How do you guys feel about Random Encounter in old jrpgs.

[Cantarella]

pretty neutral. can be omega tedious or not but that's really kind of independent of the way the game throws battles at you. game could be throwing lots of static encounters at you or overworld enemies and it would be just as annoying. the true enemy is thoughtless enemy design that serves to do nothing but waste the player's time. Will say that there seems to be something about overworld enemies that tends to lead designers towards being less heavy-handed with the encounters. For the dev, I think having a visual representation of enemies on the screen goes a long way towards avoiding dropping so many that the amount of trash battles resembles the 'breath of fire 2' experience.

probably the best thing random encounters have going for them is the surprise factor. like stumbling on that weird cerberus thing in the first ffv desert or a 1/10000 chance of some super weird enemy appearing. worst thing is that it makes it more of a pain to do low level runs. think wild arms 3's system where you had random encounters but could pay gems (that you could refill by exploring the dungeon) to avoid them was pretty enjoyable.

 

[TsookBoyAdvance]

Random encounters my beloathed...

 

[Action_Hank]

I'm playing Digimon Story: Lost Evolution and the random encounters are horrible. Every time I unlock a new area, I frantically search for a shop to buy a repel or holy bottle type item. I think Pokemon did random encounters best, where most areas have dedicated encounter zones (grass, water, cave) and they had repels available quite early.

The worst part is there is no map, so you're just going on vibes. Easy to get stuck going back and forth fighting and fleeing the same damn jobbers.

The worst WORST part is that halfway through there are still no repel items.

 

[Zooey]

What annoys me the most is when its Pokemon, and youre fighting something you know you can one shot, but it does confuse ray, and you spend the next 4 turns hitting yourself in the face.

 

[Strategist's iconStrategist]

At first I didn't mind it but over the years the flaws have been exposed. When you want to grind out some exp they don't happen fast enough and when you just want to explore or escape the dungeon ASAP they get in the way of the experience. Nowadays I prefer RPGs with encounters that are visible on the map, like Chrono Trigger.

 

[Pandaprewmaster325]

FF8 did it best it tackled this issue , in FF5 you could finish a fight move 1 step and OH MY GOD ANOTHER FIGHT!!!!!

in Final Fantasy 8 you could halve encounter rate or even do no encounters at all.... Wanna explore quickly? No encounter! Want to explore and fight? Half encounter! Want a lot of fighting? Don't use half or none encounter.

Games like FF2 and FF3 have a pre set fixed amount of steps the player takes before a guaranteed encounter occurs talk about annoying..... So yup it's shame FF9 didn't bring the encounter modifiers from 8 that's one aspect i disliked about it.

I don't hate them just make them not happen much or use emulator save to not get into one walk few steps then save if encounter happens then load till you reach the designated location.

 

[Faust03]

It honestly depends on how much I run into enemies

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

I think the best implementation of random encounters come from the Ar Tonelico games. You have a limit of random encounters per dungeon or hostile area, for example 12 in Dungeon b + 5, after that you're free to move with no encounters, besides mandatory ones, if you want to grind you need to exit and reenter said dungeon.
For mere grinding they're quite useful, but a real pain in more puzzle, maze like dungeons.

 

[newageretrohippie]

i'm not a huge fan, but it doesn't bother me unless, like, you have to fight something every 2 or 3 steps... that's super obnoxious.

It's way better if the enemies can be seen when you are walking around and (sometimes) avoided.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

The thing is that sometimes high encounters are absolutely necessary to fight on because those kinda games are usually based their difficulties by grinding mobs to certain levels. But what they don't realize that repeating them ad nauseam for quite a long time would just make most gamers shy from completing them entirely.
That's why most good RPGs always had items that reduce or even let you have no encounters at all even if they had high random encounters by default.
Something like Fantasian is really innovative for making sure that your supposed random encounters are saved in entirely different realm if you just want to enjoy the story ASAP.

 

[Hourai]

Anyway, Shin Megami Tensei 1 is good up to the final dungeon. Recommended.

By that point, you should have a demon with Estoma or simply have the Estoma item, which removes all random encounters until you enter a new area. Not floor; area. This is a small problem with the Law climb (you need to go outside about 3/4 of the way up for like, a few steps), but not at all with the Chaos descent. If you don't have one, a fusion you can make gives a demon with one. Also recommend SMT1.

Depending on my level of tolerance, either I just barely tolerate random encounters, or I despise them enough to just not play. Often, I land in the realm of tolerate. But I can't play too many random encounter JRPGs back to back without that tolerance snapping for serval months.

 

[DPRWesley]

They're tolerable if done right, if not they're an obnoxious waste of time. Over abundance with low exp rates are by far the most aggravating.
Though my vote for best in class goes to the Wild ARMS series. Right before an encounter, an exclamation pops up over your head. You can press a button to skip the fight. First time visiting a dungeon, each skip uses a charge, taken out of a max count of I think ten or so. Revisiting old dungeons takes no charge, provided you've leveled up a reasonable amount.

 

[Stolas_SMT]

HOO-HOOH! Now it's probably quite DAFT of me to even put myself in here consindering I am one, BUT I for one- decree that all random encounter enemies form the most backbone of a JRPG.... specially if it's one where you can recurit said fiends! So, this is to say... I'll take a influx of encounters over none in my RPGS!

(OOC: I like. ADOOOORREEE rpg enemy designs, so like. I'll purposely drown myself in RNG fight after fight JUST so I can glance at some cool sprites!

 

[Skeleben]

Hands down the worst random encounter rate I've ever experienced is the time I tried to play the first Megaman Battle Network game. I found the combat fun but I legit couldn't get 5 steps sometimes without getting a random encounter. I really wanna go back and finish it so I can play the rest of them, maybe there's a emulator cheat that reduces the encounter rate...

 

[happymasksalesman]

Some were good some were worst!
Seriously encounter with enemies which where a lot and when you thing you beat them they call for help! Still hurt final fantasy 1 hand who summon grand titan for help! He sum a mini boss!

 

[KirboDeku]

As long as the rate is low or you have ways to reduce the rate that is, then it's really no big deal. In fact, I can prefer this over having them on the map if they're done right.

I'm making a RPG myself, and I intentionally decided on random encounters because the problem is that avoiding encounters so easily drops any of the tension in this game where supposedly every character's life is on the line. And anyway, nothing beats the quick dopamine rush of encountering a rare strong enemy you could recruit and hearing that epic voidform theme.

It also means that for bosses, you can just ignore all encounters and get to the fight at full health. Not only is the boss easier, but you also make less strategic decisions on what to do in the dungeons, since you can just get everything free of charge without random encounters.

 

[Boscobilly]

I don't like them. All my favorite RPGs are games that don't have them such as Chrono Trigger, Earthbound (Mother 2), Mother 3 and all the Mario RPGs.

I will put up with them though if I think the game is interesting otherwise.