Long-time JRPG fans may have noticed that the "random encounter"- in which battles begin after player parties take a certain number of steps on the overworld or in a dungeon- have fallen out of favor over the years, due to encounters often being too frequent. Instead, combat is usually initiated by encountering enemy avatars, in which it is possible to gain the advantage by striking first, ambushing the enemy from behind or other means. While this system works well, it is still possible to make the random encounter work, and Persona Q and its sequel demonstrate one way this is possible.
The first step, contrary to the name, is to remove the "random" element. At the lower left-hand corner of the screen is an icon that, while slightly different in each game, serves as a warning as to how soon you can expect an encounter through a system that gradually warns you as enemy encounters draw nearer.
- No number: You're safe for the moment.
- 3: Your first warning. You're probably halfway to an encounter.
- 2: Your second warning. The enemies are getting closer.
- 1: Your last warning. Any step could potentially result in an encounter. If you're about to have an encounter you're not sure you can win, use a Go-Hom. to escape the labyrinth.
The mechanic is similar to the encounter warning in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, but unlike that game, in which you could be attacked again a few steps from your last battle(to say nothing of being thrust into another battle as soon as your current one has finished), the encounter rate is more consistent. You won't be attacked until after you receive your third warning, and said warnings are spaced reasonably far apart.
The second step is to give a fair encounter rate. Most of the time, there are too many encounters, resulting in the player frequently being interrupted by trivially easy enemies at best and being worn down by encounters that drain their health and mana at worst. Other games might have too few encounters, which results in a lower challenge level and might result in players being unprepared for boss battles and other mandatory encounters unless they go out of their way to grind. Persona Q and its sequel inhabit a happy medium , with enough encounters to challenge the player without being a nuisance, and it is possible to either raise or lower the encounter rate through the use of items.
The third step is to make encounters rewarding, since if enemies don't give you enough of a reward to justify fighting them, the player may go out of their way to avoid encounters. Both Persona Q games reward decent amounts of experience and money for each victory, as well as items- generally materials that can be sold for cash or to unlock items, but also some that are useful in their own right.
The last step is to make the encounters reasonably difficult but not too challenging; after all, a game with a high amount of encounters can become laughably easy if the enemies pose no threat, while a game with a low amount of encounters can still be frustrating if those enemies are deadly. Persona Q2 does a somewhat better job on this regard than its predecessor because of a few tweaks, from making magical skills easier to afford to making it easier to execute All-Out Attacks(large amounts of damage to all enemies).
As with any game mechanic, how well it performs depends on how it's implemented. Random encounters can be a viable mechanic as long as they're fair- you know when they're coming, there aren't too many or too few, they're worth your while, and are not too easy or difficult. Other forms of determining when players encounter monsters may work better for other RPGS, but there are times when random encountrs work best.
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