this is like the one area where japanese games are still untouchable
(that and menu sound design, which is closely related)
I have to imagine it’s mostly down to willingness to write bespoke code at this point
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Japanese graphic design is also really good next to the average US standard of quality
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All my fave inventories are in old RPGs though?
I’d say it is also down to the type of gameplay, and its (the game) identity in a way?
Like, if you are forced… or let us say, enticed to spend a lot of time menuing, it is essential to make it bearable.
Unwildly pages of inventory to sift through just to change a weapon for every second encounter?
Nobody will do that anymore today… or so I hope(?). Seiken Densetsu 2 a. k. a. Secret of Mana did this in a wonderful fashion, since it had enemies that were susceptible to a certain kind of weapon, so making it a non-hassle to switch gear was a brilliant move. It brought to light peoples’ habits as well:
Fellow gamers/friends who would go in one direction only, though being lightning fast and accurate with their choice. I’d call it blind menuing if there was such a thing…
but i digress:
If you need to change things a lot in a game, via menuing, make it as fluent and non-aggravating as possible.
Good sound design belongs here then, and with the japanese mindset of honing even the most bizarre and tiny aspect of things, that’s exactly the mindset you need to make the right plonk-sounds when moving your cursor. P5 supposedly got it right, tho i have no idea how much menuing you need in it, still haven’t played it…
Another interesting example that stuck around in my mind as being different:
first PSO on the DC. Haven’t seen that in a long time, but iirc you had a window where you could see what was going on during your inventory excursions?
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Not the best inventory but my favorite Item Tetris Game. I love the detail on the frame, it’s just So Much
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Might and Magic 6-8 have a great inventory system with a “paper doll” character display which shows each character wearing all of their equipped items.
There was a relatively recent American game with an inventory that was a spiral. It was really fucking cool scrolling through shit.
I like how close this is to the Canonical Deus Ex loadout, though iirc the sabot was never really necessary if you had enough alternate ammo for the assault rifle
I can’t even recall how different this is from the original menu, been ages since I played last. Prod snipe and rocket launching’s all I remember.
I had a Crystalis inventory post cued up, but didn’t pull the trigger in time. Love that game!
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I mean there’s basically nothing about that UI that’s good
that’s part of why playing it on a console with a controller was so popular/viable; it wasn’t really a downgrade
oh wait is that mount and blade? I thought it was morrowind