Forums → Games → My thoughts on Random Battles

Since the beginning of the role-playing game, there have been random battles (or random encounters)...even going back to the early days of Dungeons & Dragons. Now, I have no problem with getting into a fight in a video game if it's imporant to the story or is meaningful in some way. However, I'm not happy if the game forces the player to get into several random meaningless fights while going from story point A to story point B. This game mechanic seems to only serve the game developer by making the game seem longer than it really is, without having to fill the entire game with engaging story.

as much as story is important (and im one of those who think its THE most important thing in a game) a game that has only story and boss fights just isnt a game. if you are playing as a warior your going to have to fight monsters and not just important figures in the story. when random fights arent that horibble, you get a nice amount of exp and they dont happen to often its good. to less fights would be to boring and too many would be too annoying. those fights also evolve your characters and i personally cant find a different way in which your characters would get stronger. i think random encounters are awfully important in rpgs.

I have to say, though, that the biggest injustice to the gamer is the required random battle grind...when a game not only uses random battles as filler to extend the game time, but when it forces the player to seek out random battles for several hours just so he or she can progress the story. This has to be the laziest thing I've ever seen a game developer do. To be honest, it makes me want to cheat (not that I jump to cheating at the first sign of a challenge). The next time I decide I want to play one of my favorite Final Fantasy games, FF VIII, I'll probably play it on an emulator that allows me to skip all the useless random battles.

i hate grinding too and in my opinion a game that NEEDS you to grind is a not good one. its annoying and takes away the adventure and reality of the game. just as i said before, if your a warrior you WILL encounter random monsters. what you wouldnt do though is to travel in a desert to FIND them so you can fight.

why do that? just run away from the battles. besides... how will you be able to beat that game anyway? you will have no magic (you can only draw them from other monsters) and THATS the way to make your characters strong. without equiping them with the magic your pretty much a naked level 1 character.

All that being said, I love RPG's and I love fighting...just as long as it's engaging, entertaining, and doesn't waste my time.

im not sure how you can say that... if you love fighting why would you skip random encounters? random encounters ARE the meat of an rpg, the way to develope your characters and basically the only way you fight... are you sure YOUR not the one who is being lazy? XD

a good fighting system with a nice encounter/exp ratio will be engaging and fun and... video games DO waste your time you know... espacially rpgs.

a game that NEEDS you to grind is a not good one

A very good point. I completely agree. The perfect balance is having enough normal enemies to help strengthen your party and skills without being a grindfest.
I'm currently playing an RPG called Tales from the Abyss. It's got a good system for encounters. You see enemy mobs on the overworld, so you can avoid them mostly. If you really need it, you can run into them with purpose, but only a few will actually need confrontation.
Honestly, the battles also help solidify the character interactions and personality. You really appreciate character's healing powers when in battle.

This game mechanic seems to only serve the game developer by making the game seem longer than it really is, without having to fill the entire game with engaging story.

Even though the story is certainly the most interesting part of the game, story alone just isn't a video game. It would be a video, or a 2hr movie more precisely. The battles in an RPG are very important. The battles are the easiest way to really put your persona into the game. You control how you battle and what kind of strategy to use.

a game that has only story and boss fights just isnt a game

I agree that some games might be boring with only story and boss fights, but I'm sure others would probably be no different or better. Plus, a game can have a ton of fighting and story, and be extremely entertaining...as long as the combat is engaging (i.e. Metal Gear Solid).

why do that? just run away from the battles. besides... how will you be able to beat that game anyway? you will have no magic (you can only draw them from other monsters) and THATS the way to make your characters strong. without equiping them with the magic your pretty much a naked level 1 character.

To be honest, I would probably cheat myself some spells as well. But that's only because the game developer forces the character to seek out hundreds of cumbersome encounters with mobs with different abilities just to be strong enough to survive the story. Standing in the same random battle with 1 or 2 mobs for an hour while I draw out 99 ice spells for each of my party members isn't my idea of fun...especially having to do that for tons of other spells and mobs. And even though you can probably manage to get through most of the game without a lot of tedious spell grinding just from the random battles you get into going from place to place, having to play out all of those battles with the same music and the same animations over and over doesn't really appeal to me.

if you love fighting why would you skip random encounters?

I would want to skip the random battles that are only put there to draw out the game. Some normal fights and most boss fights are engaging, entertaining and are important to the story...those I love.

are you sure YOUR not the one who is being lazy? XD

Haha...you're right about that one...I'm definitely lazy.

video games DO waste your time you know... espacially rpgs.

I (and I'm sure most people in the world) would agree that video games in general are a waste of time. However, the whole point of wasting your time (and don't forget money) is to be entertained...and I have to say that, in many cases, random battles are too cumbersome and boring to be entertaining (not to mention how they tend to break you away from the story, often violently).

To be honest, I would probably cheat myself some spells as well. But that's only because the game developer forces the character to seek out hundreds of cumbersome encounters with mobs with different abilities just to be strong enough to survive the story. Standing in the same random battle with 1 or 2 mobs for an hour while I draw out 99 ice spells for each of my party members isn't my idea of fun...especially having to do that for tons of other spells and mobs. And even though you can probably manage to get through most of the game without a lot of tedious spell grinding just from the random battles you get into going from place to place, having to play out all of those battles with the same music and the same animations over and over doesn't really appeal to me.

well tough luck. thats the MAIN idea of the game. and i doubt you can call it a game you like when you skip the main point of the games gameplay.

I would want to skip the random battles that are only put there to draw out the game. Some normal fights and most boss fights are engaging, entertaining and are important to the story...those I love.

your left with almost nothing. an interactive movie maybe...

I (and I'm sure most people in the world) would agree that video games in general are a waste of time. However, the whole point of wasting your time (and don't forget money) is to be entertained...and I have to say that, in many cases, random battles are too cumbersome and boring to be entertaining (not to mention how they tend to break you away from the story, often violently).

depends on the game. and a game that does that does a horibble work as a game. ff10 random encounters for example were amazing in my opinion.