RPGs with "hand-crafted" encounters

[StaticSpine]

Since some tactical jRPGs have already been mentioned, I'll also add Valkyria Chronicles as an example.

Yeah. VC is a great example. Also I remember Jean D'Ark from PSP.

D:OS

Whole reason why game is so loved here is exactly that each enconter has handcraft feeling to it. Each and every encounter is different. From ambushes to weird enemy placement to different mechanics you need to use or enemy uses.

Actually it has a lot similar encounters like here we have "2 ork fighters + shaman" and there we have "3 ork fighters + 2 shamans" etc. The game is nice, the battle system is awesome, but there are too much of those unnecessary and uninteresting encounters.

Are there any RPGs which only have meaningful and unique encounters without mob thrashing, random encounters etc?

I can think of upcoming Torment and AoD. Also there is Blackguards, where every fight is some kind of tactical puzzle (more or less).

And what do you think about this kind of approach?

Why, PoE, of course. Every single encounter, and there's loads of them, is hand-placed with attention and care.

Spoiler

Yeah, that's why I quit playing it. That encounter design along with rtwp works well...

 

[Monstrous Bat]

12 posts and not a single mention of Baldur's Gate II? Really?

Anyway, there're actually a lot of RPGs with hand-crafted encounters, but 90% of the time they're effectively indistinguishable from random encountered because it's evident that there's zero thought put into the design of these encounters.

Are there any RPGs which only have meaningful and unique encounters without mob thrashing, random encounters etc?

BG2 does not only have meaningful and unique encounters. It has filler and random encounters, the exact thing the OP has specified he is looking for the absence of.

Ok, I missed the "no random encounters" part, sorry.

All encounters in The Magic Candle are hand-crafted, but almost every single of them are filler. Same for its prequel Bloodstone.

 

[thexsa]

A lot of games with those criteria fall under the SRPG-banner, which is an almost console-exclusive genre made mostly by the japs.

A big problem with those types of games, though, is that they are borderline pedophile-porn, Disgaea/Persona being the most famous examples(thus I strongly advice staying away from that shit).

Some however do manage a more mature theme, somewhat, while refraining from using exaggerated sexualization of its characters, like the recent Valkyria Chronicles port.

I am sure there are plenty more of those games that are great, Final Fantasy Tactics being one example being highly praised.

 

[Doktor Best]

Dark Souls. Every enemy in the game is placed with thought, almost every combat has its own nature and pace. Leveldesign and encounterdesign often go hand in hand and form very distinctive and memorable experiences, like a bridge you have to cross while enemies throw firebombs at you, leading you to charge head into the building on the other end only to be greeted by 3 melee enemies with swipe attacks in a narrow room.

 

[StaticSpine]

Dark Souls. Every enemy in the game is placed with thought, almost every combat has its own nature and pace. Leveldesign and encounterdesign often go hand in hand and form very distinctive and memorable experiences, like a bridge you have to cross while enemies throw firebombs at you, leading you to charge head into the building on the other end only to be greeted by 3 melee enemies with swipe attacks in a narrow room.

I Aggree. Good example.

 

[deuxhero]

In Morrowind EVERY NPC is placed by hand and even has a name (!). It's such a nice detail that makes each dungeon unique instead of Oblivion/Skyrim's mess of randomly generated (by Bethesda before shipping. Less obvious in Skyrim, but still there.) dungeons with randomly generated loot protected by random generated bandits.

In New Vegas the Bison Steve Hotel, the correctional facility (the snipers in both are pretty well done. Why a bunch of escaped convicts are the only people capable of using terrain like that in a game filled with professional military types is beyond me) and the Repconn basement are all handplaced, and they are the most interesting enemy based challenges in the entire game, encouraging you to change up your tactics. Shame everywhere else uses level list garbage that generates fights that almost all wind up the same.

 

[Renevent]

Shining Force I & II

 

[SniperHF]

Actually it has a lot similar encounters like here we have "2 ork fighters + shaman" and there we have "3 ork fighters + 2 shamans" etc. The game is nice, the battle system is awesome, but there are too much of those unnecessary and uninteresting encounters.

They are most definitely hand crafted though and they do have differences under the hood regarding the AI. You can see it in the editor. The bigger problem is that you can't always feel the differences. Maybe the new mode in the EE will uh, enhance that.

 

[laclongquan]

Silent Storm and Silent Storm Sentinels.
The encounters are repeatable, but each type is handcrafted.
The AI might have different reactions for the differences in each encounter of same type. It might be that at 1st one they will try gun-rush, but the 2nd one they try ambush.
You want to repeat a few encounters because the loots are useful and limited, or because it's easier to train certain skills in that map.
You can avoid encounters if you want, but not always.