Relationship-based gaming?

Shagz

Shagz

New Member
I clicked a random "play free!" game banner today, and while most of these things aren't worth a real look, I thought the description of this particular game, Dream of Mirror, sounded interesting. (Note: I haven't played it, nor do I vouch for it's stability, fun or security, so if you're suspicious of such "play for free" games, then stick to that)

http://domo.aeriagames.com/guide/relationship

The general gist is that relationship building is an important part of the game mechanics and helps you progress through the game. Certain attacks and skills are only available to those who have "friends", "lovers" or "master/disciple" relationships and only when those relations are in your party.

I think the idea behind the mechanic has some very real potential, but no idea if the game actually executes it the way I'm thinking.

It would be nice if the game actually measures real time invested in a relationship in a meaningful and fun way, rather than just "group with this person for X missions to get token which you can exchange for skill", which is just level grinding all over again. It could be a rewarding system, or it could just produce a giant chat room with people spamming "LFF for l33t missions".
 
I would think that if in certain games you could acquire unique skills from working together with someone woudl be awesome...like in GW, say ya kill 10 bosses together with someone, you can learn of one of their skills...or if you beat the entire campaign together, you get health/energy/armor bonuses..
 
Ya, it could be a neat aspect to the game. i wouldnt base a whole game off of it. But that would be a cool little tid bit. I wouldnt mind seeing it in GW. i just dont think the whole idea of a marriage is right tho..
 
I sketched out some ideas for a console RPG several years ago and several of my ideas were based around the relationships between characters in the party. My philosophy is that a RPG is measured primarily by its character and story and secondarily by battle systems, graphics, and other components. That's why Final Fantasy VII is overrated (weak characters based on tired stereotypes) and why Final Fantasy VI is more engrossing than even Final Fantasy XII (which features excellent graphics and one of the better battle systems in the FF series).

Of course, my ideas were based on one player controlling multiple characters, but the same theories (wherever they may be; most of my life is packed into boxes and shoved into storage) could apply to multiplayer gaming.
 
Knights of the old republic 2 had the relationship thing in it.

it made the game really interesting, but also made it challenging. all depends on how you play it.
 
Fire Emblem (on the Gameboy) also had relationships, but it was very simple. If you positioned characters beside each other at the end of your turn, there relationship would gain points (ie. XP) and when they gathered enough, a cut scene would play with the two characters conversing and developing their story line.

The endings would change depending on what relationships you built up, and when those units were beside each other, they'd gain offensive and defensive bonuses.

The cut scenes were rewarding, to see how different characters interacted with each other, but the mechanism for doing so (playing the units beside each other) was a little facile, plus again, not multi-player.
 
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 has something called "Social Links." I hope to dig up a copy of the game and take it for a spin.

I've read that other Shin Megami Tensei games that Christians would find objectionable (i.e. occult content), so I can't, as a leader of two Christian gaming communities, recommend the game in good conscience.
 
/bump

Okay, I've played about 20 hours of Persona 3 so far and feel I have a better understanding of the games S.Link (Social Link) system. The S.Link feature adds a new layer of depth to the RPG genre and I sincerely hope we'll see it in other forms in future titles.

Again, I can't recommend the game because of its content--but just as I warn against playing Grand Theft Auto because of its content, I can't deny it brought "sandbox" gameplay to the mainstream. Even if the game itself was objectionable, the game moved the genre forward. The same goes for Persona 3.
 
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