People have always been fascinated with the idea of evolution or being something more. That’s why sci-fi and fantasy stories are so popular because they show something beyond normal understanding. For example, one odd genre involves shape-shifting and it has appeared in popular media throughout time.
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In video games, shape-shifting has appeared in giant franchises likeThe Legend of Zelda. InThe Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Link could put on masks to turn into different races like Gorons. Those games are RPG adjacent but are there more traditional RPGs with shape-shifting? The short answer is yes, so here’s a look at some old and new examples.
8Breath Of Fire
TheBreath of Firegames, likeFinal Fantasy, are separated between releases although they do follow familiar themes. For example, the protagonist is always a blue-haired male named Ryu who is part of a clan of dragon people.
This allows Ryu to transform into various dragons during combat.Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarteris the last console game in the series, which was on PS2, and there was a limiter to these transformations. If players went over this limit then it was game over, making an already challenging RPG that much more difficult.
7Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Nightis partly responsible for creatingthe Metroidvania genre. It added the leveling up, RPG mechanics to the interconnected map, and an upgrade system thatSuper Metroidperfected on the SNES.
InCastlevania: Symphony of the Night, Alucard can transform into three things: a wolf, a bat, and mist. Since Alucard is the son of Dracula, these powers made sense in the game given the overall lore of Dracula in popular media. These forms allowed players to reach new areas but they could also be useful in combat.
6Dark Cloud 2
Dark Cloud 2has two protagonists that players can swap between during the game. Max is an inventor who can shoot guns or pound stuff with his wrench. He can even summon a robot named Steve which operated like a mech.
His partner, Monica, is a strong warrior who can use magic and swords, and also copy monsters. This allows her to transform into them and take on their powers from magical flowers to ferocious beasts. The more monsters players came across in this time-traveling RPG, the more monsters Monica could transform into.
5Diablo 4
This series is known for unique classes and the latest entry,Diablo 4, offers a bounty of them to begin with suchas the Druid. These nature-gifted mage-like warriors can transform into two beasts. They can take on the properties of a Werebear or a Werewolf as one of their stronger abilities.
These two forms branch off from one another in the skill tree. Maximizing one will result in different abilities than the other such as speed or area of effect. Players would undoubtedly love to see more transformations for the Druid in future updates.
4Final Fantasy 16
Final Fantasy 16is made up of warring kingdoms that settle their conflicts with Summons like so many others in the series. In this game,they are called Eikonsand they are buried within humans known as Dominants.
The main character, Clive, is the Dominant of Ifrit and he can transform during certain parts of the story. These sections are intense boss battles like one wherein Ifrit dueled Titan to the death. During normal combat, Clive can also use a bit of Ifrit’s power to grow some claws and fire appendages for a limited time too.
3Fire Emblem
TheFire Emblemserieshas had several beast folk in the games. These sub-humans could transform into their more animalistic forms during battle via items called Beaststones. For example, inFire Emblem Awakeningthere was the Taguel race which were rabbit-like creatures.
InFire Emblem Fates, there were Kitsune which were fox people. A lot of these races were generated from popular tales in Japanese mythology such as the Kitsune. Anime fans may be more familiar with this idea viaNarutoand the Nine-Tailed Fox.
2Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Heartshas featured a plethora of changes for Sora, Donald, and Goofy throughout the series. For example, in the first game, there wasthe Disney worldbased onThe Little Mermaid. Sora became a merman, Goofy turned into a turtle, and Donald became an octopus but still retained his upper duck body.
In the latest game,Kingdom Hearts 3, the three heroes turned into toys when they entered theToy Storyworld. These forms didn’t limit or increase what players could do in combat, but it would have been interesting if they did. MaybeKingdom Hearts 4can experiment more with this idea.
1Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Xenoblade Chronicles 3began with a combat setup similar to the other games. Eventually, the playable characters could fuse into forms known as Ouroboros. These forms were mech-like which was a return to this franchise’s roots.
The two previous series,XenogearsandXenosaga, offered players the opportunity to pilot mechs during battle. The Ouroboros forms were the next best thing inXenoblade Chronicles3and they added a lot of power to combat especially during boss battles.
