RPGs - the most addicitve games of all?

[Sieg]

first ever Japanese RPG was called Black Onyx and programmed/distributed by Henk Rogers ...

Henk Rogers ... err ... that's an unusual Japanese name

I think perhaps the first big Japanese-developed RPG was Dragon Quest (1986, Enix). The genre that we know today seems to grown from that example at least. I remember reading about how the fledging Square were so impressed with the game (and the amount of money it made) that they gave up the shmups and racers they were working on and put everything they had into a make-or-break title (hence 'Final') to try and catch some of it's audience ...

But anyway, yeah - I love Japanese RPGs. I think it's mostly to do with the empathic characters, even if they do tend toward the clich?d a lot of the time. The doomed-romance & apocalypse stories, the convoluted systems - it's all good to me.

S.

[Tom Salter]

To be honest, I could never get into Crono Trigger. I tried 3 or 4 times, but it just wasn't happening for me.

But Chrono Cross on the other hand, I played that twice though. Fantastic environments and soundtrack, it rose the spirits one minute, and dropped them the next.

For me, no other genre can display this amout of emotion. I mean, how many of you were brought close to tears at FFVII's death scene? I know I was. The fact that the game is incredibly long lets you create an intense relationship with your characters, as you stick by them through thick and thin. And the levelling up process is a part of this too, as you watch your fledgling fighters become an incredibly powerful team of warriors.

Thing is, RPG's aren't instantly satisfying. If you think they are, or should be, you are missing the point. But once you've become addicted to one, you'll never let it go.

[KempStar]

RPGS used to be my favourite genre, back in the 16 bit days, and even in the 32 bit days. Now, well im not so sure. Like Brats mentioned, too many games are reluctant to deviate from the norm even slightly, with almost every game released very similiar in terms of setting, storyline, characters and battle system. I started playing FFV the other day, but have since stopped (after about ten hours). There was just no compulsion to carry on whatsoever :/

RPGS i have enjoyed over the last couple of years-

Skies of arcadia: I really liked the pirate theme and setting, this game deviated from the norm in this respect.
FFX: Despite the fact it was about as original as bottled water, the characters were so interesting and the plot, although generic/ cliche heaven, was good enough to drive me to complete it. Lovely soundtrack too.

I think its about time that RPGs experimented with setting and thematics, perhaps in radically different ways. 90% of RPGs have the same setting- knights with swords, wizards with magic, dragons etc. Maybe theres a name for this. If games were set in different eras and settings, then traditional RPG conventions, such as quest-item-village-equipment-repeat, buy progressively stronger equipment at each village, walk-boat-airship etc wouldnt "fit", and thus would need to change. This could revive the genre. The possibilities are endless. Heres just a few ideas for setting-

Underwater world
Everyone is a robot
Police
Cowboys and Indians
Modern warfare (ww2 etc)

Any thoughts?

[Edame]

Anime adaptations! I'd kill to play an RPG based in Gaia (Escaflowne) or Gunsmoke (Trigun).

[John Beaulieu]

just started playing .hack on ps2 - very weird storyline where you are role-playing as someone playing a roleplaying game

looks interesting though and it is based on a popular anime

camps

ps Henk Rogers wasn't Japanese - first japanese rpg was developed by a westerner (how ironic)

[Tom Salter]

Camps -

.HACK seems like a totally original plotline.

I dont know who said it, but Jap RPG's are really becoming long in teh tooth. A lot or them are redefinitions of previous games, but some are opriginal, like .HACK.

PLus, im pissed, ignore me if I am STUPID.

[Link]

Yep RPG's are the games I spend the most time on,well when i get a new one anyway once i finish them i tend to never come back, but i just look at the box and think wow i finnished that 8) well and adventure games too, but there arnt to many good adventure games nowdays (metroid excused of course!). Does anyone know the release date for US Golden Sun 2? I cant wait to play that!

[Destrukticor]

Golden Sun The lost age is apparently released on the 15th of April in the US.

I'm about half way through Golden Sun at the mo having abandoned it earlier this yea and am enjoying it immensely
Also RPG's are one of my favourite genres across all formats the storyline is what keeps me in, though the random battles can get annoying (if i rememeber the Tales series on PS1 was horrible for that)
Nothing draws you in like a good story, and the action RPG while nowhere near as deep is still very enjoyable .
Still have Zelda OOT and Skies to play yet then Zelda:WW

Yay for me....

[Treble]

Just going to reiterate everything said in various places throughout this topic, really: Potential to be great....often too repetitive...formulaic....engrossing when they get it right....etc.

It's a shame that more don't have the real-world sensibilities of, say, Silent Hill. I was reading a few posts, and a theme emerged from Sidez's: he wants a sequel to Shadow of Memories (a game, I hear, with a few problems, but an intriguing central concept) and champions SH1+2.

I have to say that the prospect of sequels to these games hardly thrill me, but an RPG with their sensibilities and sense of direction/purpose ( ~most importantly, they are set in our world~ ) would be most welcome in my eyes.

[acidforblood]

I've been playing Shadowrun and what a breath of the proverbial it is.

[nips]

To be honest, I could never get into Crono Trigger. I tried 3 or 4 times, but it just wasn't happening for me.

But Chrono Cross on the other hand, I played that twice though. Fantastic environments and soundtrack, it rose the spirits one minute, and dropped them the next.

For me, no other genre can display this amout of emotion. I mean, how many of you were brought close to tears at FFVII's death scene?

Chrono Trigger is a great game. The time travel is just great. In my opinion one of the best RPGs ever. Chrono Cross is generally considered to be inferior. But Chrono Cross is not actually a sequal to Chrono Trigger, is a remake of Radical Dreamers which is very similar to Chrono Trigger... Like Chrono Trigger v2.0

And FFVII brought me to tears when she died. I couldn't believe it. Great moment. Better than any othe gaming moment. But no other game has held me as well as that.

Both great games, although I'm not familiar with Chrono Cross

[Tom Salter]

Yeah, I hear so often that Chrono Trigger is great, but it just aint happening. Maybe because I try to play it on snes emu, and I just can't seem to get into RPG's on a pc.

If I could find a SNES cartridge though, that'd be a different story!

And Chrono Cross is a kind of sequel, since it refer's back to events in Crono Trigger and it's "unreleased in the west" sequel Radical Dreamers. But only briefly.

[nips]

You do lose a lot of the game playing it as a emu.

It is still playable, but you don't have the same experience.

If you really want the game checkout some carboot sales or even easier for to ebay and have a gander. If you liked Chrono Cross, you should like Chrono Trigger. So if you see the cart, pick it up, you shouldn't pay more than ?10.

But if it ain't working for you then fair enough!

[Pain2k]

Yeah FFX took over my life completely, i literaly took 2 weeks out of life, full time 9am - 2am, i dont know how i managed it now but hey. The thing which took me by surprise was that i wasnt satisfied with just finishing it, and i wasnt jeered away when i lost my save game and had to start the whole thing again, i just had to do everything and see everything. Id not played a FF game before that mind.

Why cant someone make a game which has the elements of a good RPG, but some actual skill in playing it though, i mean to be honest there is no skill in playing an RPG, the combat in every RPG ive ever seen is so generic and so predictable its untrue, specialise in whatever your sposed to be good at and hit your enemy with the thing hes vulnrable against, and yet they are so addictive because of the love for the characters your playing, if its not a love for the actual fictional character your controling its a love for there statistics and the way they improve.

Its getting that next weapon your saving for, or getting that next spell or the next cutscene, the actual gameplay bores me. If the combat system was non-turn based, and worked in the same way as a shooter (for instance), that would be soooo cool. Yeah its been tried before but every example i see is a half ass attempt, its trying to be one or the other, and have a small element of the other, if you catch my drift

Norris

[Tom Salter]

Well, I find the combat quite fun. Random battles however, suck. There are so many other alternatives to this, like I said above in Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross. This is why most people hate the RPG genre, because they just get very bored very quickly. But the combat mechanics in most RPG's are great.

It's the way that you get to the combat that is what lets a lot of RPG's down.