Topic: Should Characters Level Up or Not

[darkwzrd4]

Ever since CV games have taken on some RPG elements, the characters have been able to level up with experience gained from killing enemies with two exceptions: LoI and LoS.  Some people don't like this because it removes difficulty from the games.  If you can't beat a boss or get through a certain area, all you really have to do is go to an area where you and beat enemies and keep gaining experience until you are strong enough to get through the area you can't beat.

I, for one, am tired of it.  I liked how you didn't level up in LoI and LoS.  It adds a sense of difficulty to the games and makes them more about skill like the original games.  I'm not saying that all the RPG elements should be taken away, but the leveling should be.  The games can still have different weapons, armors, max ups.  But, that's it.  Both LoI and LoS had max increasers and it worked.  Plus, LoI had different armors that had different level of protection, which also worked.

Vote and Discuss.

[Francis]

Actually i prefer if there is no level up. I'm bit tired of easy metroidvania style.

[darkwzrd4]

Actually i prefer if there is no level up. I'm bit tired of easy metroidvania style.

But what about items like HP max up and various weapons and armors?  Are you OK with those?

[Ridureyu]

Depends on the game. SOme are built around stat upgrades, some are not. Levelling up does not make a game easy - a low difficulkty curve in comparison with levelling up makes it easy.

[thernz]

Well, in any case, it's more meant to illustrate progression and rewards. It just makes things weaker or stronger by way of stats rather than how well you use your skills against them.

[Vampire Killer]

I prefer some leveling, but only in the sense of fleshing out abilites, and adding a bit more HP and prehaps defense. Like Metroid.

[X]

Looks like everyone so far has voted the 'No' response. I bet the Dark Priest is feeling bummed out. I too, voted no. In a sense, I feel that collecting items to help you get stronger i.e. Metroid, Zelda, LoI, etc. is the way to go. It makes for a faster and enjoyable game rather then being forced to "camp out" and level up till you can face the current baddy of equal terms.

-X

[Munchy]

Depends. I think leveling should be more restrained like in Simon's Quest (though maybe making it more challenging to level up), but I can't deny that I get a kick out of it.

Or make the upgrades optional like in LoI.

[Francis]

But what about items like HP max up and various weapons and armors?  Are you OK with those?

Yes, upgrade with weapon and armor are good enough for me 

[shelverton.]

It should be more like Metroid, with health power ups to extend your life bar, but NO leveling. Think SotN but with only the health/heart containers scattered around the castle for you to pick up.

[赤月]

I liked the level ups. The whip upgrades from Castlevania are technically considered a level up as well.
It's only natural for a person to power up after meeting and conquering trials.
I do appreciate some rewards after slaughtering hundreds of skeletons and bats, please.

[Dark Nemesis]

I haven't vote, because this one takes a lot of discussion. I don't find it necessary to level up, but with level ups, you don't get away the difficulty from the game. You can use the formula from RPG games, where after 3-4 level ups on a stage, you require a vast experience to level up, for the game to have ballance. A good example is Harmony of Dissonance. Also level ups, are prolonging the life span of the game, in a way...


I like the power up items and the character to be able to equip him self with weapons, armors, accessories, e.t.c.
You could have hp max ups, mp max ups, e.t.c. and equipment, scattered inside the Castle, obtaining them from Bosses, enemies, through chests and also, something that i would like to see on a new game, is optional, secret Bosses, that required specific events to occur, before you can encounter them. You can have all these, without the need of leveling up and make the game challenging and with the secret Bosses and even secret areas to span the life of the game even more.

So, instead of having to level up, up to 99lv or 255lv , you could add what i said above and spend your time, trying to discover a new Boss, how to get to a new area or how to obtain some good equipment to survive the game or how to obtain all the power ups of the game, to attain max stats!!!

I don't know about you guys, but i prefer the games to be non linear and to be able to explore, for new areas, enemies, bosses, items, secrets......than having to level up!!!

I'll say these few things for now...

[Successor The Cruel]

I like HP and MP Max Ups.  Except, perhaps there shouldn't be so many of them, and perhaps they should be harder to obtain.  They should also make a bigger difference.  I'm thinking of something like energy tanks in the first Metroid.

[darkwzrd4]

I think some of you are misunderstanding what I'm saying.  I'm merely asking is the games should stop using the idea is leveling up through killing enemies.  In other words, more like metroid.  You find stronger weapons and armor throughout the game as well as HP and MP max increasers, but you wouldn't get any stronger simply from killing a set number of enemies.  Also, the max increasers would be really spread out like the energy tanks you find in metroid.  The CV games that embodied this concept are LoI and LoS.

This system adds a greater degree of difficulty and truly require a higher degree of skill to beat.  Answering yes to the question means you want to still have experience in the games whereas answering no means you want the games to be like metroid.

[Vampire Killer]

Amazingly enough, what most who have commented in this thread want, is what LoS offer

You only actually level up by gaining new abilities and getting HP and MP power-up's.

Hadn't thought of that before. Interesting.