Action/RPG: where are these games?

[Tasachan]

I would suggest Dragonage, but I haven't played it. The combat isn't as fast-paced as God of War though.

What you're suggesting is exactly what I want in a game. I LOVED the fighting system in God of War (and similar games) but it would be awesome to be able to make my own character, too.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

I think it's exactly what a lot of people would love to have in a game. And Dragon Age doesn't really fit, unfortunately. Quasi-MMO combat - auto-attack, hit/miss stats, etc. I'm thinking of true real-time combat with dodging/blocking, hit detection, all that. Demon's Souls probably has the best melee combat, but the magic/archery suck and the game world/longevity aren't close.

Thanks for the suggestion, though!

Re: Oblivion - you do realize the uncanny valley exists towards the right half of the graph, yes? That indicates progress on the realism axis. To my knowledge, no one has actually come out the other side successfully - save maybe James Cameron. Should Bethesda admit some measure of defeat and retreat to a more stylized approach? Probably. But I still applaud their attempts. As far as the game world of Oblivion being smaller and less interesting than its predecessors, I can't disagree. I very apparently should have used one of the previous entries in the series as my starting piece. We could have avoided this wholly pointless digression into your abject disappointment with Oblivion lol.

In other words, I think you're intentionally missing the point so you can espouse your seething disapproval of Oblivion. Replace every instance of that title with "Daggerfall" and your problem is fixed, yes? Doesn't really alter the purpose of the thread.

 

[EBass]

I'm guessing Mount and Blade counts as an action RPG, though its really its own genre. Kind of MTW mixed with Dynasty warriors.

If they give the next Eldar Scrolls game Mount and Blade's fighting system I'll be in seventh heaven it really works very very well. Infact I'd love to see any big game dev pick up on some of the themes M&B explores. *sigh*

 

[Enigmers]

KOTOR, Diablo, Titan Quest, Torchlight, Final Fantasy, Jade Empire and Dragon Age all BORED me for this very reason, I'm not saying the combat was bad in all these games though, but it's just not involving and they don't play the same as other action games.

From what I've played of Diablo and Torchlight, the combat is very involving. Titan quest is similar, but slow and sluggish. Granted, it's not as fast-paced and "involving" as something like God of War, and now that you mention it an RPG that let you put together your own combat combos with different button combinations (sort of what Darksiders did) would be pretty awesome.

 

[Sleekgiant]

Well there is already two great action/RPGs already, Fallout 3 and Oblivion. If you don't think those are great then there is no please in you.

 

[Diligent]

You are not wrong, that would be amazing and I have thought about how great a game like that would be myself. I'm secretly hoping that the next zelda game will employ this sort of open world concept, because the formula of field, dungeon, new item, field, dungeon, new item has become a bit stale. Too much to hope for? Probably.

I think the thing holding an idea like that back is the huge scope of the project as these things always come down to time and money. When you have a team working on a game that needs to be published by said date, I doubt there would be much time to create a massive Oblivion-like world, and refine a great combat system. In some respects it would be like making 2 games in one.

Also with games such as God of War or Zelda the whole game is designed around the combat system/progression. You're handed a series of escalating challenges as you power up your weapons and increase your skills, building on past accomplishments. From a design standpoint, an open world environment would destroy that sort of progression. I'm thinking those are reasons why it hasn't been done yet.
But again, if somebody could pull it off I would buy it, quit my job, strap on a diaper and never leave my house again.

 

[Jekken6]

'The Witcher' does pretty much everything apart from massive scale. I'm just so excited fot the second one, but it's only coming out Q1 next year. It'll probably be my birthday present for next year ^_^

 

[NIHILHATE]

I just want 'em to make KOTOR 3, and give it the same combat controls as Assassins Creed 2. And actually FINISH it.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

EuRPGs are for you!

Risen, Gothic, and stuff like that.

Actually, they generally are technical and glitchy messes.

depends if you got the recent comunity patch...

 

[RadicalDreamer90]

Well on the list of action RPGS theres Kingdom Hearts that does well on story and entertaining gameplay, and several RPGS like Legend of Zelda that have been doing it for over a decade. The honest truth is that what you want in a game is going to be at best done with games like Fall out 3 and Fable. Creating a game that has a perfect blend of action, story, and exploration is uber hard. That game would take almost 2 to 3 times longer then most releases now, and with the 8th generation of gaming not to far down the line, a 7 year release isn't very profitable. Creating just a semi believable world with good gameplay is hard enough, and seen within Elder Scrolls and Fallout, but there stories are terrible, and there fighting systems are dull and predictable. If the seventh generation of gaming is all about looks, then the eighth will probably be on innovation and game play, but you don't notice how arduous making even the tiniest part of a game is until your actually the designer and its your job.

 

[FretfulGnome]

Someday my friend...someday.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

I imagine expense has everything to do with it. If a designer could make a game like Fallout 3 with slick third person combat like God of War, they'd have probably done it already. I just keep coming back to this desire whenever I play either an open world RPG (only to find the combat extremely lacking) or a hack-and-slash action game (only to find the story, character development, and game world lacking).

The EuRPGs do seem like the best fit, but they also seem to lack polish and, well, budget.

 

[DJ Lord Destructocon]

I'm guessing Mount and Blade counts as an action RPG, though its really its own genre. Kind of MTW mixed with Dynasty warriors.

If they give the next Eldar Scrolls game Mount and Blade's fighting system I'll be in seventh heaven it really works very very well. Infact I'd love to see any big game dev pick up on some of the themes M&B explores. *sigh*

*Virtual High Five*

It's good to see that there's actually another mount&blade player on here. Just so long as you're not a filthy swadian.....

OT: OP, this is the sort of game I dream about every day, although I'm not completely sure if it could work. Your idea of god of war combat and open-worldedness, to that I have just one thing to say: God of War is so awesome because of it's linearness. Randomly running into minions on some backwoods road and slaughtering them just wouldn't be as fun if you didn't get to take down a giant fucking monster the size of a mountain afterwards. I understand where you are coming from, but I don't believe we'll be seeing it in this console generation and probably not the next.

 

[veloper]

dl the mount&blade demo

The action is solid. The rgp side is a little underdeveloped; it's like a medieval Elite, but with followers and more action.

 

[ShankHA32]

It would be a great game if it were created.

However, to me, every single gimmick and gameplay element of a game is very played out. Almost no game surprises me anymore, and even the ones that do fall short of my expectations. So although this God of War 3 meets Oblivion hybrid seems like a great idea, there are some things just don't mix.

Think about it, the level of refinement you see in God of War games comes from its linearity. Because the game is able to set up which fights you have and where it is able to make the games controls AWESOME because it sees the fight coming.

However, in games like Oblivion, you can pretty much encounter enemies that are extremely difficult like Umbra from the very start (Yes I know she can be beaten at level 1 thats not the point) so the combat system would have to be made more flexible. This often means simplistic and glitchy.

So while the best of both worlds idea SOUNDS great, I don't think it will be possible.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

I'm not really talking about blending God of War's cinematic presentation with more open-world games - literally just the control scheme. I don't see why a game like Oblivion needs to have ass-awful controls/combat. Smooth, responsive, deep, third-person combat married to the character creation/development and freedom of a massive RPG would result in pretty much my perfect game. Shame no one wants to make it.

 

[Misterian]

Am I the only person in the world still waiting for a really good action/rpg?

I'm talking about something with the smooth and intuitive combat of God of War *and* the massive world and character development of Oblivion. A game where I can build my character from the ground up, explore a non-linear countryside, engage in non-wonky combat, and do all of this for days on end. There doesn't seem to be anything like this on the market.

Some games come close. Darksiders had some open world elements and decent combat, but you were still shoe-horned into this static character with unchanging appearance and, well, no roleplay. Demon's Souls gave you the character creation and combat, but the game was very linear and shallow in terms of environment and story. Oblivion gets the creation, customization, and massive scale right, but the controls and combat are borderline retarded.

Fable 2 might be the closest thing yet, but that game's combat and controls were still mediocre - and the world/mechanics were more gimmick than substance. I wanted deeper, more developed gameplay and less social experimentation/housekeeping.

Am I missing any games here? I want something sprawling and real time with solid controls and combat mechanics, character creation and customization, and plenty of play time. Have they simply not made such a game? Would it be exceedingly difficult to do so?

Could Bethesda just do me a favor and hire some new guys to handle the swordplay?

I'd say you're missing Fallout 3.

think Oblivion, with better combat, writing, environments, and everything, but cut down the amount of quests there are, and add a dash of post-apocolyptia, and you'd get Fallout 3.

I thought Fable 2 was alright, mainly if you don't mind getting in the habit of spending more time saving up money and buying property. But I admit, the RPG elements aren't exactly what one would expect from a good RPG.

Oblivion (and mind I played Fallout 3 before it), had loads of quests, making it hard to not find something to do around here, but to me was let down by a clusterf***ed combat system (it can be pretty easy to accidently hit and kill your allies in this game, unless have a pC and console commmands.)

I never played Demon's Souls, but Yahtzee's review on it advised me against the idea.

So, the Action/RPG's I'd overall recommend is Fallout 3, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Mass Effect (though your first post might suggest it won't meet your standards.)

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

Still haven't really seen anything like the game I'm envisioning in my head. The Witcher might be closest. Mass Effect 2 and Fallout 3 are basically shooters with RPG trappings. They're fun games, but I'm looking for more of the classic melee/archery/magic scheme.

Maybe a better descriptor would be: World of Warcraft with next-gen graphics, real-time combat, and strict emphasis on single-player. Oh, and set in the world of Shadow of the Colossus. Please to make for me, game devs.