Favorite RPG Encounter Styles?

[Moonface]

I'm currently watching someone playing the TTYD Remake and man, I forgot how cool the theming is for battle encounters in this game. Having fights on a stage representing the current area is neat in and of itself, but the crowd mechanic really elevates it and it's a sin Nintendo didn't keep that in subsequent Paper Mario games.

Grievances with Nintendo aside, I honestly think the encounter presentation/style in TTYD is one of if not the best in any game; however, I also have very little experience with RPG's so for all I know I could be massively wrong on this. So what are your favorite encounter styles/presentations in games that have them?

[Maniakkid25]

One of my favorites is the Bonus Boss fight in Digital Devil Saga. Spoilers spoilers spoilers.

The fight in question

So, the reason its my favorite is not because of the theming, or the fight itself, but because of the music. But, in order to explain this, I need to take a step back.

The fight is with the Demi-Fiend, of SMT Nocturne fame, and his party of Girimehkala, Cu Chulainn, Pixie, Arahabaki, Titania, and Parvati (yes, that is the order they spawn in). The reason for this fight is very ill-explained, and doesn't really need one. It's kind of framed as a hallucination, but either way, its widely regarded as one of, if not the hardest boss ever devised for a JRPG. The reason for this is long and winding, and not important to the discussion. What is important is the music used. See, the fight uses the Standard Random Encounter music from SMT Nocturne (there's actually a few different random encounter tracks used in the game, depending on your location, but this is the one everyone thinks of). So what the game is saying in effect is, to the Demi-Fiend, you and your party are nothing more than a RANDOM ENCOUNTER!

[Moonface]

@Maniakkid25: I'm not super familiar with SMT stuff but a quick search leads me to believe that you're fighting the protagonists of SMT Nocturne in DDS? If so that's pretty neat, and would be more so if somehow the game could read your data for Nocturne if you have any and make the party take on their stats. Although it might make the fight impossible if you had them at a high level.

I did want to look at all the different visual styles for Pokémon battles in all the games but it seems nowhere has that info actually put together to look at it. I only know of a small amount and although I could pick my favourite from just those I was curious how the others were.

[Maniakkid25]

@Maniakkid25: I'm not super familiar with SMT stuff but a quick search leads me to believe that you're fighting the protagonists of SMT Nocturne in DDS? If so that's pretty neat, and would be more so if somehow the game could read your data for Nocturne if you have any and make the party take on their stats. Although it might make the fight impossible if you had them at a high level.

You are correct about the character, yes. Also, given the mechanics of the fight, having him read your save data might actually make the boss EASIER, not harder! He really is that brutal, and it doesn't help that you have to play by his rules. Yes, he has rules for the fight, and if you break them, he just insta-kills you. I'll explain this in another topic so I don't fill a post here with unnecessary info that is completely off-topic.

Speaking on topic, because it wouldn't be me if I didn't mention it, Legend of Dragoon has a very cinematic style of area decoration in a battle, often using them as more than just window dressing, especially in boss fights. Probably the earliest time this really becomes a thing is during the fight with Kongol about halfway into disc 1. One of his attacks sends your party barreling into a wall at absurd speeds, and you actually impact that wall when it happens! It's not much, sure, but it's the little things, you know?

[Moonface]

@Maniakkid25: I'm not super familiar with SMT stuff but a quick search leads me to believe that you're fighting the protagonists of SMT Nocturne in DDS? If so that's pretty neat, and would be more so if somehow the game could read your data for Nocturne if you have any and make the party take on their stats. Although it might make the fight impossible if you had them at a high level.

You are correct about the character, yes. Also, given the mechanics of the fight, having him read your save data might actually make the boss EASIER, not harder! He really is that brutal, and it doesn't help that you have to play by his rules. Yes, he has rules for the fight, and if you break them, he just insta-kills you. I'll explain this in another topic so I don't fill a post here with unnecessary info that is completely off-topic.

Since I didn't see a post anywhere on this I'm gonna guess you didn't get to it yet or forgot?

[Maniakkid25]

I had the post ready, and then accidentally deleted it because I was on my phone, which has no undo. I'll do it when I don't have work at 7 AM.