roninnogitsune: you can do good Tactical gameplay with a controller if it's turn based. I would rather have a hack and slash game than a real time tactical RPG, I know they won't do turn based, Real time/pause systems just really promote wonky tactics that would never work in real life, I really loved how the best tactic to fight an ogre in DA 1 was to have the tank grab agro and lead them on a merry chase while being pelted by the others with ranged attacks, that was also a great strategy in the Balder's Gate and Icewind Dale series as well. If they want tactical gameplay, they should go Turn based, the new X-com shows that it's still valid from a marketplace point of view. I'm just tired of the worship that real time/pause compromise is getting, The Infinity engine games were great leap forwards in storytelling but they really dumbed gameplay down.
Crosmando: I won't touch your point about the IE games for now, for me the most annoying part was the pathfinding. But regarding the new X-COM, that's kinda my point. X-COM completely removed the inventory grid system from the original game, not even an inventory LIST, just completely removed, you give your soldiers a gun each and that's essentially it, and much of the base-building elements were also removed. So there's dumbing down for console 101 for you. Also action-point management in the new X-COM was removed, replaced by a more simple "one action per turn" system similar to JRPG's. In the original Ufo Defense you had to ration how you used each of your soldier's action points each turn, a little bit of movement meant less of shooting, etc. In the new game you have no choice, you either "move" or you "shoot" and that's it. And I KNOW why they did that, it's so they could have those console-centric cinematic looking cuts when the camera zooms in and the soldier runs forward or turns the corner and fires. Again, I stand by my point (and X-COM isn't even an RPG) for non-action-based games you need mouse control. But I doubt Bioware will do this, they are too locked into the multi-platform release/ cycle, if they had to choose between profit and the complexity of their games, they would always choose profit (or rather EA would).
You're using hyperbole, Inventory is still there, it's more limited, but it's there. Firaxis Chose the system for their reasons to create a game they thought in the spirit of X-Com, which was about Tense strategic combat with high risks and a feeling of being out gunned and not about managing inventory, Especially since the original game handled Inventory so poorly it's easy to see it as an afterthought or not important.
The thing with complexity is that it's a tool, a means to an end and games that were complex for complexity's sake tend to be terrible, the good games had depth and used the right amount of complexity to achieve that depth.
The new X-Com has it's problems but it does achieve what the makers wanted and is a very engaging strategy game that is tense and high risk. You may not agree with their means or even the ends since games are subjective, but they did what they did.
Also the move and action style of turn based gaming isn't a JRPG thing, it's been a part of Wargaming and RPGs for a long time. Dungeons and Dragons uses the system of move and action system quite well. There was a move towards JRPGs in gaming but that was in the nineties with Fallout and Baldur's Gate, the move to putting Narrative first was the move towards JRPGs.
In Fact it's bad JRPGs that really show what happens when things are complex for the sake of complexity. Final Fantasy 8 is a tedious game, the Story doesn't Gel, the gameplay is mostly busywork because it's really complex, and it is, they had to hit you over the head with tutorials on everything like the junction system and GFs, but the complexity led to nothing, it was shallow. Complexity must be used wisely and in the right amount.
You really shouldn't ask for complexity, you need to ask for depth, choices that matter, it'll lead to complex games, but games complex for the right reasons. If you just ask for complexity, you'll get it but in the form of a tedious game that expect more work from the player than the makers put into it.
