With today's gamer requiring a fast paced, highly action oriented, and not all that thought provoking game - it is no wonder we have seen the decline of traditional point and click RPGs like most of us grew up with back in the day. I enjoyed spending literally days of my life playing these games, maxing out stats, collecting every secret - no matter how pointless, and growing pale in my basement with my only source of light being the television and and power button for weeks on end.
LordChandar of Gamespot takes a look at the rise of the MMO, and other factors that led to the downfall of our beloved genre.
Call me old school, but I grew up with traditional RPG games like Ultima and Might 'n' Magic on the PC and Final Fantasy/Dragon Warrior on the NES and SNES. I understand that technology has to evolve, but why does the gameplay have to be thrown out the window? Why does the feel of an RPG have to be so 'cold' now? Why is it that with the advent of 3D technology all games, RPGs especially now have to be 'ultra-realistic'? RPGs are based in FANTASY. Games are meant to be challenging and fun. Games like Elder Scrolls are wonderful to look at, and they are nice to roam around in, but they are too encumbered and too difficult and realistic to be 'any fun.'
Games like Diablo and Dungeon Siege occasionally help to try and fill the void, but these games are way too few and far between these days. All RPGs now almost seem to have to automatically be MMO only. Games like WoW are why Blzzard was able to wait so long to finally even create Diablo III. Creating MMOs are ideal for companies because they don't have to create a lengthy, captivating story line, or put ton's of stuff for one person or a very small group of people to do. The world doesn't have to be as balanced, and they can basically throw it together very quickly, get it out the door in no time, and then sit back and collect out $9.95 or $12.95 or however much you MMO of choice charges.
MMOs are a very important part of gaming today. They should not be replaced, but they are NOT a replacement for true traditional RPGs either. We need RPGS that have great single or multi-player capability, wonderful story lines, and great things to do in the game. I would gladly pay $60+ for a game I can play by myself or with a small group of people (battleNet) and that has tons of replay value...
To all the game manufacturers who make RPGs or used to make RPGs: Please start making good, deep, single player RPGs again. RPGs that we can become emotionally involved in. RPGs that have tons of replay value. RPGs we can lose months of social life to if we so choose.
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Cool you used a gamer's blog post too..not too often stuff like that is grabbed up. Good stuff.
I agree with the writer and it's something I've been thinking about lately..something has been lost in most RPGs today..there are a few keeping the feel alive (Etrian Odyssey comes to mind)..but mostly its gone and seems to have kind of died since the 7th generation came about..sad.
I dont think I agree about MMOs though..they seem just as challenging if not moreso to make, just in a different way. I imagine they're very hard to finish, but once they are it's a breeze, and benefits the creators for a very long time (assuming the game does okay).
As for the combat though, I think the more action-centric combat of today's RPGS is more fun, in many cases. Like Mass Effect for example.
It is definitely definitely harder to find RPGS that have as complex and advanced character systems as found in the old games though. Like in Fallout 2, there was an amazing amount of skills and stats and such... modern RPGs are often far more simpler, to the determinant of the game.
Like Fallout 3 will probably be much more of an action RPG than a real RPG unfortunately. Because graphics are so important these days developers don't think it is a priority to make a RPG as complex as they were... there is exceptions though, I guess.
Most RPG Characters today are Paper Thin and have absolutely no depth to them. Most old characters are complex and the story actually makes you feel like you're the only one who can save the world. Also, the old game's plots don't focus around love and put saving the world second, something newer games are a culprit of.
Boss Battles are no longer complex. Most people today seem to think that having an ASSLOAD of HP can replace genuine Difficulty. It doesn't. It just makes the Battle more longer and unnecessary.
Also, I'm not a big fan of MMO's. The worlds are way too big for my liking and you can easily wander into a difficult area and be punished for it. Plus, most people are assholes.