Single Person or Multiple control?

[GypsyElder]

I was wondering what everyone liked best. Did you like controlling one person like in VII, or did you like it when you're other party members followed you like in VIII? or did you like just being able to use a different character for a while like in IX? I think in IX you got to be everyone at least once except for Amarant. In VIII they basically followed your every move in a straight line, but in like, XII it's more natural, plus you can choose who you want to lead.

They're all a little different. I didn't really matter to me but I did like the idea of the party traveling with you.

Which did you prefer?

[Andromeda]

I've always liked being able to see my whole party running with me. It seemed to make more sense to me. Though, saying that I would actually prefer to see all of them together. I mean in reality there is a large band of adventurers moving through an area and I'd like to get that sense. Only seeing one person seems so barren in a place. So I'd like to see the whole group that's traveling with me. But I doubt that anyone will ever do that since it would require putting a lot of people on screen.

I've played a lot of RPGs that just have the single hero going around. But its fun when they allow you switch out the controlled character. So if you don't like the hero or just want a switch you can play someone else. It's still solo, but its a welcome change.

[Dodie16]

I was a big fan of how XII did the way that your team followed your lead character. Like you said, it seems a lot more natural than them just following in a straight line. Also, I really liked that you could pick which character that you wanted to control when you were outside of towns. I do wish that you could pick which character you controlled when you were in towns as well, because honestly I am not that big of a Vaan fan, but I can see why it's like that.

[Josh_R]

I dont ever say this but XII is my favorite in this case. You got too see all the character's you selected travel beside you and you get a better sense of adventure in this because they actually follow you...

[Unknown Entity]

I like being able to see all my characters. I guess if it's on a scaled down world map, it doesn't really matter, and so I don't mind only seeing one person. I guess when you're in a place, it would have been nice to see the others.

In Final Fantasy VII, I liked Costa Del Sol because you could see what the other characters are getting up to. It would be nice to see something like this in the other games, because just because they're not in your party, they should still be around doing something somewhere.

I liked that in Final Fantasy XII you could choose to play as anyone on the world map. Having a change every now and then is pleasant, and makes the game feel slightly different, depending on who you've assigned to doing which task in the group.

[DragonHeart]

XII was far more realistic as far as party dynamics went, since your AI-teammates actually flanked you instead of the straight line thing, which would be pretty much suicide especially in settings with guns. My only complaint with that is even characters with ranged abilities still had to be quite close to the enemy.

Imagine equipping someone with a bow and using them as a lead character in the field. Switch to 'combat mode' and snipe enemies a hundred yards away. Depending on a character's natural affinity for bows/guns, they could be dead on accurate or actually be unable to hit anything unless it's point blank. Something similar could work for magic or even summons. Calling down Bahamut to strafe a horde of enemies Kuja-style, now that would be fun. XD And if the summoner's not strong enough, maybe the summon turns on you...

Anyways, I'm getting way off topic here, hah.

So, I like having my 'working party' in the field. I also like being able to play as multiple characters. It would probably be way too much work for anyone to ever actually do, but I'd love to see an RPG where you could play from the viewpoint of literally any of your party, maybe as an unlockable feature after finishing the game the traditional way. You always seem to have one or two characters who join up fairly late in the game and I always thought it would be cool to see what they were up to.

Even more awesome? Same thing as above, but as the main villain with options to either lose to the hero or claim victory. Losing would be the default for obvious reasons, but there could be a set of requirements of varying difficulty that could set up an alternate ending where the heroes lose. I'm sure SE would never do it, but maybe someone will, someday.

~DragonHeart~

[Yesha]

I Love the muLtipLe controL, especiaLLy when the FFXII reLeased, it doesn't gave me much probLem when fighting.. and, yeah.. it is more naturaL than FFVIII, and I must say it's quite Less annoying.. :-)

[IceColdPillow]

I personally loved in FFVIII when evry single movemnt was mimiced by my party, it was always funny to go in circles 100 timnes and watch them spin :] But in XII I like the natural flow of characters, plus in the more empty regions of a game, it makes you feel less alone.

[loaf]

Well IX and VII were almost alike in terms of moving your character. VIII was cool to mess around with.

Most of the older games were just simple with PS1 remakes, just had to press an R or L button to change who you were moving. Tactics was the best.

[Fang]

I prefer what I had experinced in FFXII, controling more than one person was great and I haven't had any problem with VII and IX. I like them the best.

But being followed by the party members, as in FFVIII, is getting annoying sometimes.

[chocobofantasy]

Final Fantasy X-2 was my game with the right style multiple. I love it because it gives a richer and deeper experience with the fighting.

[Ralz]

For adventuring and stuff in the games, I like the idea that the party is there with you, the whole party, not just the characters in the front line. I never played Final Fantasy VIII, but I've played Chrono Trigger, which has characters running in a straight line(actually, they follow your every move... o_O) and I played FFXII, which has the most natural. When it comes to towns, I also perfer when the party is with you, or at least they split up and you can talk to them. I don't think I like in some RPG's when the characters like... disappear into the main character. Did he eat them? It looks surreal.

Doesn't look like FFXIII will have that, oh well... there need to be more games with this feature!