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I think in terms of linear plot FF6 does a good job. World of Balance is largely linear, but the three way plot branching once you get to the Lethe River is clever. You’re still kind of ‘on rails’ but you have a choice of track. Things converge again afterward, and the three story paths do keep you on a set road, but you don’t feel herded or logjammed. Chrono Trigger starts off pretty linear as well, and while you’ve got choices about where to go, you’re still told ‘here is a necessary thing for MOAR PLOT’ and the story’s fun enough that you want to –
I think that’s the key. Linearity works only if the plot and story are fun. otherwise you just feel kind of ‘hurrr look I am in a ditch.’
And Lute’s quest getting you stuck once made my friend bite his controller XD; He never threw it but if he was really hacked off – yeah.
Also Orlouge’s damn labyrinth of doors can please DIE. That gets you stuck just to be a jerk. Even when you DO talk to Zozma’s pet beet you can be dinking around there for ages…
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Oh god I forget whose quest that’s easy to run into with…
Man. I keep wondering if SaGa Frontier was meant to be a Seiken game; there’s a critter in it who looks like the Mana Beast/God Beast, the bat rabbit things that are basically rabites, sudden giant annoying slimes…
I was thinking of FF6 again and its main flaw for me is that it goes from flexibly linear to nonlinear sidequest extravaganza once the world goes *ploit*. It’s kind of cool that the gameplay reflects how the world at large is, but I’m not sure if it holds up well? It’s a nice bit of meta but the World of Ruin got much MUCH too scattered for me. Without a walkthrough I wouldn’t know what the hell to do. They drop hints but it’s so easy to just click through dialogue because of the WELCOME TO CORNERIA type stuff that happens a lot in any FF game…
I think those games tend to start out linear so people can get their toes in the water and get used to the mechanics. FF7’s pretty linear at first too – until you get out of Midgar you’re on rails. (Ain’t no gettin’ off this train we’re on.) FF4, from what I’ve seen, did that too. it’s a tutorial tactic, and FF games are usually pretty good at making it work.
It’s funny, because Chrono Trigger gives you a sidequestsplosion near the end too, but it doesn’t feel as chaotic as FF6’s WoR. Secret of Mana is – well, it alternates between ‘pretty linear’ and ‘linear with a lot of wiggle room’. You have a choice of which partner to pick up first and when, some of the towns don’t necessarily have to be visited on order – sometimes you have to go to X to get to Y but…I dunno, SoM doesn’t bother me so much with linearity. I think it’s because of the “Fate is steering your trike, son” kind of feel. You’re caught up in something huge by mistake and kind of borne along in the current WTFing all the way.
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