might be the first person I've ever seen actually recommend this game.  I've heard nothing but terrible things from everyone I know who's played it.

Exactly my thoughts too. But the OP asked something weird, an RPG that have few story elements, and in addition that is linear. Usually RPGs tend to either be interesting because of their non-linearity, or beacause of their story. If you're not interested you'd better of play another game genre IMO. (Also FFXXIII might respect this criteria (or not - I have no idea never played it) but it's on the PS3 which is not in the OP's list of wished platforms).

As for the OP's request, I fail to see any game that fits all criteria, except Final Fantasy Mystic Quest : On the SNES, no grinding, linear gameplay, almost no story. And TBH aside of the very great music and a few interesting puzzle, rather boring.

[FAST6191]

Had to guffaw at the notion of putting Track and Field to shame. What a workout that game was, in the days before turbo controllers. 

Quick Time breaks the 4th wall for me, significantly dampening the festivity. I would rather react more organically with what I see on the screen. Even if it's a thin layer of abstraction like the "Test Your Might" meter in Mortal Kombat, it works better than a concrete image of the button being pressed.

Turbo controllers existed way back (I had one for the C64, there were even official ones for the NES) but I more remember track and damaging controllers, especially when the "wrap a wallet around your hand and run it back and forth between the buttons" was the guidance the magazines shared from on high.

[SleepyFist]

I remember the good old days when bullet time was achieved by flicking the start button off and on like once per frame lol.

Might I suggest maybe checking out LiEat?
It's a trilogy of indie RPGs, easiest ones I've ever played, nice little story, not much combat, short playtime, and hidden game breaker weapons, plus it gives off some Spice and Wolf vibes if you're into that.

On the downside, it is a bit dialog heavy, and what little combat there is, is turn based, there's one section at the end of the third game where some level grinding is required for the true end too.

iirc You can get them for free or for just a few bucks on steam.

[thr]

You might be the first person I've ever seen actually recommend this game.  I've heard nothing but terrible things from everyone I know who's played it.

i took me several tries to 'get into' FFXIII, but once it clicked, it turned out pretty interesting. yeah it plays like an interactive movie for the most part, and everyone talks gibberish, but it still looks stunning, and its command synergy battle system can be considered the best in the series, once the game allows you to actually use it fully. i say the OP should give it a try. it is, however, like most FFs, very demanding on one's time (~60 hours average playtime).