Story.

I hate it when open world games become unfocused with their narrative. Very few games are able to make it work both ways and I tend to feel fatigued after a while until I jump back on the main story path.

I prefer approach that was in Secret World Legends. You tell me, which one it is. But aren't those jRPGs where freedom is usually sacrificed over the story?

I remember trying skyrim and wondering where the durability was. It didn't take long before i realized it's lack of presence made little difference, as 80% of the time if you enter a fight, kill your enemies, pick up weapons you just equip a different sword that's in better shape, and never have to do any repairing (and getting blacksmithing/repair up in Morrowind involved buying large batches of cheap repair tongs and using a autoclicker).


Mhmm... I had my snap & trap spell i remember. I think it was 13 second bound dagger, 12 second soul trap on target. You can do similar with an item enchanting, though easier to do 2 separate ones due to... the amount of points and how expensive it gets doing more than one enchantment is.

There's a variable to say how fast items recharge, which if you set to 0, they don't automatically recharge at all.

In a new game i'd have a halfway decent enchant (~40) and enchant all my clothes to be heal on self, something like 10-15 charges and 1-2 energy per use. Spam self healing and by the time you used all your items the original ones would be recharged, infinite healing early on. Removing self recharge would... certainly have made that type of play less useful :P

But... bound weapon for 10 seconds, i found often was long enough for short fights (random low level encounters) and the bonuses from the bound weapon were quite worth it.

Reminds me... there's a bug in morrowind where sometimes if you repaired a bound weapon, it wouldn't disappear after it's time, so you had a weightless enchanted weapon you could never drop.

Hmmm... now that's one way to make a soulblade....

I haven't even heard of the game you mention.

Yes, JRPGs do tend to take the story-heavy approach, but I really appreciate the ones that do not, including:
* The later parts of FF6 and Chrono Trigger, as I mentioned before. You see some of this in Final Fantasy 5, as well.
* The original Dragon Quest, where the only thing stopping you from exploiring most of the world at the start is that you will run into enemies that you can't realistically defeat or run away from until higher levels (plus an area of poison swamp that will kill you at low levels if you have no healing).
* Dragon Quests 2, 3, 4, and 6, once you reach a certain point in the game.
* The Romancing SaGa series. Also, SaGa Frontier and, from what I have read, certain main characters for Unlimited Saga.

Funny thing is, Oblivion "fixed" this in an interesting way. You can still repair a bound weapon, and it would still end up weightless, but you would then be allowed to drop it, which would prevent the item from disappearing. (You could also enchant it after repairing it, which changes the formID of the item, preventing it from being removed when the spell ends.)

Well, you are missing a great game. It's free, btw (actually it's f2p, but there is no real need to pay, unless you want some rally fancy outfit or emote).

Ah, I see.

Both? You can have a great story without being bogged down in cutscenes, and then have a lot of freedom on top of it. Case and point the first Fallout.

I've been partial to story being woven into the gameplay; and having limited freedom. (Say Avernum.)

I am a particular case: I didn't play RPGs while growing up and only discovered them as an adult. As a consequence, I have played very few of them (in the last couple of years GOG has started solving this problem). I estimate I have played about as many JRPGs as WRPGs.

I have a passion for storytelling, so I prefer a game with a rich story. But I don't like extra-long cutscenes where I can't do anything for several minutes. I prefer the story to be exposed by exploration, finishing quests and dialogue with NPCs. Once in a while a short cinematic will be necessary; that's fine as long as it doesn't feel like I am watching a movie instead of playing a game.

I feel comfortable with a more or less lineal story and a general guidance on where should I go next or what I'm supposed to do to continue the main quest. I think the best way to do that is unlocking new areas in the map after you have met all the conditions for a pivotal event, but until that point arrives, you can still leave room for exploration and secondary missions. Returning to areas of the map you have already visited should be encouraged (for example, new monsters, buildings, NPCs or trading opportunities become available), or even needed to finish a new mission and complete the story. I don't mind if the story branches out at some point and you can get different outcomes depending on your decisions, but I'd prefer a warning that whatever you decide will have consequences.

Since I still consider myself an RPG newbie, I would really appreciate recommendations from more experienced players if they know games that meet this approach. ;)

Yeah, oblivion did a lot of 'fixes'. You can't drop key items, they weigh nothing, you can't pick any doors leading to quests, and enchanting is limited to fixed single enchantments AFTER you go through a bunch of hoops.

My least favorite of the three.

Hello! Have you played literally anything by Spiderweb Software? (Exile, Avernum, Nethergate, Geneforge?)

WRPGs, because they have a better chance of offering the experience I want, not only in terms of "freedom" but in terms of theme and (darker) tone. Of course, there are exceptions on both ends with WRPGs that are not as much to my taste, JRPGs that are more to my taste. I grew up on both WRPGs and JRPGs, but there are few modern JRPGs that really scratch the itch for me. It's not a matter of "outgrowing" them or anything either; I just find the new ones for me tend to pale to the older ones in story, production values, etc. I might still play and enjoy the newer ones, but most are missing a certain type of soul or vibe to me. That said, I also find some WRPGs lacking compared to older ones...just not in as many cases as with JRPGs. Definitely prefer the one that allows me to do things "out of order." Really not a fan of on-rails gameplay in most cases. For example, I also prefer more open games in other genres, like Deus Ex. Also, I definitely like the possibility of the player going into areas where they are "underleveled." Replay value is very important to me in terms of determining the quality of a game. Being able to experience the game through various routes and playstyles adds to replay value. I also think most RPGs of both styles do a fine job of guiding the player and hinting at routes for them to go, so that it is less likely the player wanders into a dangerous area by accident. That said, I would actually be fine with that possibility of wandering into areas by accident, but I know that turns off a lot of other users.

WRPGs - I think the most annoying thing for me in JRPGs is grind and random encounters - I like to pick my fights and not to be thrown into one every few steps. I know I have an option to flee in JRPGs, but I never use it anyway, because I know I will probably need to grind later so I might as well do it the moment it happens, but yeah I usually don't enjoy that. Plus, I don't like anime aesthetics (not that it stops me if I like the game - e.g. I loved Persona 4 and I'm having blast with Danganronpa now - but it's off-putting to me). But I really like turn-based combat. I'm not sure that those are necessarily mutually exclusive - you can still tell good story in open world. Personally I'm not fan of huge open worlds - they usually have too many generic quests and collectibles that don't add anything to the experience (I still try to get them though -.-') . I prefer games that cover smaller area (e.g. Yakuza, Pathologic), because it's easier to manage.
In any case I prefer more fleshed-out story, but means by which it is achieved are usually secondary concern to me. I'm fine with both linear and more freedom-based experience.

WRPGs with a good story in an open world. There are a few out there:)

Oh, and third person perspective please.

WRPG with Story in an Open World or at least Semi-Open World (world have restricted ares that open up as story progresses). While I prefer Open World setting, that does not mean I don't enjoy Story focused non Open World WRPG's.

To me all those would be improvements...well except the weapon enchantment thing.