A lot of these ideas seem pretty cool! I especially like the simplification/streamlining of the stats. Mind and Body make a lot more physical sense than "Attack", "Defense", etc. And oftentimes games just rename Attack/Defense/MAtk etc to be Strength/Dexterity/Spirit without making them work differently.
This Mind/Body system seems great. I 100% agree that the D&D stats make a lot more sense than most JRPG stats: they represent tangible human characteristics instead of statistics meant to be processed by computers. I'm also happy that you're condemning MP to the annals of history, as you're absolutely right that they're an outdated concept much like "points" or "lives". I cannot stress enough how much I like your simplified stat system.
The food system seems a bit odd to me, however. It's a bit of a double standard, but I like the idea of health being restored from magic potions and thought that makes a lot of sense in JRPGs like Final Fantasy or MARDEK. It reminds the player they're in a fantasy world where magic reigns supreme. Furthermore, healing items are supposed to be capable of healing a character from death's door to fighting form in an instant. Common food can't do that, while "magic potions" can. I personally feel like magic healing potions are more immersive than healing food. To employ your D&D analogy - characters in the D&D world eat common food, but when they need to heal they use magic potions.
The "speed system" is pretty neat too. Definitely seems like you're adding a lot of realism to your battle system that isn't seen in many JRPGs.
It also seems like you're maturing the reaction system too, at least compared to MARDEK. I was wondering if you intend for the same attack to have the same reaction every time, or will the positions of the gold/blue bars change even when using the same attack over and over? Either way, this is a neat idea as well and I think if there's any part of MARDEK that could stand to be more complex rather than less, it's the reactions. Makes the game "easy to learn but hard to master", if you will. Kind of like in the Mario & Luigi RPGs, where each attack had its own timing. While this system wouldn't be as complex as M&L's (Part of M&L's system was figuring out the timing for each attack then mastering it, while this system seems it would just require the latter), it's still a nice improvement that keeps the player engaged more.
All in all, this seems great and I'm excited to see the battle system and the Reimagined MARDEK mature more.
...
But please, for the love of God/Dharma/YALORT, please do not keep that eating animation...
1
Tobias 1104~4Y
I'm glad your opinion of this system is positive! I was expecting people to mostly just point out potential problems, like what always seemed to happen whenever I presented any idea back in the Fig Hunter days...
I like the food idea because it's hardly realistic; I suppose it's no less ridiculous than a night's rest in a bed fully curing all injuries and ailments? I just find it particularly funny imagining a character scoffing half a dozen whole roast chickens in a single battle and recovering from sword slashes to the face in the process. It's silly.
Breath of the Wild used food as restoratives instead of the typical magical potions, and gathering and cooking it added a whole new aspect of the game that wouldn't really be possible with potions (unless you brewed potions from ingredients or something, but that's just introducing an extra step). Link can also eat multiple whole meals in a single bite each, back to back, all between his combat opponent's attacks since it's done from the menu that freezes the world, yet it never seems to register as absurd. Game logic!
I had in mind Mario & Luigi when wondering how to improve reactions, and I might do a similar thing but to a lesser extent. I think having attacks vary in their reaction times each time they're used would lead to more annoyance than appreciation, but if different monsters' attack animations were all slightly different, that might work. I suppose it's going to be different to M&L anyway though because the reaction bar makes it clear when you're supposed to react, rather than just watching the animation visuals. Maybe there could be an option to disable that for people who wanted a greater challenge?
This Mind/Body system seems great. I 100% agree that the D&D stats make a lot more sense than most JRPG stats: they represent tangible human characteristics instead of statistics meant to be processed by computers. I'm also happy that you're condemning MP to the annals of history, as you're absolutely right that they're an outdated concept much like "points" or "lives". I cannot stress enough how much I like your simplified stat system.
The food system seems a bit odd to me, however. It's a bit of a double standard, but I like the idea of health being restored from magic potions and thought that makes a lot of sense in JRPGs like Final Fantasy or MARDEK. It reminds the player they're in a fantasy world where magic reigns supreme. Furthermore, healing items are supposed to be capable of healing a character from death's door to fighting form in an instant. Common food can't do that, while "magic potions" can. I personally feel like magic healing potions are more immersive than healing food. To employ your D&D analogy - characters in the D&D world eat common food, but when they need to heal they use magic potions.
The "speed system" is pretty neat too. Definitely seems like you're adding a lot of realism to your battle system that isn't seen in many JRPGs.
It also seems like you're maturing the reaction system too, at least compared to MARDEK. I was wondering if you intend for the same attack to have the same reaction every time, or will the positions of the gold/blue bars change even when using the same attack over and over? Either way, this is a neat idea as well and I think if there's any part of MARDEK that could stand to be more complex rather than less, it's the reactions. Makes the game "easy to learn but hard to master", if you will. Kind of like in the Mario & Luigi RPGs, where each attack had its own timing. While this system wouldn't be as complex as M&L's (Part of M&L's system was figuring out the timing for each attack then mastering it, while this system seems it would just require the latter), it's still a nice improvement that keeps the player engaged more.
All in all, this seems great and I'm excited to see the battle system and the Reimagined MARDEK mature more.
...
But please, for the love of God/Dharma/YALORT, please do not keep that eating animation...
I like the food idea because it's hardly realistic; I suppose it's no less ridiculous than a night's rest in a bed fully curing all injuries and ailments? I just find it particularly funny imagining a character scoffing half a dozen whole roast chickens in a single battle and recovering from sword slashes to the face in the process. It's silly.
Breath of the Wild used food as restoratives instead of the typical magical potions, and gathering and cooking it added a whole new aspect of the game that wouldn't really be possible with potions (unless you brewed potions from ingredients or something, but that's just introducing an extra step). Link can also eat multiple whole meals in a single bite each, back to back, all between his combat opponent's attacks since it's done from the menu that freezes the world, yet it never seems to register as absurd. Game logic!
I had in mind Mario & Luigi when wondering how to improve reactions, and I might do a similar thing but to a lesser extent. I think having attacks vary in their reaction times each time they're used would lead to more annoyance than appreciation, but if different monsters' attack animations were all slightly different, that might work. I suppose it's going to be different to M&L anyway though because the reaction bar makes it clear when you're supposed to react, rather than just watching the animation visuals. Maybe there could be an option to disable that for people who wanted a greater challenge?