Is the Legend of Zelda a... JRPG?

GrimHeaper

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starwarsgeek said:
King of the Sandbox said:
starwarsgeek said:
King of the Sandbox said:
starwarsgeek said:
You acquire multiple items and tools, using them to solve puzzles and fight bosses. Action-Adventure.
Uhm... you DO know that everything you just described Are usually in RPG's too, right?

(I'm hoping I missed some really clever sarcasm there.)
Item-base puzzles are rarely the main mechanic in RPGs. When they show it, it's because the game is blending RPG and Adventure,
Which can also be said for Zelda.

BAZINGA.

Not really. No stats, crits, leveling, ect. If it were an RPG...or even possessed some RPG elements, then something would be represented mathematically. A character being your avatar, "playing a role", or some freedom to customize your character are not enough. After all, if that were all it took, then Wii Sports would be an RPG.
How dare you Wii sports is the ultimate RPG!!!!!!!!!!
 

starwarsgeek

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King of the Sandbox said:
Pokemon trainers (immense options for team building) and Final Fantasy 7 (the Materia system) come to mind for some highly customizable characters. It's true that their story is rarely customizable, but that's not the only way to make a character your own.

And you get a grand total of two sword upgrades (one optional), one hookshot upgrade, and some bigger pockets in Ocarina of Time. Link to the Past didn't even have that much. Actually, many games give you upgrades...power-ups in Mario, better guns in Duke Nukem, ect. Too many games upgrade your weapons to count that as belonging to RPGs alone. RPGs use better gear to upgrade your character(s)'s stats, like Final Fantasy, or World of Warcraft.

And dialogue and story are hardly RPG elements...they're not even exclusive to games. Silent protagonists don't qualify either because they dominated gaming in its early years; Frogger, Pac-man, Mario, Mega Man, Simon Belmont, Sonic, and the pong paddle are all mute in their game debuts. As for Link's punny name...take a look at Miis. They are nameable and customizable. Would you consider Wii Sports to be an RPG?

Many RPGs give you high levels of customizable options. Some offer CYOA-style influence on the story. However, the core of the RPG, the one thing connecting everything from Wild Arms to World of Warcraft, is the numbers. The Legends of Zelda (well...all except Zelda 2) do not have stats deciding if you hit, how much damage you do, encounter rate, ect. The only RPG element I can think of is drop chance of Rupees while cutting grass or ramming head first into trees (actually, I'm not even sure if this is random), and that is just too mild to call it an Adventure-RPG hybrid. It's not an RPG.
 

NoeL

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King of the Sandbox said:
RPG elements like acquiring better gear as you go, engaging in dialogue with several stroy-driving characters, etc.
By that definition, Banjo-Kazooie has "RPG elements". Also, since link is mute it's more of a monologue :p (yes, I know Link actually talks, it's just not shown)

Zelda is an action-adventure game(s) that has pretty much nothing to do with RPGs. It often gets confused as one because it shares similar themes and settings with many JRPGs, but it's much better classed as an adventure game with action elements. Pick up any adventure game and you'll control a character that goes around acquiring equipment and talking to characters that drive a central plot. The only way Zelda deviates from this is by incorporating some action and letting the player fight directly.

RPGs are about customisable stats, growing progressively stronger, etc. Pretty much the only thing that comes close to that is Heart Containers that extend your HP, but again even Banjo-Kazooie had that. Zelda 2 was the only Zelda to feature RPG elements, since it had EXP and leveling.
 

Smooth Operator

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katsumoto03 said:
What does it even fucking mean for a game to be an RPG anymore? It's Japanese, I'll give it that.
It means being a game with meaningful choice in all areas (more areas covered -> more RPG).

LoZ is an action adventure with RPG sprinkles on top, and the style is very anime.
 

Kindberg

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RPG game: Numbers decide if you hit a target. Like in world of warcraft.

Action/adventure games: The players skill decide if you hit the target. Like counter-strike, or legend of zelda.
 

Not Lord Atkin

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It's a japanese game but despite minor RPG touches, it's still primarilly an adventure. Also, all the RPG elements are taken from western RPGs.

If you view JRPG as a genre, it's got certain characteristics that set it apart from western RPGs. If you look at it this way, even Demon's Souls, a japanese take on western RPGs, can not be clasified as a JRPG, despite having been made by the japanese.
 

thiosk

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Huh.

It is a JRPG. Its no different from final fantasy. Travel around, find macguffins, swing big swords, acquire better swords, chug potions, collect money, spend on gear and consumables, linear storyline.

I rather like zelda more than FF >8, but drawing genera lines is a tricky business.

I would still classify it as a hardcore action adventure game, but its interesting to consider the overlap.
 

lionsprey

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It's NOT a jrpg. it's from japan but it is not a rpg if you use the "you find better equipment along the way" argument one might as well call several of the old school first person shooters RPGs since you find better weapons along the way.
 

Aleol

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It's the Legend of fucking Zelda

It doesn't matter what genre it's in, because no matter what, it is one of the defining games in history.

It's in its very own genre of awesome.
 

RobinHood3000

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Decidedly NOT a JRPG. I would not even consider it an RPG.

Yes, you do take on a role, but that in itself is a too-literal interpretation of the genre "RPG." "RPG" as a game genre requires a variety of rules and conventions that aren't encompassed by the name. These generally include some or all of the following:

+ Customizable characteristics (beyond character name)
+ Multiple viable paths of character skill development
+ An above-average emphasis on story (enough to distinguish it from arcade or puzzle games)
+ Frequently, strong aspects of exploration of a large game world

Although the last aspect does hold true for Zelda games, it is also a key tenet of adventure games.

"JRPG" as a genre is even more restrictive. JRPGs generally include, as I understand it:

+ Turn-based combat (with increasingly frequent exceptions for action RPGs, I believe)
+ Linear storyline
+ Little character customization beyond skill development (meaning the player usually takes on a role rather than creating one, as in Western RPGs like the Elder Scrolls Series)
+ Androgynous main characters (kidding)

In particular, Legend of Zelda lacks the turn-based combat and character emphasis characteristic of JRPGs. Yes, there's a strong story emphasis, but Link as a character doesn't drive the narrative, as often seen in JRPGs; the quest, a major trope of adventure games, does.
 
Aug 21, 2010
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pro JPRG:

it's Japanese
You role-play as an elf/kid
you collect items
it's story heavy
it's long
it has an in game menu with inventory
it has towns and dungeons

anti JRPG:

real time combat, based on timing not probability (someone will correct me and say both are involved, no doubt)
no party of characters
no real choice of weapons / armour apart from what the situation demands
no statistics
it just doesn't feel like one. It's an action adventure puzzle game, clearly. While some RRPGs will have the odd block pushing puzzle, they are nothing like Zelda's dungeons.
If LoZ is a JRPG then so is Super Mario Sunshine.
 

Eventidal

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katsumoto03 said:
What does it even fucking mean for a game to be an RPG anymore? It's Japanese, I'll give it that.
QFT. Anything passes for an RPG these days.

To be honest, it's because the term is so loosely based on what it used to mean, which was archaic even for the SNES period. A game had story and characters and emphasis on that, and those games almost all had numerical stats and leveling mechanics. They were at first cut from the same cloth and the term RPG was coined because I guess people hadn't figured out something better to call them. But today... it's a huge mess.

Mass Effect has stats and leveling, so it's an RPG! Well, I'd argue the stats and leveling are absolutely pointless and the skills are the only real strategy within equipping items and leveling up. Nothing else effects anything more than your damage output or defense ability, really. Stats-wise, it's not an RPG, IMO. It's an RPG because you actually kind of role-play, but yet most RPGs don't have you role-playing at all. So if role-playing makes it an RPG, is Heavy Rain an RPG? Or LA Noire?
Seriously, the whole idea of RPGs is messed up beyond recognition, and I think we should just drop the genre as a whole.

In any case, Zelda has no stats and equipment like RPGs traditionally did. It also has you playing a very minor role in Link's character. There's no dialog from Link at all so you're really playing LESS of a role than you'd play in most games. Honestly? It's an action/adventure/puzzle game. (ugh. Genres in general are so messed up. Why do we even USE these things? They tell you so little about a game and so many games are bending genres like you wouldn't believe these days...)
 

Drakos.Amatras

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zehydra said:
Also, I've not seen a truly customizable JRPG main character... well... ever.

Feel free to correct me.
Demon's Souls. It's stat-based; you have complete control over how you develop the character; as well as what you equip and how you play. Decisions for every action in the game world is up to you.
 

DigitalSushi

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Vangaurd227 said:
I think the legend of zelda is more of an adventure game then an rpg.....then again it does borrow elements from rpg's.....wow this is confusing ;_;
So Metroid is also a JRPG?

I refuse to believe that!
 

rossatdi

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imahobbit4062 said:
This thread has been done so many times before.

It is an action adventure game. Just because it has RPG elements, it does not make it an RPG, it makes it an Action/Adventure game with RPG elements

Seriously, why do people have to do go over this shit over and over again?
This. How do people keep getting confused? Most games have elements that are 'role-playing' and involve character development, but that's almost all games. RPGs have a heavy focus on character building, customisation and development that is almost unique and differentiates them from other games.
 

Zajber

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If I'm not wrong, in an RPG (or JRPG for that matter, since that's OT) you have the power of deciding what to do. In the Zelda-series (even AoL, yes) you almost have no access to any major choices since most items and the leveling in Zelda 2 (AoL) are critical to your success.
The spells you learn in Zelda 2 are the only thing I believe in the entire series is more an RPG element but still, no choices or major customization means no RPG in my head. The games are to linear but still.., awesome.

ColdStorage said:
Vangaurd227 said:
I think the legend of zelda is more of an adventure game then an rpg.....then again it does borrow elements from rpg's.....wow this is confusing ;_;
So Metroid is also a JRPG?

I refuse to believe that!
Metroid is much more of an RPG than Zelda but, no.