Yeah yeah i know what you are thinking and i know you all gonna say "what the hell are u talking about" or "job system is classic" and stuff like that! Well let me tell you The JOB SYSTEM SUCKS!!!! And here is why:
1. ITS OLD! and not classic old. Just old. It orginates from the pen n paper D&D era where you had to form a party in order to play. It ruins all the fun to discover the personality of each character as the personalty doesnt exist especially in early rpgs like Final Fantasy.
2. Most of the job system titles are generic and they are somewhat fine like warrior (hmm ok someone who is good with melee weapons) or thief (hmm ok again a sneaky cunning little fella) or wizard (a man of high intellect and low body physique that can cast spells) but WHAT THE HECK WITH THE NINJA DUDES?!?!?! Ninjas are true historical figures that were mercenaries of espionage warfare in feudal Japan. Do you hear that?! JA-PAN ... J-A-P-A-N...
That means that this was happening in the past HERE, on earth! DO u get that? Not in Gaia, not in Terra, not in Filgaia or whatever fictional world those games take place in! So where is the connection?! If we are talking about an imaginary world, in an imaginary universe, with imaginary beings, then at least there should be the decency of creating at least a new title to describe someone with the ninja's qualities.
Maybe it was coooool back in the late 80's or early 90's the figure of the ninja, as it was almost in every action movie someone that would fight like one or throw the well know killing stars but not anymore it just isn't. So get over with it.
3. There are games that focus on the plot leaving the main character a bit behind like the western SKYRIM, GOTHIC, OBLIVION etc... and games that the plot progresses through each characters personality, emotional evolution etc.. In those games a job system is totally meaningless cos it serves nothing. (And im not talking about weapong proficiency or preference or specialization but for needless titling and faceless character portaits. Final Fantasy 7 deals with this problem quite smart. Everyone has each weapon specialization , something that he or she is good with, but in the end it is up to the player to create the wizard , the thief.. etc. I know that Yuffie has a tendency in stealing but that doesnt have to be reminded to me by the word THIEF next to her name or with a generic portrait.) I am talking about when a game that has psychologically grown up entities in it with passions , desires, frailties etc has to be evolved plotwise through those characters' progress throughout the playthrough. In lets say Skyrim u simply dont care about the past of your character, his weaknesses or his passions, it is a game that focus more on scavenging, leveling up, and on collecting and completing main and side quests. So what if u do those things with an Orc? What if u do those things with a Khajit? It is exactly the same.
4. And i dont wanna mention at all the whole thing about naming the character. These things are like we have the illusion of freedom to put our own mark on the game but literally serve absolutely nothing. And i talk about when a game offers a job system aka making me choose between warrior, thief etc and at the same time making me put a name on the char..NO MAAAAN this is just wrong u made the game u make the rules dont treat me like a damn child and try to tick me into believing that im in control of things cos im just not! i know what my part of the role is . It is just to move the character around and do things when asked if i progress thats my part! nd YOUR part is to make up an interesting name to match with the personality YOU created..Not me... So lets make things clear you create, I play! That simple!
5. Job systems are much more suitable to WRPGs as mentioned before because they are not story driven. In jrpgs there are cases where you watch dialogues unfold maybe for hours. No job system can fit in there. Yet in western games, job systems, can differentiate the gameplay experience and feel. If for example you try to invade a cave full of bandits, a thief can make things much easier than a warrior etc... In that case it MATTERS.
The only japanese style games that the job system can fit in nicely are the tactical ones such as Ogre Tactics , FF Tactics etc.. but that why it is much more strategical than anything else and classes matter in tactical warfare.
