I've wanted to try Alpha Protocol, as the choice system seemed rather interesting. At least I wanted a taste of what everyone was talking about, but my local Blockbuster has severely cut back on their stock of video games... which means I have to consider signing up for GameFly if I want to continue console-gaming. It is a sad time indeed.
I agree with the comment about how Square-Enix isn't much about the RPG elements anymore. I recently played the last Final Fantasy game (told you the store was cutting back!), and after a few hours, I was still wondering what the hell was going on in the game. Aside from the minor skill tree upgrades for combat, even the leveling system was automatic. How am I even supposed to feel like part of the game when the game itself makes all the major decisions for me? That isn't really what I feel role-playing is about. Fable and Fable 2 have their selling points in regards to proper role-playing, but really you are still just following a script (and should you avoid said script for a short time, they don't hesitate to remind you to get back to work). Then again, as in Shamus's example, you don't really want the fun to stop because you want to open a hot dog stand instead of killing people. If this were an actual choice in a game, I think that would be the point where the credits would start rolling, unless it was just a mini-game included to bore the crap out of you until you wanted to go back out and cut off some heads. Such choices are fine for MMO games, but standalone games really don't need such options. Unless you are forced to craft items to continue (without it being a needlessly boring side mission), then I don't see a huge point for including it into a game where the main focus is action. Is it weird to say that I think RPG games are action games? After all, you aren't sitting around discussing war plans and conferring with generals and the like before going forth to start a mission... unless that occurs in a cutscene.
Having localized ramifications for your actions really does make the most sense. Unless word spreads at the speed of light, I don't think someone on the other side of the game world is going to know I was entertaining myself by kicking the ass of every chicken on someone's farm because I was bored, and therefore should hate me for making my own sicilian chicken.
I agree with the comment about how Square-Enix isn't much about the RPG elements anymore. I recently played the last Final Fantasy game (told you the store was cutting back!), and after a few hours, I was still wondering what the hell was going on in the game. Aside from the minor skill tree upgrades for combat, even the leveling system was automatic. How am I even supposed to feel like part of the game when the game itself makes all the major decisions for me? That isn't really what I feel role-playing is about. Fable and Fable 2 have their selling points in regards to proper role-playing, but really you are still just following a script (and should you avoid said script for a short time, they don't hesitate to remind you to get back to work). Then again, as in Shamus's example, you don't really want the fun to stop because you want to open a hot dog stand instead of killing people. If this were an actual choice in a game, I think that would be the point where the credits would start rolling, unless it was just a mini-game included to bore the crap out of you until you wanted to go back out and cut off some heads. Such choices are fine for MMO games, but standalone games really don't need such options. Unless you are forced to craft items to continue (without it being a needlessly boring side mission), then I don't see a huge point for including it into a game where the main focus is action. Is it weird to say that I think RPG games are action games? After all, you aren't sitting around discussing war plans and conferring with generals and the like before going forth to start a mission... unless that occurs in a cutscene.
Having localized ramifications for your actions really does make the most sense. Unless word spreads at the speed of light, I don't think someone on the other side of the game world is going to know I was entertaining myself by kicking the ass of every chicken on someone's farm because I was bored, and therefore should hate me for making my own sicilian chicken.