I've been wondering this for a while what aspects in a game makes it a RPG? is it the ability to purchase items and equip them? no, then the RE games would be counted as RpGs. Can anyone tell me please, I've been pklaying them for too long not to know what is it exactly.
Management of statistics through items and equipment. Selecting commands from menus as the central gameplay mechanic.
that, and designing a character as your own, you actually own the character, it's yours, and nigh impossible to duplicate.Originally Posted by Kawaii Ryűkishi
YES, even in FF games no other person will have characters with identical stats to your characters at certain levels. Plus there are bonus items like sources in VII that you chose who receives it.
THE JACKEL
What Kishi said.
Kaycee says (12:06 AM):
whos' obama?
What Kishi said + Whether or not it is an Action RPG depends on the battle system.
Role : A character or part played by a performer
Playing : Activity engaged in for enjoyment or recreation
Game : An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime
So technically a Role-Playing Game is a activity of entertainment and enjoyment wherein you play the part of a character. Hence any computer game in exsistance can be considered an RPG. Even Pacman.
Use this as a reference.
There is no signature here. Move along.
An exemplary demonstration of why the technical definition of "role-playing game" isn't at all congruous with what RPGs actually are.
>>> This one is easy, the answer is spiky hair and a oversized sword..
>> The black orb glitters ominously... but nothing happens..
lkjjlkm 9 (or whatever your friggin' name is lol) has it pretty on the money. To me there are two rpgs. Action rpgs and true rpgs. Action rpgs are real-time and true rpgs are turn-based. In the end though, I haven't nailed it down to a science, but I've thought about it a lot though. If it's turn-based, it is definitely an rpg (with the exception of strategy games, which can be strat-rpgs, or just plain strategy). The difficulty comes when you're nailing down whether an action-rpg is actually an action or adventure game. At that point, it comes down to how far you can customize your character. Then how much strategizing is involved. This is critical. If you find that the majority of strategic decisions MUST be made in split-seconds, then it could be an adventure game. If you have lots of time to decide beforehand, it's probably action-rpg. But it also depends on the storyline (for the most part, having to do with how long it is). If it's huge and engrossing then it's probably an action-rpg. Examples:
Zelda- an adventure game. Why? Nearly no storyline, Little strategic decisions before battle, and nearly-no customization (pretty clear cut)
PE- VERY CLOSE to being an rpg. And it could be called one with a little tweak in my definition. But IMO the storyline is not long enough and world-encompassing. As well, MANY decisions must be made at that moment. (hard to define)
You're forgetting strategy/simulation RPGs.
I'm not really sure what an RPG is. I do know what games are not RPGs.
In my opinion, a game cannot be considered an RPG without sufficient story elements. This includes various information and trivia that you learn from non-vital NPCs and "text items" as well as in-game descriptions of what certain items are/do and/or why/how they do the things they do. The characters need to grow and change over the course of the story. The story must clearly affect the character(s) and the character(s) must affect the story in at least some small way.
There's more, but I have to leave for now.
An RPG is a plot and character driven game. All other gaming types are defined by their gameplay styles. First Person Shooters focus on gameplay, and only have the outlines of a plot to fill in around the mindless shooting. Puzzle games don't usually have a plot at all, and are focused solely on their puzzles. The pattern continues. But an RPG focuses on plot and characters. The gameplay determines what kind of an RPG it is (Action/Adventure, Tactical, Standard, etc...), but the game itself is not defined by its gameplay. You could have a game which has a completely FF gameplay style, yet if it didn't have the focus on storyline and character interactions that are standard in the FF series, it wouldn't be an RPG.
Oh, and you are incorrect for defining it like this. "Role playing" is a single term, yet you define it as two seperate words.
Last edited by Skyblade; 02-17-2006 at 01:54 AM.
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***(I disagree, Gauntlet is typically an RPG nowadays, like Gauntlet Dark Legacy (haven't played any after that), but there is no character development at all, and the story is minimal. But you choose a character class, name them, choose a color, and can even buy stat boosting items to design them how you want. It is therefore your character and completely your own. Yes at a certain point every character maxes out in games like this, but it was and is still your very own character.)*** scratched from definition, but still an RPG aspect of the game
Typically yes, you're correct in that it has a lot of character growth and a long story, but not always. THE KEY, is developing the character how you want, making them very unique to your game. How often have we had threads on here in FF games that are like, what's you characters stats, and they're never identical. That makes the RPG. It's your character, you made them how they are.
I get mad when people say Zelda is an RPG. You don't make Link how he is, he gets basically all his items for the actual story. In RPGs, those have a category called key items, and a whole other category of items that you don't even need to get, sometimes exceeding 1000s of possibilities. You don't even need to get any of them. There are maybe 5...6 items in Zelda that are bonus, little side quests, but it's still an adventure game. Nintendo pushes it as an RPG because they didn't really have one. They should have released Fire Emblem in the US a long time ago, because that is a great strategy RPG.
Just playing a role does not make it an RPG. Mario is not, Megaman is not, Sonic is not, etc..... It's making your own unique character, that defines RPG, and if you disagree, look back at Dungeons and Dragons, the "original" RPG, board game or whatever you want to call it, didn't really have a board. You drew what your character looked like, you rolled dice to set their stats, no-one else had the same character as you, it was your own, and that's what RPGs go off of, technology couldn't always meet this, but as you can see, more and more RPGs have you designing your characters look and class more and more. Eventually they'll have RPGs where you completely design the main character yourself, choose how they look, their weapon (from a list) and their character class, then distribute stats accordingly. NOT an online game, just like your typical FF game, except you designed the main character, need voice actors? have one set for males, one for females. There would still be a preset story, but your character would definitely define RPG to the fullest. Maybe even make decisions during the game that changes what happens, but only into the different stories that were written for the game, you can't program limitless endings. Either way RPGs now adays, are still pretty good at getting unique characters.
Anyone who disagrees with this definition, I would like to hear your argument, because this is by far, the truest sense of a what an RPG REALLY is.
THE JACKEL
Last edited by ljkkjlcm9; 02-17-2006 at 04:15 PM.
Actually, I'm pretty sure Nintendo has never claimed Zelda to be an RPG. They categorize it as adventure, like rational people do.
I don't really think ljkkjlcm9's thing about how much you can customize your character is right. Take FF 4, you don't get to decide how your characters develope. They develope according to a preset level, and its definatly an RPG. The only customizing you can do is the equipment, which even in zelda, which you say isn't an RPG, you can do in. And as a side note, I consider Zelda an RPG, though I do live in a delusional world of Obscure Views.
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