RPG games where buildings mean more than equipment

Loot based games are all about getting the next best piece of armor or weapon. For example, equipment plays a big role Destiny 2 because it raises the overall level, and Diablo 4 also has an emphasis on getting the best loot for a character. Loot is fun to get in games as a goal, but it doesn't have to be everything.

There are other RPG's where gear is everything, but there are also games where leveling up is the most important thing to make a strong or unique character. The following RPGs are for players who don't want to bother with gear and want to enjoy strategizing with their character builds, from forgotten classics to modern examples.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy

A job is a job

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy has a classic combat and equipment system found in older ones Final Fantasia game. Leveling up and getting the best gear can be handy in turn-based battles, but the Job system is the most important aspect of the game.

Characters can equip a Job, like a Black Mage, and then equip a secondary Job's skills, like a Monk, to then use them in battle. Passive skills can also be equipped, such as increasing HP potential, so mastering the art of cross-classing to maximize characters' potential is how players can create a pristine party.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Paint me a picture

IN Clair Obscur: Expedition 33characters can equip weapons and accessory-like implements called Pictos that grant them special skills. After learning the skills from these Pictos, players can then equip them in the Lumina system, and building combos is one way players can make characters stronger, from letting them act twice in a turn to increasing their affinity for fire.

So in a way the gear is important to unlocking the characters potential, but after skills are learned the gear is no longer important. There are also stats to increase after leveling up and skills, both passive and active, that can change how characters act in the turn-based battles.

Cyberpunk 2077

Hack the planet

Cyberpunk 2077 allows players to create their character and modify them as the game progresses to form an unstoppable cyborg if they so desire. The best thing about the game is that all builds matter because the missions are open. If players want to invest in cybernetics to make weapons more potent, then that is an option.

But hacking and deduction skills are also valuable to progress in the game. Overall, even with the best guns, they won't matter much if their character is randomly built without a clear path defined.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

A stealthy future

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is another cyberpunk game, although this one has fewer character choices. Players will always be Special Agent Adam Jensen, but they can forge his body to their liking.

As Cyberpunk 2077the cybernetic mods can be purchased to get through missions in an overt way, such as preparing their lung capacity to resist gases if they know a situation calls for it. It's also more of a stealth game, and while guns are impotent in intense firefights, it's more valuable to give Jensen better mods to make him quieter or to make his takedowns more lethal.

Fire Ring

Build your disgrace filet

Fire Ring gives players class choices in the beginning, but they are more like a base set of gear and stats that players can branch from later. They might start out with an affinity for magic, but might decide they like taking down enemies with melee attacks more later.

By increasing stats in a certain direction, they can increase the potential of weapons and other gear, and not the other way around. Spells can become stronger, the weight distribution of larger weapons becomes less sluggish, and so on, which does Fire Ring a flexible RPG.

Just keep playing

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimlike most posts in The Elder Scrolls series, has a unique leveling system. When players take any type of action, from casting spells to forging, they will increase an associated skill. The potential of these skills can be expanded with a variety of skill trees to determine what type of character players want to be.

Gear is overflowing in this game, and while there are rarities that are cool, like axes that can deal freeze damage, players can also build their character in a way that allows them to create their own weapons with these properties. As Fire Ringdo this The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim flexible.

Fallout: New Vegas

Weight distribution

Stats and perks mean everything Fallout: New Vegas when they determine what characters can accomplish. For example, high strength means players will do more damage with melee weapons, and they can carry more equipment without being overloaded.

Getting a great hammer, for example, means nothing if a character's strength is low. Perks are skills that can do a variety of things, like increasing critical damage, which are more fun to unlock than finding loads of gear.

Final Fantasy 7

The material gang

Final Fantasy 7's party members can each equip specific weapons, but most accessories and armor are open. All gear contains Materia slots, which players can equip to perform spells such as Fire. Materia go beyond spellcasting though, as they can increase stats like HP or affect what a spell can do.

Combining everything with fire allows a character to throw fire at multiple enemies, for example. Players will often equip low grade gear to raise Materia faster if there is an associated boost. Melee attacks with weapons can be powerful, but overall Materia experimentation is king Final Fantasy 7 and its various remakes.

Octopath Traveler 2

Master NPCs

Octopath Traveler 2 allows players to choose one of eight characters to play at the beginning, while the other seven can be recruited later. Each character starts with a job, and they can learn secondary jobs later, cross-classing as in Bravely Default: Flying Fairy. Leveling up and gaining skills makes all the difference in the turn-based combat system, more than any other gear.

By gaining levels and job skills, characters can become more effective at using their Path Actions against NPCs. For example, Temenos can use Coerce to gain information, while Osvald can use Mug to steal items.

Persona 5

Rendering A Better Hero

Persona 5 is a complex turn-based RPG where all party members can equip weapons and equipment of all kinds. Physical attacks don't matter as much as using skills, as elemental attacks can stun enemies, giving players an extra turn.

Ren is the silent protagonist who can link all Personas, metaphysical creatures found in dungeons, to himself. By fusing Persona, players can create the ultimate builds with different elemental skills to take advantage of most combat situations to get extra turns more often. The more players can attack, the faster the battles will go.