>>51591318I think the issue people have with the story in gen 3 games onward is that they are designed in a way that take away your freedom. Gens 1/2 have a story that is very much focused around your personal exploration--the NPCs you talk to and the ways you explore the region will be different for everyone who played, and also, the MC just feels kind of like it could be anyone. In other words, gen 1/2 were just very good at being roleplaying games that easily allowed self-insertion.
This is still something that exists in modern games, but to much of a lesser degree. Freedoms are taken away in order to shove you from setpiece to setpiece, to force you to specifically talk to one group of characters, or worse yet, force you to observe other characters engaging in a story while you just idly sit by. Newer gens don't feel like your story, but it just feels like you are a watcher of the other character's stories.
I don't know if so much of this rant applies to the ranger games lol, but the point I wanted to make is that uhhh, the spin-offs are completely different styles of games, and for ranger 1 and 2 to shove you around different set pieces it's more acceptable, because that is just how that game is.
