Waiting hurts my soul...
I recently had the crazy idea of playing every RPG released in the US on console (plus a smattering of imports). Crazy because continuous releases of RPGs means I have an ever growing backlog that I'll probably never catch up on, and the very definition of a console RPG is debatable. So, that's what I'd like help doing here. I've tried to come up with a definition on my own using the one used for pen & paper RPGs, and have come to the conclusion that there is no way to compare them, as almost any game (pure puzzle/rhythm games are the only ones I could think to exclude) could be translated back to a pen & paper RPG or even live action role-playing (LARP). I even thought about the concept of leveling or stat increases, as you may play through an entire gaming session, completing a large quest the size of most video games without distributing experience and leveling up. So, I'd like to discuss what makes a video game an RPG and come up with a list of games.
Points that determine if a game is included or excluded from the list:
1) The player controls a character (or characters) that are unique. (This excludes army/unit based games like command & conquer.)
2) The character's skills increase based on repeated actions rather than collecting items. (This excludes The Legend of Zelda type games, and most collectible card games.)
Some questions I'm left with:
a) If both gaining items and repeated actions increase stats/skills (i.e. experience points and levels to raise HP, MP, damage, etc, and items to increase or unlock skills) then it's usually considered an action RPG. Should I include those in this list?
b) If you're controlling a character that commands a nameless army, but gains abilities and increased stats through battles, does this count as an RPG?
c) Following that, if your commanding character recruits nameless units that increase in skills and level up, would that be considered an RPG even though he or she never improved?
d) Does an RPG need to rely on dialogue or a story? (Is a random rogue-like or dungeon crawl game an RPG?)
This is my last thought on making a list; should I just forget the term RPG and play whatever the heck I want instead? At this point it seems hopeless to find a solid definition, and I'm close to scrapping the whole idea before I get too far into it.
Edit: Changed the topic to be more inline with what I'd like to discuss since people can't seem to read the entire post.
Points that determine if a game is included or excluded from the list:
1) The player controls a character (or characters) that are unique. (This excludes army/unit based games like command & conquer.)
2) The character's skills increase based on repeated actions rather than collecting items. (This excludes The Legend of Zelda type games, and most collectible card games.)
Some questions I'm left with:
a) If both gaining items and repeated actions increase stats/skills (i.e. experience points and levels to raise HP, MP, damage, etc, and items to increase or unlock skills) then it's usually considered an action RPG. Should I include those in this list?
b) If you're controlling a character that commands a nameless army, but gains abilities and increased stats through battles, does this count as an RPG?
c) Following that, if your commanding character recruits nameless units that increase in skills and level up, would that be considered an RPG even though he or she never improved?
d) Does an RPG need to rely on dialogue or a story? (Is a random rogue-like or dungeon crawl game an RPG?)
This is my last thought on making a list; should I just forget the term RPG and play whatever the heck I want instead? At this point it seems hopeless to find a solid definition, and I'm close to scrapping the whole idea before I get too far into it.
Edit: Changed the topic to be more inline with what I'd like to discuss since people can't seem to read the entire post.
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