RPGs that have no levels

belgurdo

Banned
I love RPGs where you have to micromanage stats yourself instead of doing level grinds, like FFVIII and X where allocating stat points yourself are far more important than tanking super-monsters for an hour. What are some other games I can try out that are like this?
 
methodman said:
all the zeldas? not sure if that is what your asking.

The can has been opened.

And I'm talking about games where you don't have something where "x experience to the next level to get random stats" is the main stat-gaining system. Rather, you are given points to spend as you choose (like in Baldur's Gate: DA) or something similar
 
Vagrant Story comes to mind right away as a game that has no levels at all. You increase your stats mostly by finding items (e.g., "Elixir of Mages" boosts your magic) and also by receiving bonuses (e.g. Strength + 1) from defeating bosses.

SMT III Nocturne, which I'm playing right now, does have numerical levels, but gaining a level doesn't boost your stats overall; instead, it gives you a point that you can put in one of five different stats. If you don't allocate points to a stat, it never increases. That sounds somewhat like what you're interested in. Moreover, in SMT III, leveling up doesn't increase your stats that much. In most cases, the best way to advance your party is by combining your demons (party members) to form new, stronger demons instead of leveling up the ones you already have.

The Mario RPGs use a similar system where leveling up only gives you a point to put in one stat. (I don't know for sure about Paper Mario 2 - I haven't played it yet - but I'm assuming it's the same.)
 
Paper Mario 2 with its badge point system where you choose what you want to be strong in. Maybe not the best example of a RPG, but it works.
 
Final Fantasy II springs to mind. No levels at all - just get better at the things you do more often over time.
 
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic let you allocate your points as you wanted to, from what I remember.
 
Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower Abyss have no levels, but there's no specific stat point distribution. Your stats increase based on what skills you've been using - slash/hit/stab, defense, magic types, etc. Kinda like FF2, but not broken.
 
Yes, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door has the same thing. After you get 100 experience points you level up, and you can choose to do an HP + 5, FP + 5, or BP + 3 on Mario only. Leveling up also refills all of your stats and Star Power. Separate of this, you get Shine Sprites to level up your partners. You need 3, and each character can be leveled up twice.
 
None of the SaGa games have levels (except for stupid SaGa III on Gameboy) although as the stat gains are usually based on what you did in battle and are somewhat randomized, you control them only indirectly.
 
not sure about Fallout. you technically gain levels, but the only thing that's static from those is HP. after that you just gain skill points you put into various skills to improve your character.
 
belgurdo said:
I love RPGs where you have to micromanage stats yourself instead of doing level grinds, like FFVIII and X where allocating stat points yourself are far more important than tanking super-monsters for an hour. What are some other games I can try out that are like this?

Diablo 2
 
Nocturne has a pretty deep level-up system. you can unlock skills in dozens of different categories when you level up, you get complete control of all of your stats, and as you level, you unlock more demons you can creatr.
 
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