A specific aspect of Dragon Quest VII

[Nolm]

Dragon Quest VII on PS1 is a classic JRPG with a really neat class/job system and is very very long. The classes are not what I'm after and the length is only partially relevant.
In this game's story, for about 85% of it, there is no chosen one plot, no grand purpose, no urgent world-ending threat. This allows the game to be structured such that each area or region is its own contained adventure with no or minor connections to others, instead of having one big overarching plot where each step of the journey is a minor goal for a grander objective. This makes each adventure feel important instead of just a fetch quest or distraction from what the heroes should be really doing. This feeling is strengthened by the story making it clear that the heroes are just passionate kids who like the thrill.
Yes, the story does eventually fall back into the usual "chosen one, kill the Devil, save the world" for the end. You could also say that restoring the world's geography is a "grand purpose".
But I really enjoyed feeling like a wanderer without a grander purpose for most of it simply enjoying each episode for its own sake. Kind of like older TV shows before Netflix, each episode its own contained plot.

Any other games out there with a similar structure or vibe?

 

[Graw]

I liked Dragon Quest VI for pretty much the same reasons you describe. There is an overall plot but it takes a back seat for a lot the game and you tend to be focused more on the individual vignettes and adventures in the different towns and places you go. At least that's how it felt to me. Especially once you reach the mid-game. There's usually something you're supposed to be doing but it never really feels urgent. For me a lot of the game felt like I was adventuring around in a fairy tale world with my buddies, especially with the party chats.

Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song has a main plot but you can choose to totally ignore it and just do whatever you want and the plot just kind of carries on whether you're part of it or not. It uses an event rank system. As you fight battles your event rank increases and basically time passes. Different quests and events will become available or unavailable depending on your event rank. It reminds me the most of Majora's Mask with its three day cycle. Obviously it's not exactly the same but it gives that same feeling of being in a world that exists and carries on whether you're a part of things or not.

The game has several main characters to choose from. A couple of them have back stories that tie into the main stories if you choose to follow their questlines but there are other characters that are intended to be more free roaming characters who's quest lines don't tie into anything at all. All the main characters can be recruited as party members you can follow their quest lines as you choose.

Out of all the jrpgs I've ever played it's the one that I felt had the most freedom to just adventure around and make your own stories and path through the world.

 

[Xdqwerty Xdqwerty]

But I really enjoyed feeling like a wanderer without a grander purpose for most of it simply enjoying each episode for its own sake. Kind of like older TV shows before Netflix, each episode its own contained plot.

Maybe fallout, or elder scrolls?

 

[Bakuma1997]

The Etrian Odyssey DS games, you are literally just a guild of mercs looking for treasure in a city, yes you eventually has to, by commandment of JRPGs, kill God, you are armed with whatever you can scavenge from loot, no mystical weapon BS, no chosen ones, just defeat meanies and get some loot

 

[Nolm]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Let me clarify that I'm far more interested in the contained episodic stories than the lack of a main quest. I mentioned not having a quest to kill God as what allows the small adventures to feel meaningful. Just lacking a big goal isn't the point on its own.

 

[Graw]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Let me clarify that I'm far more interested in the contained episodic stories than the lack of a main quest. I mentioned not having a quest to kill God as what allows the small adventures to feel meaningful. Just lacking a big goal isn't the point on its own.

Well. I guess I could clarify my suggestions. DQVI does have a demon king at the end like most of the DQ games but I felt the pressure to actually get there and defeat him was a lot less than say DQV or DQVIII where the main story of killing the big bad was the main driving force behind basically everything you did. A lot of the side stories in DQVI felt more meaningful to me than the actual killing of the big bad guy.

Minstrel Song also has a big final boss but depending on which quest lines you follow throughout the game it can feel like you're working towards defeating it or just that it's something else happening in the world along with the other stuff. You do have to fight him to finish the game but it doesn't necessarily feel more impactful or important than other stuff you can do in the game and depending on which quests you actually do and which character you are it can feel less meaningful than some of the other stuff. It basically allows you to choose whether you want to have the cinematic hero experience or the wandering adventure experience.

When I first played the game I played through it twice in a row. I played the first time as one of the characters tied to the main story and somewhat tried to play through the game roleplaying doing things I figured that character would do. It led to a nice balance of following along with the main events while still having some freedom to get involved in other things. It did generally have that hero's journey feel though.

When I played the second time I picked the pirate character who's story starts with being betrayed by his crew and cast overboard and his questlines vaguely tie into getting revenge. You end up starting in a totally different area in the world and generally I tried to roleplay the way I figured a pirate would. Being more concerned with finding treasure and adventuring around the world than whatever was going on with all the kings and stuff and generally it led to a mostly different experience where a lot of the quests I did were completely different and the playthrough felt a lot more about all the little quests and adventures I had along the way.

The game really leaves it up to you how meaningful you want things to be. If you want to be the hero and save the world. It let's you do that. If you want to adventure do quests and spend your time following the different storlines in the world it let's you do that too. Hell, if you want to spend the game gathering resources and blacksmithing yourself the ultimate set of gear and just ignore everything like some Atelier game or something you could do that too. Or you could completely ignore that aspect of the game entirely like I did the first time.

But the thing that I like about it is that it's not like games like Skyrim or Oblivion where a lot of the stuff you can do feels meaningless. The event rank system pushes the game forward and forces you to make choices about what you do in your playthrough making everything feel meaningful. The quests and events you find have weight to them because by the time you finish one questline other ones you could have taken will have advanced on without you.

 

[gekiganwing]

On the NES, there was a Taxan game just called Magician. It asked the player to wander through town, helping people. There is an overall goal. So, can this be called an RPG? I'll just shrug and say "probably." Maybe it can be called a hybrid adventure game. Maybe it's a hybrid life sim, since the main character needs to keep track of his health.

I assume someone else knows the Metal Max games, and how close they get to open world gameplay. How much do these titles let the player find goals and sidequests?

The Atelier Marie remake for today's consoles includes an indefinite mode which, as far as I know, eliminates the default five year time limit. Everything I know about this game indicates that it doesn't have a major antagonist.