As a follow-up to what Rodney said, I don't really think that "RPG" is a
easily definable category. What makes an RPG game? Throughout the years we
have seen many different genres of RPG because it seems as technology gets
better, we lose touch with the classic RPG. The NES (for me) was the
greatest RPG system of all time. We had Dragon Warrior series, Final
Fantasy, etc. All of which allowed you to build up characters through
experience and equipment that you needed to go find on your own with a
little help from some NPC in the world. These games were not the best
graphically but the playability was definitely there for old D&D type of
RPG'ers. Then came the SNES. The better graphics helped the classic RPGs.
Chrono Trigger is a great RPG as well as the Final Fantasy sequels. The
32-Bit systems (PSX and Saturn) had some good RPGs as well but I think its
at this stage where the "Classic RPG" started to die and the "Adventure RPG"
was being born. Long gone were the abilities to wander aimlessly looking
for the solution to a problem. These new breed of RPGs became more linear
while keeping the level-up functionality. I played FF7 in hopes that it
would be as good or better than its predecessors but was very disappointed.
Long gone was the ability for me to wander off the beaten path and into
trouble for my character. I wasn't fighting Ogres before I was ready (like
you could in the earlier FF games) and my character never died. I'm not
saying that every RPG should make your character die but I think that if you
go where you shouldn't, then you should take the chance of getting your
party killed. That's the fun of RPGs.
Then came the N64...I have yet to find an RPG for that system. Everything
that looked like one was only a glorified adventure game. I still enjoyed
the system but not for its RPGs.
Then came my beloved Dreamcast. I'm not sure how many fans there are but
during my time owning it, I've grown a collection of just over 300 Dreamcast
US and import titles. This is by far my favorite system. Maybe because it
was made by Sega, I don't know. I have Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2, Silver,
Record of Lodoss War, El Dorado, etc and I think that they made a chivalrous
attempt to bring RPGs back. Grandia 2 was a definite "Adventure RPG" but
still good nonetheless. Unfortunately, this system failed.
Last year I bought a PS2 because my PSX laser was dying and since the PS2
was backwards compatible, I decided to give it a shot. I also bought FFX.
It's pretty but I was again disappointed in SquareSoft. Maybe I'm getting
old (I'm only 25) but all this focus on 3D and art and cut scenes and
special effects is kind of killing it for me. The fun part of many RPGs is
the replay ability which is completely gone from modern RPGs.
I recently got an Xbox and Baldur's Gate. Now I loved the game on the PC
and I knew coming into this that it wouldn't be the PC version. The game
has good graphics and good game play but again is way too linear. There is
a specified number of monsters to fight and they don't respawn or anything.
Money becomes useless but the character development is pretty cool. It's
from BioWare and they know how to make RPGs so why didn't they make one for
the Xbox? I'm still waiting....
I guess all of this can be blamed on marketing. In the past, these types of
games were geared to people wanting a challenge and not to just beat a game.
Somewhere in the mix of technological flash and sales records, the RPG
seemed to have faded. I find myself going back to the 8 and 16 bit systems
to get my fix for RPGs. Does anyone else feel the way that I do? It's sad
since I enjoy consoles more than my PC and I can't find the games on the
newer systems. If you have a suggestion of a game, please let me know.
Mike