Is Zelda an RPG?

[RedCydranth]

Just like the title says, Is the Legend of Zelda series an RPG series?

Legend of Zelda
Adventure of Link
Link to the Past
Link's Awakening
Oracle of Ages
Oracle of Seasons
Minish Cap
Four Swords
Ocarina of Time
Majora's Mask
Windwaker

Am I missing any? Remakes don't count....

A friend and I got into an argument and I figure a Poll on an RPG forum would prove who is right. I will not say what I believe until a few replies are made.

[Ichimonji]

It's an Adventure/RPG series.

[RedCydranth]

If you were to put into either Adventure or RPG though. Or better put, which is it more of? And adventure series or an RPG series?

[Ichimonji]

Adventure/RPG is a type of RPG. Just like Heavy Metal is a type of metal music. There's also Black Metal, Death metal Thrash Metal, etc... So like there's Traditional RPG, MMORPG, Text RPG, Freeform RPG, etc... There is no solid form of RPG. So unless you're comparing it to a type of RPG, you'll have to explain you're situation.

[crashNUMBERS]

Its half-'n'-half even though I still put no :lol:

[Ultima Shadow]

More adventure than RPG but still an RPG. :cool:

[Flamethrower]

It's definately more of an action/adventure game to me. I never really saw it as a RPG.

[omnitarian]

Zelda is an adventure game. Metroid has more RPG elements than Zelda.

[Lindy]

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/data/469050.html

Action adventure, as GameFAQs calls it, though Zelda 2 was very RPG-esque since you could actually level up and all.

[m4tt]

Yeah, I'd say it's more action adventure than RPG.

[MecaKane]

People only think it's an RPG because it has swords, and a medievily story. If you asked anyone if Resident Evil was a survival horror RPG or survival horror adventure, they would mostly say adventure.

[Lindy]

What do you mean survival horror?

I always thought it was a dating simulator, I mean, those zombies always seem to be going for the full 100% on Jill.

[Destai]

Its an adventure game which just happens to have... *SHOCK* A storyline!?! :eek:

[XxSephirothxX]

Well RPG really stands for "Role-Playing-Game," so any game in which you take on a role could technically be considered an RPG. That being said, however, gamers generally refer to RPGs as games with elaborate storylines that take precedent over gameplay, turn-based battles, world maps, etc. I would personally consider Zelda an adventure game, but you could call it an Action-RPG.

[Del Murder]

Nah.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Zelda is an adventure game. Nintendo has always defined it as such, and as I've said, in Zelda games, you press a button to use your sword as opposed to pressing a button to select "use sword" from a menu. If nothing else does, that makes it a non-RPG.

[Xander]

I see it as a kinda Adventure-RPG, myself. In Ocarina of Time when you could have that above view in some of the rooms or town it felt like I was playing Final Fantasy. xD But yeah it all depends on what people define RPGs as I guess. Zelda is awesome either way <3

[RedCydranth]

Here's my take... and my friend's.

I agree that it is NOT an RPG. It has some RPG qualities but many games do.

My friend says it is an RPG because you "level up" when you get a heart container. And in Secret of Mana you walk up to an enemy and slash at them, no separate battle menu, and SoM is definitely an RPG.

But my rebuttal to that is like mentioned earlier, Metroid, which is highly seen as NOT an RPG has energy containers, much like LoZ's heart containers. In Secret of Mana, there may not be a battle menu but there is leveling up weapons and numerous menus.

Thank you all for proving my point to him that its not a full fledged RPG.

[Zante]

In my opinion they are RPG's. When I hear adventure, I imagine something like Broken sword or The Neverhood.

[Dreddz]

Alundra was alot like Zelda.And its classed as a RPG.Why not Zelda

[edczxcvbnm]

It is just as much of an RPG as Beyond Good and Evil which is also not an RPG. How many of you here would classify beyond good and evil as an rpg?

Megaman Legends is more of an RPG than Zelda ever was or will be and that game barly qualifies as an Action RPG.

[Zeldy]

Id say Zelda was an advernture/RPG game.

[Chris]

Zelda is not an RPG -I have nothing more to say.

[Del Murder]

Here's a link about RPGs, likely made by some nerd with no authority, but still:

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=console%20rpg

[Halan]

My friend says it is an RPG because you "level up" when you get a heart container. And in Secret of Mana you walk up to an enemy and slash at them, no separate battle menu, and SoM is definitely an RPG.


Ah, but with RPGs, you have to level up. You're forced to as soon as you get enough points. However, in Zelda games, you are not required to 'level up' with a heart container. Taking the heart container is entirely optional, I've played a few Zelda games the whole way through with only three hearts.

RPG? Please. Look at the classic RPGs (or not so classic). You do take on a role in Zelda, and you do play that character, but you actually swing a sword and determine how you will defeat the enemy with your own movements and not with spells that you performed on a turn. To claim that The Legend of Zelda is an RPG is an insult to the series.

[Zante]

h, but with RPGs, you have to level up.

You don't have to level up in KOTOR, and there are a lot of RPG's where you don't level up at all, (Evil Islands)


but you actually swing a sword and determine how you will defeat the enemy with your own movements and not with spells that you performed on a turn.

Morrowind isn't turn based either.

[Lord Chainsaw]

The only credibility I can give to the claim that Zelda is an RPG is an unsupported statement by Nintendo that "claimed" Ocarina of Time was an RPG so it could get a slice of the FF7 pie.

Other than Nintendo using it as a ploy to make money, I don't see how anyone could classify Zelda as an RPG outside the fact that it has some environmental elements similar to the first RPGs.

[DJZen]

Zelda is an adventure game. Nintendo has always defined it as such, and as I've said, in Zelda games, you press a button to use your sword as opposed to pressing a button to select "use sword" from a menu. If nothing else does, that makes it a non-RPG.

He speaks the truth.

[Masamune·1600]

Like they said just above, it's not an RPG.