posted
Hmmm. . . FF and Pokemon? Something tells me we have different taste in turn-based RPGs. Especially since I don't believe Final Fantasy is an RPG in any way.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
??? Turn based? oh do you mean the battle system? And are you fing insane? of course FF is an rpg series what else could it be? An interactive sotry where you kill things? Seriously.
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Pokemon is just like Final Fantasy, don't just assume it's kiddie becuase tehy use cuddly ccreatures that don't kill anything, just knock them out.
Posts: 141 | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
I enjoy the Fire Emblem series on GBA, as well as Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis. I also enjoy the two Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga games for PS2. Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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I'd call it a turn-based strategy game, since no role is actually played at any time.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
You play the role of a group of generic misfit hero's who have to save the generic world/city/universe from the evil generic group of villains.
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Blayne, you don't play the role at all. The role is played for you. You just walk from point A to point B and select the hotspot to get to the next cutscene. If anything I'd call them adventure games with turn-based combat.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
I love Final Fantasy.... It rocks. 7-10.. It's all about 7-10 Still have to beat 6/3 And Shadow Hearts is kind of cool except for those parts that are bad for people like me who are border line OCD.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
If there are no decisions the player makes that determine character development in some way, it is not a role-playing game. Technical decisions for how to beat the bad guys don't count, unless there are multiple options which result in beating the bad guy but advance the story in different ways.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote: A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. Gameplay progresses according to a predetermined system of rules and guidelines, within which players may improvise freely. Player choices shape the direction and outcome of role-playing games.
Role-playing games are typically more collaborative and social than competitive. A typical role-playing game unites its participants into a single team that adventures as a group.
Most computer RPGs like FF cannot capture the traditional elements of paper and pencil RPGs. There is no collaborative or social role playing, you cannot improvise as much, and your choices usually level you up instead of "shape the direction and outcome of role-playing games."
However the popularity of Computer RPGs seem to have redefined what an RPG is--which is a shame in my opinion. I would like to try more games, like Neverwinter Nights, where players develop maps and run campaigns.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
It's silly to run around and try to redefine genre boundaries according to your tastes.
There are Pen-and-Paper RPGs (Dungeons & Dragons, Rifts, Vampire: The Masquerade), Eastern Computer RPGs (Final Fantasy, .hack), Western Computer RPGs (Fallout, Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, The Elder Scrolls), Action RPGs (Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath), MMORPGS (Everquest, World of Warcraft), LARPS (shudder), and RPGs that don't fit snugly into the standard categories (Fable).
You can observe these genre boundaries as they are observed in the marketplace, and they become a useful tool for communicating about the similarities and differences between games.
Or you can try to disqualify a part of the broader genre that you don't like, but then all you do is start arguments, and you don't advance the conversation at all.
Posts: 1907 | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by A Rat Named Dog: It's silly to run around and try to redefine genre boundaries according to your tastes.
There are Pen-and-Paper RPGs (Dungeons & Dragons, Rifts, Vampire: The Masquerade), Eastern Computer RPGs (Final Fantasy, .hack), Western Computer RPGs (Fallout, Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, The Elder Scrolls), Action RPGs (Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath), MMORPGS (Everquest, World of Warcraft), LARPS (shudder), and RPGs that don't fit snugly into the standard categories (Fable).
You can observe these genre boundaries as they are observed in the marketplace, and they become a useful tool for communicating about the similarities and differences between games.
Or you can try to disqualify a part of the broader genre that you don't like, but then all you do is start arguments, and you don't advance the conversation at all.
Except for the fact that I do enjoy these games and have played them extensively. I just think the term "RPG" is misapplied.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
I am a fan of guild wars. PVP lasts on average 45 seconds - 2 minutes 30 seconds. Very intense!
I am not trying to disqualify any type of RPG, just pointing out that the definition has evolved. I miss the pen and paper RPG and wish it could be captured on computers--which it can't. My nostolgia is tied to a magical time in my life.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Amen. Geoff, the issue here is that most CRPGs aren't actually roleplaying games at all in any sense of the term. They're games in which you improve a character over time, and indeed that seems to be all that you need to have "roleplaying elements" in a computer game nowadays, but there's no actual role being played.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Awww, I jsut wanted to know if anyone played them, I didn't want a hole war over the definiion of RPG!
Posts: 141 | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
I think of Final Fantasy as an RPG, in the video game sense. Heck, look at Mario RPG, it's right there in the title. Video game RPGs to me just define the style of gameplay. Like Shining Force for Sega, you're following a set course, and really have no control over how the game plays out, but it's widely considered an RPG.
I'm a bit out of date on my games, the last system I bought was a Nintendo 64, and I mostly only play my old Sega.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by twinky: Enig, PS:T is just an "oh, and also" in your books? Some of us think of it as the best example of the genre to date.
(Then again, some of us have played very little of either Fallout game.)
The "oh, and also" is due to the fact that I was heading out the door a moment after posting that, and remembered that Torment definitely needed to be mentioned. Since, you know, nobody else who thought it was a great game mentioned it in their post, well before mine.
My only gripes with the game were that it could have used more NPCs to choose from (6 characters for 5 slots) and there's a mid-game stretch in the outer planes that's almost completely linear, unlike the rest of the game. All the parts where you're actually in Sigil are fantastic.
posted
i wanna play chronotrigger, i played an RPG based on it once, and i hear its really good.
Anyone here ever play river city ransom? That game has a TON of parodies based off it, and is actually a very advanced game for only 2 main buttons
Posts: 141 | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Tom and Primal, does the original etymology of a term always need to apply perfectly to the subject matter it is used colloquially for?
"Role-playing Games" is a term originally used to describe a certain group of tabletop games that grew out of fantasy wargaming. The term originated in the fact that each player controls a character within a communal story, and determines that character's choices — in a sense, playing that role, as though he were in an improvised play. However, this is not the only defining feature of this class of games. Character management through statistics, tactical combat, and a communal atmosphere are all common, defining traits among Role-playing Games.
Several different genres within the computer-gaming industry have branched out from the original Role-playing Games. Some focused primarily on the statistics-based wargaming roots, while others focused on the choice-making and role-playing, and still others focused on the communal atmosphere or the character management. The different branches of the genre strayed from the original experience, and not all of them brought with them the specific feature that inspired the genre's name.
However, the genre has always been about a whole lot more than just "role-playing", and I think it is perfectly legitimate to call games "RPGs" because they grow out of the RPG tradition, whether or not they actually incorporate what some people consider to be the act of "role-playing".
Posts: 1539 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:However, this is not the only defining feature of this class of games.
However, it is as far as I'm concerned the single most important defining feature of this class of games. It's like a religion that calls itself Christian because it believes in turning the other cheek, but actually worships a space alien named Zorlob.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
It would be more like a religion calling itself Christian because it grows out of the same source as Christianity, even though its beliefs are strikingly different from the ones commonly accepted as traditional
You know how I feel about that particular case ...
Anyway, in a very loose sense, the vast majority of computer games could be called "role-playing games" because you act the part of a character that is not yourself. At that scale, however, the definition is pretty useless. So we narrow the definition of the genre to only include games that also share some other important features with pen-and-paper RPGs. Thus, it becomes those "other features" that define the genre, rather than the amorphous idea of "playing a role".
Posts: 1539 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Anyway, in a very loose sense, the vast majority of computer games could be called "role-playing games" because you act the part of a character that is not yourself.
Hey, I personally think Grim Fandango is more of a RPG than Final Fantasy. But YMMV. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
I absolutely love the Fire Emblem series. There has actually been NINE Fire Emblem games in Japan, but only three have come over here. (Fire Emblem for the GBA, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones for the GBA, and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for the GameCube.)
These are some of the best turn-based strategy RPGs out there. If you are a fan of those types of games then go out and at least get FE for the GBA, and PoR for the GCN!
Posts: 290 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
I loved Pokemon I even had that secret pokemon, Missingo? Hehe!!
I can't stand RPGs though. Too much numbers and statistics for me. I hate trying to find a good sword that has +5 to strength and 30% increase in agility or something.
That's why the Zelda games own like no tomorrow.
Posts: 147 | Registered: Jun 2005
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