People always seem to refer to it as an RPG, teamed with some other term, in reviews and the like. I'm undecided. One could call it an action RPG?
Yes, of course!
No, of course not!
Only Zelda II.
Meat Puppet.
People always seem to refer to it as an RPG, teamed with some other term, in reviews and the like. I'm undecided. One could call it an action RPG?
It is an action-adventure game. Any and all RPG-elements it does have are also shared by many other games of the same genre. Health upgrades, weapon upgrades and such are found frequently outside the RPG genre. Those alone can hardly make a game a RPG, unless you want to consider a plethora of other games like Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, Ninja Gaiden, etc... as RPGs. Nor would a specific plot element really make a game RPG, since most RPGs are in essence "saving the world", but plenty of other genres have that too.
A key RPG element is the depth of character stats. I am talking about than just health upgrades. Plenty of RPGs will give you stats such as Strength, Defense, Magic, etc...which can either be controlled by the player (e.g. most Western RPGs) or will level up naturally depending on your character's class/job which may or may not be changeable (e.g. most Final Fantasy's). Many RPGs also involve being a part of a team or group of heros/adventurers/misfits/what-have-you who join you in battle. These characters can be controllable (e.g. early FF), NPC/given various AI styles (Kingdom Hearts, Person 3) or a mixture (Dragon Age: Origins, FFXII). There are exceptions to this like Fable I, but then again it involves in-dept character customization (referring more to stats and abilities than actual physical features). From here we can address the whole Western vs Japanese RPG, but I think that'd be taking it too far.
tl;dr, Zelda may have RPG-like elements but that is it.
I think of it as both an RPG and Adventure. I know it's an Adventure but I started playing it at a young age and partnered it up with FF.
It is an action-adventure game. Any and all RPG-elements it does have are also shared by many other games of the same genre. Health upgrades, weapon upgrades and such are found frequently outside the RPG genre. Those alone can hardly make a game a RPG, unless you want to consider a plethora of other games like Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, Ninja Gaiden, etc... as RPGs.
Yeah, don't you know that everyone is a RPG gamer nowadays. The genre isn't just reserved for geeks anymore. Industries have realized the now the addictiveness of RPGs and now they're mainstream. Industry still keeps the whole from the sectional seperate. Classification now comes to how much RPG involvement is there in the game to label it with the just RPG or any kind of hybrid.
The Zelda series has high elements in both fields of Action-Adventure and RPG, to create that rare genre which is an Action-Adventure/RPG.
Okami is another that shares it.
streme Wheelie
Recognized Member
Puzzle game with adventure elements
I'll bite since I got my head chewed off by Roto on another forum for saying this but I'll say it is an Action Adventure RPG.
The true irony here is that the modern definition of an Adventure game (a story driven game with exploration elements that is about becoming a character and seeing their daily life all using a text based interface. I.e. Fate/Stay the Night, Syberia, and Leisure Suit Larry) today is almost the complete opposite of what Zelda is. Zelda to me hearkens back to the roots of early RPGs where exploration and puzzle solving were key elements to gameplay as opposed to convulated stories and intricate stat based customization systems with turn based combat. Considering Zelda inspired the creation of Dragon Warrior (the earliest form of the JRPG) then I would say Zelda is literally the primordial RPG. It has stat based growth which is built upon by a players advancement through the title and skill level. It has a story focus (despite Zelda plots being fairly simple) which ties in most elements of the game together. It has a focus on using both the players mind to figure out puzzles and enemy weaknesses as well as just upgrading and "strong arming" your way through combat, and it has bosses that are given to the player in a non-linear (though suggested) path of encounter. It has an overworld map and cities and dungeons within in it as well.
If you compared Zelda to RPGs back in the NES and SNES era, I feel it would be easy to say Zelda is an RPG, its only recently when RPG became a loose term used to describe most types of games that I feel it lost its genre. To be honest, it would be difficult to define what RPG itself is especially since it is synonymous with the definition of Adventure titles. JRPG are close to Adventure titles while Zelda would be closer to a Western RPG where you take on quests to gain upgrades and skills in a decentralized world left to the players own initiative to explore.
So yeah, Zelda is hardly a JRPG but I feel its close enough to the "WRPG" to say it warrants the RPG title. As for saying games like God of War, DMC, or Ninja Gaiden can be considered RPGs under this terminology, it cannot simply because at the core, all these games are about combat and action. The point of GoW, DMC, and NG is to lop off an opponents head and then use your wicked skills to juggle it in the air for twenty minutes. The upgrades in these games are simply rewards for advancing to the next level, they grant you more options for the core elements which is the combat system (stealth for AC) so you can't consider them RPGs cause the core gameplay elements are not an RPG, it is about kicking ass with style. Which is really nowhere in the definition of an RPG unless we want to count gross empowerment" as a core trait of RPGs.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
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I agree that Zelda shares a lot of characteristics with oldschool RPGs, but I disagree that in modern terms it's similarly close to a WRPG. WRPGs are much more individualized (in that each playthrough can be a unique experience) and nonlinear for any Zelda title to fit in it, and Link is too defined as a character.
That being said, the WRPG and JRPG distinctions are there to differentiate between two different "kinds" of RPGs which are actually wildly different. Perhaps the term "RPG" has gotten so broad that it's time for an ARPG subgenre which would incorporate Zelda.
Adventure games are a type of puzzle game. But I still stand by and say that no, Zelda isn't pure adventure. It's got many action and role playing elements to it which puts it into a completely different genre than adventure games (see my previous post for examples).Originally Posted by Jiro
Puzzle game with adventure elements
"... and so I close, realizing that perhaps the ending has not yet been written."
You are quite right, its been awhile since I was able to stomach my way through a WRPG, but I was mostly alluding that the similarities are from the WRPG holding onto exploration and side quests as core elements to the gameplay as opposed to JRPG where the story and combat are the driving forces.
As for the definition of RPGs, yeah, its a bit hard to say which is why I do feel that Zelda most likely would exist under its own RPG genre that's different from the other genres.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
I suppose I may as well post in my own thread.
In my opinion, Zelda would be an Action Adventure. Action is put there because, as Wolf said, an Adventure game is:
So calling it just "Adventure" is silly. Even Metroid Prime 3 is closer to Adventure game than Zelda. So, "Action" is added on, because you're adventuring, and it's action based. If you just call it an adventure game, you're associating it with the wrong crowd.
But then, if you call it an RPG, you're also associating it with the wrong crowd. RPG fans may recognize the fantasy setting, but even comparing the original Zelda to say, Dragon Quest, the gameplay is totally different.
Yes, Diablo II is an RPG. To be more specific thougth it's generally classified as an action/RPG.
As for Zelda, I've barely played the games, but I've always heard that it was an action/adventure game with puzzles thrown in. However, I could be wrong.
That's just about right.Yes, Diablo II is an RPG. To be more specific thougth it's generally classified as an action/RPG.
As for Zelda, I've barely played the games, but I've always heard that it was an action/adventure game with puzzles thrown in. However, I could be wrong.
I've always called it Hack 'n' Slash or Dungeon Crawler RPG...Yes, Diablo II is an RPG. To be more specific thougth it's generally classified as an action/RPG.
As for Zelda, I've barely played the games, but I've always heard that it was an action/adventure game with puzzles thrown in. However, I could be wrong.
as for Zelda, Action Adventure (or, semi-linear sandbox).
I said yes.
HOWEVER: it's more like an ARPG . . . but . . . without much of the RPG stuff. I guess it really is more Action/Adventure with RPG elements . . . but . . .
Whatever it is, it's perfect!
Since there is, as I mentioned before, a decided problem in that there is no hard and fast definition of RPG, I decided to simply look the term up.
Somewhat suprisingly to me, dictionary.com had only one definition:
If we accept this definition, and assume that in the electronic universe, the Game Master (defined as the person who controls a role-playing game) is either the developers who created the game or the computer itself, then there is almost no difference between role-playing games and adventure games.role-playing game
–noun
a game in which participants adopt the roles of imaginary characters in an adventure under the direction of a Game Master.
Of course, there are plenty of gamers who would disagree with this definition, I'm sure, but I thought it was something interesting to make note of.
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