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I hate stealing mechanics in traditional JRPGs
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this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2024
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This is partly why FF9 was a terrible installment in the Final Fantasy franchise. Such a garbage thing to centre the game around and with zero innovation in this aspect.
At least 7 played around with a magic system and the way it interacted internally.
At least 8 changed the system for summons and stat boosts, despite being flawed.
Each of those were central to the story and the way the game played. What did 9 do? Uhhh... you have to steal. A lot. Also there's a job system except it's a pseudo-job system which is really anaemic. How thrilling!
I beat ff9 as a stupid kid without ever stealing anything, it's only necessary if you're trying to 100%.
It's like arguing that maxing out Freya's dragon slayer move is a necessary mechanic. Sure, it'll make the optional super boss less annoying, but it's really not necessary.
In the same way that you can beat FFX without playing Blitzball (aside from half of a mandatory game) but my point isn't that you must do it, rather that it's central to the story and yet it's straight up tedious and completely lacking in any imagination.
I guess having more than one item available to steal was the major innovation in this respect?
Blitzball is a major aspect of FFXs story, but in FFIX stealing is just an option on a menu. I guess I agree that it's not a good mechanic but I disagree with the weight you put on it.
I mean, the protagonist is locked into a pseudo-class of thief, he is part of a troupe of thieves, and thieving is a motif throughout the game with you visiting the thieves' hideout, going to a city of thieves, the kidnapping of royalty and fighting against others to protect your loot etc. etc.
From my perspective you're underselling how thieving is central to the FF9 story by saying that it's simply one command in a battle menu.
It's a bit of a problem when most of the game's mechanics feel unnecessary
Stealing during combat was not nearly "most" lol, rest of the game was more or less fine.
I mean most of the deeper mechanics and content. It's just there for completionists
I would argue that grind for full completion is not even mechanics, it just fake content using the normal mechanics and maybe force you to minmax and run around really much.