Random Encounters: curse or gift?

Certainly one of the most present RPG elements and probaly one of the most discussed ones as well. So what do you think of the lovely random encounters?

I don’t mind it much as long as it doesn’t get too frequent. It’s good for leveling up and such. It can get really annoying though when I’m looking for something and on your way you fight millions of battles and when you’re almost there… another battle.
So.. it’s a gift which is cursed 😉

I say niether, I certainly don’t mind random encounters and enjoy the suspense of those few seconds it takes for the enemy to materialize wondering if I’ll be pitted against a behemoth or a moth. However I do prefer the enemys to be on the map where I can see them, I just enjoy looking around, seeing someone just minding their own business and thinking "time to pick a fight".

I’ve never hated random encounters, as annoying as they sometimes prove to be. They are convenient for those like myself who like the leveling up/stat maxing game.

Having enemies on the field map in a 3D RPG which utilizes a turn-based battle system which takes place on a different map, was something I thought would be difficult to execute well, until I played Xenosaga. And it’s all so simple. You may not get to avoid many of the enemies prowling about, but the advantage here is the luxury of being able to choose when the battle would take place, as opposed to being thrown right into one. There is also the posibility of inflicting various negative status on enemies in the field screen, disabling them somewhat even before the encounter.

Both have their ups and downs, but as long as enemies respawn conveniently enough, I’d opt for the latter.

Grandia had one of the better battle systems in terms of encounters, with the enemy walking on the map. The "angle" at which you walked into them decided whether you’ve got the initiative or not. Also, having a party of four, one behind the other, the enemy *could* walk up behind you and get a sneak attack. It means that you can avoid the more random encounters if need be.

Final Fantasy IV is a great little game, but one thing I noted about it was that sometimes you’d fight a battle, take a step, fight another battle, take another step, fight a third time and after that you’re thinking "can I walk anywhere? PLEASE!?"

Still, it’s something that is a part of RPGs and is here to stay.

Sometimes it could be annoying if you wanted to go from one place to another quickly, but most of the time I like them. Build up my characters more, find usefull items/gil. So I dont mind them. Unlike some other RPGs (Baldurs Gate is a good example), you don’t have random encounters, which makes leveling something whole different. It depens on the game really, but random encounters are the way to go :).

it depends on the game, each one is different.

like golden sun, i think it has just the right amount of random encounters, very rarely would i get frustrated by it.

sometimes the old ff games did i think but not too bad

what is that game for N64? …..cannot remember, but it had bad graphics and encounters at least every 5 seconds it seemed.

Random encounters annoy me… I�ve recently found that Chrono Cross or Lunar 2 had way better, somehow more redible solutions. You see the enemies, you can run from them, or challenge them. You can sneak around them… It�s much more fun.

… Random battles… they interrupt the background music, they make you consider every step as a risk. Where is the fun in exploring a landscape when you try to find out a route through it that requires least steps?

It is pretty annoying but it has to happen. Anyways, it’s good for training your characters, getting more gil and collecting useful items.

It depends on how I am feeling at the moment, and it’s for the same reasons as Tekno…

Leveling up is awesome, since in RPG’s that don’t use Random Battles, you often have to leave areas then come back to fight, but in random battles, you can just stay there, but since they become annoying when your trying to get to-and-from places with enemies…

But when you throw in items or abilities that affect the Random Battles, then they are a flat out blessing altogether, such as No-Encounter or Half-Encounter abilities in FF8, as well as encounter-up abilities in other games as well…

I think they’re both a curse and a gift. At the moment, I’m playing Skies of Arcadia on the Sega Dreamcast, and the encounters are….annoying. I get into one battle, then either take a few steps, or if my characters are on either Little Jack or Delphinus, sail a second or so ahead, then get caught up in another random encounter.

They’re needed in RPG’s so you can build your characters up as well as get a hefty purse full of gold/gil/zenny/whatever.

Incidentally, I’ve heard that Skies of Arcadia on the Gamecube has a lesser encounter ratio, but to me, that means you’ve got to spend more time building up your characters.

For me they�re a great way to get a handle of the combat menu but after a few hundred battles well I personally think the game should openly allow players to switch random encounters off. After a while they do become tedious and pointlessly time consuming unless you�re a sidequest freak.

I hate them, even more so when there’s no equipment with a ‘no encounter’ skill. I like the games where levels don’t really matter. Like Valkyrie Profile, and FFT. Just makes the thing easier.