>>44908127Rather than focusing on characters, focus more on the world around you, as anons said. We don't need someone being a threat to the fucking world every goddamn game. You can have villains, but keep 'em grounded. Like a mafia controlling a surprising amount of the region from the underground or something a la Rocket.
Of course you can have characters, but don't shove 'em in your face so much. It should be more like a partner you journey with, or a genuine rival who wants to kick your ass. Hell, you could even go a bit further and have rivals related to the evil team in some way, whether it be an ex-member leading to neat interactions or a detective trying to get to the bottom of it/figure out who the head honcho is, if we're talking the mafia example. It feels like the way GF does it, you're constantly given shitty characters shoved in your face and telling you exactly where to go so you don't have to look around the tiny areas you're more or less being kept from exploring.
And regarding settlings, you could easily pull a, and I can't believe I'm saying this, Reborn and make the entire region a large city-like area with some natural areas. A large city means plenty of shit to do! Look at Yakuza, you've got plenty of side-quests and stuff to do minigame-wise to take a break from the story. Plus in the aforementioned mafia scenario that works perfectly.
I'm probably rambling out of my asshole but whatever.
